Marjorie Liu

Marjorie M. Liu (born 1979) is an American New York Times best-selling author and comic book writer. She is acclaimed for her horror fantasy comic Monstress, and her paranormal romance and urban fantasy novels[1] including The Hunter Kiss and Tiger Eye series. Her work for Marvel Comics include NYX, X-23, Dark Wolverine, and Astonishing X-Men. In 2015 Image Comics debuted her creator-owned series Monstress, for which she was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best New Series. In 2017 she won a Hugo Award for the first Monstress trade paperback collection. In July 2018 she became the first woman in the 30-year history of the Eisner Awards to win the Eisner Award for Best Writer for her work on Monstress, though she shared the award with writer Tom King, who won for his work on other books.[2]

Marjorie Liu
Liu at a signing for Monstress #22 at Midtown Comics in Manhattan
Born	1979 (age 41–42) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Novelist, poet, comic book writer, lawyer
Language	English, Chinese
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Lawrence University University of Wisconsin Law School
Period	2007—present
Genre	Adventure, urban fantasy, romance, superhero fantasy
Notable works	Monstress Tiger Eye NYX X-23 Dark Wolverine
Website
marjoriemliu.com

Early life

Marjorie M. Liu was born in Philadelphia in 1979, and grew up in Seattle, Washington.[3] Her father is Taiwanese, while her mother is an American of French, Scottish and Irish descent.[4] 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.[5]

Liu majored in East Asian Languages and Cultures and minored in Biomedical Ethics at the Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.[3][5] During her undergraduate years, she practiced her web design skills by designing a fan site called The Wolverine and Jubilee page, after her discovery of numerous X-Men fan sites that she admired. Although she had never read comic books as a child, she was familiar with the X-Men through the animated TV series and via fan fiction. She first purchased X-Men and Wolverine comics for reference for her fanfic from Powerhouse Comics in Appleton, Wisconsin. Writing fanfic helped her improve her storytelling skills.[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.[3][5]

Career

Liu at a 2011 book signing at Midtown Comics Times Square in Manhattan

Despite enjoying law school, Liu was disillusioned with the life of a lawyer. Instead she decided to become a writer.[3] She published poetry, short stories, and non-fiction pieces, then submitted her first novel, a paranormal romantic adventure set in China and the United States entitled Tiger Eye. She wrote it in one month. She submitted it to several publishers before it was acquired by Dorchester,[5] and published in November 2007.[7] She wrote a sequel to Tiger Eye, then produced A Taste of Crimson, the sequel to Liz Maverick's Crimson City, which was published in August 2005.[8]

After seeing a little boy dressed as Spider-Man at a book convention in Tucson, Arizona, Liu told her former literary agent Lucienne Diver that she would enjoy writing for Marvel Comics. Diver, who knew a Marvel acquisition editor seeking authors for Marvel tie-in novels at Pocket Books, made inquiries. Pocket had already hired enough authors for the Spider-Man books, but they had not hired anyone to write tie-in novels for the X-Men.[3][6]

Liu produced the X-Men novel Dark Mirror for Pocket in 2005, but it was three years before that she landed her first comics assignment at Marvel, 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 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 (August 2012).[11] 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.[12] Liu was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award in 2013.[13]

In 2015, Liu taught a course at MIT on comic book writing and participated at the VONA/VOICES Workshop as guest lecturer at UC Berkeley for popular fiction.[14][15]

In 2015 Image Comics debuted Liu's comics series, Monstress, which gained wide publicity for its exploration of racism, the effects of war, and feminism.[16]

In July 2018 Liu became the first woman in the 30-year history of the Eisner Awards to win the Eisner Award for Best Writer for her work on Monstress. She shared the award with writer Tom King, who received it for his work on Batman books and Mister Miracle.[2]

Personal life

Since 2011, Liu has lived in Boston with author Junot Diaz.[17]

