Cassandra Clare's LJ

One, and this is addressed mainly to booksellers and librarians: I've gotten a lot of emails lately from YA booksellers and librarians who are holding parties for the releases of Breaking Dawn and Brisngr, etc, wanting to know if I had any promo items I could send for party giveaways. The answer is yes I do, and if you want stuff, like postcards, bookmarks, chapter samplers and the like, you can email me at the address on my profile page and I'll send you stuff. Stuff, I got lots of. [ETA: This offer only open to bookseller/librarian types! I should have mentioned that.]

Two, the official release date for City of Glass is March 24, 2009. As of the moment it has a laydown date which means they won't be selling any copies before that day, but you can be pretty sure you'll be able to get it on that day.

Three, this is the last post I'm going to be making on this journal. I've decided to update exclusively from now on at cassandraclare. Long ago, I thought it would be a good idea to have one blog about just book stuff and writing and another blog about personal stuff, but then I realized that my writing stuff and my personal stuff are entirely mixed in together, and since half the time I could never decide which blog to put an entry on, I would just not update. So this is my attempt at streamlining. Thank you to all the people who've been reading here, and I'll be continuing to blog about my writing and the Mortal Instruments books over at cassandraclare, so if you'd like to friend that journal, I'd love to see you there.

All the best,

Cassie

So I've heard from several UK booksellers (and buyers) that City of Ashes is now out in the UK and Ireland – or, you know, trickling out as books do. I'm not going to be in London for the launch this time, which makes me sad, because I love London and I still get excited seeing my book in bookstores there. And I was hoping to do some signings and meet my readers in the UK. So I am sad about this. But there is a good chance that I will be in London in September, and so hopefully I can set some events up then.

In the meantime, if you're feeling broke, you can pick up free copies of several chapters of City of Ashes at Starbucks all across the UK and Ireland. It's part of a promotion they're doing with the National Literacy Trust trying to get teens (and everyone!) to read more books. Since I won't be over in the UK to actually see my book in Starbucks (a very bizarre idea and one of the few things to have impressed my parents) — anyone who catches sight of the teasers:




in Starbucks and sends me a photo, I'll send you a signed copy of Ashes. :)


ETA: On another note, I'm going to be shutting this LJ down in a short while and doing all my updating over at cassandraclare. I'm suffering from too-many-blogs-itis, and I have to do something to consolidate. So if you're interested in keeping up, I'd love it if you'd friend me over there (and feel free to unfriend here.)

Now that Publisher's Weekly has made the announcement, I can finally talk about my new series, which I am super-mega-yowza excited about! From the press release:

While The Mortal Instruments is set largely in present-day Manhattan, The Infernal Devices takes us back one hundred and forty years to the heart of Victorian England, exploring an earlier era in the history of the Shadowhunters — a time before the Accords, when Downworlder and Shadowhunters were at each other's throats. A time when orphaned teenager Tessa discovers she isn't human after all, but a warlock, capable of changing her shape to resemble anyone she desires to be. Tessa must use her power to descend into London's supernatural Downworld, where vampires stalk the gaslit streets of London, werewolves slink in the shadowy lanes of Whitechapel, and warlocks hold masquerade balls for demons and Downworlders in opium-smoke-filled ballrooms. But living in Downworld isn't simple — Tessa has to learn to trust her natural enemies, the demon-killing Shadowhunters, if she ever wants to control her powers and find her brother. Torn between the darkly gorgeous and devoted Will, a Shadowhunter hiding a deadly secret, and the brooding Jem, whose addiction to a demon drug is slowly destroying him, Tessa must draw on all her strength to save her brother and keep herself alive in this deadly new world.

I always knew I'd be done with Clary's story after City of Glass, but I wasn't done with the world of Shadowhunters and Downworlders. I wanted to do more in that world, with that mythology. On the other hand, I also always wanted to write a historical fantasy novel set in Victorian England, preferably with steampunk elements. At some point, I decided to combine the two — to write about Shadowhunters in a different city than New York, and a different time than now — a time before the Accords, when things between Shadowhunters and Downworlders were considerably less peaceful, and the Shadowhunters lacked some of the technology they employ today. Not to mention a time when there were some truly fabulous clothes, especially for men (Frock coats! Gloves! Boots! So hot!)

