Awarded a biological sciences degree and faced with a less-than-sunny job market, ASU alumna Margeaux Laurent took the time to feed her creative soul.
Laurent graduated from ASU in December 2008, and after spending some time searching for the right job, she turned her attention to writing and publishing “Spellbound,” a fantasy novel that was officially published in mid-March.
Laurent was considering going to veterinarian school because she loved animals. Later, she learned from volunteer experience that she couldn’t handle putting animals to sleep.
“I realized it wasn’t for me, so I picked up psychology because I was interested,” she said about adding a minor her senior year.
But despite her major and minor, finding employment was still difficult because of the economy. Laurent found all the jobs she looked at required at least a master’s degree.
She decided to apply for a master’s program in space studies with a concentration on human factors through University of North Dakota online in spring 2009.
Then, in summer 2009, Laurent felt compelled to write a story that had been in the back of her head for quite some time, inspired by her travels, ethnic folklore and ghost stories told in her native New Jersey. Only now, she had the time to flesh it out.
The bits and pieces that Laurent knew of the story turned into the complex tale of a young girl named Aislin Collins, who lives in 18th century colonial New Jersey and learns she is a witch. In order to hide her identity, Aislin has to practice controlling her powers, because of the consequences if she’s exposed.
“At minimum, she’d be ostracized,” Laurent said. “At maximum, she’d be tried and executed.”
When a servant of a witch-hunter comes to town, a mysterious stranger steps in to protect her, and Aislin is forced to decide whether he can be trusted.
The book took Laurent three months to write and six months to edit.
One of her friends, Allison Burrows, a 2008 ASU alumna in applied biology, helped her with edits and said the story was an intriguing, creepy love story.
“I actually found myself getting lost in it,” she said.
When Laurent finished the book, her friends told her to get it published. She began taking non-credit classes in publishing at Chandler-Gilbert Community College and decided she wanted to forgo the traditional route and self-publish with iUniverse, an online publishing service.
“It seemed like a faster way to get where I needed to go and gave me creative control over my product,” she said.
“Spellbound” is now featured in the Mesa Public Library and is sold online at Barnes and Noble, Amazon and through the e-book format. It will be coming to Tempe’s Changing Hands Bookstore in May.
Laurent’s former mentor at ASU, David Rhoads, now a research associate professor in plant sciences at UA, remembers her as a diligent and hardworking student in his lab on the Polytechnic campus.
She did research on plant mitochondrial regulation of nuclear gene expression for Rhoads’ research projects funded through the National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“She did not discuss her interest in writing with me, but she did display an interest in science that captures the imagination,” he said in an email.
Burrows hopes people pick up the book and that it becomes successful.
“I know it’s hard for most new authors to get out there,” she said.
Though it can be overwhelming being a student and author, Laurent said it’s worth the effort and that she loves science as much as she loves writing.
She said the master’s degree, which she’ll finish in a year, gives her more flexibility and options to maybe work for NASA or the government.
“This is the path I would love to stay on,” Laurent said.
Reach the reporter at naberra@asu.edu
