[Out and About] Marie Lu in PH

So... before anything else... can we please talk about how amazing Marie looks in the official promotional banners? Seriously. Everything about her outfit screams 'A+'! (Now where can I find a similar blazer...)

Anyway, before I blab about outfits and the like, let me get on with this post. (Sometimes I can't help but blab, guys. So sorry.) The day of the 23rd, I went home tired, but ridiculously happy. Marie is awesome, and is undoubtedly one of the coolest authors I ever had the privilege of meeting!

Here are some of what we discussed during the Q&A:

• Marie pitched Legend to her agent as science fiction, and it was her agent who said that it would fit into the young adult category. She hadn't heard of Young Adult until that moment, but looking back, she's not surprised that her writing suited YA very well. This was because when she was young, she mostly read science fiction and fantasy novels with teenagers as protagonists.
• Marie reads almost exclusively YA now.
• Marie would love to do a picture book someday. Before being an author, she was an artist in the gaming industry, and she would love to do something that would involve video games again.
• Day's street name was inspired by his personality - Marie wanted to find a name that would signify his optimistic view of life. His personality is inspired by characters Marie has always loved - the thief with the heart of gold, Han Solo, and Robin Hood among others.
• June was name after the month of June, because her personality fit that of a Gemini's. For those who don't know (*raises own hand*), Geminis are very intelligent, ambitious, and logical. June's personality was inspired by Sherlock Holmes, and Marie comments on how different she and June are from each other, most especially since June is very left-brained.
• The plot of Legend was inspired by the social climate of USA in 2009. That was when Obama was elected, and the hatred of the two political parties towards each other was a bit pronounced. The world of Legend is inspired by real-life dystopias.
• Marie cannot start writing a story unless she has the drawn characters by hand. She finds that she has trouble connecting with her characters if she doesn't know what she looks like.
• Marie's not sure if she can ever move out of writing science fiction and fantasy since she loves those two genres too much.
• Marie likes bittersweet endings, and she has a tendency to put that in her work. She doesn't see any other ending for the Legend trilogy - that was how she has always wanted to end the series.
• Marie has to listen to music while she's writing, because she can't write without noise. Meanwhile, her favorite place to write in is a train.
• If you ask Marie which character she is more like, at the beginning of the series, she would say Day, and the end, she would say June.
• The first draft of The Young Elites featured a kind-hearted, bland character ala Clark Kent as a protagonist. Marie's agent didn't like this character because he/she didn't find him to be interesting, but he/she did like the character of Adelina. Marie's agent then suggested that Marie focus on exploring Adelina. In turn, Marie found it interesting to write the point of view of a villain - why do they think the way they do; why do they think that what they do is justified, etc.
• Marie has a good feeling about what will happen to Day and June post-ending. (!!!)

Thank you so much to National Bookstore - another successful signing in the books! You guys are in a roll!