FAQ

ABOUT THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS

How many books are there in the Mortal Instruments trilogy?

There are six. The title of the series itself is The Mortal Instruments: the first book is called City of Bones, the second is called City of Ashes, the third, City of Glass. There will be a second cycle of three books, starting with City of Fallen Angels, which releases April 5, 2011. It will be followed by City of Lost Souls and City of Heavenly Fire. All these books focus on Jace and Clary and Simon as the main characters. There is also going to be a trilogy of prequels to the Mortal Instruments series, called The Infernal Devices. You can read more about them below. The three books in the new trilogy are Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, and Clockwork Princess.

The publishing schedule for all these books can be found here.

Is there going to be a movie of the Mortal Instruments?

The film rights to The Mortal Instruments have been optioned by Unique Features. This is a film production company set up by former founders and co-presidents of New Line Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, who oversaw the production of the Lord of the Rings movies--probably my favorite fantasy movies of all time. They're very dedicated to fantasy and they understand it, and I definitely trust them with the story of the Mortal Instruments.

Now, a book series being optioned doesn't mean a film is being made right now or is definitely going to be made at all--it means that the studio or production company in question is developing the books as a film project--right now they've nailed down financing and a screenwriter (I don't know who that is yet) and are working towards the next stages in the development project. It is, however, an important step in the movie-making process, so I feel like it's okay to be excited about it!

Answers to questions like "Who do you want to play the characters in the movie?" and "Can I be in the movie?" can be found here.

I am an actor/actress and would like to be in the film of City of Bones!

Okay. I have the utmost respect for the craft of acting, but you are going to have to believe me when I say that if there ever was going to be a movie of the Mortal Instruments, I am the absolutely last person on the planet who would have any say whatsoever in casting it. They wouldn't have to ask me who to cast and they don't have to care whether I like the casting or not. They could make the entire movie a one-man showcase for the robot from Wall-E and there is absolutely nothing I could do about it. I could have the greatest idea ever for the casting and they wouldn't do anything about that, either. The writer of the source material a movie is based on is far below the producer's gardener in getting any input about casting. So please don't send me headshots--you'd be better of sending them to a talent agent, a casting director, or anyone in the world but me.

Do you have any idea what actors you would want to play the characters if the book(s) ever did get made into a movie?

I don't like to pick actors for an imaginary movie cast because I like people to come up with their own mental images of the characters. There's a fun page here with a reader's picks for the characters that I think are very good, especially Isabelle.

What is the series about?

City of Bones begins with a sixteen-year old girl named Clary Fray, who lives in New York with her mother, an artist. She comes home one night to find her apartment ransacked, her mother gone -- and a slavering demon ready to tear off her head. Once the demon's dealt with, Clary follows the clues to her mother's disappearance into an alternate New York filled with hideous demons, hard-partying warlocks, not-what-they-seem vampires, an army of werewolves and the scariest thing of all: the secrets of her mother's past. She also finds herself torn between two boys -- her best friend Simon, for whom she's developing new feelings, and the mysterious demon hunter Jace, who has a past more tangled than her own. She becomes a part of the secret word of the demon hunters, or Nephilim, and as she does discovers she might be more connected to them than she originally thought. City of Ashes continues Clary's adventures with Simon, the demon hunters Jace, Isabelle and Alec, the warlock Magnus, and the mysterious Raphael. City of Glass takes the characters to the demon hunters' exotic home country, Idris.

What is City of Fallen Angels about? When will it be released?

City of Fallen Angels takes place about six weeks after the events of City of Glass. It continues the story begun in City of Bones, while also starting a new story, with new challenges and a new enemy to beset our protagonists. All the core characters from the Mortal Instruments series appear in it: Jace, Isabelle, Clary, Simon, Alec, Magnus, Luke, Jocelyn, Maia, and many more. (It even helps to have read The Clockwork Angel before you read CoFA, because some of the characters from the ID series do show up in it. However, it isn't required.) City of Fallen Angels takes place several months after the events of City of Glass. In it, a mysterious someone?s killing the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle and displaying their bodies around New York City in a manner designed to provoke hostility between Downworlders and Shadowhunters, leaving tensions running high in the city and disrupting Clary's plan to lead as normal a life as she can -- training to be a Shadowhunter, and pursuing her relationship with Jace. As Jace and Clary delve into the issue of the murdered Shadowhunters, they discover a mystery that has deeply personal consequences for them -- consequences that may strengthen their relationship, or rip it apart forever. Meanwhile, internecine warfare among vampires is tearing the Downworld community apart, and only Simon -- the Daylighter who everyone wants on their side -- can decide the outcome; too bad he wants nothing to do with Downworld politics. Love, blood, betrayal and revenge: the stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels (release date: 4/5/2011).

What's The Infernal Devices About?

16-year-old orphan Tessa's quiet life is thrown into turmoil when her older brother Nathaniel suddenly vanishes, leaving her alone. Her search for him leads her into Victorian-era London's dangerous supernatural underworld, where warlocks throw masked balls for half-demon Downworlders. When Tessa discovers that she herself is a Downworlder, she must come to trust her natural enemies, the demon-killing Shadowhunters, if she ever wants to learn to control her powers and find her brother. Torn between beautiful Will, a Shadowhunter hiding a deadly secret, and the devoted 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.

Will the next series, The Infernal Devices, have Jace and Clary in it?

No, because it takes place about 145 years ago. But there will be some characters you recognize -- like Magnus Bane -- and as you read the books, you'll begin to see the relationships between the characters in ID and their descendants in MI.

Where did you get the idea for the Mortal Instruments books?

