Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Marie Lu

Marie Lu is a popular YA author best known for her bestselling novels Warcross and Legend.

This October, she wraps up her Skyhunter duology with the release of Steelstriker.

Pop Culturalist sat down with Marie Lu to chat about Steelstriker, and she shares some advice for up-and-coming fantasy writers.

PC: Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Marie: Hi there! I write YA science fiction and fantasy for the most part and have loved writing since I was in grade school. Before I wrote full-time, I worked in the video game industry for about five years. I spend most of my non-writing time reading, drawing, playing games, running around with my toddler and my husband, and getting stuck in Los Angeles traffic.

PC: I love how distinct each of the characters’ voices are in your story. Who were the easiest and hardest to write?
Marie: Thank you! Talin, by far, was the most challenging to write. I wanted very much to get her characterization right as so much of the story revolves around her relationships with her fellow Strikers, her mother, and her enemies, so I spent a lot of time rewriting and revising her. The easiest was Talin’s friend Jeran, who just flowed smoothly onto the page.

PC: Do you have any tips for writers who are new to worldbuilding?
Marie: It’s hard for me to put into concrete terms how I worldbuild, simply because it’s such a chaotic and organic process for me! In general, I let my characters guide my worldbuilding. I build out my characters as extensively as I can until I know almost everything there is to know about them. Then I start asking myself questions about how the world pertains to those characters. What kind of surroundings can make my characters the way I want them to be? How does this world dictate the strengths they have and the traumas they endure? I build the world until I know enough to work with, and then I start drafting. I learn the rest of my world during the writing of that first draft.

PC: Which character resonated the most with you and why?
Marie: Talin was both the most challenging character for me to write and the one that resonated the most with me. While she and I come from very different backgrounds and have very different personalities, I did give her pieces of myself—I am not a refugee, but I am an immigrant, and Talin’s fears and hesitations in Mara are an echo of my own. Her close relationship with her mother too was inspired by my own. Now that I’ve finished the duology, I can look back and see that Talin’s journey was an exploration of my own complicated feelings about home, love, and patriotism.

PC: What’s one thing that your character does that you also do?
Marie: Talin can be dense when it comes to romance—a trait I find myself constantly giving my female protagonists because that’s who I am. My husband teases me all the time because I can’t recognize romance unless it’s essentially shouted at me.

PC: Can you tease any upcoming projects that you’ll be working on?
Marie: While I can’t talk much about my next book, I can say that it’s unquestionably the most fun I’ve ever had writing a first draft. It was my escapism book during the pandemic—whenever I felt overwhelmed, I would turn to it to have fun and dream of a better place. I’m so excited to share more about it with everyone!

PC: If your characters met each other (like Emika and Talin), who do you think would form an unlikely friendship, and who would be each other’s nemesis?
Marie: I think June, Emika, and Talin would all be unlikely friends—albeit ones who might occasionally dissolve into arguments. Adelina would definitely be everyone’s nemesis. It’s just her nature, you know? Day and Red would probably bicker all the time. And I ship Jeran and Raffaele.

PC: What’s your writing routine like when you’re on a deadline?
Marie: When I’m on deadline, there’s no routine—it’s all bets off. I write in any spare moment I can get, whether it’s early in the morning or super late at night. On normal writing weeks, I tend to like writing in the morning and then rest by 2 pm, switching to things like emails and other administrative business.

PC: What’s a book that you’re currently reading (or recently read)?
Marie: A recent read I loved is All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir—it’s out in early 2022 and is just such a searing, unforgettable story from one of the best writers out there. I’m also currently in the middle of reading Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun, which so far has been incredible and poignant.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Are you a plotter, a pantser, or a plantser (both)?
Marie: A bit of both! A plantser.

PC: Tea or coffee?
Marie: Tea!

PC: If Talin and Red were a Taylor Swift era, which one would they be?
Marie: Talin is definitely Evermore era. Red is probably the Reputation era. Look what you made him do!

PC: During the editing process, is there a scene that got cut from Steelstriker that you wish was kept and if yes, what was it?
Marie: I don’t think there were any scenes that were cut from Steelstriker that I regret cutting, but many scenes that didn’t make it into Skyhunter went into Steelstriker. (Red’s POV used to be in Skyhunter. When that didn’t work out, I moved some of them into Steelstriker and it worked well.)

To keep up with Marie, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Pick up Steelstriker today.