Marie Lu's Blog, page 111

Comic-con Schedule

Hi guys! I will be at San Diego Comic-con this week, from Thursday through Sunday. If you're also attending, please stop by the following if you can! Love to see you there.

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"No Damsels in Distress" Panel, Room 25ABC, Thursday at 4:00 PM

I'll be speaking on this panel about Legend and its characters. I will be in the amazing company of the following panelists:

Chloe Neill – Chicagoland Vampires series
Jeanine Frost – Night Huntress series
Jeanne Stein – The Anna Strong Chronicles
Jocelynn Drake – Dark Days series
Carrie Vaughn – Kitty Norville series
Seanan McGuire – The October Daye series
Sherrilyn Kenyon– Dark Hunter novels

There will be a signing session after this panel in the autographing area!
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Penguin Booth Autographing Session, Friday at 10:00 AM, Penguin Group Booth #2913R

I'll be signing advance copies of Legend from 10 AM to 11 AM on Friday.
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Comic-con is always such a good time, and this year I'm as excited as ever. Costumes, panels, people, woot! Love it. See you there!

LEGEND is in USA Today!

Have been looking forward to this article's release and am excited to finally share it! USA Today is running an article about Legend right in time for Comic-con, where I will be on a panel this Thursday at 4:00 pm (Room 25ABC) to talk about Legend (panel is called "No Damsels in Distress"). Brian Truitt (the interviewer) is way past awesome.

Plus, see the official Legend trailer from Penguin, as well as read the first 3 chapters, at the article link! For those who read the first chapter and saw Day's point of view, now you'll get to see June's point of view too. Hope you guys all enjoy!

USA Today: Lu's dystopian novel is a 'Legend' in the making: http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/ne...

Tweaked titles

My boyfriend has a really quirky habit of not remembering the names of movies/books properly. Instead, he'll say what he THINKS is the name of something, but it is often hilariously off. Case in point:

Real title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Boyfriend's memory: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Sorcerers

Real title: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Boyfriend's memory: Jason Jones and the Argonauts

Real title: The Golden Compass
Boyfriend's memory: Curse of the Golden Compass

Real title: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Boyfriend's memory: Snow Flower and the Seven Dwarves

Now I mention book and movie names just to see what he'll twist it into later on. :heart:

Happy Friday, guys! May you go forth and watch some HP this weekend! Or at least eat something scrumptious. :)

Legend fan art, Comic-con, and food poisoning

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

Had a rough bout of food poisoning early last weekend, one bad enough to actually give me a minor stomach ulcer. WUT. O___o Not the most comfortable feeling in the world. Anyway, when I went to my local urgent care to get it checked out (to make sure I wasn't dying or something), the male nurse led me to one of their back rooms:

Nurse: "Wait here. The doctor will be in to see you shortly."
Me: "Okay."
Nurse: (hands me a thick wad of that hospital butcher paper) "I'll need you to take off your pants."
Me: "Excuse me?"
Nurse: "You'll need to remove your pants. Wrap this around you when you're done."
(nurse leaves)

In hindsight, I found this hilarious because I'd just recently rewatched that Family Guy episode which makes fun of this, i.e. no matter what you go in for, you have to take off your pants. Turns out they just wanted to poke my stomach without, like, belts in the way or something. But I swear the doctor could tell I was giving him the EVIL EYE the entire time, my hands ready to go into ninja battle chop mode.

Anyway. TMI? Yeah, probably. Whatever. I'll delete this story later.

