Marie Lu

Going on tour this February

2012-01-12T20:13:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year, guys! Hope you all had a fantastic holiday season. To kick things off in 2012, I have some very exciting news: I am going on a book tour in February! Penguin has announced their Breathless Reads tour, which will include myself and three amazing authors: Andrea Cremer, Beth Revis, and Jessica Spotswood. Check out our tentative tour stops below. Hope to see you at one or more events! (More details to come in the following weeks)

Wed., Feb. 15, 2012

Chicago

Anderson's Bookshop

Thurs., Feb. 16, 2012

Washington, D.C.

Politics and Prose

Fri., Feb. 17, 2012

New York City

Dolphin Bookstore

Books of Wonder public event @ 6 PM

Sat., Feb. 18, 2012

Philadelphia

Towne Center Book & Cafe

Sun., Feb. 19, 2012

Philadelphia

Doylestown Bookshop

Tues., Feb. 21, 2012

Atlanta

Little Shop of Stories

Wed., Feb. 22, 2012

Houston

Blue Willow Bookshop

Thurs., Feb. 23, 2012

Dallas

Barnes & Noble, Frisco

Fri., Feb. 24, 2012

Los Angeles

Once Upon A Time

Sat., Feb. 25, 2012

Los Angeles

Passion and Prose event @ Westin Long Beach

Hope to see you there! Also, I wanted to say a huuuuge thank you to everyone who has sent such kind notes about enjoying Legend. I can't tell you how happy they make me. So much :heart: for you guys!

Legend is finally here. An emotional day.

2011-11-28T18:29:00.001-08:00

(posting a few hours early :) )

Today is November 29, 2011. It is the day my first novel, Legend, releases in bookstores.

I’m sitting in the little living room of the bungalow I share with my boyfriend, buried under a pile of dogs (I have three—two corgis and a Chihuahua), and attempting to not hyperventilate into a paper bag. Playing the ‘Finding Nemo’ theme song on repeat is probably not helping, either. (Could there BE a more depressing theme? I want to bawl every time I hear it. Oh, Nemo! You adorable little gimpy-finned fish egg! Anyway. I digress.) Is it really The Day? How do I articulate the avalanche of emotions going through my head? How do I even begin to communicate this? Today, my twelve-year journey of trying to get published officially comes to an end, and I will have stepped through the looking glass to the other side.

Sorry, I may get a little metaphorical and cheesy, but come on! You only get a debut novel release date once in your life. (Well, once in your country, anyway…) Cut me some slack, yeah? Besides, I like cheese. It’s very delicious.

For some reason, the only thing I can picture in my head is my fourteen-year old self, back when I first started trying to get published. I remember setting my alarm for 2 AM every night, then writing by lamplight for two hours with a robe stuffed under my door so that no one would know I was awake. Out of all my writing memories, this is the one I see the most clearly. I remember everything about those late-night writing sessions. How quietly I tried to type on that old IBM computer. How annoyingly hot the lamp would get. How chilly the nights in winter were, and how stuffy the summers felt (this was taking place in Houston, by the way). How sometimes I’d pass out in front of the computer from sheer exhaustion, then wake up after half an hour and keep going. I’m fairly convinced that I might have gotten a few more A’s in school if I’d gotten more full nights of sleep. But I can’t say that I regret it. For any of my high school teachers who might be reading this, now you know why I occasionally looked glassy-eyed in your class. I promise I still loved learning! I just…lacked sleep…

I was incredibly naïve at fourteen, so blissfully unaware of how long the journey would really take. In fact, I think I had less fears back then than I do now. It’s the day Legend launches and I am scared, so very scared. Eat-a-pint-of-ice-cream-by-myself scared. There are a thousand expectations I’ve created for myself, and so far to fall. Am I any good? Will readers be disappointed? Will they like the story? Will they like the characters? Will they egg my door? Should I change my address? Move to the Alps and hide in obscurity and shame? The closer I got to seeing Legend on the shelves, the more I understood why a lot of writers are a little wonky in the head. I feel the wonk quite strongly now.

But just when I think the pressure and terror might swallow me whole, I remember that I’m walking a well-trodden path. There are hundreds of thousands, millions, of writers who have taken this road before, and I’m just one traveler in a group of many, many others. I’m not alone. I remind myself that a lot of people held my hand through the bumps in the road. I remember that I have so much more to learn. I think of all the kind words and support people have given me during the time leading up to today, and those words help quell the fears.

It’s no secret that there has been a lot of upheaval in the book industry lately. A lot of bad blood, a lot of fear, a lot of anger thrown back and forth between all the cogs of the profession about contracts and technology and change, about money and percentages and formats and royalties. But in the midst of that, there are books—little bundles of words built on heart and soul that we tentatively push out to the public and then cross our fingers for. This has never changed. (Okay, except for Snooki. Maybe.) It reminds me that in spite of all our bickering, we all love books, we all love words, and we wait for these little moments, the quiet connection between our world and our readers’ world. This unites us, no matter what.

So… Thank you booksellers, thank you writers, thank you bloggers, thank you reviewers, thank you Penguin, thank you NLA and UTA, thank you CBS Films/Temple Hill, thank you family and friends, and thank you readers. Thank you, readers.

Thank you for giving me today.

Legend's launch party!

2011-11-16T17:24:00.000-08:00

Specifically, if you happen to be in or around the Los Angeles area on Dec. 1st at 7:30 pm. Because Legend's official launch party is happening at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore in Redondo Beach, CA at that time!

Legend Launch Party Info

Where: Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, 2810 Artesia Blvd, Redondo Beach, California 90278

When: Dec. 1st, 2011 from 7:30 - 8:30 pm

What: Legend's official launch event, which will include signing, possibly some talking, and a lot of books

(If you'd like to say "Attend" on Facebook, the event page for this is here: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=257493287633334 )

Open to: Everyone who can make it! In other words, I have a terrible fear of sitting by myself in a bookstore with a stack of Legend books....so, please feel free to bring as many friends as you can! I would be so extremely grateful and so thrilled to see you there. :heart:

I also wanted to say, thank you all so very much for your support, kind words, and encouragement. Can't believe the release is finally around the corner. You guys are the best! :heart:

We are now less than two weeks away from Legend's release (Nov. 29)!

A very special, free copy of Legend

2011-09-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

Update: The winner of the limited edition ARC of Legend is........

~drosana! (from deviantArt)

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~drosana's entry: "I'd go by Puck. It's the name of the impish character featured in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (hehe, Even Robin Hood has taken his name from this character! Puck is also called Robin Goodfellow. Robin Hood's mother even called him Robin-Puck!)

Like him, I like to joke around and act a bit silly, even more so, I love to be mischievous and sneaky. I am good at lying and misleading, leaving most to believe they know me well, when in fact, they're more acquainted with one of my facades. I am a master of disguise without the need of a mask (or fake mustache, thought it cannot be said that I haven't tried it anyway!) Despite all of this, I'm a laugh and a rather good natured person. I try to keep to my manners and with my boyish appearance, most call me a gentleman! I have a flair for the dramatic and fun. So that's my entry! *tips hat and jumps off*"
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Congrats on winning the limited edition version of Legend! I'll Note you with details. :)

We had well over 150+ entries combining all deviantArt, Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads entries. Man, you guys are GOOD at coming up with rebel names. I love these! I may do another contest in the near future where the prize is to feature your rebel name in Legend 2 as a side character. Thank you all for participating!

The winner was chosen by a random number generator and a list of all the entries. While the winner was randomly chosen, I also wanted to give a shout out to my 3 favorite entries from you guys:

1) (from deviantArt's ~Star-Bunny): "I'd be Pancakes... cause pancakes are awesome. They are unassumingly delicious and its hard to be upset with someone named pancakes."

This just made me laugh out loud.

2) (from Twitter's BookWormLove): "@Marie_Lu My streetname would be Gadget (It was my nickname in girl scouts for years because I'm all about technological stuff) :) #Legend"

Gadget from Rescue Rangers was one of my favorite childhood characters. LOVE girls with techie know-how!

3) (from Facebook's Jeni Hackett): "Assuming astronomy is roughly the same (or at least the names of the stars), I'd go by Polaris after the North Star. It's a good name for a 'guiding' rebel, which is what I'd likely aim to be; less of a hell-raiser, and more of a care-taker, guardian sort. Maybe I'd run a safehouse, where the North Star parallel ties in as Polaris has always been a star associated with pointing towards home and safety."

I love astronomy. Yay Polaris!

Again, thank you so much to all who entered! I had a ton of fun, and I hope you did too. :) Stay tuned for further contests!

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Legend's official Facebook page has now reached 502 "Likes", thanks to you guys!

I said before that once it passed 500, I would give away a very special, limited edition version of Legend. So here we go, as promised!

The Prize: I have exactly ONE of these. Here's what it looks like.

This is a limited edition version of the advance copies of Legend (which doesn't go on public sale until Nov. 29 this year). Penguin, my publisher, made a very small number of these. They probably won't make any more. Unlike the regular advance copies, these are packaged in a gorgeous box that opens up into a limited edition magnet, profile info of Day and June, and etc. (And, of course, it also includes a softcover advance copy of Legend.) The one that I have is still in its plastic wrap and brand new.

How long this giveaway contest runs: From today (9/27) until midnight Pacific Standard Time on next Tuesday (10/4).

Open to: Everyone, both in the U.S. and internationally.

What you have to do: (You can enter by posting a comment to this journal entry right here. OR, you can also enter by commenting on the same journal entry at my deviantArt blog , my Facebook page , or send me a tweet.)

At any of the aforementioned places, answer the following in your comment:

All rebels in the Republic, the dystopian future version of America in Legend, have a street name. (For example, "Day" is the street name of Legend's boy protagonist. He has his reasons for nicknaming himself that.) If you were a rebel in the Republic, what would your street name be, and why?

