I receive emails from readers that both break my heart and give me a profound sense of connection. Several months ago, I received an email from a teacher who told me that ‘Legend’ was the first book one of her troubled young students had ever read to the end. He cried when he finished it. Stories like that stay with you forever. Marie Lu Read Quote
We determine whether a book is for boys or girls long before the reader gets a chance to decide: we package them with soldiers and ballet slippers on their covers, war machines and glittering gowns. Marie Lu Read Quote
I am a hopeless pantser, so I don’t do much outlining. A thought will occur to me, and I’ll just throw it into the story. I tell myself I’ll worry about untangling it later. I’m glad no one sees my first drafts except for my poor editor and agent. Marie Lu Read Quote
I write the story as it comes to me – YA is my natural voice, not a conscious choice. Marie Lu Read Quote
The Rose Society’ was definitely the hardest book I’ve ever written, because it’s so difficult to stay in that dark space. Marie Lu Read Quote
I went into writing ‘The Young Elites’ with a great deal of fear – I’d been told repeatedly that a villain’s story would be far too dark for young readers to want and that no one would like my villainess, Adelina. I braced myself for epic failure. Marie Lu Read Quote
I have an obsession with describing hair. I don’t know why – hair is just really pretty. Marie Lu Read Quote
