At first, Luana had to face a long string of rejections, as often happens to many young authors. She sent her manuscript to dozens of agents and international publishers and received more than 60 rejections. But far from abandoning the project, she decided to persist. First, she self-published the novel in English and later, an independent publisher took a chance on her story.
Along the way, the author acknowledges that social media, especially TikTok, were crucial in making her work known. She believes that, nowadays, a digital presence is indispensable for any author seeking to break into the publishing market. “Without social media, probably no one would know my books. A couple of videos went viral and thanks to that I found my readers,” she recalls.
Own world
Luana grew up reading J. K. Rowling, Rick Riordan, and Shannon Messenger, while discovering the anime universe through titles like “Attack on Titan,” “One Piece,” and “Jujutsu Kaisen.” Those stories, she says, shaped her imagination and today are her main references.
Her education at a British school also influenced her creative process. Used to reading, writing, and consuming fiction in English, she writes her novels in that language before translating them into Spanish. To build “The Islands of Iros,” she first imagined the universe and then shaped Luke, Kaori, and Damien, the protagonists of the story. “I always say they already lived in my head; when I started writing, they just came out and I knew they were the central characters,” she says.
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With “The Prophecy of Darakhan,” the fourth installment of the saga, the writer continues expanding a world of magic and adventures and, in a short time, has been consolidating a community of readers and positioning herself as one of the most promising voices in Peruvian young adult fantasy. “The curious thing is that I have followers of all ages. There are children as young as eight, teenagers, and also adults. That allowed me to write with greater freedom,” she comments. “The characters have grown and so have my readers, something very similar to what happened to me when I read ‘Harry Potter’,” she adds.
For now, Luana Mitre will continue betting on fantasy. The “The Islands of Iros” saga still has two installments left, and for now, all her energy is focused on concluding that universe. Afterwards, she would like to explore another genre that has fascinated her since childhood: horror. “Finishing the saga is my priority. Then I would love to participate in international fairs like those in Guadalajara or Buenos Aires and, of course, that someday ‘The Islands of Iros’ reaches the cinema or a series. I think that is my ultimate dream,” she concludes. //
In this new novel, an ancient prophecy threatens to alter the fate of the kingdom of Iros and tests Luke, Kaori, and Damien, the heroes of this story that already has thousands of fans. The book has 472 pages, is available in bookstores across the country, and is part of a series conceived from the start in six volumes, of which two remain to be published.
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