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Los Angeles/SoCal folks, I have an exciting event to encourage you guys to go to. 
Next Wed (June 26th) at 7pm, I will be paneling at the Grove's Barnes & Noble with Leigh Bardugo (Shadow & Bone, Siege & Storm), Mike DiMartino (Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra), and Seth Hoffman (The Walking Dead).
I'm on the floor, spazzing out like foamy-mouth guy, but don't worry, I will be okay. Possibly.
So if you're a fan of any (or all!) of us, please come out and see us! We're even running this fabulous fanart contest, where if you create a crossover fanart of all 4 of our properties, we will all sign a print of your artwork at the panel: newleafliterary.tumblr.com/pos…
So. Next Wed, June 26th. 7pm. The Grove Barnes & Noble. Los Angeles. Come say hi!
p.s. I believe we are all signing things afterward. 
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In which we talk STAR CURSED
4 min read
So. Let's talk witches. Fantasy. Hot boys who are actually (gasp) also good boys. Beautiful dresses. Oracles. Sisters. Magic. Plot twists. Heartbreak.
All words to describe STAR CURSED, the second book in Jessica Spotswood's CAHILL WITCH CHRONICLES trilogy. (The first book, by the way, is BORN WICKED. It's captivating. You should read it. It has all of the above too.) I had the extreme fortune of reading STAR CURSED early, and let me tell you, it's possibly even better than the first. Not only are we treated to a thickening plot and a world that turns steadily darker--but we're treated to some serious character development. Cate, Maura, and Tess are a breathtaking trio of sisters. And, just sayin....be prepared for some heartbreak. Agh!
Okay. Without further ado, here's what STAR CURSED is about:
With the Brotherhood persecuting witches like never before, a divided Sisterhood desperately needs Cate to come into her Prophesied powers. And after Cate's friend Sachi is arrested for using magic, a war-thirsty Sister offers to help her find answers--if Cate is willing to endanger everyone she loves.
Cate doesn't want to be a weapon, and she doesn't want to involve her friends and Finn in the Sisterhood's schemes. But when Maura and Tess join the Sisterhood, Maura makes it clear that she'll do whatever it takes to lead the witches to victory. Even if it means sacrifices. Even if it means overthrowing Cate. Even if it means all-out war.
In the highly anticipated sequel to BORN WICKED, the Cahill Witch Chronicles continue Cate, Maura and Tess's quest to find love, protect family, and explore their magic against all odds in an alternate history of New England.
As part of the blog tour, each day Jess is revealing an annotated snippet from STAR CURSED. Check it below. Also, Jess has the neatest handwriting in the world.
If you add up the page number from each stop during the tour, you can enter to win a one-of-a-kind annotated ARC plus a star trio necklace! Find the other stops below, and on June 21, enter the Rafflecopter here:
Mon, 6/3: Good Books & Good Wine
Tues, 6/4: Ex Libris Kate
Wed, 6/5: Mundie Moms
Thurs, 6/6: Presenting Lenore
Fri, 6/7: Hobbitsies
Mon, 6/10: Green Bean Teen Queen
Tues, 6/11: I Read Banned Books
Wed, 6/12: Two Chicks on Books
Thurs, 6/13: Forever Young Adult
Fri, 6/14: The Story Siren
Mon, 6/17: YA Bibliophile
Tues, 6/18: Marie Lu
Wed, 6/19: Beth Revis
Thurs, 6/20: Veronica Rossi
Fri, 6/21: Marissa Meyer
STAR CURSED releases on June 18. That's today! You can read the first chapter here. Be sure to pick up your copy, and if you haven't hopped on the series' bandwagon yet, get yourself BORN WICKED and enjoy!
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So. I have some news.
"New York Times bestselling author of the LEGEND series Marie Lu's new fantasy trilogy THE YOUNG ELITES, in a Renaissance-like world where young children who survive the blood fever are often gifted with god-like powers, three rival societies battle for supremacy, in a major deal, for publication in fall 2014, to Jen Besser at Putnam Children's, by Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency (World)." (via Publisher's Marketplace)
There it is! The Young Elites. I drew some pics and pinned some Pinteresting things:
Young Elites art and details
Think X-Men meets Assassin's Creed 2 meets Game of Thrones. Those elements are all in there somewhere, mashed together into literary guacamole with a big keyboard-shaped spoon. (That was a terrible analogy. I apologize. Sort of.)
I cannot express my excitement at working with Team Putnam/Penguin again. I cannot. They are a team of Young Elites with all sorts of crazy powers. And Agent Kristin is a Superwoman who guided this little author through some seriously whacked out early versions of the story. Luff.
"Whacked out early versions, you say?" Yes, The Young Elites and I went through some growing pains before I managed to kick this story into line.
