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

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

Tressa wrote: My question is about Will: I can totally stick through a book if the I can love the character in the end, but if he stays terrible I will be so disapointed. So, he's this bad kid, but I'm assuming he eventually does redeem himself in some way, right? (Obviously, I guess you may not be able to say)

Tressa: You haven't read the book, right? You may like Will *now*. Lots of people do. There's plenty of Team Tessa/Will out there. Also, he is not the only character in the book. He is not even the only hot guy in the book. There are . . . four *counts on fingers.* I mean, Sebastian never redeemed himself in City of Glass but you made it through that, no? Different characters have different roles to play.

Wonderlustqueen wrote: "Is it possible to see some ex-lover quarrels between Magnus and Camille in CoFA?"

I wouldn't say quarrels exactly.

Emma (Pulvis et umbra sumus) wrote: "Are you gonna write a third series in the Shadowhunter world?"

I have no idea.

Kayla wrote: "You said that Magnus's ex would show up in CoFA, I believe? Would it be safe to assume that it is Camille?"

Yep, it is. (Didn't expect that, did you? :D


"I keep wondering about Alec and Isabelle's parents. We got to know their mom a little bit, but I was wondering if we'll get to know more about them. Especially their dad."

You definitely find out an important fact about their dad in CoFA.

"Are there ways for Shadowhunters to become immortal, besides being turned into vampires? Just curious..."

It's a world full of magic. Almost anything is possible. For Jace to come back from the dead is possible. But the question is, what is the cost? The theme of City of Fallen Angels is exactly that: the cost of magic, the cost of power. The epigraph that opens the book is Ted Hughes:

"Nothing is free. Everything has to be paid for. For every profit in one thing, payment in some other thing. For every life, a death. Even your music, of which we have heard so much, that had to be paid for. Your wife was the payment for your music. Hell is now satisfied."

Zoey wrote: "*SPOILER*

1) I have an aunt, formally known as Brittina Johanson, but is now married to my uncle. Brittina claims that she has actually written with you before. :D I was just wondering, did you Enjoy sharing pieces back and forth to each other?"

I don't have any email from anyone named Brittina in my inbox. Maybe she used another name?

2) Simon: He was turned into a vampire!! WHY would you DO THAT?!?! I mean, I LOVE IT but I HATE IT. It's a bittersweet moment for me, and something that made me especially sad because I enjoyed Simon's mundane expressions...but then suddenly the vampire thing?"

It was pretty heavily foreshadowed in City of Bones that it was going to happen. (Clary's dreams, etc.) Simon became a vampire because having a mundane like Simon hanging around the Shadowhunter world, taking part in the fighting and the danger, and not being changed or affected, fails to underscore how dangerous Downworld is. I had to show -why- the Shadowhunters keep their world and what they do secret from mundanes. There had to be consequences not just for Simon's involvement in this world, but also Clary's. There's also the fact that given that we find that Clary and Jace are both fairly powerful by the time City of Glass rolls around, Simon had to acquire some power of his own, or be reduced to being something of a redundant burden.

3) Where do you get all those funny comebacks and remarks that you put in your books? I love how Jace and Simon just keep going back and forth at each other, it makes me laugh so hard.

Sadly, "I make them up" is pretty much the answer. Sometimes I write down funny things my friends say.

4) Now I personally liked Valentine....is he really gone? Because I REALLY want to read City of Fallen Angels, but...you know...I'm impatient. I suck those books up like lightning!! GAH!! I LOVE SUPER VILLAINS!!!

Valentine is dead. He is never coming back.

Celeste wrote: "hey cassandra this is celeste i have meet you once before you were with holy black at a book signing in ann arbor michigan i just wanted to know how many books are you going to write after clock wo..."

There are 3 Clockwork books. There are 6 TMI books.So for the record, here’s the publication dates for the next six books, in order:

August 31, 2010: The Clockwork Angel
April 5, 2011: City of Fallen Angels
September 2011: The Clockwork Prince
May 2012: City of Lost Souls
December 2012: The Clockwork Princess
September 2013: City of Heavenly Fire

For those still confused about The Infernal Devices, its relationship to The Mortal Instruments, and which to read first, there is a simplified explanation here.