Bibliography

Dirk & Steele series

#	Title	Also In	Publication Date	Comments
1	Tiger Eye		2005
2	Shadow Touch		2006
3	The Red Heart of Jade		2006
3.5	A Dream of Stone and Shadows	Dark Dreamers	Sep 2006	NYT Best Seller[1]
4	Eye of Heaven		2006
5	Soul Song		2007
6	The Last Twilight		2008
7	The Wild Road		2008
8	The Fire King		2009
9	In the Dark of Dreams		2010
10	Within the Flames		2011
11	Where the Heart Lives[18]		Aug 2012

Hunter Kiss series

#	Title	Also In	Publication Date
1	The Iron Hunt		2008
2	Darkness Calls		2008
2.5	Hunter Kiss	Wild Thing[19]	May 2007
2.6	Armor of Roses	Inked[20] Armor of Roses and the Silver Voice[21]	Jan 2010
3	A Wild Light		Jul 2010
3.5	The Silver Voice	Armor of Roses and the Silver Voice'[21]	Dec 2011
4	The Mortal Bone		2011
5	Labyrinth of Stars		2014

Novels

• A Taste of Crimson: Crimson City, Book 2 (2005)
• X-Men: Dark Mirror (2005)
• Sympathy for the Bones (February 2014) also in An Apple for the Creature
• After the Blood (July 2014) also in Never After
• Call Her Savage (December 2014) also in Masked

Anthologies and collections

Anthology or Collection	Contents	Publication Date
Dark Dreamers[22]	A Dream of Stone and Shadows	Sep 2006
Holidays are Hell	Six	Jan 2007
Wild Thing[19]	Hunter Kiss	May 2007
My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon	Where the Heart Lives	Dec 2007
Hotter than Hell	Minotaur in Stone	Jun 2008
Huntress	The Robber Bride	Jun 2009
Never After	The Tangleroot Palace	Nov 2009
Inked[20]	Armor of Roses	Jan 2010
Masked	Call Her Savage	Jul 2010
Songs of Love and Death	After the Blood	Nov 2010
Armor of Roses and the Silver Voice[21]	Armor of Roses The Silver Voice	Dec 2011
An Apple for the Creature	Sympathy for the Bones	Sep 2012
The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination	The Last Dignity of Man	Feb 2013
The Starlit Wood	Briar and Rose	Oct 2016
Secret Loves of Nerd Girls	Ghost	2017

Comics

• NYX: No Way Home #1 - 6 (Marvel Comics, 2008–2009)
• Dark Wolverine #75 - 90 (co-written with Daniel Way, Marvel Comics, 2009–2010)
• X-23 Vol. 2 #1- Women of Marvel one-shot (Marvel Comics, 2010)
• Black Widow Vol. 4 #1 - 5 (Marvel Comics, 2010)
• Girl Comics #3 (Wolverine & Jubilee story only, Marvel Comics, 2010)
• Wolverine: Road to Hell - one-shot (Marvel Comics, 2010)
• Daken:Dark Wolverine #1 - 9 (co-written with Daniel Way, Marvel Comics, 2010–2011) (continuation of Dark Wolverine)
• X-23 Vol. 3 #1 - 21 (Marvel Comics, 2010–2012)
• Jim Henson's Storyteller ("Puss in Boots", Archaia, 2013)
• Astonishing X-Men Vol. 3 #48 - #68, (Marvel Comics, 2012–2013)
• X-Termination #1 (Marvel Comics, 2013)
• X-Treme X-Men Vol. 2 #13 (Marvel Comics, 2013)
• Legends of Red Sonja #4 (Dynamite, 2014)
• Monstress (Image Comics, 2015)
• Star Wars: Han Solo (Marvel Comics, 2016)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award Name	Category	Work	Result	Ref
2019	Bram Stoker Award	Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel	Monstress, Volume 4: The Chosen	Nominated	[23]
2018	Hugo Award	Best Graphic Story	Monstress, Volume 2: The Blood	Won	[24]
2018	Eisner Award	Best Writer	Monstress	Won	[2]
2017	Eisner Award	Best Limited Series	Han Solo	Nominated	[25]
2017	Eisner Award	Best Publication for Teens	Monstress	Nominated	[25]
2017	Hugo Award	Best Graphic Story	Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening	Won	[26]
2016	Eisner Award	Best Writer	Monstress	Nominated	[27][28]
2013	GLAAD Media Award	Outstanding Comic Book	Astonishing X-Men	Nominated	[13]
2012	Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award	Urban Fantasy Worldbuilding	The Mortal Bone	Won	[29]
2011	Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Nominee	Paranormal Romance	The Mortal Bone	Nominated	[30]
2011	Romantic Times Book of the Year	Editor's Choice	Within the Flames	Nominated	[31]
2008	Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award	Best Shapeshifter Romance	The Last Twilight	Nominated	[32]
2008	Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award	Best Urban Fantasy	The Iron Hunt	Nominated	[33]
2005	PEARL Award	Best Futuristic	A Taste of Crimson	Won	[34]
2005	PEARL Award	Best New Author	n/a	Won	[34]
2005	Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award	Best Contemporary Paranormal Romance	Tiger Eye	Won	[35]

