BACK TO THE FUTURE

Marie Lu is running late. She hops on the phone with a slight breathlessness to her smooth, even voice; having an infant son tends to trip up schedules, even (or perhaps especially) when you’re only weeks away from a book tour. She’s had a few other tasks on her mind, too – drafts and edits for two new novels, both to be released in 2020; a handful of bookshop appearances, convention panels, and interviews; plus, her active Twitter account, where she not only promotes her work and that of fellow YA authors but also shares political commentary, especially on issues related to racism and immigration. Listening to the calm, crystalline answers she supplies for every question, you might not realize she’s in a near-constant state of movement. Of change.

To be fair, Lu didn’t expect this either – not to one day become a full-time writer, for one, but also not to end up in an interview about a series that supposedly ended in 2013. Like the rest of us, Lu thought her blockbuster trilogy was done. When the No. 1 bestselling author published , the third and final installment, she tied the series up not with ribbons and resolutions but with a whopping cliffhanger. (If you know, you