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Marie Lu Book Signing at Mysterious Galaxy
Marie Lu will be signing for fans in Redondo Beach, CA at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore on Saturday, December 7!
Marie told our very own TFGeekGirl that she will be signing the bookstore’s stock of CHAMPION, so those who cannot attend the event should still be able to get a signed copy! Call (310) 542-6000 to order or inquire!
Exclusive YALL Fest Interview with Marie Lu
Our very own Ellie attended YALL Fest last week and was lucky enough to discuss CHAMPION with Marie Lu!
Why did Marie choose build her world the way she did? What inspired the ending? What happened to the characters we all know and love after the epilogue? We asked it all!
Please note that the majority of the questions contain SPOILERS. The spoiler-free questions are above the cut and the spoilers are hiding under the cut. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Now that your final book in the trilogy is out, how do you feel about it being out there and being finished with it?
Marie Lu: It feels really weird! I always compare it to how parents must feel when they send their kids off to college because on one end you’re really relieved, like “Oh thank God, they got out of the house and they’re off to do their own thing!” And at the same time, you’re sad because they’re out of the house and now it’s like an empty nest. I feel a little bit like that. I feel like my characters are not mine anymore and they’ve gone off to live in the real world. Wherever that is! (laughs) Wherever characters go off after stories end. And I feel like they’re not with me anymore and they’re off somewhere. They kind of belong to the public now. It’s kind of a weird, wistful feeling.
What have you learned about the whole writing process throughout the series and would you change anything if you could start over?
ML: I’ve learned that writing changes over time, especially for someone like me who’s a pants-er. And I realize that characters change too. When I first started writing June, i didn’t identify with her at all so I had a lot of trouble getting into her head. She’s smarter than me and it’s really hard to write a character that’s smarter than yourself, so I would have to stop constantly to do research about her chapters. Towards the end of it, I kind of realized that I had been writing about myself all along. Not that I have her genius analytical side or intelligence, but that she kind of reacts to situations the same way that I do. We deal with grief and stress and panic the same way. I began putting bits and pieces of that into her and I didn’t realize until the last book when I really started to connect. At the end of it, I think June is my favorite person out of everybody because I really understood and sympathized with her. So it was like evolution for me too.
What it one thing you want readers to take away from this series?
ML: I’d like them to take away that even if you live in a very dark place, you have the potential to change that and that you can come out of it and be okay. I think that was something I really wanted Day to experience because he, more than anybody, came from a place of such hopelessness and he was so poor, but he managed to come out of that. I get a lot of reader emails from people who struggle with real life issues and I want them to know that you can make it out of anything like that.
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PRODIGY in Goodreads Choice Awards Semifinals
Prodigy made it through the Opening round of the Goodreads Choice Awards. Now it’s on to the semifinals!
New books have been added into the mix to shake up the Semifinal round, so make sure Prodigy continues its strong showing by voting here!
Goodreads Choice Awards: Help PRODIGY Be Champion
Oh, you know you love our little play on words!
We’ve been so caught up in all the CHAMPION glory that almost forgot to mention that PRODIGY is up for a Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Fantasy!
CLICK HERE TO VOTE!
Currently, the Goodreads Choice Awards are in Round One of voting, but this round ends TONIGHT! So spread the word to all your follow legend lovers and do it quick!
Marie Lu talks CHAMPION Release
Marie Lu gave some thoughts on the release of CHAMPION and saying goodbye to the LEGEND trilogy on Tumblr.
Young Marie and her inspiration for Ollie
Here I am, sitting in my hotel room, at a loss for words, unsure how to feel now that I’ve said goodbye to the characters and places I’ve been so thoroughly immersed in for the past few years. I won’t lie; I’ve cried and fretted a lot. I’ve been alternately excited and scared. But mostly I am happy, so very happy, that I am sitting here and living my dream.
Thank you for the LEGEND trilogy, Marie! We loved Day and June’s enthralling journey more than you would ever know! We are so on board for THE YOUNG ELITES and everything after!
Don’t forget that you can thank Marie in person during her CHAMPION Book Tour!
Character Sketches from Marie Lu’s THE YOUNG ELITES
We’re only a few short days away from CHAMPION, the last book in the LEGEND trilogy!
But after we’ve all read CHAMPION, we can start preparing for Marie Lu’s next series, THE YOUNG ELITES! Thankfully, Marie Lu is getting us ready with more brilliant character sketches.
Yes, the character most prominently featured is a male! Marie Lu describes him on Twitter as a “blatantly pretty boy”.
You can find out more about THE YOUNG ELITES on Goodreads.
