Marie Lu’s newest YA novel, Stars and Smoke—out in March from Roaring Brook Press—was written during the early months of the pandemic. While it may have started as Lu’s personal means of escape from the tragedy unfolding around her, the book evolved into a can’t-miss, character-driven story that seamlessly blends genres. The book involves a mega pop star who is recruited to become a secret agent and a young spy who becomes his partner.

Lu spoke to PW about how the writing helped her through a challenging time, pop stardom, and what goes into building romantic tension between characters.

Stars and Smoke offers such a great mix of espionage, action, and romance. Did the book feel like a departure for you? And can you talk about balancing the suspenseful elements with the romantic part of the story?

Thank you for the kind words! This book definitely felt like a departure for me because it was conceived during a very unusual time—I began it in March 2020, in the earliest and most terrifying months of the pandemic, when I desperately needed an escape from the news cycle. From that came an idea for a superstar who gets recruited to become a secret agent, and the story clicked very quickly into place for me. I wrote Stars And Smoke to make myself happy, and I can honestly say that I’ve never had more fun writing anything in my entire life. It brought me so much joy during such an awful time, and that translated into me wanting to bring that kind of fun escapism and joy to my readers.

With this novel, it never felt like a battle for me to balance the suspense with the romance, because part of the suspense was the attraction between Winter and Sydney. From the moment they step on the page, they are at odds with each other, and their tension is very much part of whether or not they will succeed at their mission.

Did you base Winter Young’s character on anyone in particular?

Winter’s a mix of personalities I’ve both imagined and seen—he’s not quite anyone real in particular! I based bits of him on traits I’ve loved in some famous people as well as people I know. In terms of his insecurities, he’s the character I’ve written who’s the most like me. (It’s all we have in common!) Ambition is a running theme throughout the story. Why does success matter so much, to so many? What are the different reasons why people chase it? There is a wound in Winter that drives him, for better or worse—an insatiable need to prove that he’s worth something in this world, whatever that means, that he deserves to be loved, that what he has to share matters, that he matters. Simultaneously, he never believes he deserves any of that, and in his pursuit of love, he frequently does things that make him unhappy. Part of his arc is him trying to figure out what—and who—is genuinely good for him. I related very deeply to that feeling, so I am quite protective of him as a character.

It must have been great fun to develop the chemistry between Winter and Sydney. Can you talk about how their individual personalities help to drive the story?

There were honestly times when I felt like the third wheel in their scenes, like they existed already and wanted to argue—or flirt—without me there. Winter is the one who falls in love easily, frequently with people he shouldn’t be in love with, and Sydney is the walled compound armed with laser cannons who thinks love is a liability. Winter can’t stand her barbed nature, but also can’t help being drawn to her bluntness and cold competence as a secret agent. Similarly, Sydney gets worn down by Winter’s charisma and vulnerable heart—as a girl who grew up relying on herself, she finds the feeling of having a partner who cares about her scary and unsettling. They are both unlike anyone else that they’ve ever met, they are Grumpy meets Sassy, and I had a blast messing with them.

Did you grow up reading a lot of romance?

I read some—Jude Devereaux!—but I was also an extremely sheltered teen and a lot of it went right over my head. I still remember when I stumbled upon Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey in high school. If Wikipedia had been around back then, I’m pretty sure I would have been on it, trying to understand half the stuff I was reading—but that book left such a deep impression on me that I can still remember picking it out from the library’s shelves. And now I will stop mentioning books I read sneakily as a teen because my mom reads some of my interviews!

As you set out to write Stars and Smoke, did you know the direction the book would take, or did the characters surprise you along the way?

I always think I know the direction and I never actually do. The final ending for the book is 100% different from my original vision, as is much of Winter and Sydney’s backstories. I feel like the director of a movie who has very little control over her production, like I’m on a ladder with a megaphone telling my characters where they need to be, but nobody shows up for the scene because they’re off doing shenanigans in the forest. Didn’t anyone read the script? Why is this always like herding cats? Sometimes I’m delighted by it—mostly, I’m just very stressed out.

Did you have many posters of pop artists on your wall when you were a teen? (Care to share which ones?)

Oh, I definitely did! Let me think... Britney Spears, Michelle Branch, Enya (Is she pop? Doesn’t matter—I was a fan then and am a fan now), and H.O.T. (an early K-pop group from the '90s). As a teen, I was desperate to see Asian American faces in music, but back then (and now) the music industry was viciously racist against Asian American stars and it was almost impossible to get a foothold in America. That was why I loved Michelle Branch so much—she is part-Indonesian and the first Asian American I ever saw in music—and why I loved Asian stars from overseas. It’s also part of why I wrote Winter Young.

Maybe it’s putting the horse before the cart, but Stars and Smoke is so cinematic. Do you see a film adaptation in the future?

Thank you! I would love to see it adapted for film someday—it’s never why I write something, but always exciting to think about. Screenwriting is a fascinating world that I’m slowly dipping my toes into, so if we ever head in the big/small screen direction for Stars And Smoke, I know I’d love to be involved in it.