About a year ago, I decided I wanted to write a fantasy series. I grew up reading almost exclusively fantasy and science fiction, and the very first (thankfully unpublished) manuscript I ever finished in high school was a fantasy. So I always knew I would head in this direction. I came up with the initial idea for The Young Elites in early 2012 and excitedly wrote a few chapters. I tossed it. I tried again. I tossed it again. I did this several more time over the span of the next year or so, until I'd probably written enough words to have filled an entire book. Still, I couldn't "find it." I had characters, I had a premise, and I had a world . . . but I didn't have a story. Not until a few months ago did I finally figure out my problem.
I had the wrong protagonist.
Picking the right protagonist for your story is one of the most important decisions you can make as a writer—and it was a decision I never had trouble with for Legend. Day and June were my protagonists the instant the story sparked in my mind. They came fully formed, their personalities and attitudes complete and their character arcs ready to go. I took off running with them.
With TYE, I didn't have this same ease. I started out telling the story from the point of view of a boy we'll call Faketagonist. Faketagonist had a cast of (hopefully) interesting secondary characters swirling around him . . . but he himself was bland and uninspired. Too normal. Too 'nice'. Things happened to him and around him—but he never took action. Faketagonist waited a lot and relied on too many people. He was not protagonist material.
Then, I heard her. Off to Faketagonist's side was a secondary character, a girl with snow white hair and a missing eye, a dark past and an even darker character arc. I hesitated to give her the lead role, to be honest. Adelina Amouteru is a bit like a teenage female version of Magneto and Darth Vader. She is not a nice girl. She has twisted opinions about the world and the people around her. Day (from Legend) was a boy who walked in the light, but Adelina is a girl who walks in darkness.
And I worry, because even though Adelina and I are very different in many ways, I see pieces of myself in her that I'm not proud of. We all have our dark side, don't we? (Okay fine, maybe you don't, but please nod along and humor me. Plus, we need to get together and work on nurturing your inner mwahaha.)
There are also superheroes, supervillains, royalty, bad boys with hearts of gold, bad boys with hearts of dead puppies, good boys who drink their tea with a spoonful of cunning, good girls who make mistakes, badass girls, badass boys, boys and girls who do stupid things, smart things, and everything in between. Oh, and magic. Naturally.
This is, of course, all what I'm picturing in my head. I'm not done with the story yet. And I'm working VERY hard to make sure that this book doesn't make CSI's Horatio Caine go, "Well, it looks like the Young Elites are nothing more than . . . *sunglasses* the Young Disappointments. EEEEEYYEEEEAAAH!"
That's about all I have to say for now. I hope you guys will like it. I can't wait for you all to read it in Fall 2014! Until then, I'll be writing furiously and hyperventilating into a paper bag.
P.S. After Faketagonist was removed from his leading role post, he managed to pull himself together and turn into a surprisingly fun secondary character. He has congratulated Adelina and now lives on set in his secondary character trailer.
"New York Times bestselling author of the LEGEND series Marie Lu's new fantasy trilogy THE YOUNG ELITES, in a Renaissance-like world where young children who survive the blood fever are often gifted with god-like powers, three rival societies battle for supremacy, in a major deal, for publication in fall 2014, to Jen Besser at Putnam Children's, by Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency (World)." (via Publisher's Marketplace)
There it is! The Young Elites. I drew some pics and pinned some Pinteresting things:
Young Elites art and details
Think X-Men meets Assassin's Creed 2 meets Game of Thrones. Those elements are all in there somewhere, mashed together into literary guacamole with a big keyboard-shaped spoon. (That was a terrible analogy. I apologize. Sort of.)
I cannot express my excitement at working with Team Putnam/Penguin again. I cannot. They are a team of Young Elites with all sorts of crazy powers. And Agent Kristin is a Superwoman who guided this little author through some seriously whacked out early versions of the story. Luff.
"Whacked out early versions, you say?" Yes, The Young Elites and I went through some growing pains before I managed to kick this story into line.
About a year ago, I decided I wanted to write a fantasy series. I grew up reading almost exclusively fantasy and science fiction, and the very first (thankfully unpublished) manuscript I ever finished in high school was a fantasy. So I always knew I would head in this direction. I came up with the initial idea for The Young Elites in early 2012 and excitedly wrote a few chapters. I tossed it. I tried again. I tossed it again. I did this several more time over the span of the next year or so, until I'd probably written enough words to have filled an entire book. Still, I couldn't "find it." I had characters, I had a premise, and I had a world . . . but I didn't have a story. Not until a few months ago did I finally figure out my problem.
I had the wrong protagonist.
Picking the right protagonist for your story is one of the most important decisions you can make as a writer—and it was a decision I never had trouble with for Legend. Day and June were my protagonists the instant the story sparked in my mind. They came fully formed, their personalities and attitudes complete and their character arcs ready to go. I took off running with them.
