Quotes from Marie Lu

We are both disturbed and fascinated by visions of bleak futures, predictions of what might come if we as a society aren't careful.

I had a wonderful fan who once sent me an alpaca hat all the way from Peru, where he'd gone to volunteer in a remote village because he was inspired by 'Legend' to do good. That's probably one of the sweetest fan moments I've experienced.

What can I say: I'm a writer - I enjoy forcing pain and suffering on my characters!

Mom used to say that having three boys was kind of like having a pet tornado that talked back.

My mother used to hope that I would rise up from my humble roots. Become someone sucessful, or even famous. I'm famous all right, but I don't think it's what she had in mind.

I'm telling you that you got your facts wrong. I didn't kill your brother. But you killed my mother. You might as well have held the gun to her head!

Few people ever kill for the right reasons, June. Most do it for the wrong reasons. I just hope you never have to be in either category.

I hope," he replies softly, "to get to know you again. If you are open to it. There is a fog around you that I would like to clear away.

A free state is a corporate state.

Absolute power is absolute power, no matter what it's called.

I'm a big fan of the trope of 'the poor boy meets the wealthy girl.' I like the idea of this boy from the other side of the tracks who doesn't have a lot, but he'll give that little bit that he has to you.

I take a step toward him and grin cheerfully. "With all due respect, I don't see the Republic tacking up wanted posters with your pretty face on them.

Idiotic reply, June. Why don't you punch him in the face while you're at it. I turn even more flustered when I remember that I have actually pistol-whipped him in the face before. Romantic

Boys are different from girls, but boys are also different from other boys, just as girls are different from other girls. Calling a book 'for boys' or 'for girls' is well-meaning, but to me, not terribly helpful.

Comics and animation have some of the deepest stories I've ever seen.

I'm one of those people that, if I'm sad or depressed, I don't talk to people about it. I bottle it in.

I started writing seriously when I was a teenager, around 14 years old.

I'm fascinated by young people who do extraordinary things.

Writing the first draft of a new story is incredibly difficult for me. I will happily do revisions, because once I can see the words on the page, I can go about ripping them up and moving scenes around. A blank page, though? Terrifying. I'm always angsty when I'm working my way through a first draft.

A really fun fan moment was when a fan gave me a copy of 'Legend' that he had turned into a functional clock!

I'm not much of an outliner in general. I tend to wing my way through all my drafts, which means writing a series is a very chaotic and panic-inducing experience.

My very first system was the Sega Genesis back when I was 7 or 8 years old. I played that into the ground. Like, my parents had to confiscate it and put it in attic, the whole thing.

I think writing is very, very therapeutic.

Each day means a new twenty-four hours. Each day means everything's possible again. You live in the moment, you die in the moment, you take it all one day at a time. -Day