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

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

I guess I was just wondering if Jordan would come back, because after Maia breaks up with Jordan he attacks her and says "You're mine now. You'll always be mine". I thought that the spirit and purpose of him turning her would be: 1) To torment her by turning her into a monster and 2) attaching her to him in that way. I thought he'd come back to torment her."

Nicole,

I think you posted this before but I didn't reply, just because it didn't seem like a question, just a theory. All I'd say is I never saw Jordan as having any purpose in attacking Maia beyond just jealousy and lack of control, and he's never showed any interest in bothering her since.

Jenna wrote: "When will says in the near end of CA that he has lost everything, wat does it refer to? Is it part of his secret or something we should have figured out?"

Yes, it's part of his secret. If you can figure it out, kudos. If not, you'll find out in the next book.

Megan wrote: "To answer the Twilight question, somewhat, just to my knowledge, Cassandra had to have been already writing City of Bones before Twilight was even published considering Twilight was not published until 2005.
That is just my hunch."

Thanks for taking that one for me. :D Yes, I wrote City of Bones two years before Twilight was published. I sold my book, City of Bones, in February of 2005. I announced it on LJ in March, 2005.

http://cassandraclare.livejournal.com...

The first publication date of Twilight was October 5, 2005.

http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/kids...

There is no possible way I could have read it before I wrote my book as it hadn't been published. So, no, I was not influenced by Twilight, even though I did read it when it came out, and enjoyed it a lot. There are no references to Twilight in my books, either.

Ambur wrote: "
I was just curious about whether or not the Shadowhunters that live in Idris have a distinctive accent?? And I guess if they have an accent, would they have their own language there???
I know Idris is within Europe, but since it's isolated through the wards, I was curious about if it would have picked up an accent similar to another country or people. "

Because Idris was founded by Jonathan Shadowhunter, who spoke English, English is its language. Because Shadowhunters come from all over, their speech is a mishmash of accents when it comes to speaking English in Idris. I believe Simon notices Aline has a faint accent, which is probably the Idrisian accent.

Talia wrote: "What was Alec's thought process during the scene in the Hall of Accords? What I mean to say is, what made him decide to come out and why in that way? I absolutely love Alec and that was my favorite..."

Because he realized there was a good chance he was going to go into battle and die, and he didn't want to die lying about who he was.

Jen wrote: "Hi Cassandra,
1. I listened to the audio version of CA (loved hearing Elizabeth Bennett read the story!). In it, Jennifer Ehle voiced Gabriel Lightwood with a speech impediment--I believe it's called rhotacism--where he pronounces his r's as w's. Did you intend this to be a part of Gabriel's character or was this something Ehle did on her own?

That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard. No, it has nothing to do with Gabriel's character.



2. On Twitter, you mentioned your "poll" results for Team Will/Team Jem being 50/50. Do you expect those numbers to change after CP? (AKA, will we get a better idea about the resolution to the Tessa/Will/Jem love triangle?)

I think that the results will change, but I don't think people will feel they can guess the resolution.

(When I started reading CA, I was determined not to choose a team--and I do like Jem a lot, but why did you have to make Will love reading?? And why did you have to make him so clearly tortured by his bad behavior to Tessa??"

Because if he was just a sucky jerk all the time it wouldn't be a love triangle. It would be the story of Jem and Tessa and their annoying friend, Will, who would ultimately die in a tragic roof accident. Those bits and glimpses of the real Will - who loves to read, and hates to hurt people - are what keep him human in the reader's mind.

Julie wrote: "When you are on tour with other writers- such as the smart chics tour, what do you talk about. Do you discuss your books sometimes.

We try to cover topics everyone can answer, mostly writing questions.

Are you aware of what is hugely popular right now and does that play into your writing ever?

I am aware of what is hugely popular right now, but it doesn't play into my writing. Chasing trends is never a good idea unless it's something you already passionately wanted to write. Like, right now, angels are a big deal but if you sold an angel book this minute it wouldn't come out until 2012 so by then no one might care about angels.

I loved Clockwork Angel! When you started writing the prequel did you set out to make it darker than MI?

I knew it would be more grisly and gruesome - it seemed to fit with the aesthetic of dark, foggy, rainy London. I knew it would be darker in that more characters would die and some of them would be characters that it would really hurt to lose.

Dianadee wrote: "spoiler alert

ok so i was reading on your website the chapter titles for COFA and it dawned on me that i'm guessing jocelyn and luke are going to get married. would the clave still consider it against the law to marry a downworlder?

With the new Accords, those are the sort of laws they're going to be wrestling with right now. However, Jocelyn is already basically not in the Clave. She left it. It doesn't matter what she does.

and if so would that not mean that if clary chooses to be a shadowhunter wouldn't she have to leave luke and jocelyn and not be able to talk to them?

