Cassandra’s Comments (group member since Aug 19, 2010)

Cassandra’s comments from the Q&A with Cassandra Clare group.

Allison wrote: "Hey Cassandra,
I was wondering how you came up with such a unquie idea for the MI books. Like were you in a store and was like that could be a good idea to write a book, or did you just start writ..."

http://www.cassandraclare.com/cms/faq...

Meghan wrote: "3987299 hi, I was wondering if you have the whole story worked out in your head for the upcoming books, like Clockwork prince, princess, city of fallen angels and
etc. So in better terms do you already know how the series will end and what will happen?"

Yes. I already know everything that will happen. I know who dies. I know who lives. I know who gets together. I know who goes evil. I know who is redeemed. I know all the details, because I outline very carefully.

Jen wrote: "SPOILERS for Clockwork Angel and City of Glass...

1) In an interview, you said that when Tessa saw Jace at the end of City of Glass it was a bit like seeing a ghost. Since you've also confirmed that Jace and Will are related (though possibly not directly), does it follow that Jace looks like Will? Or could there be someone else whom Jace resembles that would be so striking to Tessa?

He could look like quite a few different people — Jem, if he lived and got married, could have had a descendent who married a Herondale; it could be a character we haven't met yet, or it could be Will, since we know they're related.

2) Can you provide any details about Jem's feelings for Sophie?

He has no romantic feelings for her at all.

3) Is the box that Jace receives from Amatis the same box from Will's memories? I noticed it had birds (herons?) on it. Would the design on the box be similar to the design on Will's ring?

No, it's not the same box. The bird design in the same bird design as on Will's ring because it is the symbol of the Herondale family. Every Shadowhunter family has a ring and a symbol.

I'm curious about Magnus's reasons for wanting the White Book...

As are many!

Katrina wrote: "SPOILER (well maybe??)

Just wondering if Will has the white star shaped scar in CA (the one that Jace and all the Herondales have)???



Well, either he doesn't have it or it's somewhere on him we haven't seen yet. :D

Barbara ,wise crouton chopper wrote: "Will Aline Penhallow still be mentioned more in COFA and in later books as a minor character or major?,and will she be "evil"*inserts evil laugh* or will she be "nicer" *inserts happy music such as a Christmas melody* b/c i noticed in COG she seemed to be a lil jellyin after she found out Clary and Jace could date.
also will the Penhallows still be in contact with the Lightwoods or did Max's death leave them off in a bad note?kk uno mas did the real Sebastin really die?"

Um, Aline, like she told Clary in City of Glass, is a lesbian. She could care less if Clary and Jace date. She does show up later in TMI ... with her girlfriend.

The Penhallows are still in contact with the Lightwoods, though Max's death does hang between them.

"uno mas did the real Sebastin really die"

Someone should teach me how to say "nice try" in Spanish. :D

Benjamin wrote: "***spoiler alert***
I have a couple of questions.
One: I have heard people say that Clary and Jace may not be siblings. Is this true?
Two: Are Alec and Magnus Bane going to be a couple?"

I think you are so far behind most of the other people taking part in this conversation that you should probably honestly stay out of it — I'm worried everything will be spoiled for you.

Ash wrote: "Hi (again)!

*********SPOILERS FOR THE CLOCKWORK ANGEL*************

"Sometime during the book, wasn't Jem's cane broken in the first automaton attack on the Institute? In the later chapters it appeared whole again, so that got me a bit confused."

Yes. On p. 336, when Tessa comes into Jem's room after the attack: "Leaning against the side of the bed was his jade-headed cane. Somehow it had been repaired and was whole again, gleaming as if new."

I don't know what else to tell you. It's a magical weapon; it repairs itself.

"Also, Will's character is so distant!"

Indeed.

Ash wrote: "Hi Cassandra!!
I heard about the second TMI trilogy, and I'm excited, but having watched the Maximum Ride series go through a period of descend, I'm afraid another three books might ruin the first TMI trilogy because the first TMI books were somewhat centered around Clary & Jace's love life and Valentine's...evilness, and now that both problem's are solved, what will happen to the series? I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I seriously love your books and couldn't bear it if they were to...descend to the level of ordinariness.