On next Wednesday (10/5), I will read through all the entries and pick a random winner.

Have fun! Looking forward to hearing your street names, rebels. :)

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

2011-08-24T16:38:00.000-07:00

(that's a Jobs quote, btw)

Steve Jobs resigned as Apple CEO today, possibly because of his health. Taken from his official resignation letter, he says, "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come."

This, coupled with a few emails I've gotten from readers and aspiring writers over the last few days, has made me really pensive. So I'm going to quote Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford commencement address below:

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

You only have one life. Don't spend your precious days working at a job to please your parents, or at a job you hate in exchange for some financial security. Believe me, I understand--I still regret not majoring in art and I almost went for a career I would have hated. I know the urgency of a roof over my head and food on the table, but my life's work should never be something I don't want to do. Do what you have to do to survive, but never lose sight of your real goals. Never get lost in the maze of Security. As Steve Jobs says, you have got, you have GOT, to find what you love. Life is just far too short to be spent otherwise. It stuns me every time I stop to think about how much Jobs has achieved in only 55 years of life. I hope that I'm able to achieve even a sliver of that.

If you know that you'll regret pursuing an accounting degree instead of a creative writing degree, pursue the creative writing degree. If you want to be an artist instead of a doctor, then be an artist. Be brave. Have faith. Do it. You only get one shot at life.

Trend Labels kill organic instinct

2011-08-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

Once I'm told about a trend, I can't ever go back to "unknowing" that it is a trend. And that is extremely frustrating. Why?

Because when I'm writing BEFORE I know about All The Trends, the reasons why I choose to do certain things is organic and instinctive. I can guarantee that to myself. I wrote Legend as a YA before I knew I was writing it as YA. I wrote Legend as a dystopia before I knew that dystopias were The Thing. I wrote Legend with a male 1st person POV before I was told that a 1st person POV is a trend in YA and a male POV is not a trend in YA. So when I'm told that dystopia is a trend, I feel like I've sold out. When I'm told that male POV is NOT a trend, I feel good because I think I'm going against the grain. And then I feel frustrated.

Every time I find out about a trend, I feel something taken away from me.

Because AFTER I know of a trend, I feel like future writing decisions I make are forever influenced by that trend, regardless of which side of the trend I fall on. For example, if I now choose to write something purely from a female's POV, I will always think to myself: am I writing female because it is a trend? Or am I choosing it because that's what I want to write? Am I adding romance between my characters because it is a trend, or because I genuinely see the romance between those characters? Am I writing YA now because it is a trend? My brain becomes this feverish list of trends, no matter how hard I try to "unknow" them.

Male POV = not trend
Female POV = trend
Romance = trend
Ethnic main characters = not trend
1st person POV = trend
3rd person POV = not trend
Present tense = trend
Past tense = not trend
Dystopia = trend
Historical fiction = not trend
Paranormal = trend

This is a bad, bad way for me to think. I want to write an ethnic main character without thinking that I'm choosing it because I want to buck a trend. Once, I could be sure that I chose these things strictly because I wanted to write that way; now I can never be sure. Am I subconsciously influenced forever by knowing of these trends? I greatly dislike that feeling, because it takes away my Organic Instinct.

I want my Organic Instinct back.

I want to be able to write a paranormal story from the 1st person point of view of a gay Chinese girl without hearing all these whispers in my head that say, "You're following a trend! You're breaking a trend! You're following a trend! You're breaking a trend!". I like writing boy POVs. I like writing 1st person POVs. I want to pick what to write without feeling guilt (following trend) or pride (not following trend). I want to pick what to write simply because I want to write it.

So if there's a new trend going around, please don't tell me! I don't want to know that it exists.

Legend is in the Wall Street Journal today

2011-08-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

There are 2 different articles about Legend in the Wall Street Journal today! The first is in their print edition and also online under their subscriber content, and the 2nd is online at their Speakeasy section. There's some extra information about the inspirations behind the book as well as other tidbits:

Online article: ‘Twilight’ Producers, Penguin Are Betting on ‘Legend’

Print/Subscription article: Penguin Puts Marketing Muscle Behind 'Legend,' a Dystopian Debut

I wanted to say major thanks to reporter Barbara Chai, who was such a delight to talk to. You are amazing!

-----

Also, Legend has now sold foreign rights for Complex Chinese and Dutch! My family members in China can now have an edition they can read, which makes me all kinds of happy.

In other news, I've been writing the beginning of Legend 3 and am discovering all sorts of new things about what it's like to write the final book in a trilogy. Legend 2 (which is still undergoing revisions) was way, way, WAY harder to draft than Legend 1 was. In fact, I'd say the first book of any series must be the easiest one to write....and the second one is the hardest. I'm still afraid of Book 2. Man, it pwned me so much. It's STILL pwning me.

Legend 3, though, is an interesting beast. Writing it is, again, completely different from writing the previous two. Book 2 is a lot of character fleshing-out, digging deeper into the personalities and motivations of the characters that were introduced in #1. #3 is so far all about Tying The Loose Ends. Getting everything that's been wandering about in #1 and #2 back together and tied together into one thick string is a much bigger challenge than I guessed. I suppose it's sort of like writing #1 in reverse--where #1 is about starting off with one thick string and then branching it all off into multiple little strings. Much of the challenge I'm hitting is being able to think of the right plot scenes to match the tying of loose ends. What scene can be used to start tightening up two or three individual strings? That's pretty much all I've been mumbling to myself lately. I take notes at the gym, at restaurants, at the laundromat, everywhere. And then I toss them out and write new ones. I'm so glad no one sees me working at home. People would probably think I'm nuts, walking around in my PJs, mumbling to myself and running my hands through my messy hair until it looks absolutely incomprehensible.

I've never ever tried writing a book 2 or 3 before in my life. I've had practice writing book ONES of stories....I mean, all the unpublished manuscripts I wrote before Legend were all book ones of stories. But this is the first time I've gone farther than the first one. And man, it is a serious learning experience.

Also, still pinching myself. Most days, I still can't believe everything that is happening. Today is definitely one of those days. <3

To all bloggers and reviewers

2011-07-29T10:13:00.001-07:00

As the date for Legend's launch inches closer, I find myself feeling more and more afraid. Back when I was unpublished and still searching for the right story, I always fantasized about what it would be like if I knew that something I'd written was going to be launched. (I had written four unpublished manuscripts before Legend, so I had plenty of time to fantasize!) I thought I'd know how it would feel. But honestly, I didn't know a thing--because the mix of emotions I feel these days (anxiety, happiness, terror, excitement, fearfearfeaaaar) is NOT what I had imagined. I guess I couldn't have known. It's just one of those things I needed to experience to understand.

But in addition to the aforementioned emotions and all the whirlwind of activities leading up to Nov. 29 (i.e. Launch Day), I also feel one more emotion. Gratefulness. Specifically, I feel grateful for all the YA bloggers, reviewers, and general readers that have taken the time to read and review the advance copies of Legend. It's such a thrill and privilege for me. I'm so thankful for your reviews (both the good and the bad), because it means you took the time to read and then analyze Legend for better or worse. So, thank you! I know you have a lot of books to choose from. Picking up mine, well....nothing makes me happier than that.

(If you are a book blogger, reviewer, or would just like an ARC of Legend, please send an email to yrmarketing -at- us.penguingroup.com with your name, email, blog URL, and mailing address. It doesn't guarantee a copy but as far as I've seen, Penguin's been pretty good about it so hopefully you'll get a copy!)

Legend's UK/AU cover is revealed

2011-07-25T16:49:00.000-07:00

I'm so giddy with excitement that I get to share the UK/AU cover of Legend with you guys now. Check out this piece of epic awesomeness!

gah, I love it. Strong stance, gorgeous landscape and colors. *SQUEE*

(Also, Comic-con was AWESOME. Photos here!)

Comic-con Schedule

2011-07-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

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! <3

LEGEND is in USA Today!

2011-07-19T10:19:00.001-07:00

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/news/2011-07-18-marie-lu-legend-dystopia_n.htm

Tweaked titles

2011-07-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

(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

2011-06-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

(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

2011-06-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

(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

2011-06-06T14:48:00.001-07:00

(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. <3

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

2011-05-13T14:59:00.001-07:00

(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. <3

The Pansy Love Scene

2011-04-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

(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

2011-04-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

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!

Abused Protagonists

2011-03-30T16:27:00.000-07:00

Was sketching this today, after rereading a LEGEND scene where I make Day get hurt. a LOT. There really ought to be an international support group for writers' poor abused protagonists, eh?

June and Metias

2011-03-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

So I was thinking about how to talk about LEGEND without giving away the plot....and my solution is to draw little sketch mini-scenes from the book. :) Today's vignette: June (LEGEND's main girl protagonist) is bugging her older brother Metias. Metias is not amused. I'll be posting more of these!

See it on deviantArt

Thoughts for Japan

2011-03-11T11:29:00.000-08:00

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

And all Pacific islands/coastlines affected by the earthquake and tsunami today. Red Cross donation link here.

And CNN link for those tuning in.

For any of you living in an affected area, my thoughts are with you and your families. <3

Interview and more foreign deals

2011-02-25T17:08:00.000-08:00

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

Just a few Legend updates!

I recently did an interview (with the lovely Christine Donatello) for ScienceFiction.com about Legend. Now it's live! You can check it out at the link below:

Interview with ScienceFiction.com

Also, Penguin's foreign rights team has now brought the total of Legend's foreign rights deals up to 6! We recently sold Italian, Greek, and Hebrew rights. This means Legend has sold rights for:

- UK
- Australia/New Zealand
- Italy
- Spain/Catalan
- France
- Germany
- Hebrew

I think those are all the ones, although I might be forgetting one.....

Anyway, have a great weekend, guys!