No. Again, the laws are going through a process of upheaval, but since Luke sits on the Council, and both Jocelyn and Clary have individually done enormous services for the Clave, an exception will be made in her case. It would be kind of dumb to forbid her from contact with Luke when she's going to run into him at Council meetings.


or since now the downworlders have council seats would that mean that the law would be changed."

Yeah, pretty much what I said. Good question!

Medha wrote: "Who is your favorite character in MI, and which one are you most comfortable writing (because the two don't always coincide)?

As I have said more than once here, I don't have a favorite character. Some I suppose are easier to write - Tessa, Simon - but that doesn't, as you said, correspond with favorites, and enjoyable doesn't correspond necessarily with easy.

Sometimes you reach a point where you know the story would work out well if certain events transpired, but it would also pain a certain character you've grown very close to. Would you choose to make the story better, or make the character happy? Because when I'm writing, I face this dilemma far too many times. An ending that's TOO happy is never okay - it's not realistic if everyone has the perfect life - but paining a character I've created makes me utterly miserable. I've chosen both options in different stories, but I'd like to know what a more experienced writer might do in this case.

I would choose the thing that made the story better. It certainly is a problem if you are so sensitive that every small agony your character feels you feel yourself — I don't experience writing that way. There are characters I love, and it pains me to hurt them, but what's striking me as odd about your question is that you seem surprised when you get to a point where you might need to hurt a character.

Beginning writers often think they need to do something tragic or painful to make the story "deeper"; this is not the case, a tragic ending isn't any more deep or better than a happy one. The fact is, the end of a story is in the beginning. You need to know what kind of book you're writing. Books that are happy, books that are tragic, books that are bittersweet have a different structure. You need to know that going in and build the structure accordingly.

One final question regarding MI: When you mentioned each character will have their separate plotline over the next few books, do you mean they will continue to appear the way they have in the previous books? Because there was only tiny parts for them in the first three MI books. While Magnus played a semi-important role often enough and Simon was clearly a noteworthy character, Alec and Isabella sometimes hung around for no reason save for just BEING there. I know the main focus of the book is supposed to be on the main characters, but the secondary ones should have a larger role, right? Alec and Isabella have as much significance as any tertiary character, and if they weren't 'there' all the time (doing something unimportant, or nothing at all), there wouldn't be any difference between secondary and tertiary characters. I'm not sure I'm getting the point across, but I hope you understand.

Well, to be honest, what you have said breaks down to this: "If your secondary characters had less page time, they would be tertiary characters." Which is true, but is sort of like saying, "If you were not outside, you would be inside." Well, okay.

Alec and Isabelle (not Isabella) are secondary, not tertiary, characters, and I do not think they have tiny parts. Sometimes they're there to add flavor to a scene — Isabelle in the Seelie Court, Alec at Magnus' square table meeting — but just as often they're saving a main character's life (Isabelle and Alec), delivering information no one else has (Isabelle), dispatching a Greater Demon (Alec) or making it possible for a battle to continue (Alec.) Tertiary characters are people like Kaelie the waitress, and if you really feel that there is no difference between Isabelle's role and the Kaelie the waitress's, well, I can only agree to disagree (and point out that not liking a character, or not liking their plotline, doesn't make them less important.)

And not that I mind, quite the contrary, but why are you here to answer our questions before your books are out? We give away what we want from you here, so wouldn't it bother you if you suddenly discovered what you've planned is entirely different from what we expect or want?

You don't think this is the first time I've ever engaged in a conversation with fans, do you? The questions and comments I'm getting here are the same questions and comments I get in email, in paper fanmail, on Twitter, on Facebook, on Myspace, on my mailing lists, on my blog, and in person when I go on tour. You're not telling me anything I haven't already heard. The only way to avoid knowing what your readers think is to cut yourself off completely from the Internet, refuse to tour, and not open fanmail — in otherwise, take no part whatsoever in the promotion of your work, and refuse any contact with readers, an act that will endear you neither to your publisher nor to the aforementioned readers.

We give away what we want from you here, so wouldn't it bother you if you suddenly discovered what you've planned is entirely different from what we expect or want?

No.

1) You are asking the question as if "you" (readers) are a monolith with the same opinions. You actually have completely different opinions and desires. Half of you want Tessa with Will, half with Jem. I get a lot of questions asking for more Magnus and Alec while one of you claimed the worst thing about the books was Magnus and Alec. Since there is no way to write exactly the book you all want without writing 75,000 different versions, there is literally no point worrying about it. I write the book to be the book *I* want it to be — with, obviously, help and advice from my editors and critiquers — and that's that.

