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Exclusive Comic-Con Interview with LEGEND Author Marie Lu

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During my stay at Comic-Con, I opted not to go to Hall H on Sunday, which pretty much gave me more freedom with my schedule, and thus I was able to set up an interview with the wonderfully talented author (and artist) Marie Lu.  Despite not being able to sit down and find a quiet place to talk, and being pretty much forced to stand in the middle of a crowded hallway during the interview, she was super gracious to give me a few minutes of her time to answer some questions about the Legend series and even some questions about her next series after Legend.

But before we did, I also got to fangirl a bit with her, since she got to see uber handsome Henry Cavill in person as he made an appearance at the Hard Rock Hotel on Saturday night, which you can see below.

She had to one-up herself with the following photo with the lovely Tom Hiddleston –

 

So, really, I was honored to spend time with this person who got to be in the same room as Mr. Cavill and Mr. Hiddleston.

Now onto the interview.

Can you tell us a little bit about Champion and what to expect from Day and June?

Without giving away any spoilers for Champion, the book covers a more expansive view of the world, so each book has been exposing more and more of what’s outside of The Republic. And in this one we go outside of the borders of the U.S. a little bit. And it culminates in a war between The Republic and the Colonies, so it’s sort of like the end game for everyone. Day and June have a lot of things they need to work out. It’s probably the most dramatic and the most romantic of the three, I would think, I hope. And, um, there are some deaths, and possibly some things you’ll be sad about, I don’t know. But that’s about all I can say.

Could you tell us more about Day’s situation?

I probably can’t say too much about that without spoiling anything, so yeah. I’m sorry!

(I tried!)

Will there be another novella for Legend?

I’m not sure if I want to do more, but I never say no completely to anything, so we’ll see if in the future, I feel like I have a desire to revisit the Legend world.

In regards to the characters of the Legend series, which one do you think you’re most similar to, as far as characteristics?

legend___june_iparis_by_mree-d41zg7yThat’s a really interesting question, because when I started the series I thought that Tess was the most like me. When I was in high school, I was a little bit like her, very shy and kind of spastic, and worrying about other people. But the more I wrote, the more I kind of realized that I identify with June a lot. June is sort of like the version of myself that I would aspire to, because I was never that smart or that calculating the way that she is, but I’ve started noticing things as I’m writing her that I’m putting in unconsciously into her personality that I have in myself, so we sort of deal with things in similar ways. We deal with grief or panic in similar ways, and I didn’t realize that until I really got to know her.

So CBS has bought the Legend series. Have you heard anything as far as what they plan on doing with it be a TV series or a movie?

Well, if everything goes through, we’ll definitely be a feature film. Right now they finished the screenplay and they’re on the search for a director. So, that’s where it is.

Do you know who wrote the screenplay?

Yes. There’s two newcomers who are very, very talented. I’ve seen the screenplay and it’s excellent. Of course, there are some things that are different to translate into a movie properly but overall I think it’s wonderful.

Tell us about your next book series.

The next series I’m writing about is a high fantasy.  And it’s called The Young Elites.  And the first one is coming out next fall, if all goes well.

Will that be under one point of view, or two like you did with the Legend series?

It’s still in flux, because I’m in the first draft of it, but I think it will probably have more than one point of view.  There will be a main character, but there might be some subsidiary points of view.

(I mistakenly state that the main female protagonist is Asian, to which she kindly corrects me)  And the main character also seems to be Asian and has white hair.  Can you tell me your fascination with odd-colored hair for Asian characters?

youngelites_teaser-adelina-by-mree-closeupI actually don’t think she’s Asian.  She lives in a fantasy world, and she is a mix of races in the fantasy world, but not really like a specific Asian race or anything.  But I do love playing with hair colors and eye colors and things like that.  There is actually a specific reason why her hair is like that, and a lot of other characters in the book also have very strange markings.

Is that going to be a trilogy as well?

It’ll definitely be a series.  I don’t know if it’s going to be three necessarily but we’re signed on for three right now.

I’m assuming there’s going to be some romance in The Young Elites.  Will we see the male counterpart for your next drawing? 

Yeah, I have been sketching them on and off.  There are multiple boys.  And I don’t think there’s a love triangle, though.  There just happens to be a lot of boys, and they are totally fun to draw and write, so hopefully I can post some stuff as it gets a little bit closer to release time.

Since we’re at Comic-Con, if you had a chance, who would you cosplay as?

That is the hardest question.  Oh, I don’t know.  I would like to cosplay as, um, maybe Azula or Katara from [Avatar: The Last] Airbender.  I think that would be really fun.  I don’t know, I’d have to think about that while.  Those are the first that came to mind.

 What has your experience been like as far as Comic-Con goes?

I love Comic-Con.  It’s one of the best convention experiences of the year.  And it’s always fun to see all the fans congregate from all spectrums of the entertainment industry.  So, it’s really fun.

Champion is set to be released on November 5th, and The Young Elites the fall of 2014.  You can follow Marie Lu on Twitter at @Marie_Lu.

By Nat, the Geek Girl

Southern California native who likes movies, books (Shadowhunter Chronicles, NA, YA fantasy, Red Rising series), TV shows (The Sandman), and San Diego Comic-Con. I also like to write, but don't get to do much of that aside from on here. I fell into the BTS rabbit hole, and I refuse to leave.