Squeeing in Times Square

2011-02-14T13:04:00.001-08:00

Okay, I've been wondering whether or not I should post this on my blog--because it's just so bizarre and out-there (in a wonderful way) that I almost wanted to keep it to myself for a while. But Agent Kristin has blogged about it already, so I'm giddy to share it here too!

Film Agent Kassie let me know last Friday that news about LEGEND's movie deal hit Times Square! I think it was rotating in the square on last Friday, although I can't be sure. (I'm also not entirely sure who took the photo, but to Ms. PhotoTaker--I send you much love!) It's jarring and shriek-inducing to think that my head was three stories tall in NYC....I hope I wasn't too pixelated. :)

Big news! LEGEND's movie rights have sold!

2011-02-04T11:08:00.001-08:00

There are some things that I always dreamt about, like finally being able to get a book deal. THEN there are the things that are so crazy I didn't even know to dream about them:

CBS Films has bought the movie rights to Legend, with Temple Hill's Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen (Twilight Saga, Nativity Story, Dear John) to produce! My amazing book and film agents, Kristin Nelson (NLA) and Kassie Evashevski (UTA) brokered the deal. I love them with the intensity of a thousand suns!!

Deadline's news article about it: "CBS Films Makes Franchise Play With Marie Lu Novel 'Legend'"

And here's CBS Films' press release about it:

---
CBS FILMS ACQUIRES MARIE LU’S FORTHCOMING NOVEL
LEGEND

TEMPLE HILL’S MARTY BOWEN AND WYCK GODFREY TO PRODUCE

LOS ANGELES – February 4, 2011 – CBS Films today announced that the company has secured exclusive rights to Marie Lu’s futuristic thriller Legend. Penguin Group has set the first novel in the series for publication in November 2011. Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey (The Twilight Saga, Dear John) will develop and produce.

In a dark future, North America has split into two warring nations. The story follows Day, a young Robin Hood, and June, the teen prodigy hired to hunt him down; together they uncover an impossible truth about their totalitarian leaders. The adventure that follows will become Legend.

“The character of Day, a roguish teen outlaw on the run, has been in my head since high school. One night, I was watching an old time detective movie on TV when the idea of Day vs. the gifted teen June came to me,” said Lu. “I'm beyond thrilled about CBS Films' support for Legend, and the instant I spoke with Temple Hill I could tell that they really got the characters and the story. It couldn't be in better hands. I can't wait to see what they have in store."

Lu has planned the series as a trilogy and will be involved on the scripting phase as an Executive Producer. Temple Hill exec Isaac Klausner brought Legend to the attention of Godfrey and Bowen. Godfrey said, "Marie's book struck me first as a Dickens story by way of Ray Bradbury. It's both gothic epic romance and vivid science fiction. It will make a stunning movie."

“I have known Marty and Wyck for years, and have been eager to bring them to CBS Films. They have proven to have a great instinct for intellectual properties that have both emotional resonance and commercial potential,” commented CBS Films President and CEO, Amy Baer.

“In Legend, Lu has created an expansive world with franchise potential,” added CBS Films COO, Wolfgang Hammer who, in his first deal, moved quickly to pre-empt the book. He continued, “This project is a perfect example of theatrical content with dynamic digital possibilities that CBS Films is now focusing on.”

Senior Vice President of Production Maria Faillace and Creative Executive Ryan Conroy will oversee the project for CBS Films. CBS Films has rights to the entire trilogy as well as any sequels and spinoffs. Lu, Bowen and Godfrey are represented by UTA.

---

I'm over the moon with excitement. The Temple Hill guys are incredibly nice and very excited, and I'm beyond thrilled with CBS Films's support. Of course, now I'm just surfing the net giddily looking for photos of actors that could play Day or June. Not my most productive morning....but I'm ok with that. :)

Legend 2 is done (well, sort of)

2011-02-03T15:33:00.001-08:00

Clocking in at just over 81,500 words, Legend 2 is finally done. Well, almost. What I've finished is a first draft, and I already know that there are going to be oodles of rewrites ahead. But I managed to at least finish my first sequel to something--however bad it might currently be. I'll take that as a win. :) Now it's time to clear my brain of LEGEND-ish stuff for a bit, read some other books (DELIRIUM by Lauren Oliver came out yesterday, so that's the first one I'm tackling) and soak in some sights other than the white canvas of Word. Woot!

I have some other exciting news to share too, but that will have to wait for the next day or three.... :)

Congrats to Across The Universe!

2011-01-25T10:52:00.000-08:00

MATCHED is still on the NYT list (#8), and now I just noticed that ACROSS THE UNIVERSE has made it too (#7)! Hugely excited to see dystopian books on the bestseller lists, and many congrats to Penguin family Beth Revis and Ally Condie. Both are just fantastic novels. Pick them up if you haven't had a chance to!

The Great Pizza Debacle

2011-01-08T11:00:00.000-08:00

This actually happened over a year ago, but it's quite literally the world's greatest accidental pizza ordering prank. I do not recommend repeating this, unless you want your local pizza delivery spot to hate you forever. Still, I wanted to record this somewhere, and thought it might make a nice 2011 entry!

(Scene. Boyfriend, me, 3 of boyfriend's cousins, numbered as Cousin #1, 2, and 3. Living room of our apartment. Cousins have been to our apartment several times before. UFC is on in a few minutes.)

Boyfriend and me: What does everyone want to order?
Cousins: Pizza.
Boyfriend and me: Well, you guys can go ahead and order. We're going to pick up a sandwich instead--but we'll be back soon. You guys want Pizza Hut or Round Table Pizza?
Cousin #1: Probably Pizza Hut. I'll look up where they are.
Me: Okay. (shuffling around in bedroom, changing, getting ready, going in and out of room)
Cousin #1: Hey, what's the address?
Me: Lemme look it up. (looks up Pizza Hut address in bedroom) 777 South Arroyo Parkway.
Cousin #1: K thanks. (several minutes later) Phone number?
Me: (looks up Pizza Hut number) (area code)-792-2800.
Cousin #1: K thanks.

(Boyfriend and I leave to get our sandwiches, secure in the knowledge that Cousins are happily ordering their favorite pizzas. Boyfriend and I return with our sandwiches. UFC starts.)

Boyfriend and I: (munch munch munch. Cousins watch UFC, occasionally looking over at our sandwiches with envy.)

(An hour and a half passes since they ordered)

Boyfriend: Hey, is your pizza coming anytime soon?
Me: Yeah, it's been like an hour and a half.
Cousin #2: I'll call them and check.

(While Cousin #2 is on the phone)

Me: Did you give them our address?
Cousin #1: Yeah. 777 South Arroyo Parkway.
Me: Heh? That's not our address. That's Pizza Hut's address.
Cousin #1: What?
Me: That's Pizza Hut's address. I thought you were asking me so you could go pick it up if you wanted.

(at this point, Cousin #3 falls over laughing. He has caught on before any of us)

Cousin #1: Cousin #2, get off the phone! (Cousin #2 hangs up on pizza guy) Wait. Why would you give me Pizza Hut's address? I was asking for yours!
Me: You said 'What's the address?' right after you said you were going to order from Pizza Hut, and I thought you'd been here enough times that maybe you didn't need ours!
Boyfriend: Wait, so the Pizza Hut delivery guy couldn't tell that you gave them the address to their own store? What, did the delivery boy just go out and then realize he looped right back around to deliver pizzas to their own store?
Cousin #1: What are you talking about? We didn't order from Pizza Hut. We changed our minds while you were gone and ordered from Round Table..... OH snap. (realization hits us all, except Cousin #3, who already got it)
Me: So Round Table delivered their pizza to Pizza Hut?

(silence)

All: OMG.
Me: Wait, but shouldn't they have given you, Cousin #1, a call when the pizza got delivered to Pizza Hut?? I mean, didn't you have to give them your phone number?
Cousin #1: No, I gave them the number you gave me, so that they could call you guys at home when it was ready. Cousin #2, what's the number?
Cousin #2: Uh, it was (area code)-792-2800.
Me: THAT WAS THE PIZZA HUT NUMBER!!!
Cousin #1: What! WHY WOULD YOU GIVE ME THAT!
Me: I thought you were ordering Pizza Hut pizza, so I gave you their number!!
Boyfriend: So now Round Table can't even trace who made the call? Because they call that number and get Pizza Hut?
Cousin #3: Omg. We made Round Table deliver their pizzas to Pizza Hut. This is the greatest accidental pizza delivery prank ever.

(We die laughing at the mental image of the poor Round Table delivery boy delivering pizzas to Pizza Hut, getting there confused, calling the number he got from us, but only to receive Pizza Hut on the line. And picturing the following conversation:

Pizza Hut: Pizza Hut, can I take your order?
Round Table delivery boy: Uh....no, but I have your order....

)

Cousin #1 did give Round Table my boyfriend's name when he was ordering, so now we are permanently afraid to ever call Round Table to deliver pizzas again. But it made for a good laugh. :)

On the nightstand

2011-01-06T18:15:00.001-08:00

(Except I don't really have a nightstand....I have a computer desk that is ridiculously high next to my floor-level bed)

Across the Universe by Beth Revis: Shauna, I sing your praises. I am clutching my ARC gleefully and have dived right into the first chapter. Consensus so far? Very delicious. I can tell I'm going to enjoy this one.

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White: The instant the main character pulled out a rhinestone-studded pink taser to take down a vampire, I knew this one was a must-have. So far, not disappointed!

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver: Recommended to me by a good friend. I actually just finished this and have to say it's one of the most thought-provoking YAs I've encountered in a long time. It's made me go back to my manuscript and (in between fits of "Why can't I write a story like that!") figure out ways to put in more subtle emotions and interactions in both of my main characters. Whether or not I'm successful, we'll have to see....