Yes, I know. I've seen the Goodreads pages for Lost Souls and Heavenly Fire and seen the people complaining that of course these books won't be as good as the first three (apparently they are clairvoyant) and that I am doing it all for the money (which, if they knew anything even remotely at all about publishing, they would know is borderline hilarious.) Irritating as this stuff is (though I should just know better than to read my Goodreads pages anyhow!), I know it comes mostly out of the normal readerly fear that something you love will decline in quality and "be ruined." I'm not sure what I could say to reassure you. Obviously I think they're going to be up to the standards of the first three books, or I wouldn't be writing them. I might also note that the Maximum Ride books, like a lot of JP's books, are ghostwritten, probably by different authors, so it may just be that you like some of the author's styles better than the other authors' styles where it comes to the books rather than that they are "descending."

"the first TMI books were somewhat centered around Clary & Jace's love life and Valentine's...evilness"

The books continue to center around Clary and Jace's love life. They just have a different issue than they had before. And I like the villain this time around better than Valentine, actually. Your mileage may vary, of course. You can always skip reading the books, or wait till they are all out and get someone to tell you if they "stayed good." It's hardly as if a six book series that maintains its quality is unheard of.

One thing I will say that I believe strongly: even if the second trilogy sucked, that doesn't "ruin" the first three books, any more than if they made a movie and it sucked, the books would be ruined. I think that's a bad way to think about books. The only thing that matters about a book is the words between the covers, not other books, not other interpretations of that book, not movies, not anything. Books are not that fragile.

My theory is that Cecily is Will's little sister (and she and the Pyxis box have something to do with why he ran away) and that she might one day marry Gabriel Lightwood - thus, Alec resembles Will.

I know that you'll neither confirm nor deny, but a hint as to whether or not I'm on the right track would be nice :)

BTW, any chance you'll visit your fans Down Under any time soon? Aussies love you too!!! "

Well, it's a better theory than the one where Will is a robot. :)

I have a tour planned for Australia. Why does no one ever look at my signings page? I work so hard on making it look nice . . . *sniffles*

Emma wrote: "If Valentine is dead by the end of CoG, who is gonna be the bad guy??"

Someone else.

Gabrielle wrote: "Ehehe, you're quite correct about that. I mostly asked that question because I'm a person that likes things to be explained to her (MATH) usually shown, told, whatnot in writing. Because for some reason I'm like that. ^o^; But I suppose if I needed to show an example, I'd probably say about how like Peeta from The Hunger Games told Katniss about why he started liking her from the first time he met and stuff. Pretty much that really.

And Jace tells Clary how he loved her from the first time he saw her, etc. I don't know, sometimes I'm a fan of that sort of speechifying and sometimes not. I would point out that Jem, being incredibly gentle and kind, is pretty much the antithesis of the guy who cut Sophie's face — it's hardly weird she'd be attracted to that.

Talia wrote: "Are Maryse and Robert really okay with Alec traveling with Magnus and all that entails? And will we see trouble arise over Alec being with Magnus because of his parents?"

People really seem to want this to happen in some odd way. The answer is not really, no. I do think it's important to include LGBT characters in books, and I've gotten a lot of letters over the years from LGBT teens thanking me for writing a gay character who just happens to be gay - he also kills demons and has other issues and his whole life does not revolve around him being gay. Alec and Magnus are going to have relationship problems, yes. However, they are the kind of problems that beset anyone's relationship, straight, gay, whatever. I do not want to spend a lot of the next three books making a big deal out of Alec being gay, because it isn't a big deal.

Besides, his parents have their own stuff going on.

Carmel wrote: Hi Cassie, I have a couple of questions for you. Thanks for your time, you’re a champion:)
Firstly, there’s been discussion in the TMI google group about Henry being a bad seed with some hidden agenda – for those that think this, are they barking up the wrong tree in even speculating that he could be a traitor to the Enclave & his kind?
Secondly, you feature some wonderful poetry by your long time friend Elka Cloke (“Bitter Language” is on my to buy list:), my question is, that it appears to me that writing poetry is a very different skill to writing novels – would you agree with this and did you ever dabble in writing poetry and if so were you any good?
Thirdly, do you have a favourite quote by Will or Jem in CA – their banter is one of the highlights in CA, absolutely had me in stitches many times!
Last question, Mortmain with a little twist of the ring on his finger transports himself to another location (which he did to escape Will when he came to rescue Tessa in the Institute), my question is, is the ring limited to reloction in real time or can he go into the future or in the past?
Many thanks Cassie, considering you've got a wedding around the corner you are making time for us, hope all your plans are going well:)
Cheers
Carmel

"Firstly, there’s been discussion in the TMI google group about Henry being a bad seed with some hidden agenda – for those that think this, are they barking up the wrong tree in even speculating that he could be a traitor to the Enclave & his kind?"