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

Aphesis wrote: "You mentioned that Simon's character was influenced by your best friend and fiancé (congratulations, btw!). I was impressed again and again by the bits of geek cred Simon carries in the series and made me feel how he had influenced Clary's tastes for anime and manga as well. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I'm guessing that some of those details are extrapolated from real life. If so, are there any comics, manga, or anime that you (or your fiancé) particularly enjoy and would recommend? :)"

It's been a while since I watched any, since I did it for research for TMI. However, both my fiance and my best friend are in the same D and D campaign together. :D (I am not, so I rely on them to explain it to me. My fiance is also a musician so I rely on him for Simon's music stuff and how their band works, etc.

Mangas I read for research and liked: Naruto, Trigun. Hellsing, Fullmetal Alchemist, Emma, Godchild, some of Angel Sanctuary.

Narmin wrote: "heeeey cassandra:)i love ur books so much and tanx for answering our questions!my question is not about the books,not this one at least:Di know u've born in tehran and i'm from iran(urmiah)just wondering if u've ever thought of comin here couse u have quiet alot of fans in here and we would LOVE to see you:)"

No, given that my books aren't published there, I am surprised to hear I have any fans there at all! Of course I'd love to return to my birthplace, but it never occurred to me to do it as an author. (And with no publisher there, it'd be close to impossible.)

Jonathan wrote: "I think I might be over thinking this but, Does Henry have an alternative motive or is he just naturally like that ?"

I'm enjoying this whole "Henry is evil" theory.

(-|-\\) [[Cielo in the Elysian Code]] wrote: "At any time in your life, did you ever believe that vampires, werewolves, and demons exsist?"

Nope.

Ammi wrote: "Hello Ms. Clare! I'd go on about how much I love your writing but there aren't enough characters for that haha...

So, honestly, which did you enjoy writing more: the mortal Instruments or the Infernal Devices?..."

I love writing them both in very different ways.

Zoey wrote: "Are we allowed to ask questions about The Mortal Instruments Series? PLZ?!?!"

Yes. It says so in the first post.

Alissa wrote: "I used to love your Harry Potter fanfiction. I told one of my friends about them and she said "I knew that her stories must have been influenced by Harry Potter." I defended you because the stories are very different, but I do see some similarities. Can you say why they're different and how they influenced you?

1) As the description says, "The discussion is meant to be about Clockwork Angel, but you can ask questions about TMI and the upcoming City of Fallen Angels as well." Fanfiction's really off the topic so I am not going to answer questions about it beyond this one.

2) Every single writer I know who writes fantasy has gotten the email saying that the reader sees clear connections to Harry Potter in their work. Even people who wrote their books before Harry Potter was published. The HP books are so popular that everyone in the world has read them — even people who don't read that much fantasy so don't recognize that things like a Dark Lord who returns after people thought he was dead, flying motorcycles, wizard schools, spells in Latin, etc. and so on are common to an enormous amount of fantasy and did not originate with Harry Potter.

3) You don't need to defend me against charges of being "influenced." All writers are influenced. There is nothing wrong with being influenced. Terry Pratchett in fact once said that the only crime is in pretending that you *aren't* influenced.

4) "Can you say why they're different"

The setting, all the characters, the entire magic system and how it works, the fact that all supernatural being and occurrances in my world are based on angel and demon mythology while neither angels nor demons are ever mentioned in HP, but honestly, the question is ridiculous. Here's Neil Gaiman quoting Terry Pratchett:

"Back in November I was tracked down by a Scotsman journalist who had noticed the similarities between my Tim Hunter character and Harry Potter, and wanted a story. And I think I rather disappointed him by explaining that, no, I certainly *didn't* believe that Rowling had ripped off Books of Magic, that I doubted she'd read it and that it wouldn't matter if she had: I wasn't the first writer to create a young magician with potential, nor was Rowling the first to send one to school. ***It's not the ideas, it's what you do with them that matters.***

Genre fiction, as Terry Pratchett has pointed out, is a stew. You take stuff out of the pot, you put stuff back. The stew bubbles on."

Finis.

Marlaina wrote: "Have you ever dreamt about your books/characters?"

Just once, that we were in the supermarket and they were ahead of me in line.

Emma (Pulvis et umbra sumus) wrote: "- Does Will really love Tessa?
- Is the reason he goes to Magnus at the end of CA, that he's in love with her and wants it to end, hoping that Magnus has a cure against love? Or is it to find a cure for Jem?
- Do you have a CA or/and a TMI soundtrack?
"

1) Does it seem like he does?
2) If he was looking for a cure for Jem, he'd have no reason to visit Magnus in secret in the night — and besides, they've already "looked everywhere' for a cure for Jem, so one might assume they've already asked Magnus.
3)http://www.cassandraclare.com/cms/faq...