References

1. "PAPERBACK BEST SELLERS: September 24, 2006". New York Times. 2006-09-24. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
2. Ducharme, Jamie (21 July 2018). "A Woman Has Finally Won the Top Writing Award in Comic Books". Time.
3. Liu, Marjorie M. "About the Author", marjoriemliu.com, accessed December 29, 2010.
4. Tan, Tiffany (October 17, 2010). "Marjorie's fantasies". China Daily. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
5. White, Claire E. "A Conversation With Marjorie M. Liu", The Internet Writing Journal, accessed December 29, 2010.
6. Press, David. "INTERVIEW: Marjorie Liu talks 'Dark Wolverine' and 'Darkness Calls'." Archived 2017-10-16 at the Wayback Machine, 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. Archived from the original on 2010-06-05. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
11. Moore, Matt (May 22, 12). "Marvel Comics plans wedding for gay hero Northstar". The San Francisco Chronicle.
12. "Marvel Comics Hosts First Gay Wedding in 'Astonishing X-Men'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
13. Veselinovic, Milena (16 December 2014). "How a lawyer left the courtroom to discover she had X-Men powers". CNN. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
14. "Marjorie Liu - MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing". MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
15. "Books: Comic book author Marjorie Liu on the writing of superheroes". Hyphen Magazine. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
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. "Where the Heart Lives". Marjorie Liu. February 18, 2020.
19. "Wild Thing". Marjorie Liu. February 18, 2020.
20. "Inked". Marjorie Liu. February 18, 2020.
21. "Armor of Roses and the Silver Voice". Marjorie Liu. February 18, 2020.
22. "Dark Dreamers". Marjorie Liu. February 18, 2020.
23. "2019 Stoker Awards Final Ballot". Locus. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
24. "2018 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
25. Brown, Tracy (2017-05-03). "2017 Eisner Award nominees include 'The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye' and 'Saga'". Los Angeles Times.
26. "2017 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2017-08-11. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
27. "Here Are Your 2016 Eisner Award Nominees". Kotaku Australia. April 20, 2016.
28. "Comic-Con 2016: 2016 Eisner Award Winners Revealed - IGN" – via www.ign.com.
29. "Urban Fantasy Worldbuilding | RT Book Reviews". www.rtbookreviews.com. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
30. "Paranormal Romance | RT Book Reviews". www.rtbookreviews.com. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
31. "RT Book of the Year | RT Book Reviews". www.rtbookreviews.com. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
32. "Shapeshifter Romance | RT Book Reviews". www.rtbookreviews.com. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
33. "Urban Fantasy Protagonist | RT Book Reviews". www.rtbookreviews.com. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
34. "ParaNormalRomance: 2005 Paranormal Excellent Award for Romantic Literature PEARL Nomination". www.paranormalromance.org. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
35. "Contemporary Paranormal Romance | RT Book Reviews". www.rtbookreviews.com. Retrieved 2015-11-25.

External links

• Official website
• Marjorie M. Liu at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Off The Shelf Podcast Interview
• The Wolverine and Jubilee Page, accessed December 29, 2010. — Fan site designed by Marjorie Liu.