With her new urban fantasy A Wild Light fresh off the press, Marjorie M. Liu, a New York Times best-selling author, shared her experiences with fans in Beijing last week.
Bookcover of A Wild Light. [Global Times]
Studying to be a lawyer at the University of Wisconsin and graduating in 2003, Liu did not spend much time on her chosen profession before taking time off to write her first full-length novel in 2005.
A month's work saw the publishing of Tiger Eye, a young American sculptor's adventure set in both China and the US.
In the five years that followed, Liu published 16 full-length novels in both para-normal romance and urban fantasy and 10 novellas. Her Hunter Kiss urban fantasy series, telling the stories of a demon hunter whose tattoos come alive at night and para-normal romance Dirk & Steele series, have gained her much popularity. The 30-year-old also writes stories for Marvel Comics, the largest American comic-book publisher whose well-known characters include Spider-Man, Iron Man and the X-Men.
For Liu, writing comes naturally. "(While I am writing a story) I'm feeling it and I'm not forcing it out. If the stories are not alive beside me I won't be able to write them," she explained, adding that she only works on stories that she has a passion for.
"I love to write many different kinds of stories...I also love fantasy and science fiction, so combining that genre with romance was a very natural fit for me," Liu told the Global Times.
"The transition into all these genres was fairly smooth. There were some adjustments I needed to make in terms of voice and process and method - but for the most part, the art of storytelling never changes," she added.
With a comparatively-large volume of work behind her in her short career as an author, Liu said she never sets herself a pattern while writing. "As far as my process goes, I am very flexible. I don't usually write an outline ahead of time. I start with an idea, an inciting incident and then sit down and start writing. I try to craft an excellent beginning, along with rich, deep characters and that creates a momentum that pushes the story forward in a very organic, natural way."
Liu added that while ideas come easily to her, meeting deadlines is a different story.
"The more you learn about writing, the more you realize it's a business…You can only skip it, really only, when you are writing in the middle of the book… You try not to think about the business aspect of the book."
Source: China.org.cn - China news
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