Marjorie Liu

Marjorie Liu

Liu at the 2012 New York Comic Con
Born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Occupation Novelist, poet, comic book writer
Language English, Chinese
Nationality American
Alma mater Lawrence University
University of Wisconsin
Period 2007 to the present
Genre Adventure, urban fantasy, romance, superhero fantasy
Notable works Tiger Eye
NYX
X-23
Dark Wolverine
Website
marjoriemliu.com

Marjorie M. Liu is an American New York Times best-selling author and comic novelist. Her paranormal romance and urban fantasy novels[1] include most notable The Hunter Kiss and Tiger Eye series. Her work for Marvel Comics include NYX, X-23, Dark Wolverine, and Astonishing X-Men.

Early life

Marjorie M. Liu was born in Philadelphia, and grew up in Seattle, Washington.[2] Her father hails from Taiwan, while her mother is an American of French, Scottish and Irish descent.[3] She developed an early love of reading, from books such as Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie books, and the works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Joseph Campbell, Charles de Lint and Jorge Luis Borges.[4]

Liu majored in East Asian Languages and Cultures and minored in Biomedical Ethics at the Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.[2][4] During her undergraduate years there, she also practiced her web design skills by designing a fan site called The Wolverine and Jubilee page, based on her discovery of numerous X-Men fan sites that she found to be well-designed. Although she had never read comic books in her youth, she was familiar with the X-Men through the animated TV series and fan fiction, and to familiarize herself with them more closely, she purchased X-Men and Wolverine comics for reference from Powerhouse Comics in Appleton, Wisconsin. In the process, she became a fan of the franchise herself, and wrote her own X-Men fan fiction, finding it an experimental exercise that improved her storytelling skills.[4][5][6]

After graduating, she attended law school at the University of Wisconsin, as she was impressed with their East Asian legal center, and the presence of top U.S. experts in Biotech Law on the University's faculty. She found an internship in Beijing working at the Foreign Agriculture Service at the U.S. Embassy, which at the time, was dealing with the Chinese government's new rules regarding the import of genetically modified food. She graduated in May 2003, and was soon admitted to the bar.[2][4]

Career

Liu at a June 29, 2011 book signing at Midtown Comics Times Square in Manhattan.

Despite enjoying law school, Liu was disillusioned with the life of a lawyer by the time she graduated, and decided to become a writer.[2] After she published poetry, short stories, and non-fiction pieces, she submitted her first novel, a paranormal romantic adventure set in China and the United States called Tiger Eye, which she wrote in a month, to several publishers before it was acquired by Dorchester.[4] It was published in November 2007.[7] She eventually wrote a sequel to Tiger Eye, as well as A Taste of Crimson, the sequel to Liz Maverick's Crimson City, which was published in August 2005.[8]

Seeing a little boy dressed as Spider-Man at a book convention in Tucson, Arizona, Liu remarked to her former literary agent, Lucienne Diver, how she would enjoy writing for Marvel Comics. Diver, who knew an editor who was acquiring authors to write Marvel tie-in novels for Pocket Books, made some inquiries, and found that while the publisher had already employed enough writers to write Spider-Man books amid the release of the 2002 film, they had not hired anyone to write tie-in novels for the X-Men.[2][6]

After writing the X-Men novel Dark Mirror in 2005, Liu began talking with Marvel editors about doing comics work for them. It was three years later that she got her first assignment, the X-Men spin-off NYX.[6][9][10] She served as co-writer on Marvel's Daken: Dark Wolverine with Daniel Way, and wrote the X-23 series, which ended with #21.

Liu is currently living in Boston where she continues to write and make panel appearances. She also teaches a course at MIT on comic book writing and participates at the VONA/VOICES Workshop as guest lecturer at UC Berkeley for popular fiction.[11][12]

Selected writings

Liu wrote the final 21 issues for Marvel's Astonishing X-Men series with artist Mike Perkins from 2012 to 2013. The series received media attention for featuring Marvel Comics' first gay wedding between Northstar and longterm partner Kyle in issue #51.[13] According to Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Axel Alonso, the issue comes as a response to real world's legalization of same sex marriage in New York.[14] Liu was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award in 2013.[15]

Her latest comic series, Monstress, has also gained wide publicity as it explores racism, the effects of war, and feminism.[16]

Personal life

She has been dating author Junot Diaz since 2011.[17]

Her favorite TV shows include Stargate, Castle, Lost Girl, and The Amazing Race.

