| Interview with Cassandra Clare |
First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.
com! My name is Jen, and I'll be your server toda…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for
taking time out of your writing schedule—which I'm sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for
your readers and fans.
Let's get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
I imagine before I really even had any idea about what a writer did. I was always a voracious reader,
and at some point when I was very young I started telling myself stories. The stories got longer and
more involved, and harder and harder to remember, and I realized I'd have to write them down. It was
only then that I made the mental connection between books, which I loved, and stories that could be
told by regular people (like me.)
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I started writing City of Bones in early 2004. I had finished about ten chapters when I met my agent,
Barry Goldblatt, at a reading at the KGB Bar in Manhattan; he represented Holly Black, who I knew,
and she introduced us and told him I had this novel I was working on that she thought he would like.
He agreed to take a look at it, and offered representation shortly after. He had me revise those
chapters entirely again, and then we sold the book to Simon and Schuster from those chapters and a
detailed outline of the plot of the next two books in the series.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one
thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
Well, the book I have coming out right now is City of Ashes, the sequel to my first book, City of
Bones. It's the second in the Mortal Instruments trilogy. And I guess what I'd say is that one of the
main characters gets unexpectedly turned into a vampire, and has to deal with that.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
I'm going to say the city of New York. The Mortal Instruments trilogy is set in New York, largely, and
came in part out of this fascination I have with New York City, its history and its secrets. It's a city that
has this enormous presence, and is full of contradictions — it's both cutting-edge and steeped in its
own history, huge and can feel like a small town.
Let's hear about your family, who I'm sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
Well, I think they're thrilled that I'm published because they know it was what I always wanted. I've a
small family — no brothers or sisters — but both my parents are extremely supportive. My mother
has always encouraged me to follow my dream, even when I was basically living off whatever I could
find under the couch cushions. My dad is the one who always gave me fantasy and science fiction
books to read when I was a kid, so I think he's glad it took.
Now for some fun facts. What's your greatest comfort food?
Macaroni and cheese. Since I live in New York, capital of weird niche restaurants, there's a mac and
cheese restaurant here called S'mac which is the greatest thing ever, as far as I am concerned. They
have about sixteen kinds of macaroni and cheese, including shiitake and gruyere.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
I roll out of bed. I look for the cat. I get my computer. I bring the cat and the computer back to bed
with me and check my email.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what's the one thing that would
surprise me the most?
Probably that I live in an apartment so small that I really have neither a closet, attic, nor basement.
Everyone asks the question about "if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?" so I want to
know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
Blue. I've heard it's soothing.
Who is your favorite cartoon character?
Donald Duck. I admire his bold stance of never wearing pants.
Which cartoon character is most like you?
What's that coyote that's always chasing the Road Runner and never seems to get anywhere? I feel
like that when I'm on deadline.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world ("Beam me up, Scotty!"), during any time in
history, where and when would it be—and why?
Victorian London, so I could do on-the-spot research for the historical novel I'm working on.
So what's your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music
while you're writing?
I tend to listen to the same songs over and over while I'm writing. I even make playlists out of them,
which you can find on iTunes. I guess I'm an alternative girl — I like Brand New, Bright Eyes, Tegan
and Sara.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last
movie you saw at the theater?
The last movie I saw was Juno. My favorite TV shows are Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Scrubs. And I
love action movies and sci fi, so I'm always willing to watch Aliens or the Matrix more than once.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Read. Read a lot. Read even books you don't think you'll like. The wisdom of the whole world is
contained in books.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
Well, I've got a short story called "I Never" coming out in the anthology Geektastic from Little, Brown;
another short story in the anthology Vacations from Hell from Harper Collins, and then of course
City of Ashes this month and City of Glass next March. And a new series that's planned, but top
secret right now.
Thanks again for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
com! My name is Jen, and I'll be your server toda…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for
taking time out of your writing schedule—which I'm sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for
your readers and fans.
Let's get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
I imagine before I really even had any idea about what a writer did. I was always a voracious reader,
and at some point when I was very young I started telling myself stories. The stories got longer and
more involved, and harder and harder to remember, and I realized I'd have to write them down. It was
only then that I made the mental connection between books, which I loved, and stories that could be
told by regular people (like me.)
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I started writing City of Bones in early 2004. I had finished about ten chapters when I met my agent,
Barry Goldblatt, at a reading at the KGB Bar in Manhattan; he represented Holly Black, who I knew,
and she introduced us and told him I had this novel I was working on that she thought he would like.
He agreed to take a look at it, and offered representation shortly after. He had me revise those
chapters entirely again, and then we sold the book to Simon and Schuster from those chapters and a
detailed outline of the plot of the next two books in the series.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one
thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
Well, the book I have coming out right now is City of Ashes, the sequel to my first book, City of
Bones. It's the second in the Mortal Instruments trilogy. And I guess what I'd say is that one of the
main characters gets unexpectedly turned into a vampire, and has to deal with that.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
I'm going to say the city of New York. The Mortal Instruments trilogy is set in New York, largely, and
came in part out of this fascination I have with New York City, its history and its secrets. It's a city that
has this enormous presence, and is full of contradictions — it's both cutting-edge and steeped in its
own history, huge and can feel like a small town.
Let's hear about your family, who I'm sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
Well, I think they're thrilled that I'm published because they know it was what I always wanted. I've a
small family — no brothers or sisters — but both my parents are extremely supportive. My mother
has always encouraged me to follow my dream, even when I was basically living off whatever I could
find under the couch cushions. My dad is the one who always gave me fantasy and science fiction
books to read when I was a kid, so I think he's glad it took.
Now for some fun facts. What's your greatest comfort food?
Macaroni and cheese. Since I live in New York, capital of weird niche restaurants, there's a mac and
cheese restaurant here called S'mac which is the greatest thing ever, as far as I am concerned. They
have about sixteen kinds of macaroni and cheese, including shiitake and gruyere.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
I roll out of bed. I look for the cat. I get my computer. I bring the cat and the computer back to bed
with me and check my email.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what's the one thing that would
surprise me the most?
Probably that I live in an apartment so small that I really have neither a closet, attic, nor basement.
Everyone asks the question about "if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?" so I want to
know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
Blue. I've heard it's soothing.
Who is your favorite cartoon character?
Donald Duck. I admire his bold stance of never wearing pants.
Which cartoon character is most like you?
What's that coyote that's always chasing the Road Runner and never seems to get anywhere? I feel
like that when I'm on deadline.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world ("Beam me up, Scotty!"), during any time in
history, where and when would it be—and why?
Victorian London, so I could do on-the-spot research for the historical novel I'm working on.
So what's your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music
while you're writing?
I tend to listen to the same songs over and over while I'm writing. I even make playlists out of them,
which you can find on iTunes. I guess I'm an alternative girl — I like Brand New, Bright Eyes, Tegan
and Sara.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last
movie you saw at the theater?
The last movie I saw was Juno. My favorite TV shows are Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Scrubs. And I
love action movies and sci fi, so I'm always willing to watch Aliens or the Matrix more than once.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Read. Read a lot. Read even books you don't think you'll like. The wisdom of the whole world is
contained in books.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
Well, I've got a short story called "I Never" coming out in the anthology Geektastic from Little, Brown;
another short story in the anthology Vacations from Hell from Harper Collins, and then of course
City of Ashes this month and City of Glass next March. And a new series that's planned, but top
secret right now.
Thanks again for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!