Lu took the time to talk to EW about writing her gripping debutand about being an Asian-American author.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was your road to publication like?
MARIE LU:It was a long journey.
I started writing seriously when I was a teenager, around 14 years old.
That was when I realized that I can actually pursue something like this, and I started writing seriously.
I had one agent in college I parted ways with.
My fourth manuscript didnt sell, but it got me my current agent Kristin Nelson.
My agent and I went through two or three heavy revisions onLegendbefore we finally submitted it.
[Laughs]
What were your unpublished manuscripts about?
They were sort of all over the place, but I always liked writing fantasy and science fiction.
I still have a soft spot for that one!
But well see what happens.
I know you worked as the art director of a video game company.
Video games tell stories in their way, too, andLegendis really action-packed.
Did your experience in gaming influence your book at all?
I just love inserting competitions or games into things.
Im pretty sure that was why that particular piece went intoLegend.
[Laughs] I remember playing Mortal Kombat when I was a kid and the other Tekken-style games.
The premise for this novel is so interesting and almost realistic, in a way.
Where did the central idea come from?
It was a fascinating map because half of the southern United States was pretty much gone.
That was where my original world stemmed from.
That was the original seed for the war between the Republic and the colonies.
The universe has such defined rules, and even its own slang.
Did you spend a lot of time planning the details of this world?
It was a gradual layering process.
As a fellow Asian-American, I have to ask: Is this a metaphor for the SAT?
Its totally the SAT on steroids!
It feels like its the end of the world if you dont do well on your SATs.
Im sure some of that crept in there.
You actually focused on sibling relationships quite a bit in a really poignant way.
Ive never been terrible strong at [writing] romance.
Ive always had this interest in sibling relationships because I dont have any siblings.
Its something that fascinates me.
I loved the alternating point of view.
Were you trying to point out that theres gray area between good and evil?
Im so glad you pointed that out.
I think youre the first person to say that.
Thats something that I wanted to put in consciously.
We always think that we tend to have the right idea of how things are supposed to be.
She loves her brother, Thomas seems good to her.
Do you feel like June and Day represent different sides of yourself?
That was my exploring the fact that with every strength comes some sort of weakness.
In the acknowledgements, you mention that June was originally a boy.
I cant imagine that!
Yes, thats true.
My original idea was about two boys, and one was hunting the other.
Im like, Oh, youre right!
That would be so much better.
So now I just run everything by him.
His name is Primo, and I named the dictator inLegendafter him.
Oh my God, Im so glad you said that.
I havent gotten flack personally for it, but I have seen other authors get flack for it.
I think its a disappointment that were expected to write about our ethnicity.
Thats fascinating to me, but I want to write about what I want to write about.
I actually thought it was cool that inLegend, you sometimes leave characters ethnicity ambiguous.
That might make things interesting when it comes time to cast the film version.
People are of different races in the book, but Im glad that it was kind of ambiguous.
Thats something that still needs to be worked on by Hollywood.
Just the idea that Asian males cant play these starring roles or cant be seen as sexy or desirable.