Bibliography

Novels

Comics

Short stories

Awards and nominations

Year Award Name Category Work Result Ref
2016 Eisner Award Best Writer Monstress Pending [18]
2013 GLAAD Media Award Outstanding Comic Book Astonishing X-Men Nominee [15]
2012 Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award Urban Fantasy Worldbuilding The Mortal Bone Won [19]
2011 Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Nominee Paranormal Romance The Mortal Bone Nominee [20]
2011 Romantic Times Book of the Year Editor's Choice Within the Flames Nominee [21]
2008 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award Best Shapeshifter Romance The Last Twilight Nominee [22]
2008 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award Best Urban Fantasy The Iron Hunt Nominee [23]
2005 PEARL Award Best Futuristic A Taste of Crimson Won [24]
2005 PEARL Award Best New Author n/a Won [24]
2005 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award Best Contemporary Paranormal Romance Tiger Eye Won [25]

References

  1. 1 2 "PAPERBACK BEST SELLERS: September 24, 2006". New York Times. 2006-09-24. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Liu, Marjorie M. "About the Author", marjoriemliu.com, accessed December 29, 2010.
  3. ↑ Tan. "Marjorie's fantasies". http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2010-10/17/content_11419687.htm. External link in |website= (help);
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 White, Claire E. "A Conversation With Marjorie M. Liu", The Internet Writing Journal, accessed December 29, 2010.
  5. ↑ The Wolverine and Jubilee Page, accessed December 29, 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 Press, David. "INTERVIEW: Marjorie Liu talks ‘Dark Wolverine’ and ‘Darkness Calls’.", Daily Planet, June 23, 2009
  7. ↑ Tiger Eye at Amazon.com, accessed December 30, 2010.
  8. ↑ A Taste of Crimson at Amazon.com, accessed December 29, 2010.
  9. ↑ Lin, Peter. "X-23: Daddy’s Little Girl", Here Be Geeks, November 20, 2010
  10. ↑ "Interview with NYX writer Marjorie Liu live from Comic-Con". Comic Vine. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
  11. ↑ "Marjorie Liu - MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing". MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  12. ↑ "Books: Comic book author Marjorie Liu on the writing of superheroes". Hyphen Magazine. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  13. ↑ "Marvel Comics plans wedding for gay hero Northstar" 5/22/2012, www.sfgate.com - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/05/22/entertainment/e091701D28.DTL&tsp=1
  14. ↑ "Marvel Comics Hosts First Gay Wedding in 'Astonishing X-Men'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  15. 1 2 Veselinovic, Milena (16 December 2014). "How a lawyer left the courtroom to discover she had X-Men powers.". CNN (CNN). Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  16. ↑ "'Monstress': Inside The Fantasy Comic About Race, Feminism And The Monster Within". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  17. ↑ Swidey, Neil (December 23, 2012). "Acclaimed novelist Junot Diaz delivers". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  18. ↑ http://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/04/here-are-your-2016-eisner-award-nominees/
  19. ↑ "Urban Fantasy Worldbuilding | RT Book Reviews". www.rtbookreviews.com. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  20. ↑ "Paranormal Romance | RT Book Reviews". www.rtbookreviews.com. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  21. ↑ "RT Book of the Year | RT Book Reviews". www.rtbookreviews.com. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  22. ↑ "Shapeshifter Romance | RT Book Reviews". www.rtbookreviews.com. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  23. ↑ "Urban Fantasy Protagonist | RT Book Reviews". www.rtbookreviews.com. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  24. 1 2 "ParaNormalRomance: 2005 Paranormal Excellent Award for Romantic Literature PEARL Nomination". www.paranormalromance.org. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  25. ↑ "Contemporary Paranormal Romance | RT Book Reviews". www.rtbookreviews.com. Retrieved 2015-11-25.

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