:)

In other news, I will be on a panel at Comic-con! On Thursday at 4pm, I'll be on the "No Damsels in Distress Here" panel in room 25ABC, talking about Legend. If you're attending, please come by! Other panelists presenting with me include the amazing Kathy Reichs, creator of Bones (the TV series). Here are the panel details:

4:00-5:00 No Damsels in Distress Here— Female voices in sci-fi and fantasy create kick-ass heroines. Danger just might be these girls' middle name. But no amount of bad guys can keep these ladies from doing what's right. Whether standing up for friends and family, or just plain kicking some ass, these girls don't shy away from a fight. Damsels on the panel include Marie Lu (Legend), Kathy Reichs (Bones & Virals series), Chloe Neill (Chicagoland Vampires series), Jeanne Stein (The Anna Strong Chronicles), Merrie deStefano (Feast: Harvest of Dreams), Carrie Vaughn (Kitty Norville series), Seanan McGuire (The October Daye series), and Sherrilyn Kenyon (Dark Hunter novels). Moderated by Maryelizabeth Hart of Mysterious Galaxy. Room 25ABC

And in other very awesome news, check out this BEAUTIFUL fan art of Day, by Dianne Garcia!!!! This is the first official fan art of Day from Legend, and I am so incredibly psyched. Look at all those watercolor details! And the hair! The smug expression! The vest, the background! The posture! I love everything about this. The attitude screams Day. LOVE IT!

I think I'm an awkward person

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

Or, at least, I have this unbreakable tendency to try to say something polite/complimentary and then have it come out as insulting. O__o I shall give you two recent examples below:

Scenario #1: Boyfriend and I step into our local diner.

Hostess: "Hi! How are you?"
Us: "Great, thanks! How are you?"
Hostess: "Oh, doing fine, thanks."
Boyfriend: "Busy day?"
Hostess: "No, not really."
Me: "Oh, that's good."
*awkward silence*

What I meant: Oh, that's good, because I'm glad that you didn't have a stressful day dealing with huge crowds of people.
What it sounds like: Oh, that's good, cuz your restaurant's gonna TANK.

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Scenario #2: Twitter. I am watching a video of Harry Shum Jr.'s mad dancing skills (you know, that Glee guy), and a Conan the Barbarian trailer pops up.

What I wanted to say on Twitter: You know, even though buff guys like Conan the Barbarian are supposed to be the ones I'm attracted to, I still like lean guys like Harry Shum Jr., because they are also handsome and attractive and appealing even though they do not have big bulging muscles. Yay for those of us who are not alpha perfect!

What I actually say on Twitter:

Muscles are so overrated.
*suddenly remembers that there are some muscular, friendly ppl on her followers list*
I mean, abdominal muscles are nice. But I still like lean+mean over muscular guys.
I mean, some muscle is good. But I mean muscular like, The Rock. Not hot.
*remembers The Rock is actually a nice person in interviews*
I mean, @redcrest is right, I probably like lean guys because I like bishonen boys in anime.
*@redcrest comes to my aid, gently suggesting that muscular guys are also great, they are the evolutionary instinct*
I mean, my preference for lean guys over muscular guys gives me a distinct evolutionary disadvantage.
I mean, not that muscular guys are unattractive. I just like lean guys better.
I mean, not that lean guys are evolutionary disadvantages.
*awkward silence*
Ok, now that I have thoroughly insulted both muscular and lean guys, I'm going to shut up now and go back into my box.

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Hmm........I really need to work on my delivery.....

Mafia birthdays, & CBS Films' Legend ARC giveaway

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

So Boyfriend and I were talking in the car the other day:

Boyfriend: I have a cool surprise trip planned for your birthday.

Me: Oooooh. What is it?

Boyfriend: It's a SURPRISE.

Me: Can I ask you yes/no questions to try and guess it?

Boyfriend: Okay fine.

Me: Is the trip in California?

Boyfriend: Yes.

Me: Is the trip to Palm Springs?

Boyfriend: No.

Me: Santa Barbara?

Boyfriend: No.

Me: Catalina?

Boyfriend: No.

Me: Does it involve extreme sports or public humiliation? Please say no.

Boyfriend: I'm almost positive it doesn't.

Me: ...

Boyfriend: Helpful hint, it might relate a little to your book idea.

Me: We're going to be vigilantes for a day and take out the government??

