In celebration of the soon to be released The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes, I was able to ask the completely cool and captivating Cassandra Clare some questions!
Here is a brief bio on Cassandra.
Cassandra knows her way around a map. She was born in the U.S. but she has lived in France, England and Switzerland all before the age of ten! Now she settles her home in Brooklyn, New York. After college Cassandra worked at some entertainment mags and some tabloids where she got to write about the rich and famous and their dirty deeds. Luckily for us Cassandra wasn’t satisfied with that type of writing and she began writing City of Bones in 2004. In 2006 she decided that writing fantasy fiction should be her full time job. And I’m so glad she did!! If you want to learn more about Cassandra visit her website.
The Interview:
I've read on your website that you are easily distracted by television, what t.v. shows do you enjoy watching? What is your all time favorite movie?
Right now my guilty pleasure TV show is Gossip Girl. I've never read the books and I didn't expect to like the show but it's trashy soapy fun, and I love Chuck. I also love Pushing Daisies and Heroes. I hate reality TV though. My friend Holly loves Rock of Love and I find that watching it makes me feel total despair. My all-time favorite movie is tough. Maybe Heathers. I love bleak comedy.
What were you like as a teenager? Does it have any reflection on your characters?
I really wasn't anything like any of the characters in my books. Clary is a visual artist, and I'm not a visual person at all. Plus she's outgoing and not shy, and I was very shy and quiet. I was the one in the corner of the room, reading a book. I wasn't even much like Simon, because even though he's kind of a geek and I was definitely a geek, I was a book nerd and he's a music and gaming geek. The only part of my teenage experience I draw on directly is that I remember the intensity of my feelings at that age, and the kind of concerns I had about figuring out what kind of person I was and my place in the world.
What book are you reading now, if any?
Right now I'm in the middle of an experiment. I'm hoping to create a series of Shadowhunter books set in the Victorian era, so I'm only reading books either written in the Victorian era or set in those years. I just finished Rick Geary's A Treasury of Victorian Murder and now I'm re-reading Libba Bray's The Sweet Far Thing.
When can we expect another book from you?
The sequel to City of Bones, City of Ashes, will be out — March 25. The next book, City of Glass, will be out next March.
If you were on a deserted island what five things would you have with you?
Ideally I'd have a Kindle e-book reader with a thousand books stored in it so I'd never get bored. And clearly some kind of generator so I could power up my ebook reader. I'd also need sunblock because I burn instantly. And lastly a pen and paper so I could write.
How did you come up with your characters from The Mortal Instruments?
My characters are generally based on composites of people I know. Simon is sort of an amalgam of my boyfriend and my best friend, Clary is very much like an artist I know, Magnus is based in part on a British friend of mine. Only Jace isn't really based on anyone real. He's a mixture of some of my favorite characters from fiction and films — heroic characters and villains both.
When your not writing, what do you like to do with your free time?
These days not writing is a very small percentage of my time. I guess I need to learn to write shorter books. I read with most of my spare time, I like to cook and spend time at home — very boring, I know — and I'm addicted to buying shoes on zappos.com. I just bought these: http://www.zappos.com/gs/john-fluevog-maria-red-knee-high-casual-boots.shtml
I saw that you traveled a lot when you were younger. Do you still enjoy traveling today?
I love traveling. My boyfriend always says that if it wasn't for him, the second I got my book deal I would have packed up and taken off and never come home. I always dream about going new places and seeing new things. I'm happiest when I'm on the road. In fact just now, when Ashes is coming out, I'll be in Italy.
What is your favorite thing about the writing process? Do you have any tips for young writers?
>My favorite thing about it is being able to dream up stories and share them with people who enjoy them. I love it when people care about the characters I've created. It makes them feel very real. As for tips for young writers, I have a whole list of them here: http://cassandraclare.livejournal.com/21613.html
and finally, Is there anything else you would like your readers to know about you?
I love getting email responses after people have read my books, so go ahead and email me!
Cassandra is going on tour! If you would like to see her you can check her schedule here!
Cassandra also has a Myspace.