The first book in the series, The Clockwork Princess***, will be published in fall 2010****, followed by The Clockwork Prince in fall 2011 and The Clockwork Kingdom in summer 2012. There's a ton more information on the (very basic right now) website, where you can read the full press release, and over at the fansite.

Some people have asked me if Jace, Clary and the others will be in the ID series. The answer is mainly no, because it takes place about 145 years ago. But some characters — like Magnus — who are immortal, do recur; and you'll start recognizing the names of various families, like the Lightwoods and the Waylands, and realizing their relationship to the current characters, as you read.

Anyway, I am super excited about these books and I can't wait to get started on them!

***All titles, at this early date, are subject to change.
**** For those of you in the UK/Aus, The Infernal Devices will be coming out from Walker Books just like the MI series, but we're going to do our level best to make sure the books come out at the same time overseas as they do here.

Next weekend I will be signing in New York City at Books of Wonder for the anthology, Magic in the Mirrorstone, with contributors Cecil Castellucci, Holly Black, Tiffany Trent, Beth Bernobich, Craig Gidney and editor Steve Berman. The signing will be at:

June 8th, 1pm-3pm
Books of Wonder
18 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011

Come on by!

ETA: I am so sorry to all those who attended the event and discovered I wasn't there! I wound up in the emergency room this morning, and though it turned out fine and I'm all right, I wasn't able to make the signing. I hope to make it up to you at the next one!

Cassie

I've been so looking forward to showing this off — the cover of City of Glass! It may be my favorite out of the three, or I may just be loving it because it's so new.




Now to forestall the inevitable questions: the boy on the cover is neither Alec, nor Simon. Instead he's a new character, called Sebastian — if you read my mailing list or the fansite forums you probably know about him already. He's a new character in City of Glass, having been mentioned only in dreams and images previously (astute readers picked out that he's the dark-haired boy with black wings who Clary is dreaming about in CoA.) [Ah here's what I said about Sebastian on my mailing list: "Sebastian is a new character in City of Glass. He's a Shadowhunter. He's a cousin of the Penhallows, who are friends of the Lightwoods', and he grew up at the Institute in Paris. He's about seventeen."] I know it's unusual for a series book to feature a new character on a cover, but we thought he was important enough to go for it. Below Sebastian is Idris and the City of Glass, which Clary and the others visit in book three. The translucent glass-looking structures, are the "demon towers" that keep the city safe from invasion . . . or so they think!



The cover — text, images, etc — isn't final, but it's very close.



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I've put up the first chapter of City of Glass (well, actually Emily who I babble about all the time did it because I don't have the slightest idea how to update my web page:

http://www.mortalinstruments.com/COGchapter1.html

Those who went to my signings on tour will be familiar with this already. For you guys, and for fun, I'm also going to paste in a cookie from CoG under the cut. And because it will be a while since I update again, since I am about to 1) turn in the final edits on City of Glass and 2) run away to Italy, where I will stay until stress levels return to normal. Also, I might buy some shoes there. Mmm, shoes.

ETA to add: I'm too wracked with deadline horror to actually be able to post at the moment, but Rachel Caine (you may know her from her terrific Morganville Vampire books) has posted at her LJ about the upcoming Twilight essay anthology from BenBella books; I'm one of the contributors. It was edited by Ellen Hopkins of Glass and Crank fame. Check it out here.


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I got the cover for the German edition of City of Ashes (which is coming out this June):




With all the foiling and whatnot, these covers are much prettier in person, but they still look nice onscreen.


Also, I got my first-draft cover for City of Glass and it is hot. No shirtlessness this time, but if it keeps on as it looks like it will, it will probably be my favorite of the three. Here's a tiny little piece of it, just for fun:



I also wanted to take a moment to show some of the fanart I've gotten lately, because it always takes a long time to get the pictures up onto the website gallery. So . . .


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I promised various Powers That Be that I'd blog while on tour, but so far I haven't had a chance. Three things you learn when on book tour:

1) Sleep whenever you can
2) Every hotel, everywhere in America, has cobb salad on their room service menu
3) Free time is a myth


So I'm blogging on the run here at my San Francisco hotel, before I head out to Cody's Bookstore in Berkeley. I decided to cobble together a few of my favorite photos from various events.

At Books of Wonder in NYC, where I signed with Marissa Doyle and Isamu Fukui, reading came bearing these Fabulous Shirts. They gave me much joy:




In Phoenix, I signed with Lisa McMann, author of Wake, at various locations. This is us in Changing Hands bookstore.


