Living the "Legend"

For someone who writes so convincingly about a dystopian future, author Marie Lu is remarkably down to earth. The Chinese-born, Texas-bred former video game art director made her name with her first novel “Legend” back in 2011 and went on to complete the series with “Prodigy” and “Champion”.
Set in a militarised state referred to as the Republic, the young adult trilogy follows Day, a 15-year-old rebellious criminal born in the slums, and June, also 15, a prodigy chosen to find and capture Day, who is charged with the murder of her older brother.
Critically acclaimed for its sharp and witty plotting, depth of character and emotional arc, the trilogy has been translated in various languages including Thai by Nanmeebooks. Fans will soon see their favourite characters on the big screen too, as CBS Films is currently shaping Day and June’s story into a full-length feature produced by Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen of “Twilight” fame and directed by Jonathan Levine of “50/50”.
We sat down with Lu during her recent visit to Bangkok.

What did you grow up reading?
I read pretty much everything that I could get my hands on. When I was little I loved books – any books – that had horses. When I got a little older, I got interested in science fiction and fantasy. Those two became my most favourite genres when I was in middle school and high school.

What did you do before becoming a writer?
I was at Disney Interactive Studios, initially as an intern then as an art director, where I came up with new concept for video games for Disney. They made different kinds of games for everyone from super young children to teenagers. I did concept for something called “Club Penguin” as well. I was there for three years or so. Then I worked at a start-up company that develops mobile games. In my spare time, I wrote. I’ve always written, from the time I was five or six years old, just for myself. Once I got into high school I wrote science fiction and fantasy short stories because that was the only thing I read!

How did “Legend” start?
I started writing “Legend” in 2009 and completed it about a year after that. I was watching an old movie version of “Les Miserables” on TV and I thought that it would be interesting to write a teenage criminal versus detective story. That was the initial inspiration for the series. The idea for the setting of a flooded Los Angeles came from a map that I saw online. It simulated what the world would look like if all of the ice melted and the ocean rose 100 metres.
I drew a lot on reality. In fact, fantasy is based on reality and pretty much everything in “Legend” already happened at one point in our history. So it wasn’t a huge stretch for me to create. I drew a lot from North Korea, the holocaust during World War II and so forth, and that went into the story to create a fantasy world.

What about the characters? Is June a bit like you?
June is not anything like me! She is inspired by Sherlock Holmes – she’s actually the female version of Sherlock. She’s very left brain, calculating and logical, and she’s a genius so it’s very challenging to write about her. Day is pretty much inspired by characters like Han Solo and Robin Hood. He’s a guy with a heart of gold, and I’ve always loved characters like that. He’s very funny, sarcastic and flirty and causes a lot of trouble but at the same time he’s a good person. I find that very appealing.

How different is creating fantasy for games and for novels?
They both involve stories and creative work, but they are very different. Games usually involve a lot of teamwork and what you write is very interactive. That makes it different from the more passive act of reading. When I started “Legend” I was still working with the game company so I would write very early morning before work, or later at night after work.

Did you plan the first book as a trilogy?
I knew that I was going to be a series, but I didn’t know that it was going to be three books. I’m not very good at outlining my story in advance. I was halfway through the second book before I knew it was going to be three books. I got the deal based on the first book. I submitted the complete manuscript of the first book to my agent and we sold it as a series. So my publisher bought the first finished book and a description of what the next books would be. At the time I didn’t know what was going to happen in books two and three, so in the end what was in the book was quite different from what I had imagined.

Was it hard to work on the second book, “Prodigy”?
It was a lot of pressure! I wrote the first book when nobody knew I was writing it, so it didn’t bother me. But for “Prodigy”, I knew there were now readers of the first book and they could be disappointed if they didn’t like the second book. All of a sudden I felt like I was writing in a glass box where everybody could see, and I had a publisher who could cancel my contract if they didn’t like what I wrote! There was a deadline – it was quite scary – but I had already left the game company and was able to write full time.

You must be excited that the series is now coming to the big screen.
Yes! Right now CBS Films owns the rights for the entire series. If we’re fortunate enough to see the first book become a movie, and it does well in theatres, then they will think about writing the screenplay for the second one. We’ll see if it ever gets to that point. The first screenplay was sent to me and it was weird reading it because it’s somebody else writing your story. But I like it; I think it’s a very good interpretation. It’s going to be an action-packed movie with explosions and car chases.

Who do you picture playing Day and June in the film version?
It’s such a hard question, because I have different pictures of them in my head. Day, to me, looks very unusual. He is half Mongolian and half Russian. He looks Asian but has blonde hair and blue eyes. It would be difficult to find someone that looks like that, unless there’s some makeover involved. If I had to choose someone, it would be Leonardo Di Caprio during his “Romeo and Juliet” days. But I know he’s too old to play Day now. For June, it would be a teenage version of Morena Baccarin who plays Inara Serra in “Firefly” TV series. Again, she’s an adult now. I always pick actors that can’t play June and Day anymore!

Can you say something to anyone out there who wants to become a writer?
There are a lot of challenges for people who are passionate about creative arts. They are told that they can’t make money or a staple career out of that passion and many of them back out. But if you really love it, make the time because there will never be enough time in a day – we work hard and we come home tired. If you wait until you have time to do it, then it will never happen. Everyone that I know who is a writer was something else before he or she became a writer. It happened because they managed to find a way to carve out that time. If you love it, try it. You only live once.