Matched by Ally Condie: Also recently finished this one. As The Giver is one of my favorite YAs, this one was an excellent return to a similar world. I have to admit I'm on Team Xavier, though. Cassia, how can you resist his charms!

Whenever I feel stuck in a rut with my own writing, I always find it helpful to pick up an anticipated book and devour it from beginning to end. By the time I'm done, I'm almost always itching to dive right back into whatever chapter I was stuck on. Today was no different. I couldn't seem to start off a chapter about 3/4 of the way through Legend 2. So I stopped torturing myself, stepped away from the laptop for a while, and started reading Across the Universe. After a chapter and a half, I was ready to go back to my manuscript. And got 2,000+ words in 2 hours. The stimulating power of others' creativity at work! A good tip for any writer, I think.

Fond farewell to 2010, Hopes for 2011

2010-12-31T07:29:00.000-08:00

Here we are on the last day of 2010 . . . sigh, how I'm going to miss it. 2010 will be remembered as the year I pitched a brand of my own to real media professionals for the first time, the year I finally returned to being a vegetarian after missing three years (oops :) ), the year Boyfriend and I accidentally locked our chihuahua out of the house for an hour and then rushing out to find him only to realize he'd been sitting obediently on our porch steps the whole time, the year I lost seven pounds (and then gained three back after the holidays), the year Boyfriend and I finally got off our lazy butts and changed the tires on our little Yaris, and the year we nearly drowned in Los Angeles' December rains. But most of all, I'll remember 2010 as the year I finally got a book deal (something that's been on my resolutions list for a very lot of years). And that makes 2010 a fond memory to mark down in my (invisible) book.

Now I've got my sights set on 2011 and all the things I want to accomplish. I'd like to lose those three holiday pounds, for a starter, and maybe even five more. I want to get a change of scenery, maybe travel with Boyfriend a little more than I usually do. I want to start sketching again at least once a week, something I've been procrastinating on as more and more other things fill my time. I want to cook more often and exercise at least three times a week (this one's going to be tricky to stick to). I want to finish Legend 3 before the end of the year. I want to read more outside of the genres I've grown comfortable with. And lastly (but probably mostly), I want to make Legend 2 a better book than Legend 1. I'll have to see how that one goes, though. :)

Any New Year's Resolutions from you guys?

Have a fun, safe, and festive New Year's Eve, and Happy 2011!

Happy holidays, themes, and rain

2010-12-20T12:41:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's been nonstop rain in California for the past few days and it'll keep on going until Wednesday. My condolences to anyone who is visiting Los Angeles as a tourist for the first time this week. I promise it's usually sunnier than this. :)

As I continue trekking through Legend 2, I realize (and am usually surprised) that a lot of my values and opinions about the state of the world tend to creep into the text, even though I'm not consciously trying to put them in. And when I take a step back to look at the Legend series as a whole, I realize that the entire story's premise is chock full of the themes and morals that matter to me in real life. I shouldn't find this weird, I know--I mean, it's only natural for writers' work to reflect their opinions. But it's still interesting to see it happen right before my eyes when I'm not aware of it at all.

Anyway, I'm heading home to Houston for the next two weeks. I've finally managed to convince my boyfriend to get on a plane (he's terrified of flying), and this is our first "real" trip in four years. A success! Next year, we'll graduate to a longer flight. Maybe even beyond the borders of the U.S., mwahaha. Happy holidays, everyone! Hope you all get to eat delicious foods and visit your favorite people. See you in 2011!

Got my copyedits for Legend!

2010-12-15T17:12:00.000-08:00

What a lovely, colorful mashup of thousands of letters and arrows and strikes! I am awed, impressed, and intimidated. I luff it. :D

I think the copyeditors know more about my book than I do.

Still chugging

2010-12-05T08:44:00.001-08:00

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. :) Mine was great, full of food and other delectable things, although my word count didn't grow as fast as I wanted.

But so far I've been good in December. I'm at 41,118 words on Legend 2. I can tell this book is going to be longer than Legend 1, but that's ok--that seems to be the general trend among sequels. (I mean, look at the size difference between Hunger Games and Catching Fire) The middle part of L2 is probably the most complicated part of the whole thing in terms of plot, so it's taking me extra time to get the details accurate and the plot points right. Once I get over this hurdle, the second half of the book should come pretty fast. Yargh. I can't wait to write the two ending chapters, which I already know are going to be my favorite part of this whole book. I want to torture my characters!! But that'll have to wait until I sort this dang middle out. I guess I'll use those ending chapters as candy bait. :)

Anyway, that's all that's going on for me here. There are some other exciting things happening but I can't talk about them yet. But hopefully I will soon!

Happy Black Friday/Thanksgiving :)

2010-11-26T08:44:00.001-08:00

Hope you all had a great one! Mine involved a great influx of socializing, vegetarian food, shopping (and more shopping throughout today), sleeping in, lazily browsing the interwebz, and even a little bit of writing. Woot. :)

What race is your character, and do they "act like it"?

2010-11-26T06:28:00.000-08:00

This insults me, and probably not for the reason most people think. I side with the plastic surgeon, who explains that many of his Asian patients who opt for double eyelid surgery (i.e. Chinese/Koreans/etc who make their eyes look larger by getting a crease artificially made in their eyelid) are not trying to look Cauasian, but just better. And it insults me near the end when the white news reporter makes it sound like we get this surgery because we somehow shun our race or are trying to lose our "cultural identity". Why do Cauasians get tans? Because they want to look black or Hispanic? I don't think so--they just want to look like other Cauasians who have naturally darker skin. And while I'm sure some Asians get eyelid surgery to look more white, just as many get eyelid surgery because they want to look like Asians who have naturally large eyes.

That's right. Asians with naturally large eyes. Contrary to popular media in the States, we do not all have narrow slanted eyes and flat noses. What about Thai, Vietnamese, or Philippinos? Why can't we get eyelid surgery because, I dunno, maybe we want to look more like Zhou Xun:

Or Zhao Wei:

or Bea Alonzo (Philippino)?:

Why can't Asian girls get eyelid surgery without people claiming that she wants to look like this?:

Did you know being Asian also could mean being Mongolian, which means you might be born with Chinese features but Russian-esque blue eyes and blonde hair? (Btw, this is Day's race in Legend, a Mongolian/Russian mix):

Or that African children can also be born with blue eyes?

And what about hapas?

I'll speak a little for Asians. Asians can live in London and speak with a British accent. We can also draw (even if it's not anime!), recite 80's hits, suck at math, not be in the Triads or Yakuza mafia, rock at electric guitar, hate Chinese food, flunk out of school, have no interest in martial arts, be Muslim, or be born with naturally wavy hair. (I don't hate Chinese food, btw--my mom can attest to that. :) But I do have naturally wavy brown hair, just like my Manchurian/Mongolian grandmother.) We don't all want to look white just because of European influences throughout history. And we don't even all have last names with one syllable. My official last name might be Lu, but through my mother's side, my last name would be Aisin-Gioro. Manchurian. Thai people have some of the longest last names I've heard, and Philippinos have Spanish last names.)

Just because you're Hispanic doesn't mean you can't speak English well. Just because you're African doesn't mean you have black or brown eyes. Just because you're Native American doesn't mean you wear feathers, speak like a philosopher of nature, and have "savage beauty". These things may occur in a race, but they do not define a race. When including minorities in fiction, I think writers should try to expend more effort in researching the race in question. Add something unique that's not typified in today's media. Do some digging. It'll pay off with richer characterization and less blatant stereotyping, even if that stereotyping was done innocuously, with good intentions.

When your characters take your story hostage

2010-11-22T07:45:00.001-08:00

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

Blog lapse recently is due to the fact that I'm camped out in Houston for the week (I live in Los Angeles), visiting my stepdad and mum (and her awesomesauce cooking). :) Houston is where I grew up and went to grade/middle/high school, and I still think of it as my hometown. All mosquitoes aside, it's not half bad.

In book news, I've finished my revisions on Legend, and am back at work on Legend 2--although it always takes me a few days to get back into the groove. Currently L2 wordcount is at 32,085. I think my writing goals might be sporadic at best throughout Thanksgiving week, but we'll see how it goes.

In writing L2, I've started learning a few things about my writing habits. Writers usually fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of writing obsessively to a detailed outline, or writing freestyle where you just let every chapter take you wherever the story might go with no cohesive novel plan. I am no different. With L2, I started out with a general chapter-by-chapter outline but quickly realized about 7 chapters in that it was starting to veer off my planned path. Which is no surprise, seeing as Legend did the same thing. It's because as I write, my characters develop in ways that I don't expect, and their surprising motivations and actions start to change the mold of where the story's supposed to go. If I originally planned for everyone to meet in some bordertown, for instance, one of the characters will mutiny halfway there and strike out on their own. Or some other character might deceive another out of jealousy and/or spite. This stuff all happens out of nowhere, and when they come up, I'm always blindsided by it. And then I can do nothing but listen to the characters, even though they usually leave my neatly plotted outline in an apocalyptic wreck.

This used to freak me out a bit, as it does not help me plan out an accurate schedule for when I can finish the book in question. But lately I've learned that this is simply my brain's process, that in the end all of the pieces will connect (sometimes with duct tape and string), and that the characters will still arrive at the basic ending I have chosen for them. That's one thing that hasn't changed so far--the beginnings and the ends of my stories. No matter what twists and turns my characters decide to take for me in the middles, the endings always come out the same. It's like they try to avoid their fates, in vain. Mwahaha.

Paranormal activity?

2010-11-14T08:35:00.000-08:00

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

There have been some strange occurrences in my home lately.

Two days ago, I was feeding the dogs. I keep all their kibble in this big plastic jug, so I unscrewed the jug's plastic cap and put it face up on the counter. Then I turned away to pour the kibble into their bowls, and put it on the ground. When I went back to the counter, there was a chapstick sitting inside the face-up plastic cap. How could that possibly happen naturally? I mean, the cap has sides--it's not like a chapstick could just roll in there. And there was no one around who could've done that. Weird.