At Changing Hands I also picked up this t-shirt for my boyfriend. Everyone says boys in books are better...



We also went to a library where they had totally awesomely decorated the whole place with items themed after our books. Here Jace is sporting the classic sleeveless turtleneck look. :D


In LA, my hometown, I met up with Beth Duncan, a teacher whose whole class had read City of Bones and gave me a notebook full of their reviews and thoughts. It was gorgeous. They also made rune-design demon hunter t-shirts. How cute are they?


They said they would make me a shirt, too. Yay! And then in Glendale, where I regaled everyone with the story of How Holly Could Not Get Enough Coffee To Survive While We Were In Italy, someone made me these gorgeous bookmarks:





And then, in Huntington Beach, I encountered a girl wearing this shirt:




Wait a second — that's a Midnighters shirt! Damn you, Scott Westerfeld!

*I also read Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson while on the plane to Phoenix. It was awesome and I am in love with Spencer. Read it now!

I came back from Italy to a bunch of good news! First, The New York Post featured City of Ashes as a recommended book, and even mentioned my event at Books of Wonder tomorrow.

Secondly, City of Ashes debuted at #3 on the New York Times Children's Bestseller list!




Which is huge! And awesome! But then, just as cool, City of Bones is back on the Times list, this time on the paperback list:



Not to mention that City of Ashes hit the USA Today bestseller list at #96 which is pretty damn awesome considering that the USA Today list counts every single book for sale in the entire country, including self-help, cookbooks, and those Whatever For Dummies books.

Listing with my first book was fantastic, but listing with my second book is in some ways even better, because it means people liked the first book enough to run out and buy the second, and the fact that CoA has moved higher up the list means the audience is only growing. So thank you guys, everyone who went out and bought the book, or forced their parents or loved ones to buy it for them, or put it on reserve at the library, or tortured your local bookstore into carrying it. It's all down to you.

*** Last year when I listed I posted a What Happens When You Hit the Bestseller List" post, including all the phone calls I made that day. Sadly, when your second book hits, mostly only your friends in publishing realize why it's still a big deal. I called my dad after I found out, and he said,

Dad: But you were already on the list.
Me: So every time someone has a birthday, do you say, "Who cares, you already had a birthday?"
Dad: No, I say, "Congratulations on not dying partway through the year."
Me: Well, that's encouraging.

And now, off to celebrate.

From April 6-18th, I’ll be touring for City of Ashes. A list of the events and locations is below. I hope you’ll be able to come and see me! (And remember, if you've got a postcard, bring it to the event!)

Sunday, April 6
1:00 PM
Books of Wonder
18 West 18th St.
New York, NY 10011

Monday, April 7
6:30 PM
Barnes and Noble Park Slope
267 7th Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11215

Tuesday, April 8
7:00 PM
Joint Event with Lisa McMann!
Borders
6555 E. Southern Ave., Ste. 1502
Mesa, AZ 85206

Wednesday, April 9
4:00 PM
Joint Event with Lisa McMann!
Phoenix Public Library
Burton Barr Branch
1221 N. Central Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85004

7:00 PM
Joint Event with Lisa McMann!
Changing Hands
6428 S. McClintock Dr.
Tempe, AZ 85283

Thursday, April 10
5:30 PM
Joint Event with Lisa McMann!
Phoenix Book Company
4134 East Wood St.
Suite 290
Phoenix, AZ 85040

Friday, April 11
4:00pm In-store writing workshop event
Mrs Nelson’s Toy and Book Shop
1030 Bonita Avenue
La Verne, CA 91750

Saturday, April 12
11:00 AM
Mystery Bookstore
1036-C Broxton Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90024

2:00 PM
Barnes and Noble
7881 Edinger Ave.
Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Sunday, April 13
2:00 PM
Mystery & Imagination Bookshop
238 N. Brand Blvd.
Glendale, CA 91203


Monday, April 14
4:00 pm-5:30pm Cody’s Books
2201 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley CA 94704


7:00 PM
Books Inc., Palo Alto
Town & Country Village
855 El Camino Real, Suite 74
Palo Alto, CA 94304

Tuesday, April 15
7:00 PM
Copperfield’s Books Petaluma
140 Kentucky St.
Petaluma, CA 94952

Friday, April 18
5:00—6:30
COMICON
New York ComiCon City of Ashes signing
Jacob K. Javits Center
655 West 34th St.
New York, NY 10001