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| © Paul Gregory |
Frankfurter Buchmesse 2012 - ein Ort für Bücher, viele Menschen und Begegnungen.
Eine nette Begegnung der besonderen Art hatten Anka von Ankas Geblubber und ich, tief im Inneren des wunderschönen Messestands des Loewe Verlags. Um den Wortwitz noch mal aufzugreifen, eine LEGENDÄRE Begegnung mit der Debütautorin Marie Lu. Marie - das schreibt man nicht nur so wie unsere deutsche Version, man spricht es auch so aus (mit einem englischen "r").
Die sympathische "Legend"-Autorin stand uns Rede und Antwort, sehr lustig, sehr souverän und sehr ernsthaft. Eine tiny little Autorin ganz groß! ("Klein" ist hier natürlich nur in Bezug auf die Körpergröße zu sehen.)
Anka & Damaris
D+A: Hi Marie, thanks for joining us for a
German interview. We're sure every German YA reader knows who you are. Would you
please give us a short introduction of yourself, though?
Marie: Oh, sure! My Name is Marie Lu and I
am the author of "Legend", which is the first book in a science
fiction/dystopian YA trilogy. It's my debut novel. I've written many scripts
before but they didn't sell. This is the first one that sold.
D+A: On
Facebook you asked the fans which are their favorite "Legend" characters. Can
you tell us which is yours? (And Marie, no spoilers, please ;-))
Marie: That's so
difficult. They are all like my children, I love them all! But Day is very close
to my heart, just because he is a character that's been in my head since I was
in highschool, actually. I was always searching for the right story for him. It
wasn't until I wrote "Legend" that I found the right story for him to be in. And
because he's been in my head for so long and he sort of feels like an old
friend, I'm quite close to Day as a character.
And otherwise I'm actually very fond of Kaede, the girl
that June duels in the street fights. She ends up playing a role in the second
book as well and she was very fun to write about.
D+A: How did
you find the names for your characters Day and June? Both names are not that
usual. Did you want to express anything with the choice of the
names?
Marie:
Definitely with Day I did. His real name is Daniel, but he chose his
street name to be Day. I thought this would represent his optimism in life, his
view that every day is a new 24-hours-chance, everything is possible again. So
that's why he has his street name. And it also sort of represents his philosophy
of walking in the light, which in the book basically means to seek out the truth
in a world full of lies and to do the right thing, even if he lives in a very
dark world. That's sort of the symbolism behind his name.
And for June I always thought that her personality kind
of matched the Gemini zodiac, so I matched it up with the month of June.
Ironically, her birthday is actually in July because I wanted to give her my
birthday.
D+A: You wrote "Legend" alternately from
the view of Day and June. Was this your plan from the beginning and which of
both characters caused more troubles in your head to write?
Marie: Yes, it
was definitely a conscious decision for me to write it in the alternate first
person points of view. When I was writing in highschool I actually wrote an
early fantasy story that had Day as a character as well. And it was written in
the same form, and though with different characters and a different world. So I
always pictured his story to be in that kind of setup with two alternate first
person viewpoints. I feel more comfortable writing in fist person, because it's
easier for me to get into their heads and express their emotions. But I also
wanted to show the opposite sides of the society. So that's why I thought it
would be fun to do two of them with first person.
June was definitely more difficult for me to write. She
is not easy. With Day it was much easier for me, because I was so used to him
and his voice in my head (which makes me sound crazy *laughs*). June is very
unlike me. She's probably the one character in "Legend" I have nothing in common
with. So, I find it difficult sometimes to get into her head and to be able to
think in that logical and political way she does. I'm not like that at all.
She's very practical and athletic – and I'm not! She is very different from me
and sometimes I have to stop and do a lot of research to write a few paragraphs
that will come very naturally to her. June takes much longer time for me to
write.
D+A: Why did you choose such a young age
for your both main characters? Day and June are pretty young with an age of 15,
aren't they? And they seem really mature, though.
Marie: I know that usually it seems in YA novels the protagonists are
around 17 or 18 and I wanted to make them a little bit younger, because I wanted
to show their child prodigy side. Both are a little bit unusual and I wanted
them to size down a little bit so I pulled their ages back. Also I think,
because of the nature of the world of "Legend", people grow up a lot faster.
This kind of world is so dark and especially Day is living on the streets. I
think in his neighborhood most kids are probably grown up by the time of 12 or
13. For him, especially since he's been alone on the streets for the last few
years, he's pretty much become an adult. That's why he may seem a little bit
more adult like the average 15-year-old today.
And June, since her mind is such a strange place to be,
she also acts a bit out of character for a typical 15-year-old. It also makes a
difference that she doesn't have parents. She's kind of grown up just with her
brother as her guardian and that may have changed the way she acts, as
well.
D+A: In many
scenes of your novel we can see people becoming numb beasts without any feelings
or emotions. They execute commands without thinking about them or their
consequences. Do you see any similarities to people today? And how was it for
you to write these scenes about torture and murder?