Then, yesterday night, I walked into my bathroom and there was a pair of my fake eyelashes sitting on the sink counter, out in plain sight. Now, I haven't used fake lashes in, like, 6 months. They are stored away under the sink cabinet.

Now I'm keeping a wary eye on things in the house....I'm sure there's a logical explanation for all this. Like a ghost. :) (Who, apparently, is into girly things.)

Switching gears

2010-11-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

Stopping NanoLite for at least the next week to work on a round of Book 1 revisions. :) It's fun revisiting my first manuscript and seeing it in a new light after suggestions from Editor Jen. Of course, this also means parts of Book 2 are also going to change--so I've gone back to scribbling notes on both and re-planning my strategy for some characters.

In other news, I've started coding a standalone social game site for Legend. Woot! Right now it's chock full of bugs, but eventually when I iron it out, it'll be like Fuzz Academy. Sort of like a cleaner, more accessible version of the Legend Facebook app. :)

Back to revisionizing!

Still hanging on

2010-11-09T20:21:00.000-08:00

I'm hanging on to NanoLite (i.e. my lite version of NaNoWriMo = at least 1,000 words a day in November, as opposed to NanoFat, which is the full 1,600-1,700 words a day). Barely. I missed it on one day, but my day of 2,000 words managed to make up for that one. Today I just squeaked by with 1,075 words, although I'm pretty sure that last paragraph I wrote is crap that will need to be deleted first thing in the morning. So my total word count for Legend 2 is 30,271. I finally crossed the 100-page/30k mark! Woot.

I think I'm finally hitting my groove for this book, and am still excited by a revelation I had last night about the plot. Currently I'm knee-deep in a fun chapter narrated by June. I always like writing her chapters because I get to do research on all sorts of random facts. Like how many square feet a railway car's floor is. Or how far a XM-25, the supposed deadliest U.S. military rifle, can shoot. (Answer = 700 m) Stuff that's pretty useless to know for everyday life, but fun for novel-writing. :) Also, if the U.S. government actually does keep track of what its citizens search for on the net, they probably have a surveillance camera on me due to the bizarre searches I do. (Russian fighter jets, spy planes, deadly biological weapons, and whether it's possible to make a bomb out of twigs and chewing gum? Not average civilian searches....)

Questions about writing/publishing industry

2010-11-09T20:16:00.000-08:00

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

Legend 2 progress: Finally had some decent writing yesterday and today after about a week of false starts and crappy chapters. I'm officially at 27,759 words. Hoping to get in at least 1,000 today, without having to go back and delete all of it like I've been doing. :) Day just got whacked in the face by someone. Poor boy.

-----

A commenter on my last entry suggested I should post some of the questions and my answers about writing/publishing in a new journal entry to make it easier to follow, so here I go!

Q: How did you go about deciding on what you wanted your story to accomplish, and figure out your basic plotline? Do you have any kind of suggestions about how to actually get through a first draft?

A: Plotting is extremely hard, much harder than I thought it would be before I started writing. I still have trouble coming up with good "what happens next?" plot points as I'm working on Legend 2. I think it helps to start with a catalyst event. What happens to set off a chain reaction of events in your story? That's the beginning. For example, in Legend, I came up with the characters first and I knew that I wanted it to be Day-the-boy-criminal vs. June-the-girl-detective. Then I thought about how I would get the two of them to cross paths. And from there, I created an event where Day would commit a crime that would force June into investigating it and hunting him down. What does one character want that another character doesn't want them to have? It helps to look into the relationships (and especially conflicts) between your main characters, and use that conflict between them to think of physical events that have to set off your story in motion.

Q: Do you think marketability is something that aspiring authors should keep in mind for their first novels; whether or not it will be easy to get onto the market?

A: It does help to keep a story's marketability in mind, to a certain extent. You still need to love the story you're writing. For example, I don't read a lot of vampire/paranormal novels (although I occasionally dabble). Even though they're really hot right now, I don't think I could write a good vampire novel because I'm just not as interested in it. And that will show.

The manuscript I wrote before Legend was a quieter historical novel about Mozart and his sister when they were children. I loved the story, but I also knew that it just wasn't a topic/genre that would spark heavy interest in the industry, and that even if it did sell, it probably wouldn't sell for a lot. It was purely a labor of love. With Legend, which was also a labor of love starring characters I'd had for years (any story of mine starring my character Day is a labor of love :) ), I remember thinking to myself, "Ok, this should also be considered commercial. If THIS one doesn't get published, then it's never going to happen for me. This is as good of a story as I can write, and I don't think I can make anything else better."

Q: How would you recommend going through the drafting process? For example, do you pause to proof-read as you go or just keep going to the end then look back?

A: Ah, I do actually have a very set opinion on this! I always pause to proof-read before I continue, even in a novel's first draft. I know a lot of writers who don't do this and can continue on just fine, but it never works for me. I have to proof-read. I tried not proofreading once, and by the time I finished the first draft there were so many problems with the story that I just got discouraged and gave up on it. I think it helps to jump backward and edit so that the next chapters can go smoothly, because details you change early on can have a big effect on later plot points. I think it's best to get that down when the things you want to change are fresh in your mind.

If I'm having a really hard time with one particular chapter, though, sometimes I do just skip ahead to the next chapter. (I just did this last week, actually) I'll make a note to myself of what's supposed to be happening in the chapter that I skip, so that I don't forget. Then I go back later when I'm not so brain dead, and fill it in.

Q: How does the process of getting an agent work? Do you send your manuscript to them and then they decide whether or not they want to represent you? Does this part come before or after contacting publishers or does the agent like, help you with that? And maybe the most importantly, how much does it cost to do all this?

A: FIRST AND FOREMOST. None of this should cost you anything except your time (and occasionally stamps, if you have to snail mail query letters/manuscripts). If an agent wants you to pay them for representing you, RUN. That is a scam agent. Legit agents only take a 15% commission from the actual sale of your book to a publisher, and never before. Also, real publishers pay YOU, not the other way around. Any publisher that says you need to pay to have your book published is a vanity publisher, not a real publisher. (And in this day and age of e-books, you really shouldn't need to go to them....just head over to Amazon if you want to self-publish. :) )

Remember, you are selling your work to a company. Not buying. So they pay you.

-----

Hope this is helpful!

More good news about Legend :)

2010-11-09T20:12:00.000-08:00

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

I just got permission from my editor to post this good news about Legend (my dystopian novel about my boy criminal Day coming out from Penguin in December 2011). This is for my international deviantArt watchers!

It's now official--Legend will be published in Germany (by the amazing publisher Loewe) and the UK (from Penguin UK)! For my UK/Australia/New Zealand folks, it will be released at the same time it's being released in the U.S. (Dec. 2011). For any German folks, it will be released in Fall 2012. So you'll be able to find it on bookshelves there! Woot! :)

More news about international deals to follow....

In other news, I'm currently working on Legend 2 (er, I have no idea what its title is going to be). For the Legend app, I'm working on a standalone site for you guys similar to the Fuzz Academy site, but one that's hopefully going to be run better from the start so it doesn't fall apart under heavy traffic. There will be more hairstyles, more clothes, and so on to choose from. I'm hoping to open that site to beta starting in January 2011. (I'm also trying to figure out a good way to connect it to the app so that previous app users can transfer all their goodies over to the standalone version) And lastly, I'm planning on writing a series of short stories set in the Legend world to post online for everyone, starring Day before the events in Legend.

I'm almost 30,000 words into Legend 2. Gah. Tough sloggin', especially now that I'm hitting the dreaded middle. Writing a sequel is much, much harder than I thought--and a completely different experience from writing Book 1. But I think (I hope!) it'll turn out well.

And lastly, I noticed in the last post about Legend that a lot of you are also writers! Wootness. Do you have any questions about writing/publishing you'd like me to answer? Feel free to post any if you have them and I'll do my best.

Off to eat some chocolate....

Made it (for now)

2010-11-03T23:10:00.001-07:00

2,003 words today. Whew! I'm still (sort of) on track for NanoWrimo. This year I decided that I'd participate loosely in Nano, but that I won't beat myself up if I don't get my 1,700+ daily word count. So far I've been doing well for the last 3 days, but that'll change once Thanksgiving week rolls around. I made a deal with myself that my required daily words are 1,000, but that if I can, I'll shoot for more. Let's see how long I can go like this.

Anyway, tonight's chapter starred my boy criminal protag Day and his young friend Tess. Poor Tess. I make her go through so much crap. :) Also, I realized after working on a bit of exposition that I had left an entire state out of the Republic (in other words, the dystopic western U.S. in LEGEND): Wyoming. Whatever happened to Wyoming? It's like Nevada and South Dakota just swallowed it up in my brain and I completely forgot about it. Sorry, Wyoming-ans out there. You're back in. :)

Reading list

2010-10-31T19:46:00.000-07:00

Still chewing my way through Book 2. This will probably be my status for a while. :)

In the meantime, I thought I'd post a list of the books I'm currently reading. I used to read one book at a time, finishing it completely before moving on to another--but lately I find that I tend to have several going at once, and hop between them depending on whatever mood I'm in for the day. So here's my list as of now:

1. The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare: Well yeah. It's Cassie Clare. I used to read her fanfic way back in high school....and now, to read her stories set in her own original worlds, I'm filled with ridiculous glee. I luff Jem. I alternate between love and hate for Will. And Cassie's worldbuilding puts me to shame. I bet she knows things about 19th century London that 19th century Londoners didn't even know.