2) (I also believe that what readers *think* they want is not actually what they want, based on my own experience as a reader and a writer. But that's another post.)

Sarah wrote: "First queston: Is there any relation between Jem being on the cover of 2nd ID book and its title?

Only in the sense that we didn't want either of the boys on the cover of a book called "Clockwork Princess" so Jem was the only option.

2nd: Now that you are married (Congratulations!!!♥), is there still no chance for your characters in TMI or ID to have such a happy day ,too?(I know there are many other kinds of relationships and happiness, but that day was awesome, wasn't it:)?)
"

I'm not married, yet actually, not for another few weeks. So anything could happen — my fiance could elope with a penguin for all I know. And seriously, while I am looking very much forward to getting married at this point in my life, the thought of my sixteen year old self doing this fills me with horror.

(Addendum: While I did say Jace and Clary wouldn't be getting married on-page in any books, I never said that about Jocelyn and Luke, who are planning a wedding in COFA, or any of the characters in ID.)

EVELYN (I BELIEVE IN DEMON POX! ) wrote: "SPOILERS FOR GLASS

1.)I read that you wont have a family tree till the end of the ID but i was wondering if you could tell us how many generations there are between Will and Jace since we know they are already related (even if there not directly related as in maybe he has a sister or something i dont want to assume.
sooo in genrations wise there would be

Will
how many people between
Marcus
Stephen
Jace"

I'm reluctant to release the family tree information. I also don't think it will enhance your reading of the book in any way. How does it matter if there are five generations between Will and Jace or six?

2.)also i was wondering in MI Cycle2 will be like the other books in that those will also be split up into 3 parts as well?
i remember reading somewhere that the 3 first books had a sort of theme that at least the parts followed
with CoB the descent into Hell
CoA in hell
CoG the Ascent
so will the others have a theme as well?

Yes. The theme is sunset, night, and sunrise.

3.)if we found mistakes in the books can we tell you or would you rather not hear them since those books are already out and u cant do anything about it anymore?

I would rather not hear about them because it's pointless to report typos to me. It's unlikely the typos are mine, and there's nothing I can do about it besides forward your email to the publisher. Publishers already have forms on their websites for reporting typos. Here's mine:

http://www.simonandschuster.com/about...

Getting the email and forwarding it on just sort of wastes my time which I'd rather spend writing the new book.

like and i have to mention this since its bugged me endlessly when simon dies and Raphael takes him to the institute he sais "EL no ES muerto"
asuming he fluent as i am its wrong it would be like someone in English saying "he not dead" or "he's not death"
the correct way would be "El no esta muerto" or just "No esta mureto"
sorry i just really had to mention that!
"

Yes, that's already been reported to my publisher and they'll fix it in reprints. I never claimed to speak Spanish! They got a copyeditor who was meant to be fluent, but I guess she messed that up. Happens. I'm not offended, but again, there's not so much point in telling me.

Javier wrote: "Since Clockwork Angel is a prequel should I read this first followed by the Mortal Instrument series? I am just starting to read your books!"

No, they are completely different series that stand alone. (Look at it this way. If you had to read Clockwork Angel in order to read City of Bones, why on God's Green earth would I have released City of Bones in 2007 and Clock in 2010? No one publishes a book that you can't read until you read another book that won't be published for four years!)

Read TMI first, then start reading Clockwork. You'll pretty much be on the same page as everyone else then.

Cinlawa wrote: "Hi there Cassandra, firstly I have to say that you are my favourite writer and even though I was a Twihard, I love your books more than Twilight, and I think a lot of die hard Twilight fans would agree...I have one question; Why do we have to wait so long for the other books?

We love them so much, but sometimes writers will wait too long to bring the following books out and by the time the new books come, you forget some of the story and your not as captivated. I am a die hard fan of yours and wish we did not have to wait so long for all the books :)"

"Writers wait too long?" No offense, but what do you think they're doing during the interim period? Not releasing their book because of their heavy-duty Hollywood celebrity party schedule? :)

No. They're writing. Writing the next book. I put out a book a year. That is normal. It is in fact, fast. Jonathan Franzen puts out a book a decade, but he's a lit fic writer so he gets to get away with it. :) As a Twilight fan, did you not notice that the books came out a year apart? That is absolutely standard for the publishing industry. It isn't "waiting a long time." There are a few series that publish faster — I believe House of Night installments come every six to eight months — but they are also half as long as the books I write. (That's not a criticism — there is nothing wrong with a shorter book, I just structurally write longer.) And they are the exception, not the norm, and usually made possible only by publishing in paperback with no hardcovers.

