[2][3] In 1989, she and her family moved to the United States in Texas when she was five years old,[4] during the Tiananmen Square Protest.

[6] She attended the University of Southern California, where she studied political science and biology, and interned as an artist at Disney Interactive Studios.

[6][7][8] Lu currently lives in the Arts District of Los Angeles with her husband, their son (born 2019) and three dogs.

[6][9] Lu's debut novel, Legend, was published November 29, 2011 as the first of a young adult science fiction trilogy.

Lu has said that she was inspired by the movie Les Miserables and sought to recreate the conflict between Valjean and Javert in a teenage version.