2. The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (Sequel to The Maze Runner): I always feel giddy whenever I fall for a series before it hits the bestseller lists--that feeling you get when you really like a small indie band, and then they hit the big times and you get to be smug with your friends like you're the one who first discovered them. :) I kinda felt that way when I fell in love with The Hunger Games before it became popular. In the same vein, I picked up The Maze Runner long before it hit the NYT List just because I thought the title sounded interesting and I liked the cover. I devoured it. And now that Scorch Trials has hit the NYT in its opening week, I like to sit back and think happily, "I was an original fan!"

3. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: Ok, so this is an oldie. But I had a craving for some Dorian Gray and am reading back over it. Even though it's written back in like, caveman days, it still has all the hallmarks of a great story. Tension in the very first chapter. Building up intrigue about our main character (Dorian) before introducing him, something I love seeing in books. And a main character who has a truly epic character development arc--going from naive boy with no idea how beautiful he is, to a monster taking advantage of everyone for his own pleasure, to a bitter and remorseful man. Aaagh love. <3

4. Ash by Malinda Lo: Just got this. I've been wanting to read this one for a while--I'm always up for a fairy tale retelling, especially one with writing that has some of Jacqueline Carey's loveliness in it. :) I read the first paragraph and just about melted into the beauty of it. It's like reading Patricia McKillip. Like jewels wet with rain. Gah. I wish I could write like this.

I'm also in dire need of some books that aren't out yet--namely, Matched (by Ally Condie), and Across the Universe (by Beth Revis). Lots of dystopians. I need my dystopian fix. How do so many people get their hands on ARCs of these amazing books?? I am not special enough to get them early, I guess. Sadness. :(

Adventures of Book 2

2010-10-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

I'm about a third of the way into Book 2 (about 30,000 words), and I'm discovering all sorts of interesting things about characters I thought I knew but have darker sides than I realized. This is one of my favorite and most nervewracking parts of the writing process. Even when I make a plot outline to follow, I find myself constantly straying from it because halfway through a chapter, something will happen and one of my characters will go "Hold on, I'm not going to say that. That's not who I am. I'm going to do THIS instead." And he/she will go off and do something that completely shocks me. Today is full of this sort of craziness. One of my characters has mutinied against me, and become something I didn't realize he/she could be. Weird. O_o

It solved a few plot problems I was having, but added new ones in the process. So I stopped writing for now, and for the next few days I'm going to do some plotting again to see if I can find my way back to something that makes sense. :) Hopefully in time for NanoWriMo. I highly doubt I'll be able to finish Nano, but I'd really really like to finish my first draft of Book 2 by the end of this year so I have some leeway to knock it into something presentable by the time my due date (April-ish of next year) rolls around!

In other news, Boyfriend and I were driving around this afternoon when he saw a big "Meg 2010" (i.e. Meg Whitman) campaign poster in a store window:

Boyfriend: Look. Meg 2010.
Me: MiG 2010? Ooooh, is that a new model? Where?
Boyfriend: ... No. MEG WHITMAN 2010.
Me: *utter disappointment* Oh. Not a new Russian fighter jet?
Boyfriend: Sometimes I wonder about you.

I ended up watching videos all afternoon of Russian fighter jets and listening to the Top Gun anthem. Then I ate a lot of pistachios. And that rounds out my writing day. :) (If my boss is reading this, I also did all of my day job work. Diligently. Scout's honor.)

And of course I leave you with one of the best anthems evar:

Just one of those days

2010-10-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

Today is such a writer's block day. It's so heavily a writer's block day that it's not even funny. I wrote 600 words, then trashed them in exasperation. Then I skipped ahead a chapter and wrote another couple hundred words, and trashed them too. Finally managed to squeeze out about 400 halfway decent words, but I may very well read them tomorrow morning and find that they also suck, and throw them into the raging inferno as well.

Closed Word in a cranky huff. Then went online and bought two pairs of ankle boots.

It's just one of those days....

Clearing up a misconception

2010-10-03T00:57:00.000-07:00

With every announcement, there will inevitably be some misconceptions and rumors that arise. For me, most of the things about my book deal for LEGEND are true, but there is one misconception that I keep seeing, and I thought I should probably set the record straight on it before it keeps going! :)

Honest Misconception: LEGEND was sold because of its accompanying Facebook app, i.e. LEGEND the Facebook App came before LEGEND the Book.

What actually happened: LEGEND was a book before it became anything else. I wrote it between April - October 2009. Then, while my agent worked with me on revisions for it and we prepared it for submission, I used my free time to create a Facebook app for the book. It helped me stay in the world of the novel, while also letting me take a break from writing. It did manage to accumulate a few users (although, to be quite honest, 13,000 registered app users for any Facebook app is a fairly modest number), but when Agent Kristin and I started making the submission rounds and we talked on the phone with interested editors, none of them cared about the Facebook app--which is the way it should be. The book had to interest them first and foremost. If the editors didn't like the book, no Facebook app would make them want to buy it (unless, perhaps, it had 100 gazillion users like FarmVille). Only after the book sale happened did Putnam (my awesome publisher!) have interest in the Facebook app and how it could help promote the book. Which, again, is the way it should be. Anything LEGEND-related is subordinate to the book, and exists only to help promote the book itself.

----

Anyway, I just wanted to make sure I posted that up for the interwebz. :)

Speak loudly against censorship

2010-09-22T17:31:00.000-07:00

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

Okay, this is going to be a rant entry, because I am pissed. Some cussing appears. You have been warned.

Laurie Halse Anderson's entry

For those of you who have not heard of the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (author of the equally powerful Wintergirls), it is a disturbing and heart-wrenching portrayal of one girl's choice not to speak out about her rape, and how she eventually manages to find her voice.

It's a beautiful book.

And contrary to what this Scroggins guy thinks, it is NOT SOFT-CORE PORN. (For crying out loud, he even thinks Slaughterhouse Five should be banned. I don't think he got the book's message.)

Speak should not be banned from school districts because this guy apparently finds rape to be equivalent to sexual arousal.

I like to think that I'm a fairly even-tempered, reasonable, average person. But few things make me angrier than censorship. When people like Scroggins call for the banning of books because they unveil real teen issues like rape, or when parents try to blame the failings of their children on the things their children are reading, you know what they're really saying? That they are lazy-ass parents. "If my child messes up, it must be because they read something bad, not because I'm a shitty parent." They would rather censor these forms of art altogether than take parental responsibility to talk to their children about the content and the message. They are TOO LAZY to communicate with their kids. So they choose instead to try to make certain books unavailable to ALL kids.

If seeing your child read Speak makes you uncomfortable, fine. That's your perogative. But don't enforce your own Puritan beliefs on the rest of your school district's children. Do not publicly compare rape to soft-core porn.

These are the same people who think gays should not have the right to marry because they don't want to explain it to their kids. "I don't like explaining things to my children. So stop your whole lifestyle, because I don't like talking to my kids about it." (Louis CK does a great skit on this topic.)

Scroggins, you're ignorant and you're a dick.

Ms. Laurie Halse Anderson, sing it.

And for everyone else against banning books that talk about the horrors of rape, SPEAK LOUDLY. This needs to be heard.

Book 2

2010-09-18T09:56:00.001-07:00

I've gotten about 1/4 of the way into writing Legend 2. I've definitely had fits and starts, and all those rumors about how hard it is to write the sophomore novel are true...but today it at least flowed well. Halfway through my daily words, when Day and June are having a hissy fit, I realized that there was a nice little plot twist staring me in the face and it wanted badly to go into the book. So I stopped to jot that one down in my notes, and now I am a happy squirrel.

I swear, writing Legend 2 is like being bipolar. One day, I'm all "this is going to be great. This is going to be better than Book 1 and everyone's going to love me and give me cupcakes." And then the next day, I'm all "this is horrible. This is crap. How can I call myself a writer? This is the worst drivel I've ever written and my fledgling career is over."

But today, thankfully, is a cupcake day. :)

Dreams and Nightmares of Space

2010-09-17T18:14:00.000-07:00

I found this breathtaking jewel of a site today.

I just had to share it somewhere. Of all the things in the world, nothing fascinates me quite so much as the glittering art of the universe beyond Earth. I'll look up every night at what few stars I can see in Los Angeles, find Cassiopeia and Orion, and hunt for Jupiter and the North Star. Every time I do this, I get completely lost in the fact that we are at this very instant rotating around a star which is rotating around a massive, massive galaxy held together by a nightmare of a black hole.

Check out that site. :) The art boggles the mind.

Thoughts on Stephenie Meyer and Dan Brown

2010-09-16T18:47:00.001-07:00

I was watching an interview with Stephenie Meyer on YouTube today, and also simultaneously reading a blog entry from another writer that essentially labeled Ms. Meyer as a, to paraphrase, poor writer who wrote a horrible book. With no further explanation on why he/she thought this was so.

I see comments all the time about Twilight along those lines, and it frustrates me more and more each time I see them. I can understand if readers are simply posting their thoughts about the book, and legitimate reasons why they didn't like it or weren't drawn into it. After all, readers are the customers. They have the right to dislike things and blow them off. But it's somehow irritating when professional writers simply flip their hand at Stephenie Meyer and brush off her success as somehow being just luck, or that she has absolutely no talent, or that her writing is 'horrible' without even giving a thought to what they find so horrible about it.

I'm not saying that Twilight is on par with, I don't know, Shakespeare, or whatever is considered literary genius. Then again, maybe it is. Who's to say. But clearly Meyer did something right with Twilight, because there have been plenty of other books that publishers have thrown tons of money behind and have just sunken like rocks to the bottom of the industry pool. You can't have the sort of success Twilight has seen without having the support of millions of readers. And those readers are not buying her books and telling their friends to buy her books because they think she's a horrible writer. Something has clicked with them inside those pages, and naysaying writers would do themselves a great service if they would just admit this and try to study how Meyer managed to capture her readers' imaginations. It may not be your cup of tea, but obviously it's the cup of tea for a lot of others, and if the tea is really that popular there must be something delicious in it.