I can't say. I'm sorry!

"Secondly, you feature some wonderful poetry by your long time friend Elka Cloke (“Bitter Language” is on my to buy list:), my question is, that it appears to me that writing poetry is a very different skill to writing novels – would you agree with this and did you ever dabble in writing poetry and if so were you any good?"

I am absolutely abysmally awful at writing poetry. I d think it is a completely different skill than writing prose.

"Last question, Mortmain with a little twist of the ring on his finger transports himself to another location (which he did to escape Will when he came to rescue Tessa in the Institute), my question is, is the ring limited to reloction in real time or can he go into the future or in the past?"

Real time. And you've seen this ring before and seen it work, in TMI.

"Thirdly, do you have a favourite quote by Will or Jem in CA – their banter is one of the highlights in CA, absolutely had me in stitches many times!"

I like their cannibal duck conversation.

Diana wrote: "Hey Cassandra!
I'm totally in love with your books.
So, are we gonna see more characters from Infernal Devices on TMI? Could you give us just a hint about someone who might show up in the futur..."

Other than Camille, no...

On the topic of movies: There is no movie news beyond what is on my website: http://www.cassandraclare.com/cms/faq... which is pretty lengthy and detailed, so I am going to skip movie questions, basically. I just have nothing to add to what's on the page and since the movie has little to do with me, I'd rather talk about the books. :)

Jenna wrote: "3095945 1) If the clockwork angel type stuff is so big 150 years ago, then why is it never used or mentioned in TMI? Is there some conspiracy or some clave secret about it?

2) is the teaser, " Magnus still had his head in his hand.”i just don’t see,” he said,
“why the past has to matter.”"
was he talking to Alec about his ex? does she create problems with them?

1) I'm sorry. I literally have no idea what you mean. There is one clockwork angel in the world in 1878 that we know of — how is that "so big"? And why would the Clave be interested?

2) I'll just say, "Yes, among other things."

Talia wrote: "Have Magnus and Tessa ever considered a romantic relationship together between ID and TMI?"

Heeeeeeeeee. Sorry, they just wouldn't ever be attracted to each other, so to me the idea is kind of funny. No.

SPOILERS....

Stray wrote: oh my god i am late!"

You're not late. This Q and A goes on until Sept. 25. I am just about to knock off and go have dinner. But you can post questions as long as you want and I will answer them when I come back.

"SPOILERS FOR CLOCKWORK ANGEL:
once the clockwork people work with demonic energy wouldn't all the shadowhunter stuff work with them?"

I *think* I know what you mean, but the answer is no, not necessarily.

"Is the De Quincey mention in the TMI?"

No.

"if De Quincey DID destroy all Shadowhunters in London, wouldn't more come from the rest of the world to replace them?"

...Yes? I'm sorry, I'm sort of lost here. De Quincey never was the author of this big destroy the Shadowhunters plan anyway. That was a red herring.


"the clockwork angel just has a significant appearance on CA once. Will it be more important in Clockwork Prince? Also are there a clockwork Prince and a Clockwork Princess like the angel?"

Yes, the angel comes back and is explained more, yes there is a prince and princess; they are characters (that you already know) and the titles are more figurative than literal.

Candace wrote: "Evi wrote: "**SPOILER FOR CLOCKWORK ANGEL. SORT OF**

I think Will is somehow cursed. Something along the lines of "Anyone I love will die/have something terrible befall them." It would explai..."

A not unpopular theory.

Emma (Pulvis et umbra sumus) wrote: "SPOILER

It is hinted at the end of CA, that Tessa has another power, besides the shapeshifting. No chance you can tell us something about it is there?"

No. :)