Marie: It can be a little disturbing to
write about and to get into the mindset of a soldier who really, truly believes
that obedience is the absolute pinnacle of what he's supposed to do. I drew a
bit of inspiration from my childhood in China. When I was 5 years old it was the
year 1989 in Beijing, that's where I was living, and we lived a few blocks away
from Tiananmen Square (weitere Infos zum Tjan'anmen Massaker 1989 HIER). I remember we were out in the square the day that the shootings happened,
and knowing the history of what happened on that day, it was a fascinating thing to think about for
me, because I tried to put myself in the position of those soldiers and what
they where thinking. That even if the government tells them you have to open
fire on this unarmed people, what would possess them to go ahead with that
command. Basically, I was thinking you just have to shut down your human side
and just become a machine. When I was writing about some of the characters in
the book this was definitely something that I pulled on. And also the North
Korea regime was another inspiration because I see a little bit of that in the
research that I've done.
D+A: The story of "Legend" shows obvious
violence. This is always a major point of discussion about a YA book,
particularly after books like "The Hunger Games" and "Divergent" also "Ashes"
and the second part "Shadows". What is your point of view about that? Can we
expect young readers to put up with describing violence in YA
books?
Marie: I
think if it's done in a way that doesn't make the violence seem picturesque and
something that fits and is necessary for the story. So if it's violence that
really brings to light the personalities of the characters and shows the
struggles that the characters have to go through, I think it is something that
younger readers can and should be able to handle. Especially since a lot of
youngsters do live in pretty dark worlds, as well. I'm sure some of them have
experience with violence in their own lives. I don't really think it's helpful
to sugar-coat a lot of that. But I don't also believe in picturesque violence,
violence just for the sake of entertainment in books. That was something that I
enjoyed about "The Hunger Games". I think she (Suzanne Collins) was using
violence to make a point. To tell them it's a little twisted to see it as
entertainment. I think younger readers will be able to handle this, if there is
a reason for the violence.
D+A: If you
could meet one of your characters in real life – who would you choose and what
would you do?
Marie: I would, … well, the characters I
wanna meet would probably not want to meet me, because I'm pretty sure they
would be very upset with me for what I've done to them *laughs*. But, I would
like to meet … Day! Just because he's been in my head for so long, and I would
like to sit down with him and just to pick his brain and see the way that he
thinks. But in terms of this having a nice day, I would like to be with Tess.
She seems like a nice, sweet girl to go around with. And I would like to feed
her, take care of her, give her some toys ...
D+A: The German translation of "Legend: Fallender Himmel" is perfect! We think that the
translators S. Knuffinke and J. Komina are one of the best translators in Germany. Are you sometimes concerned about
the fact, that translating the original language could eventually mitigate the
native feeling of the story?
Marie: It is not something that I've been concerned about too much. I've
always had a lot of faith in the translators and I've heard the "Legend"
translation is amazing. I'm really glad to hear that. And I've read several
books that have been translated from other languages into English and the
translations also seemed to be quite good. So I haven't been worried, my
publishers are wonderful and I've gotten really great feedback from readers
overseas. I suppose there is always a little bit of fear that some of the points
you want to carry across might not come across, but I have a lot of faith in the
publishers and I think they're doing a good job with that.
D+A: Are you
self-critical? Have you ever wished to change the story, a character or maybe
just a little detail in your book when it had already been
published?
Marie: Yes! I'm in a constant state of editing and my editor in America
usually has to pry the book out of my head, because I always wanna change a
little phrase or like a word better. And my editor has to say "No! We have to
go!" So, yes! I mean, I read back over "Legend" and there are definitely little
paragraphs and sentences that I would like to change. I'm in a constant state of revision with my
work and I usually have to force myself to stop.
D+A: The
second "Legend" novel "Prodigy" will come out in the US approximately Jan. or Feb. 2013? Have you
already started to write the third book? And is there defined a name for it? (You
don't have to tell us, if it's top secret).
Marie:
"Prodigy" will come out January 24th. They (the publisher) have a
couple of titles for the third book that they're throwing around, but nothing is
solid, yet. I'm finished with the first draft of the third book, but we're on
the first run of revisions now. So it's in a very rough state. Hopefully nobody
will see this released.
D+A: Do you have
any plans for further projects after the "Legend" chapter? Or are you still
highly engrossed in the "Legend" universe?
Marie: I've started tinkering with a few other story
ideas when I'm done with "Legend". So whenever I'm a little bit exhausted from
working on book three I've started working on something else. I think I go back
to the fantasy genre, since that was my childhood love with the fantasy books.
So, I think my next book would be set in a high-fantasy world.
Reader
Questions
Nanni: On LOEWES's Homepage we can read that you
love happy people. Why did you write a dystopian novel, then? Could you imagine
writing a chick-lit-novel?