Boyfriend: No, not LEGEND. Your other book idea.

Me: WE'RE GOING TO JOIN THE MAFIA?! :D :D :D

Boyfriend: .....okay, that hint was a poor choice....

(and no, I still don't know what it is)

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In other book-related news, CBS Films is doing one of the larger Legend giveaways I've seen online! They're giving away 20 Legend ARCs tomorrow morning at 10am PST sharp. Check their Legend page for the details (U.S./Canada only; all you need is a Facebook account). Super easy to enter!

Legend book signing, NYC, & hot military boys

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

Things have finally quieted down enough over here for me to post this blog entry that I've been meaning to do for a while. In summary, last week I went to BookExpo America in New York City, which is the largest publishing industry event in the country (and sort of like E3 for video games....but for book stuff). It was kind of awesome. :heart: First of all, Penguin booked me on Virgin America, which is the best airline ever because the lights in the plane are neon fuchsia and every VA pilot I've ever had is sarcastic and witty. Also, they have a lot of very cute male flight attendants. And NYC had an unusual number of extremely attractive soldier boys wandering around the city (in all colors of uniform, including the all white head-to-toe, which I have no idea where it belongs but I think belongs in the Navy somewhere, and the dark navy uniforms, and the navy tops + tan bottoms uniforms, etc). Can't help ogling our military boys. ;) I'm getting off topic...where was I?....

So I met a ton of very cool authors, got lost several times on the BEA expo floor, hunted down whatever person was dressed up in an Olivia suit so that I could take a picture, and got to do my very first book signing for Legend! Some photos can be see here.

The signing itself was all a blur; I was relatively nervous and I have a feeling I might have written the wrong thing on a few of the books I signed. ACK. o_O Then there was a lot of delicious food, and awesome lunches/dinners with my agent, Penguin, and cool authors like Laurie Halse Anderson (SPEAK) and Ally Condie (MATCHED) and Sarah Rees Brennan (THE DEMON's LEXICON). And me getting lost in New York. I got lost a lot in general while I was there, but it's all good. It amazed me just how MANY books are also coming out in November of this year. I mean, I shouldn't be surprised by this, but to see it is a whole other thing. I felt so extremely privileged to be there with all the enthusiastic folks from Penguin, and at the same time I also felt very small against a tidal wave of books. Just have to keep my fingers crossed that people will remember Legend by the time November 29 rolls around!

Then I got back from BEA, and the first thing I see is an article in the Hollywood Reporter that CBS Films has chosen the screenwriters for Legend: "CBS Films Taps Writers to Adapt 'Legend' Novel". I also get an amazing review of Legend from book blogger Precious, and Kirkus Reviews selects Legend as one of the Top 26 Books at BEA. WHOA....WHAT!

I still can't quite believe that this all might actually be a possibility, and some days (like today) I wake up and expect it all to be explained away with some explanation (i.e. You were dreaming for a really LONG time, actually we think you may have been comatose for about 9 months). But it's still here, and I'm starting to think Legend might actually be real. Or something. Sort of.

China, breaking into house, and Legend's director!

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

This post is all over the place. I really should try to blog more often....

Finally back in the States after ten days in China! I loved China, but man, it feels good to be free of their "great firewall". No access to Facebook/Twitter and limited access to Gmail just....is kind of a bummer. I did see a lot of yaks, though, so it all balanced out. Plus, FOOD! I had so much amazing food it was to the point of ridiculousness. I wish I had a good way of smuggling egg pancakes past Customs. Now I'm majorly jetlagged, and passed out twice today (and yesterday). I have all these sleep indents on my face from my laptop keys. It's very attractive. :)

In other news, last night I met with Katie from Bookyurt.com [link] and we had a hilariously random adventure. I'd forgotten to bring her an ARC of Legend, so she dropped us off at my dinky bungalow so we could grab one. Unfortunately I didn't have my keys (I wasn't expecting to be back so soon), and Boyfriend was out for practice. So we tried in vain to break in. Apparently this dinky bungalow is still rather secure.....but long story short, we borrowed a plastic pink tong from my perplexed neighbor and managed to barely grab an ARC. We looked absolutely ridiculous in the process. Then we went to get giant mugs of coffee. I don't think we'll ever make it as thieves, but we know a good cup of joe.

