"There is no better escape than to lose oneself in books for a while"
Personal Life:
Born in Teheran, Iran, Clare was no stranger to travelling. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was even 10 years old. She spent her childhood creating stories, including a novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” based on the Jane Austen short story of the same name. This later inspired her pen name. After college, Cassie lived in LA and New York, working at various entertainment magazines and tabloids, all while pursuing her passion by writing various fan fiction stories based on Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. In 2004, she started working on her debut novel, City of Bones, set in urban Manhattan, which was released in 2007.
The Making of The Shadowhunter Chronicles:
Cassie’s idea for her universe arose when she came across the Nephilim, who are described in the Hebrew Bible as a group of mysterious beings or people of unusually large size and strength who lived both before and after the Flood, in a folklore book she read. This led her to imagine how nephilim would blend into modern society. The plot started taking shape when she was in a tattoo shop, where she imagined a race of angelic warriors who cover themselves in tattoos in order to fight demons and protect humans without being detected. Clare wanted to make sure that her books covered world mythology, not just Western religious mythology, which is why we can find references to various demonic myths from Indian, Japanese and Tibetan mythologies.
She creates her characters based on how well they fit the plot while giving each of them traits from the people in her life. The Shadowhunters Chronicles includes The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, The Dark Artifices, The Last Hours, The Eldest Curses, The Wicked Powers (yet to be published) and a few short stories based on the characters namely: The Bane Chronicles, Ghosts of Shadowmarket, Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy and the Sahdowhunter codex.
In 2013, City of Bones was adapted into a movie, casting Lily Collins as Clary and Jamie Campbell Bower alongside her playing Jace, with the intention of doing the same to each book in the series, but the project was scrapped after the first movie’s failure to capture the audience. However, the series was given a second chance in the form of a TV show called Shadowhunters in 2016. It lasted for 3 seasons until it was cancelled due to financial reasons.
Writing style:
While reading a novel written by Cassandra Clare, it is almost impossible not to imagine what she’s describing. Her talent for words helps her paint the most detailed and beautiful pictures of her scenes. The characters in her books are realistic and raw, feeling all the same emotions that we do while having whimsical yet riveting relationships among them. They are sharp and witty and often shock the readers with their sarcastic humour.
“ My one true love remains to be myself, that way I don’t have to worry about rejection. But I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting” ~ Jace Wayland, The Mortal Instruments
Her favourite tricks to keep her audience engaged are misdirection and foreshadowing. Like all authors, Cassie is no stranger to creating heartbreaking arcs for her characters that would leave you clutching the book to your chest and crying, while hoping that you could offer the same comfort to the character. Her style of writing romance is wholesome while being tragic, leaving the audience waiting for more even after the book ends.
“ To love is to destroy and to be loved is to be destroyed ” ~ Will Herondale, The Infernal Devices
“I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there’s a life after that, I will love you then” ~ Jace Wayland, The Mortal Instruments
However, a few plot points like necromancy and love triangles, have become her signature, appearing in each series, making the overall experience monotonous and predictable.
Conclusion:
While Cassie is known for her special world of the Nephilim, she has various other works from a children’s fantasy series called The Magisterium written with another remarkable author Holly Black, to an adult fantasy series called The Sword Catcher, releasing this October. Her stories have been translated into multiple languages like Italian, French, Spanish etc. As someone who adores her readers, Clare likes to keep in touch with them through her blog on Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter accounts.
“One must always be careful of books and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.”
~ Nayana Nandyal
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