Marie: It's
true, in reality I do like happy people. But in fiction I've always written
pretty dark stories ever since I was a kid. I'm not sure why. I think those
stories just to me have such deep conflicts and this is very, very interesting
for me to write about and to read about. I read a lot of dystopian fiction. And
it's not so much that I suppose I enjoy darkness, but I think it's more that I
find it fascinating to explore this sort of dark places. And "Legend" in
particular It was interesting, because a lot of the dark elements in it are
pulled straight from reality. My past in China
and the North Korea regime. Dystopia and sci-fi and its darkness are also very
relative, depending on where you live in the world. Something that might seem
strange and twisted to us might be completely normal for other people.
Emma: Have you ever dreamed about your
characters?
Marie: You know, it's
funny. I don't think I've ever dreamed about my characters, even if sometimes I
want to. Because I feel like a lot of writers get great ideas from their dreams.
So I tried to force myself to dream about them. I actually don't think I've ever
dreamed about my characters. No, never! Which is actually quite strange.
Diana: Where would you find yourself in the world
of "Legend"? Would you be a rebel like Day, a clever and strong girl like June
or someone else?
Marie: I'm
very unlike June, but I have to say, it would be more comfortable to live on the
republic side, so I don't have to be on the streets. So, I suppose, I would
prefer to live in June's world and be maybe a rebel spy, who enjoys the luxury
of the republic and works undercover for the sake of the rebels. Maybe a little
bit like Junes brother, something like that, but he ended up dying. Not the best
way to go, but probably better than living on the streets.
Reni: Almost every reader knows that the movie
rights for "Legend" have been sold. What do you think about the "Legend" movie
realization? Do you have a voice in this chapter? And is there only pure
happiness seeing your characters on the big screen, soon? Or do you have some
little doubts?
Marie: It's
very exciting. Definitely a little bit nerve-racking to think about other people
taking your world and putting what's in my head into a public format? It's a
huge honor, incredibly exciting. For the movie they finished the screenplay now.
And I had a chance to look at this screenplay recently, and I think it's very
good. They've been very good about keeping me updated, asking me questions about
the world making sure that the characters are intact.
Robert: Would you prefer a more independent movie
production, or big budget for the adaptation of "Legend"?
Marie: I
guess I would prefer anything that works best for the film. Whatever the movie
studio thinks what is required would be the best.
Josi: If you could choose the actors for your main
characters Day & June, who would you prefer? Have you already thought about
this?
Marie: I
think about it a little bit, it's a little difficult for me to cast Day, just
because he's half Asian and half Russian, a very unusual mix for the most
actors. If I had to pick somebody, he's too old to play Day now, but I picture
Leonardo DiCaprio during his "Romeo and Julia" days, when he was young. I could
see him as Day he's got a little bit of this eastern European look. And for June
maybe someone like Hailee Steinfeld. Maybe not her in particular, but I think
her look is quite apposite.
Kerstin: Where would be the perfect place or what
would be the perfect time for you to write? Imagine you have a time machine and
can go everywhere. Where would you stop by?
Marie: I love to write in the mornings. I'm very
much a morning person, so I try to get all my writing done before
1 pm.
And I would love to write … hm … I love to write when it's raining. So if I was
able to sit in a very cozy café or on a cozy balcony somewhere, with soft rain
outside, that would be the perfect writing atmosphere for me.
Finish the following
sentences
"Legend" is … a science fiction
thriller with child prodigies.
The best thing about being a writer is … wearing pajamas at home.
My perfect day starts with … candy … continues with … something delicious for lunch … and ends with …
chocolates.
I knew that I wanted to become an author when … I was in highschool and I saw a newspaper article about a young
girl, who is 15, who had become published - that's when I
knew!
A special experience I made / moment I had in my life as
an author … Getting to meet all of my readers. It's
always amazing to meet readers in person. That's when it sort of hits me that
other people are reading my book. So it's very exciting.
My next project … is a
high-fantasy story, set in a fantasy reversion of Renaissance
Italy.
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| Damaris - Marie Lu - Anka, © Anka |
Ankas Interview-Veröffentlichung könnt ihr
HIER finden. Für alle, die das Interview gerne auf Deutsch lesen würden, arbeiten wir zur Zeit an der deutschen Übersetzung. Coming soon ...
Marie Lu
Marie Lu wurde 1984 in Shanghai geboren und lebte für einige Zeit in Texas, bevor sie an der University of South California studierte. Das kalifornische Wetter hat sie überzeugt dortzubleiben und nun wohnt Marie Lu mit ihrem Freund und drei Hunden in Pasadena, einem Vorort von Los Angeles. Vor ihrem Erfolg als Autorin arbeitete sie als künstlerische Leiterin bei einem Unternehmen, das Videospiele produziert. Marie Lu mag Cupcakes, fröhliche Menschen, Kampfjets, Regen und natürlich Bücher.
"Asche und Phönix" von Kai Meyer,