Amber wrote: "I was wondering, you seem to make all your male characters all cool and sarcastic whereas the main female characters are sort of more... I don't know, just subdued I guess.
In any of your future writing are you going to make a female character that's kinda like sarcastic and cool and hardcore?"

To be honest, I think this is a gendered reading of the characters rather than the characters themselves. There is nothing about Clary that is more subdued than Simon — Clary, who slaps Jace across the face for "the other ten percent", cracks plenty of jokes, and drags herself bleeding and in agony across the ground to save the world from Valentine — after, I might note, Jace tried, and died in the attempt. What's not hardcore about that? And while Will might boast with double-entendres about the girls he's seduced, here's Isabelle:

"“It’s my motto,” said Isabelle, with a sultry smile. “ ‘ Nothing less than seven inches.’

who actually does date around and sleep with who she wants when she wants, wears chain mail, carries a whip, is super-sarcastic, and thinks nothing of using her stiletto heels to spear a demon. How is she less hardcore than her brother (who is actually kind of dorky and hopelessly unsarcastic?) It's hard not to read that as "she is intrinsically less hardcore by virtue of being female." And if that's what you go into a book believing, then that's what you'll find inside it.

Ellaina wrote: "Cassandra!!! Thank you SO much for answering Fan questions. I am a HUGE fan of your books. 1. OMG DO CLARY AND JACE BREAK UP?! :'( i love them together, and the beginning of City of glass when Jace yelled at her killed me.
2. Is Tessa gonna end up with will or jem? Because i love them both but i think her and will are amazing. :)
3. Are both series (Infernal devices and MI) gonna have happy endings?
4. Does Simon survive with the whole "Mark of Kain" thing? Please don't kill him. :(
5. Who is going to be the new villain in the MI series?
6. In the infernal devices series, do they ever find a cure for jems condition?
7. And does Jessamine ever accept her shadow hunter lifestyle?
I <3 UR BOOKS!!! :D and i'm soooo happy you came out with a prequel series. <3 <3 <3 <3 -Laina "

1)I CAN'T TELL YOU THAT. :)
2) Or that, either.
3) Or that. (We're not batting too well, here. I guess I would say the end of ID is bittersweet.
4)It's the "Mark of Cain." That's an odd question — the Mark of Cain makes it impossible for anyone to hurt him, so why would it put him in extra danger?
5)David Hasselhoff. No one will see it coming. :)
6) They certainly try.
7)Jessamine's character out of all them but Will probably undergoes the most changes.

Thanks for letting me know you liked the books!

Victoria wrote: "Hi Cassandra - I'm an "old" person (48) who just loves your books. How did you ever come up with the idea of "kids" hunting demons and the like?

The idea for the Mortal Instruments came to me one afternoon in the East Village. I was with a good friend of mine, who was taking me to see the tattoo shop where she used to work. She wanted to show me that her footprints were on the ceiling in black paint — in fact the footprints of everyone who’d worked there were on the ceiling, crisscrossing each other and making patterns. To me it looked like some fabulous supernatural battle had been fought there by beings who’d left their footprints behind. I started thinking about a magical battle in a New York tattoo shop and the idea of a secret society of demon-hunters whose magic was based on an elaborate system of tattooed runes just sprang into my mind. When I sat down to sketch out the book, I wanted to write something that would combine elements of traditional high fantasy — an epic battle between good and evil, terrible monsters, brave heroes, enchanted swords — and recast it through a modern, urban lens. So you have the Shadowhunters, who are these very classic warriors following their millennia-old traditions, but in these urban, modern spaces: skyscrapers, warehouses, abandoned hotels, rock concerts. In fairy tales, it was the dark and mysterious forest outside the town that held the magic and danger. I wanted to create a world where the city has become the forest — where these urban spaces hold their own enchantments, danger, mysteries and strange beauty. It’s just that only the Shadowhunters can see them as they really are.

(I never even considered writing the story about adults — I hate writing adults!)

Emma (Pulvis et umbra sumus) wrote: "Do the shadowhunters accept Alec being gay? Or is that gonna be a problem for him?"

Shadowhunters are people - some are more tolerant than others. In general it is not going to be a huge problem for him but sure there are some characters who are prejudiced.

Heather wrote: "Hey guys! You might want to read all of the previous questions and check out her site before you start throwing questions out there. Some of you are asking the same questions that someone else is."

Thank you! If I ignore your question it's probably because someone else already asked it and I answered it (the favorite character question for instance.)