‘SPELL BOUND’

Aurora Dominguez

Interested in reading rivals featuring apprentices who must work together to save their magical worlds? Then check out “Spell Bound” by F.T. Lukens.

WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION BEHIND SPELL BOUND?

The inspiration for Spell Bound was born from two different desires. The first was that I wanted to play around with a different type of magic system than I’d written before. I had a conversation with my brother about developing a world that revolved around an external source of magic kind of like a magical wi-fi. And I wanted to explore how that type of magic would work in an urban setting. The other goal was to write a story that addresses themes of self-love and self-acceptance and show the journeys of characters learning how to embrace their true selves.

WHAT DOES “READING WITH PRIDE” MEAN TO YOU?

To me Reading with Pride means making an active choice to read and support books that celebrate queerness and diversity and inclusion.

WHY DO YOU FEEL REPRESENTATION OF A VARIETY OF PEOPLE IS SO IMPORTANT WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING BOOKS?

When writing for young adults, it’s important that even in fantasy stories or speculative media that the characters feel real and accessible. And diversity, inclusion, and intersectionality are real life for our readers. And as a lover of fantasy and speculative fiction, I want the worlds that I create to feel like a place where the reader would want to be. When I was growing up, I loved reading sci-fi and fantasy books. And while there were characters that I related to and there were definitely stories that I loved, there wasn’t a singular character that I could point to and say, ‘yes, that character right there is like me.’ Because while I’m certain there were books being written with queer characters and neurodivergent characters, I didn’t have access to them. I didn’t know where to look for them. So, it’s important to me that I write stories where young adults can see themselves as heroes and can have a happy ending.

WHAT CAN FANS EXPECT FROM SPELL BOUND?

Fans can expect romance, comedy, a found family of characters, and a chaotic magical world. There are small acts of rebellion and creepy haunted houses and an adventure in a magical forest. And there is a cast of characters that I absolutely love who don’t like each other much at first but who grow closer over the course of the novel and become a makeshift family.