I'll admit that I'm not a huge paranormal reader. But I do read it, especially the ones that garner critical acclaim or popularity with the public, because I want to see how they did it. For Twilight, imho, Meyer hooks you in the first 50 pages because she introduces Edward and Bella and their attraction to each other, and then withholds Edward from Bella for an agonizing amount of time. Bella's fascinated by this guy, and then he disappears for days, leaving her to ponder in growing anxiety. When will she see him again? the reader wonders. And why does he react to her in the way that he does? Even though Bella might think he hates her, we obviously know better by the subtle things he does, how he takes notice of her in an understated way (at least in the beginning). That's what kept me reading when I picked up Twilight. Meyer uses this device again in New Moon--separating the star-crossed lovers for agonizing lengths of time. And although there are parts of the books that didn't resonate with me (i.e. my connection to Bella as a character went up and down, and I am much more attracted to Jacob's earnestness than to Edward's emo-ness), I do see and respect the parts of it that have hooked so many others.

The same goes for Dan Brown. Writers, especially writers-who-want-to-make-it, don't diss Dan Brown. Look at what he did right. The man is a genius at creating fascinating conspiracy theories (possible alien microbes in Antarctica, or government secret? did Jesus have offspring? did Da Vinci really hide secrets in his paintings? etcetc) as well as chapters overloaded with active conflict. That's his strength and the drawing power of his novels. If you're a thriller writer, look at his weaknesses (i.e. oversimplified, weak characters, imho) with a thoughtful eye, then write a thriller with an equally fascinating premise and make your own characters deeper and more fully fleshed out. Draw on his strengths. Avoid his weaknesses. Don't diss him.

Yes, luck did play a role in the wild success of some of these writers. But they couldn't have gotten there from writing horrible books. Meyer and Brown write highly commercial novels. Their books are full of the things that big blockbusters have--forbidden love, conspiracy, plots that are not too hard to follow (for the most part), and conflict conflict conflict. If you're a writer who only wants to write glittering prose full of well-turned phrases, all the more power to you. But if you want to be commercially successful, don't sit there taking cheap shots at more successful writers that you secretly wish you could be standing on their podiums with. We're all writers trying to create the best entertainment we can for our readers. What's to hate?

Anyway, just wanted to get that off my chest. :)

Penguin/Putnam Children's is publishing my novel! A 3-book deal!

2010-09-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

(Reposted from my deviantArt blog)

I've been sitting on pins and needles for a full month waiting for the green light to announce this news publicly. And today, I finally got the thumbs up from my literary agent (the amazing Kristin Nelson) that I can make it official.

My young adult novel, LEGEND, is going to be published by Penguin Group (imprint Putnam Children's) as part one of a trilogy!!!!! A three-book deal! And not only that--LEGEND is going to be Putnam Children's Lead Title for Fall 2011!! I'm going to be a published author with a major publisher. OMG OMG.

Here's the official news from Publisher's Marketplace:

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FICTION: YOUNG ADULT
Flash media and online game artist Marie Lu's debut LEGEND trilogy, set in the flooded Republic of Los Angeles 2130 A.D., about a boy who is the Republic's most wanted criminal and a girl who is the Republic's most beloved government prodigy whose paths cross when her brother is murdered and she is hired to hunt down the boy responsible -- but the truth they uncover will become legend, to Jen Besser at Putnam Children's [Penguin Group], in a major deal, at auction, for fall 2011 publication, by Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency (World).
query@nelsonagency.com
UK & Foreign: helen.boomer@us.penguingroup.com
Film: EvashevskiK@unitedtalent.com

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And from Publisher's Weekly:

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Putnam Kids Invests in Facebook Game Designer
Jennifer Besser at G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers [Penguin Group] bought world rights, in a three-book deal, to the debut dystopian novel by Marie Lu, Legend. Lu works as an art director for a Los Angeles video game company (note: actually the company is in Austin but that's ok :) ), and the book is built around the world she created for a Facebook game, also called Legend, that currently has over 13,000 subscribers. The book is set in 2130 in a Los Angeles that has been submerged by flooding. A girl who is a prodigy being groomed for government work meets a boy who is one of the state's most-wanted criminals. The main characters' love story—she's tasked with finding his brother's killer—is based loosely on Les Misérables. Legend, which is scheduled for December 2011, is the first book in a planned trilogy; Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary brokered the deal, and Kassie Evashevski at UTA is handling film rights.

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This is how it happened. After two rewrites where Agent Kristin and I hammered LEGEND into a presentable form, we sent it out on submission on July 9 (two days before I turned 26). Now, I've been on submission before. Twice. Having that experience, I was ready for the LONG haul, the 6 month wait for rejections and "I loved it, but" letters from kind-but-professional editors.

One week passed. I spent my birthday in a nervous wreck.

Then I heard from Kristin that there were two editors who had read and loved LEGEND. One of these editors was someone I'd heard a great deal about, and when Kristin said her name, I almost fainted in front of my laptop (good thing I didn't, or else I'd probably have QWERTY embedded permanently on my forehead). The other editor was the editor for one of my favorite YA books. Can we say faint x 2?

However, as aforementioned, I've been on submission before. I've been down the road of "Editors are liking it" and then "Editors decided ultimately to say no". So I toughened up as much as I could, and got ready for the inevitable rejections from both of these incredible editors.

Another week passed. Then Kristin told me she was going to be setting up an auction. 6 publishers were interested. At first I laughed at the email. Oh Kristin. Sometimes you are such a joker. Then I read it again, got tingly feelings in my fingers and toes, and ran around my apartment until I collapsed in exhaustion. Still, STILL, I felt like everything could fall through. That was what I'd gotten used to, anyway. Auction day would come and no one would show up. They've all decided that they'd rather not buy LEGEND. Back to the drawing board.

But that didn't happen. Instead, I got to talk to each of these editors on the phone. This may have been the most exciting part of the process (ok, the 2nd most exciting part). To hear industry professionals rave about your manuscript is as amazing as a cheesecake made of double rainbows. I was smiling so hard that my boyfriend thought I'd gone off the deep end.

So auction day came. I alternated every few minutes between absolute JOY and sheer abject TERROR. They all want the book! I haven't heard from Kristin in 6 minutes--something must've gone terribly wrong and everyone dropped out! They all want the book! I haven't heard from Kristin in 14 minutes--something must've gone terribly wrong and everyone dropped out! And repeat.

Several times throughout this day, Kristin would call me with updates that made me lose all feeling in my brain. (This is an extremely surreal feeling. I've never had a numb brain before.... well, not that numb.) Then, as the auction's final round started, I spent 3 hours doing nothing but rocking back and forth manically on my couch while my boyfriend tried in vain to soothe me. I stared at my phone without pause, willing it to ring. My trigger finger hovered over the "refresh" button in my email inbox. (Even though it refreshes automatically by itself.)

Silence. 3 hours of it!

Terror set in. All the editors dropped out. They must have. Kristin just doesn't want to tell me yet--she must not want to break my heart. NOTHING ELSE CAN EXPLAIN THIS SILENCE!!!

Finally, late in the afternoon, I got a call from Kristin. The Call. This is how it went down....sort of:

Kristin: You have a very hard choice to make. Are you ready for this?

Marie: Am I going to faint?

Kristin: Yes, I think you might faint.

Marie: [sits down on couch to keep from falling too hard, then listens in quiet stupor]

Kristin: *lists out the final offers*

Marie: *NUMB. This is the only word appropriate for the feeling in my entire body. NUM NUM NUMMY NUMMY NUMB.*

Kristin: Still there? Are you listening to me?

Marie: I didn't understand a word of what you said. Each deal sounds like it's made out of red velvet cupcakes.

Kristin: (thinking) Oh Marie. Thank god you're not doing this by yourself or we might all be in the papers tomorrow--and not in a good way.

Marie: *still numb*

Kristin: Do you need the night to think it over?

Marie: *babbles incoherently in a squeaky voice*

Kristin: Ok, yeah, I think you need the night. Let me know what you decide in the morning!

Marie: Okay!

[Phone call ends]

Several moments of silence. Several moments of unbridled joyful shrieking with boyfriend.

And then .... I burst into tears. I just cracked. I don't think I've ever really felt true joy in my life up until then. Sure, I've felt happiness plenty of times. There are so many things I'm happy about. But joy is different from happiness. Joy makes you cry. Joy is about achieving something you have worked so hard and so long to get. It unleashes emotions of relief, pain, rage, passion, ecstasy, fear, excitement, and fulfillment in one giant ball of glory that completely overwhelms the boundaries of your mind. It is rare. (Unless you're high on shrooms or something, I guess.) It is the most amazing feeling in the world.

And when I burst into tears after The Call with Kristin, I felt joy like I've never felt before. I have been trying to get published since I was 14. I have been rejected hundreds of times. I've written 4 unpublished manuscripts, 2 of which made it all the way to the agent+submission level only to slowly fade away into oblivion at the end of the submission cycle. I'd started to think it might never happen.

But now it's happening, really happening. Penguin is releasing the first book of my trilogy in December 2011, and my editor is none other than Jen Besser, the editor of the (drumroll) PERCY JACKSON BOOKS. (I even have a film agent now, Kassie Evashevski!) The characters living inside my head are actually going to meet the reading public.

A dream come true, after 12 years of struggling.

*faint*

I am so unbelievably thankful for my agent Kristin Nelson, who stuck by my side through the good times and the bad (if you're a writer and wondering whether or not you need an agent, I am telling you right now that YES YOU DO); for the amazing and wonderful editors that each gave me a chance to fulfill my dream; and for the people in my life that always believed I could do it and that I wasn't wasting my time.