With TYE, I didn't have this same ease. I started out telling the story from the point of view of a boy we'll call Faketagonist. Faketagonist had a cast of (hopefully) interesting secondary characters swirling around him . . . but he himself was bland and uninspired. Too normal. Too 'nice'. Things happened to him and around him—but he never took action. Faketagonist waited a lot and relied on too many people. He was not protagonist material.
Then, I heard her. Off to Faketagonist's side was a secondary character, a girl with snow white hair and a missing eye, a dark past and an even darker character arc. I hesitated to give her the lead role, to be honest. Adelina Amouteru is a bit like a teenage female version of Magneto and Darth Vader. She is not a nice girl. She has twisted opinions about the world and the people around her. Day (from Legend) was a boy who walked in the light, but Adelina is a girl who walks in darkness.
And I worry, because even though Adelina and I are very different in many ways, I see pieces of myself in her that I'm not proud of. We all have our dark side, don't we? (Okay fine, maybe you don't, but please nod along and humor me. Plus, we need to get together and work on nurturing your inner mwahaha.)
There are also superheroes, supervillains, royalty, bad boys with hearts of gold, bad boys with hearts of dead puppies, good boys who drink their tea with a spoonful of cunning, good girls who make mistakes, badass girls, badass boys, boys and girls who do stupid things, smart things, and everything in between. Oh, and magic. Naturally.
This is, of course, all what I'm picturing in my head. I'm not done with the story yet. And I'm working VERY hard to make sure that this book doesn't make CSI's Horatio Caine go, "Well, it looks like the Young Elites are nothing more than . . . *sunglasses* the Young Disappointments. EEEEEYYEEEEAAAH!"
That's about all I have to say for now. I hope you guys will like it. I can't wait for you all to read it in Fall 2014! Until then, I'll be writing furiously and hyperventilating into a paper bag.
P.S. After Faketagonist was removed from his leading role post, he managed to pull himself together and turn into a surprisingly fun secondary character. He has congratulated Adelina and now lives on set in his secondary character trailer.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone for all your amazing support for both Legend and Prodigy. I heard the news yesterday and became an absolute mess of emotions:
Prodigy debuts at #2 on the New York Times bestsellers list, and Legend comes in at #10 on the same list!
I can't believe it. I really can't. I don't think my high school writing-at-midnight self could ever have imagined this sort of thing coming true. It couldn't have happened without a team of brilliant people and the support of dedicated readers. Thank you all so much.
Prodigy debuts at #2 on the New York Times bestsellers list, and Legend comes in at #10 on the same list!
I can't believe it. I really can't. I don't think my high school writing-at-midnight self could ever have imagined this sort of thing coming true. It couldn't have happened without a team of brilliant people and the support of dedicated readers. Thank you all so much.
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It's here. It's FINALLY here, guys. Prodigy (Legend #2) is now out in the world! I'm sure you've all heard me lament about this already, but Prodigy was perhaps the most difficult book I've ever written. (I say this, of course, in lieu of Legend #3, which also killed me to write.) Now I'm super nervous, anxious, and excited to hear what you all think of Prodigy. I hope you guys enjoy it!
To celebrate, I have a fantastic surprise for you guys today. Ever wanted to see Day in parkour action? Well, wait no more. Check out this Prodigy trailer of EPIC proportions: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdorzC…
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For any in the Southern California area, you are all invited to come out for the Prodigy launch event tonight (Jan. 29). Details below:
Prodigy Launch Party
When: 7:30 PM on Jan. 29, 2013
Where: Mysterious Galaxy bookstore, 2810 Artesia Blvd, Redondo Beach, CA 90278
Who: Open to the public. Bring your friends!
Facebook invite: www.facebook.com/events/401669…
We'll do a little chatting, a little Q&A, and a little noming on finger foods!
Prodigy (Legend #2) is now out in the world! I'm sure you've all heard me lament about this already, but Prodigy was perhaps the most difficult book I've ever written. (I say this, of course, in lieu of Legend #3, which also killed me to write.) Now I'm super nervous, anxious, and excited to hear what you all think of Prodigy. I hope you guys enjoy it!To celebrate, I have a fantastic surprise for you guys today. Ever wanted to see Day in parkour action? Well, wait no more. Check out this Prodigy trailer of EPIC proportions: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdorzC…
-----
For any in the Southern California area, you are all invited to come out for the Prodigy launch event tonight (Jan. 29). Details below:
Prodigy Launch Party
When: 7:30 PM on Jan. 29, 2013
Where: Mysterious Galaxy bookstore, 2810 Artesia Blvd, Redondo Beach, CA 90278
Who: Open to the public. Bring your friends!
Facebook invite: www.facebook.com/events/401669…
We'll do a little chatting, a little Q&A, and a little noming on finger foods!
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