Leslie Vedder (she/her) is the indie bestselling author of The Bone Spindle. She grew up on fantasy books, anime, fanfiction, and the Lord of the Rings movies, and met her true love in high school choir. She currently lives in Colorado with her wife and two ultra-spoiled house cats. Find her online at leslievedder.com.
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Magic is often an important part of fantasy worlds, but magic can also play a pivotal part in the character development of those people who encounter it. In MG and YA fantasy, where character arcs often represent characters coming into their own, magic can be a useful tool to explore aspects of each characters’ identities and to help them along on their character arcs. In this panel, debut MG and YA authors discuss the role of magic in a young protagonist’s character arc, how they have intertwined their world’s magic in with their character’s journeys, and how other writers can do the same.