Anyway, that's the big news! My characters will actually be in a bookstore near you next fall! Boyfriend and I are celebrating with some delectable veggie food and fancy wine (although honestly, I can't tell the difference between good and bad wine....they all seem the same). And now, there are only 2 thoughts I have the strength to comprehend in my incoherent brain:

1) I really hope people buy the book when it comes out
2) Damn, I better get crackin on LEGEND 2

Printed books still trump e-books

2010-09-03T11:24:00.001-07:00

On March 31, 2009, I conducted an unscientific poll on my deviantArt page asking whether people preferred reading printed books or e-books.

See the poll

2,529 people participated in this poll. At the time, I thought that since the dA community is relatively young, we should see a small but decent sampling in favor of e-books. After all, the younger generation should be more receptive to e-books than the generations used to printed books, right?

Nope. A whopping 90% of respondents still chose printed books. And after another poll I did asking about the ages of people on dA (in which 1,727 people participated), I found out that 82% of them are under the age of 24.

I personally have grown fond of e-books and read a lot of books on my iPhone now. However, it looks like even the younger generations still prefer printed books, so all the reports we are seeing of the "death of traditional publishing" probably still have a ways to go. This is further backed up in an article by the author of the Four Hour Work Week.

Not sure what that says in terms of whether it's good or bad, but it's just interesting for me to see in (semi) solid numbers. :)

Dealmakers

2010-08-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

I've been reading some blog posts that discuss things in YA novels that are dealbreakers for the blog posters. You know, things like weak heroines and cliches and whatnot. :) I thought I'd do a flip post and talk about things in entertainment-in-general that are my deal makers. In other words, if I hear that a book/movie/whatever has one of these in it, I'm almost CERTAIN to read/watch/rock it.

The end is here, or the end hath already come and gone.

Also known as post-apocalypse, dystopias, or zombies. If any of those 3 words (or all) appear in an advertisement, I will detour straight to it while happily knocking down any old ladies in my path. Although I don't end up liking everything I read/watch in those genres, the ratio of win:fail is significantly higher in these genres than the ratio of win:fail for things in general.

Conspiracy theories, or jiggly-camera mysteries.

Cloverfield. Paranormal Activity. Da Vinci Code. Quarantine. Who killed JFK. Bigfoot. Area 51. Some of these are ridiculous, true, but I don't care. Let me live in my bubble!!

Fighter jets.

I think I've watched at least 50% of the videos on YouTube that feature fighter jets in any capacity, especially ones with the F-22, F-15 (my fav), F-35, any jet with thrust vectoring or vertical take-off capabilities, and the Sukhoi-47. I just read Fighter Pilot, the memoir of famous ace Robin Olds. Two of my favorite shows are Great Planes and Dogfights. *salivates* Can you tell I was a Top Gun fangirl when I was little? Tom Cruise, even if you might be a little on the crazy side, I forgive you of everything and anything because you are forever Maverick in my brain.

Johnny Depp.

Since we're on the topic of celebrities.

Child prodigies.

This is a relatively new one for me to realize, but I think I always unconsciously gravitated toward stories about child prodigies (in any form). I will read any novel or non-fiction biography about Mozart (and I almost never read biographies), or his sister Nannerl, regardless of its quality. I looooooooooove Ender's Shadow and Ender's Game. Ender and Bean, you boys are my eternal heroes.

Now all I need to find is a post-apocalypse story about a child prodigy fighter pilot who uncovers a conspiracy theory while shooting home webcam footage of his/her antics in the sky. With a character somewhere in it that Johnny Depp can play. Oooh. I think I've found my next novel premise, muhahahaha.

Harry Potter and the Goobelty Goosh

2010-08-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

(Reposted from my blog on deviantArt)

Boyfriend: Hey, did all the Harry Potter movies come out yet?
Me: No, they split the last one up into two movies. They're not out yet.
Boyfriend: Oh right. Harry Potter and something about Death.
Me: And the Deathly Hallows.
Boyfriend: What was the one before that? Half-Blood Prince?
Me: Yeah.
Boyfriend: And then something about Giblets?
Me: No it was Order of the Phoenix.
Boyfriend: And then the Giblets?
Me: You mean Goblet of Fire?
Boyfriend: Right, that. And then Prisoner of Azkaban, and then Chambers of Darkness--
Me: Chamber of Secrets. SECRETS.
Boyfriend: And the first one? Harry Potter and the Goblet of Sorcerers?
Me: *froths at mouth* AND THE SORCERER'S STONE! THE SORCERER'S STONE! THE SORCERER'S STONE! WHY DON'T YOU KNOW THIS!!! *frothfroth--* Oh, wait. You're making fun of me.

Mockingjay review (no spoilers)

2010-08-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

(Reposted from my blog on deviantArt)

So I picked up and finished Mockingjay yesterday (Hunger Games 3 for those who don't know .... and again, why don't you know!!!! Even Obama's daughters are reading this series!). Let me just say that it did NOT disappoint.

As a whole I was absolutely thrilled with the way Collins tied everything together and wrapped it up. It's extremely dark, easily the darkest of the three, and probably the darkest book I've read in a very long time. This book has a very strong anti-war message. And if anyone thought that the love triangle in Hunger Games was somehow the main plot/conflict of the trilogy, you are sorely mistaken! Collins makes it very clear that the main issues we should be grappling with are not who ends up with whom, but just how devastating war can be and how much of your humanity you're willing to sacrifice in order to achieve victory. That's the theme of the books. Love in a very different light.

One of my favorite things about Mockingjay was the intense character development happening throughout the book. Dude. I have not seen such deep character dev in a long, long time! There are some painfully eloquent "monologues" where Katniss ponders the dark issues of war and morality, and both Gale and Peeta's characters are explored thoroughly. Even many of the minor characters are very fully fleshed out. This is one of Collins's greatest strengths and most enviable talents, I think, and what makes her series so popular. She is dynamite at character development. They go beyond 3-dimensional. This is one of the few series I've read where the love triangle's angsty romance isn't there just for the sake of being emo and angsty, but is angsty for very very good reasons. The relationships are real. The angst is justified. It makes all other love triangles look like trivial and frivolous walks in the park.

And finally, the last line of the book in the epilogue gave me goosebumps. Rest assured that when you close the book, you will feel pretty satisfied. Thank you, Suzanne Collins! Seriously, she is one of the greatest YA writers ever. I hope to one day have even a smidge of her talents. <3

Mockingjay, Gale, and Peeta

2010-08-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

(Reposted from my more updated blog on deviantArt)

Mockingjay (Hunger Games 3 for those who don't know .... why don't you know!!) comes out next week. SQUEE. I am going to die from anticipation.

I was reading some forum posts online and although there are fans for both Gale and Peeta, I have to say everyone seems very heavily leaning Peeta. Which makes me sad and borderline defensive because I like both boys equally. Why must I choose! It's not really a fair argument because Peeta got SO much book time in Catching Fire (and Hunger Games, for that matter), while Gale only had a couple of chapters devoted to his character. I know, I know....Peeta is noble, lovable, sensible, logical, understanding of Katniss's many sides and weaknesses, etcetc. But he also never seems to really react to anything. He never really gets angry, or sad, or happy, or whatever. (Edit: except for that one part in Catching Fire, as one commenter pointed out, where he does go off on Haymitch and Katniss. Ok, I'll give him credit for that one bit. :) ) When I think of Peeta, I think of someone very "level-headed". Which is a good trait, to be sure. Maybe Katniss needs more of that in her life, given her impulsive ways of handling situations. Sometimes, though, I want to slap Peeta upside the head and tell him, "REACT, dammit! Are you at all angry? Shout it to the heavens! More moments like that one in Catching Fire!"

But Gale. There's something about Gale. First of all, as aforementioned, it's not fair pitting him against Peeta because he just hasn't had the chance to be developed as much. I think we'll see much more of him in Mockingjay due to the circumstances of Catching Fire's ending (no spoilers in this blog, although I can't promise the same in the comments, so be careful if you haven't read both books). And when Suzanne Collins gets that chance to develop him more thoroughly, I think we'll see more people on Gale's side. Yes, he's rash and impulsive, and sometimes quick to anger, but I like to think of those things as things that make him interesting and admirable. He's flawed. He's stubborn. He's hot-tempered when appropriate and he can show a wide range of personality traits that range everywhere from nobility to selfishness. I like his selfish moments, when he just wants to leave everything behind and run away with Katniss. He's extremely human, and I find that aspect of him quite appealing. Anyone in his situation would feel that way at times. Granted, that might not be the best match for Katniss. They're both hotheaded and relationships with two hotheads tend to end in flames (or at least, a lot of angry sparks). Still, chapters with Gale hold my attention with a vice-like grip. Peeta is more like lukewarm water....very comforting and soothing, but no Bellagio fountain. :)

Anyway, that's my assessment. I figure Katniss can't really go wrong with either one. And on August 24, I will be in line at the local Vroman's bookstore, clutching my copy of Mockingjay to my chest with a feverish light in my eyes. Muhahaha. My precioussss! *faint*

For a more updated blog....

2010-07-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

....I frequent deviantArt much more than I do this blog. :) Check out the following:

My deviantArt blog/site

There you'll find a more updated blog, info about me, all of my random stuff (artwork, etc), and....I don't know. Other assorted doohickies. :) Thanks!

Marie Lu imposters!!

2010-06-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

Well, not intentionally....

Every now and then I google myself (shamelessly) and see what interesting things come up. For anyone who is doing research on me to make sure I'm a normal, relatively friendly person to hire or work with or whatnot, please note! I am Marie Lu the artist/writer, and am Asian, and also the person behind Fuzz Academy.

I am not Marie Lu the plus-size lingerie company, Marie Lu the cookie, Marie Lu the energy bar, or Marie Lu the digestive snack. :) I also did not upload inappropriate videos to Mega Upload, or work as a professor in a foreign country. (Apparently my name is quite popularly used for packaged snack foods, as evidenced by a Google Image search below....)

Hey, at least I'm digestive. :)