And in other OTHER news, the news is official today--CBS Films has attached director Jonathan Levine to Legend! So very excited!

"Twilight Producers Find a Director for Their Next Trilogy"

I think that's everything that's happened since my last post. Oh, and I think I also gained several pounds. Thanks China.

The Pansy Love Scene

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

I've thought about this on and off for a while, and although I know the topic's been covered to death before, I felt idle enough today to organize it into a blog post. Or maybe this post isn't so organized. Anyway. I'm not sure if this is a touchy subject or not, so please don't throw tomatoes at me. Just my ramblings!

It's no secret that the U.S. has a bit of a 'warrior nation' syndrome. Do our hackles rise at excessive violence in our books and media? Meh, sometimes...although you'd never know it, what with all those SAW sequels. We may grumble under our breath now and then about gratuitous violence, but by and large we accept it as a necessity for entertainment.

Do our hackles rise at sex? Much more so than violence. Even the most violent Young Adult novels (think The Hunger Games) will succumb to making their love scenes fade to black. Now, I understand that because the books are written for a younger demographic, there are obviously certain scenes that just aren't appropriate to put in. But blowing up legs, mangling flesh, etc? A few lashes get batted at that, but not much more. When sex is mentioned in books, it's usually accompanied by the character very very blatantly pulling out condoms ("Teens, practice safe sex!"), or having the two characters who have sex get married first or never break up EVER and get married down the line and have pretty children ("Teens, if you have sex with someone, that better be the person you'll marry later on"). Pansy Love Scenes, as I've come to call them. :) When violence is mentioned in books (which is almost every book, including mine), there's no expectation that the author needs to put in some sort of afternoon school special warning on it. Characters punch, kick, and kill each other with reckless abandon. Few of those violent acts have very serious repercussions.

Now, having said that, I used to do the exact same thing. I did this in the very first draft of LEGEND, up until my agent Kristin called me out on it. Why is your main character killing people with reckless abandon? she'd said. He's moral. He's the good guy. He would think twice about killing anyone, even a person who works for the dark side. And she was completely right. After this, I started seeing my story in a new light. When there's violence, I hope I show a very good reason for it. When a character is attacked or dies, it's not gratuitous. And later on, if there's sex, I hope I do it justice. Because sex is no worse than violence. On the contrary, I'd say sex is way way WAY better than violence, right? Make love, not war?

This is not to say sex scenes should be gratuitous. Nothing should be gratuitous, neither sex nor violence, and if they're in a story, they better have a good reason for being there. There are a few YA novels I've read where I think the love scenes were done nicely, balancing tasteful writing with the bravery to describe more than Pansy Love. One good example I can think of: Simone Elkeles PERFECT CHEMISTRY. Yes, the love scene does involve condoms and true love, but who cares--there is no fading to black, it's a fantastic, tastefully done scene, neither vague nor gratuitous. It's super romantic. And makes perfect sense in the plot.

I don't mean that I don't like YA novels with excess violence and pansy love scenes. Many of them are my all-time favorites. This isn't a commentary on the authors and their books, but on the peculiar American culture that I understand we all have to cater to. If a book has a particularly violent scene, parents don't usually worry about it. If there's a sex scene, parents jump on it. Case in point: Kody Keplinger's debut THE DUFF. A book offering a candid, non-preachy plot with teen sex (and written by a teen, so I'm pretty sure it's accurate). When reading reviews on it, I see the huge amount of inevitable "too much sex, inappropriate". Granted, people also criticize The Hunger Games for having too much violence, but the uproar raised over that is half-hearted at best.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but for me it really just comes down to: I'd like to read less Pansy Love Scenes in YA and more tasteful, honest love scenes. If the story is better with that love scene, do it justice.

