Let’s talk about my fictional world, or as I like to call it, my second home. When I’m not doing real world things, most of my time is spent in my fictional world with my imaginary friends. I know that sounds childlike, but that’s the reality for me as a writer. Now, let’s jump into the basics of world building.

World building for writers is like Sim City on steroids, times a hundred. It’s much more than just building a town, creating cityscapes, landscapes, and homes. It’s creating a culture, history, society, and so much more. World building is a dense and detail-heavy topic. So, for today, I’m sticking with how Luna Cove came to be and to the few pertinent details that apply to the series.

Learning The Name And Location

When I first started writing Book One seven years ago, I had no idea where my coven of witches resided. The only thing I knew was that they lived in New England, off the Atlantic coast. They weren’t a cooperative group at first, and the only way to learn about their world was by following them and documenting what I saw. Interviews and couch time were out of the question for those first few months. It wasn’t until I was working on one of Nick’s scenes that I stumbled upon the city name and state. He was driving down the road and there was the “Welcome to Luna Cove, Massachusetts” sign off to the side. And that’s how the name came to be.

Luna Cove, MA

Luna Cove is a fictional city set in modern day Massachusetts. It’s the city founded by magic, built with magic, and ruled by magic. It’s also known as the City of the Witches, as most of its residents happen to be witches. They’re drawn to the city’s magic and often end up settling there or in one of the neighboring towns.

Luna Cove was founded in 1689 by the Luna Coven, prior to the Salem Witch Trials, as a safe haven for witches. The coven’s magic protected them and the town. The Luna Coven is the ruling body for all the witches. The series revolves around them and their stories. Each book features a different set of main characters, and as the series unfolds, so does the fictional world.

Inspiration

I drew inspiration from researching several cities and towns along the New England coast, as well as some of my favorite towns located off large bodies of water that fit the Luna Cove aesthetic. Luna Cove is a mid-sized city with a population of 90,000 or so. You won’t find any high rises, but you’ll find a gorgeous downtown area with upscale shops and boutiques. You’ll also find restaurants, cafes, and coffee shops along Main Street. Along the waterfront, you’ll find parks, beautiful beaches, marinas, more eateries, bars, and nightlife. You’ll find quaint neighborhoods with charming homes and other, more upscale neighborhoods with sprawling, gated homes. Outside the city limits, you’ll find a forest and pond filled with a haunting and devastating history, which affects the city’s inhabitants. If you’re curious as to what the city looks like, you can hop on over to my Instagram and take a peek at the aesthetic board.

Population and Supernatural Beings

Most of Luna Cove’s population is composed of witches. There are different kinds of witches with varying amounts of power in Luna Cove and throughout the world. Witches come from all walks of life and from all cultures across the globe. Just like diversity exists in the real world, diversity exists in Luna Cove. The only difference is that most witches seem to be more open-minded than their human counterparts.

Humans and other supernatural beings such as ghosts, demons, and hunters are also a part of this mysterious and magical world. I’m not going to get into their roles as that encroaches spoiler territory.

Magic, Mythology, and Religion

Magic. The magic system in Luna Cove is extremely complex and highly detailed. What I can tell you is that not all witches have the same powers. I can also tell you that there are limitations and consequences when it comes to magic use. There are also laws that apply when it comes to certain forms of magic. As much as I’d love to get into specifics, because I love all things magic, I’m going to leave those details under wraps for now.

Mythology and Religion. Gods exist in my world. Mythology plays a part in the religion of the witches. Much like humans, some witches are devout followers, others not so much, and then some not at all. There are equivalents to the human versions of heaven, hell, and purgatory, which you’ll learn about at a later date.

I learned about the magic system through my cast of characters. Nick and Raichel gave me a crash course and have been educating me on how it all works over the past seven years. While I did learn about magic through the drafting process, I was only scratching the surface. I needed the full details of its origins, history, strengths, boundaries, and much more. There was no way I was going to gather all that info just from the story alone. Thankfully, those two were more than happy to help out.

Languages

Witches do have their own unique language. It’s an important part of their history and culture. While I don’t use much of it in my series, you might catch a word here and there in the books. Don’t worry, definitions will be provided for you.

Now I didn’t decide to just to create my own language for kicks and giggles. Creating a new language is hard work, time consuming, and a bit of a pain in the ass. But it is fun, and it’s what fits the story. So I rolled with it, filled an entire notebook with symbols and fresh new vocabulary. How did I go about it? I mixed and matched a couple of different languages, came up with some new words, and that’s how my language came to be.

There’s much more to this fictional world than what I mentioned above, and too much detail to dive into it all. I really don’t feel like writing a book on just my world alone. This blog was meant to give you a sneak peek into Luna Cove and my world building process.

As I work on the series, Luna Cove continues to evolve with each draft, rewrite, revision, and stroke of the keyboard. What once started out as a flat postcard , has now turned into a living, breathing city filled with magic and life. I can’t wait for you all to discover this mystical and magical world for yourselves. Until next time!

Cheers,
Amelia