Top 139 Quotes & Sayings by Marie Lu

When I was young, I drew as often as I wrote.

I had a lot of really emo stories as a kid. I wrote a lot of fan fiction.

Fantasy and science fiction are my comfort spot.

Growing up, I didn't know any writers and felt somewhat isolated.

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 went into writing 'The Young Elites' with a great deal of fear - I'd been told repeatedly that a villain's story would be far too dark for young readers to want and that no one would like my villainess, Adelina. I braced myself for epic failure.

On the one hand, I'm so relieved that I've actually managed to finish my very first series and that I've been able to see my characters through to the end of their journeys. On the other hand, I feel like how parents must feel when they send their kid off to college. It's a bittersweet mix.

I can't write when it's silent. But the music can't have lyrics.

Movies require so many moving pieces to align that it really is a miracle that anything is made!

We determine whether a book is for boys or girls long before the reader gets a chance to decide: we package them with soldiers and ballet slippers on their covers, war machines and glittering gowns.

For me, as a fan, when I read book series, I tend to be the most judgmental of the last book.

My first three manuscripts were epic fantasy - like high fantasy - and then the fourth one was a historical fantasy about Mozart as a child. I still have a soft spot for that one!

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

I don't think anything really consciously went into 'Legend' that was influenced by videogames, but I'm pretty sure some of my experiences and love for gaming contributed to a few of the factors that are in 'Legend'.

Before I ever begin writing a new story, I have to sketch my characters out on paper. It's part of my process of understanding who they are.

I think writing is very, very therapeutic.

I receive emails from readers that both break my heart and give me a profound sense of connection. Several months ago, I received an email from a teacher who told me that 'Legend' was the first book one of her troubled young students had ever read to the end. He cried when he finished it. Stories like that stay with you forever.

'The Rose Society' was definitely the hardest book I've ever written, because it's so difficult to stay in that dark space.

I've always been interested in exploring the concept of child prodigies. When I was younger, I wrote a story about Mozart as a child, and I just always loved this idea of young people who are able to take control of their lives and bring a whole lot of change at such a young age.

I have an obsession with describing hair. I don't know why - hair is just really pretty.

A lot of the moments and experiences in 'Warcross' were inspired by specific moments that I remember as an intern working at Disney or having fun with my coworkers. A lot of it is very anecdotal.

I think I was always meant to write dark stories.

When I first came over to the States, I started writing, I think, as a way to help myself learn English. I would start stapling together little booklets for myself.

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.

I remember playing 'Mortal Kombat' when I was a kid and the other 'Tekken'-style games.

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.

Writing is an extremely rewarding and humbling process, and I've learned to go with it, that even if it feels absolutely impossible, I will find a way to tell the next story.

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've always had this interest in sibling relationships because I don't have any siblings. I'm completely a product of the one-child policy in China, so I always kind of wished that I had an older brother or a younger brother or sister just to have that bond, so I find myself constantly writing about that relationship.

I am a hopeless pantser, so I don't do much outlining. A thought will occur to me, and I'll just throw it into the story. I tell myself I'll worry about untangling it later. I'm glad no one sees my first drafts except for my poor editor and agent.

It feels like it's the end of the world if you don't do well on your SATs.

I've seen fan art from readers that is professional-grade in quality.

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.

As a writer, I try to appeal to the 'elusive boy audience' the same way I try to appeal to everyone: I do the very best I can to create interesting characters, addictive plots, tons of conflict, believable settings, unexpected plot twists, intriguing beginnings, and satisfying endings.

When I was young, I couldn't process emotions well.

I had an erroneous idea that writing a duology would be simpler than writing a trilogy because I would get to cut out the middle book. It turns out it was actually harder because 'Wildcard' became this combination of having to write a book two and three at the same time.

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

Fantasy and science fiction are where my brain lives.

I remember my favorite books when I was a kid: 'The Redwall Adventure' series, 'Ender's Game,' things like that.

I write the story as it comes to me - YA is my natural voice, not a conscious choice.

I used to work in the video game industry before I became a full-time writer.

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

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.

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

In general, I write for ages 12 and up - although I've received emails from readers between the ages of seven and seventy. My books are science fiction.

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.

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

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

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.

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

You drive me insane June. You're the scariest, most clever, bravest person I know, and sometimes I can't catch my breath because I'm trying so hard to keep up. There will never be another like you. You realize that, don't you? Billions of people will come and go in this world, but there will never be another like you.

Clouds suit my mood just fine.

Time heals all wounds. But not this one. Not yet.

Without emotion, what's the point of being human?

Sometimes, the sun sets earlier. Days don’t last forever, you know. But I’ll fight as hard as I can. I can promise you that.

To love is to be afraid. You are frightened, deathly terrified, that something will happen to those you love. Think of the possibilities. Does your heart clench with each thought? That, my friend, is love. And love enslaves us all, for you cannot have love without fear.

It hurts every day, the absence of someone who was once there.

to. I will trick you and deceive you, lie, cheat and steal to find you, tempt you out of your hiding place, and chase you until you have nowhere else to run. I make you this promise: your life is mine

Be true to yourself. But that's something everyone says and no one means. No one wants you to be yourself. They want you to be the version of yourself that they like.

If you want to rebel, rebel from inside the system.That's much more powerful than rebelling outside the system.