There was a gap between Glass and City of Fallen Angels because I initially never planned to write any followup books to Glass at all. Plus, I am now writing *two* series at a time instead of one. And yet, they are all separated by about a year installment-wise - COFA comes out April, 2011, City of Lost Souls May, 2012, etc. There is no big long wait between books. There is the standard publishing wait of a year. So when you say this: "Why do we have to wait so long for the other books?" I literally don't know what you mean. The books in each series come out about a year apart. That's just not long. I guess I could bang out something really crappy and just throw it at my publisher in a shorter period of time, and that might make them come out slightly faster, but wouldn't you rather read a better book that the author took their time on?

This all reminds me of something Neil Gaiman said once:

""It seems to me that the biggest problem with series books is that either readers complain that the books used to be good but that somewhere in the effort to get out a book every year the quality has fallen off, or they complain that the books, although maintaining quality, aren't coming out on time.""

I'd rather err on the side of better books coming out less often than bad books coming out frequently. Besides: "We love them so much, but sometimes writers will wait too long to bring the following books out and by the time the new books come, you forget some of the story and your not as captivated."

Yeah, I remember when it took three years after HP and the Goblet of Fire was published for Order of the Phoenix to come out. Really tanked that series. :D

Pandao.osheep wrote: "firstly, Are any of the characters in M.I based on any one you know in real life, or are there any characters you wish you knew?
coz if you knew a real life Jace, im gonna have to start stalking you o__o...not to put you off or anything

second, if you were to make a movie out of these books (( PLEASE DOOO!!)), who would you choose to act out what character?
Alex Pettyfer is ofcourse an ULTI-JACE"

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

"and i, personally, would LOVE Adam Lambert to play Magnus
but thats just my opinion

Not me, so much. While Adam Lambert and Magnus Bane share a flamboyant style (in both cases, I suspect, based on J-rock boy band styles), Magnus, as Clary notes in City of Bones, is Asian, and Adam Lambert is white. That is why the only actors pictured on the "imaginary casting" page on my website for Magnus are Asian. There are so few good roles for Asian and non-white actors in Hollywood it seems a shame to make there be one less, even in imagination.

Karen wrote: "In City of Glass, Clary loses her Stele in the Lake. Will she ever get it back, or will someone else ever find it?"

What happens in Idris, stays in Idris. I don't think we'll see that stele again.

Jenna wrote: "I absolutly love ur books!! i am thinking about being a writer when im older and you are great insperation!
1) Will Tessa appear in future TMI books?
2) If Will makes up stories to make him look bad, then why would he care about being with a downworlder?
3) Is the new villain in the TMI series a member of valentines old circle? "

1) Maybe.
2) Will makes up stories to make himself look like a jerk, but he abides, basically, by the rules of the Clave. He doesn't do anything that's going to get himself thrown out or shunned. Also you have to consider whether he meant anything he said on the roof or not.
3) *whistles*

Casey wrote: "I LOVED Jem - he was without a doubt my favorite character of the book. But I am super curious about his relationship with Tessa! Is he in love with her? When will she realize that Jem is so much better than Will?!

Jem is clearly drawn to her. He kisses her hand, he's protective of her, his voice cracks when he talks about being "the right man" for her. But Jem is a guy who takes things slow. He isn't going to hurl himself at her off the bat. Plus, he's dying, and knows he isn't much of a prospect because of it. Not that that will stop him/them falling in love if that's what's destined to happen — it never does.






I LOVED Jem - he was without a doubt my favorite..."

Bookracer wrote: "Just noticed you're talking about a new villain in
the COFA. Will it be a mystery character(like someone from the Circle who hasn't been discussed much etc) or a character that has already played a minor role in the previous books(someone from CA etc)? "

It's someone who we've seen in previous books and has a name we've heard. That's all I will say.

Maria wrote: "I was wondering (sorry if you've answered this)when Tessa defeats the Magister by turning into Emma, how is it possible he didn't notice, even if she turned around? Emma is so much smaller than Tessa!

Because she doesn't turn into Emma to defeat the Magister. Check page 449 carefully. She explains to Will exactly what she did and it had nothing to do with Emma.


"Also-- "Magnus stood in the shadow of a tree, talking to a girl in a white dress with a cloud of pale brown hair. She turned as Magnus looked toward them, and Clary locked eyes with her for a moment across the distance that separated them. There was something familar about her, though Clary couldn’t have said it what it was." Does this mean Clary has seen Tessa before?
"

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

Sarah wrote: "*******Spoiler for Clockwork Angel*****************

I loved the goblin scene in Clockwork Angel (and Jess' parasol of DEATH). Will we be seeing any more goblins? I won't be straying from the path any time soon ..."

No, I wouldn't either. Goblins are faeries — you will see a few more faeries in the series but I like to show more than one type.