Currently read and/or reading

It's been a while since I've done a "currently reading" list. Time to plug a few authors and their scrumptious books. (Btw, I have a confession to make, and it's an embarrassing one. *deep breath* I'm not a fast reader. In fact, I'm really slow. I've always been a little ashamed of this, and now that I talk to more writers, I feel it much more acutely. I'm only capable of really absorbing ....I'd say, 20-25 novels a year. A paltry number compared to most people I know. I'm trying to improve this number, but so far it's been very gradual. I do feel the pain of any young teens or kids out there who feel like they have trouble with reading. You have to find the books that draw you in and read what you love. Once you find the right books, it becomes so much easier.)

I tell this mini-story because I'm trying to emphasize that when I do latch onto a book, it means a great deal to me. So the books in the following list (and ANY list I make of currently reading/have-read books) are books I genuinely loved or am loving. Because I'm a slow reader, I have to carefully pick what I'm reading because I'm going to be reading it for a while. So these recommendations are not given lightly.

:)

Anyway, here we go...

Currently reading:

Shipbreaker by Paolo Bacigalupi: I started this one recently and am loving it so far. It's a very original dystopian concept, about a boy named Nailer whose job is to strip copper wire from shipwrecked old oil tankers on the U.S. coast. Pretty eerie setting, mainly because it seems very plausible. Anyway, Nailer happens upon a really luxurious ship one day that can be worth a lot of money to scavenge (if they do it right). They also find a girl on this ship, though, who may or may not be trustworthy. Nailer is a completely endearing main character who I found myself rooting for from page 1. Love the details about scavenging the oil tankers, too!


Huntress by Malinda Lo: If you loved Lo's Ash, or authors like Patricia McKillip, you'll love this. I just started this one and it has all the beauty, lyricism, and magic of her first novel. In Huntress, the world is fading...failing crops, sunless skies. To save it, two girls are chosen to go on a journey to the city of the Fairy Queen, and in the process they come to rely on and love each other. I smile every time I read Lo's writing. It's SO beautiful. Check it out. :)

Fury of the Phoenix by Cindy Pon: Sequel to Silver Phoenix, which is about a girl named Ai Ling who sets off to find her father when he doesn't return from the Imperial Palace. Nothing like a book about a girl who can kick ass like Ai Ling, as well as a book full of fantasy, adventure, romance, and AMAZING descriptions of mouthwatering food.

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare: Book 4 in her Mortal Instruments series. I've liked Cassie Clare's writing for a long time, and started TMI after reading book 1 in her other (related) trilogy, The Clockwork Angel (see below). :) You've probably heard of this series, unless you live under a rock.

Recently finished:


The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare: Recently finished this, then immediately bought it for a friend too. Few people can conjure up amazing male protagonists like Cassie can. And obviously, by the appearance of my own male protagonist (Day), you know I have a thing for white/silver-haired half-Asian boys like her character Jem. :) Dark, funny, steampunk-y, romantic, and full of goodness!

The Child Thief by Brom: I've always loved Peter Pan in every iteration he's ever been in. But man, Peter in THIS story is at his darkest. This is not for teens under 14. Very dark, violent, and with sexual references. But it is so good. Peter! I loved him for his conflicted nature and sense of duty. And, of course, his ever-present mischievous spirit.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver: My friend Julie had recommended Before I Fall (Oliver's first novel) to me a while back, and it was one of the best recs I've gotten. Now I'm a permanent fan of her breathtaking prose. Delirium is dystopian (so, obvious love points here) and a love story, but it takes place in a future U.S. that sees love as a disease that must be eradicated. 17-yr old Lena is going to get a procedure that "cures" her of love, but before she does, she falls in love with a free-spirited boy named Alex. Great read. First of a trilogy!