The idea for the Mortal Instruments came to me one afternoon in the East Village. I was with a good friend of mine, who was taking me to see the tattoo shop where she used to work. She wanted to show me that her footprints were on the ceiling in black paint -- in fact the footprints of everyone who'd worked there were on the ceiling, crisscrossing each other and making patterns. To me it looked like some fabulous supernatural battle had been fought there by beings who'd left their footprints behind. I started thinking about a magical battle in a New York tattoo shop and the idea of a secret society of demon-hunters whose magic was based on an elaborate system of tattooed runes just sprang into my mind.

When I sat down to sketch out the book, I wanted to write something that would combine elements of traditional high fantasy -- an epic battle between good and evil, terrible monsters, brave heroes, enchanted swords -- and recast it through a modern, urban lens. So you have the Shadowhunters, who are these very classic warriors following their millennia-old traditions, but in these urban, modern spaces: skyscrapers, warehouses, abandoned hotels, rock concerts. In fairy tales, it was the dark and mysterious forest outside the town that held the magic and danger. I wanted to create a world where the city has become the forest -- where these urban spaces hold their own enchantments, danger, mysteries and strange beauty. It's just that only the Shadowhunters can see them as they really are.

IF YOU'VE ALREADY READ THE BOOKS (contains spoilers!)

How do you pronounce Jace?

His name rhymes with "lace" or "mace."

I just got to the end of City of Bones and I am so upset about Jace and Clary! Why???

At the risk of spoiling anyone, all I can say is that it's more than just a twist; if you're really invested in Jace and Clary, you shouldn't give up on them yet -- there's still a lot to come in their future, a lot of surprises about their history, and plenty more developments in the Jace/Clary/Simon love triangle.

Is that Val and Luis from Holly Black's Valiant in that scene where Jace and Clary are going downtown with the Silent Brother?

Yes, it is. Look for a mention of a "mortal cup" in Ironside.

Why don't Jace and Clary just go get DNA tests to find out of they're related or not?

Shadowhunters don't go to mundane doctors, the kind who would do DNA testing. Their DNA is different. They wouldn't get a useful result, even if they wanted to risk the exposure.

What characters are on the books' covers? (US Editions)

Book 1: Jace, Book 2: Clary, Book 3: Sebastian.

Is there anywhere I can see what the runes in the books look like?

I had an artist design some! You can find them here.

What do the runes on Clary's arms on the cover of City of Ashes mean?

Those were put there by the cover artist to add atmosphere. I didn't design them, and I'm afraid they don't mean anything at all.

Why does Sebastian have angel wings on the cover of City of Glass?

Again, I don't really get a say about what goes on the cover, so I don't know. I like them though.

Why didn't Jace become a vampire after Simon bit him?

City of Ashes, p. 192:

"You might remember that when [Simon] was in the form of a rat, and you came to fetch him from us, he bit me," said Raphael. "In any case, he took some of my blood into his mouth when he did it. You know that is how we pass our powers to each other. Through [VAMPIRE] blood."

Jace isn't becoming a vampire because he didn't ingest vampire blood. Simon became a vampire because he did.

What does "mene mene tekel upharsin" mean?

Do you have a copy of City of Glass around? On p. 60, Jace translates "mene mene tekel upharsin" exactly, then gives its source, then gives its other name: "The Writing on the Wall." You can also just google "mene mene tekel upharsin" and get thousands of translations. It's a very very famous phrase.

Why can Simon go in the sunlight after the events on the boat in City of Ashes?

That's explained in City of Glass -- pages 369-370 in the US edition.

Why do Clary and Jace both have star-shaped scars?

That's explained in City of Glass, page 513.

I finished City of Glass and I still have questions!

I'm trying to keep Glass spoilers off the site until it's been released worldwide in English -- not everyone gets the book at the same time. However, if you've already read it and you have questions, you can check out this blog post for some frequently asked questions about the series, and my answers. Don't read it if you haven't read Glass; it will ruin the book for you.

Can you give me translations of the various poems and Latin phrases in the book? What about the Italian Jace speaks on p. 123 of City of Ashes?

Jace says: "Sio credesse che mia risposta fosse/a persona che mai tornasse al mondo...." It is from Dante's Inferno, canto 27, lines 61-66. It means "If I thought that I was replying to someone who would ever return to the world." It's part of a larger section of the poem: "If I thought that I was replying to someone who would ever return to the world, this flame would cease to flicker. But since no one ever returns from these depths alive, if what I've heard is true, I will answer you without fear of infamy." In short, what it means is: I will only tell the truth to someone who is in Hell like I am, and who like me can never return.

Like most of the Latin phrases and phrases in other languages in the books, the translation above can be found just by dumping some of the lines into Google and hitting "go." They're all fairly famous phrases and quotes. You don't need me to translate them!

What did Jace and Sebastian say to each other in Romanian on p. 69 of City of Glass?

Now this really is almost impossible to understand without someone to translate it for you. You don't need to know it to understand the book, of course, but if you're curious:

Jace smiled. "De ce crezi ca va ascultam conversatia?"
Sebastian met his glance with a look of pleasant interest. "M-ai urmarit de când ai ajuns aici," he replied. "Nu-mi dau seama daca nu ma placi ori daca esti atât de banuitor cu toata lumea."

Jace smiled. "[Why do you think I was listening to your conversation?]" Sebastian met his glance with a look of pleasant interest. "[You've been watching me since you got here]," he replied. "[I can't tell if you don't like me or you're just this suspicious of everyone]."

Why did you decide to make Alec gay?

Why did I decide to make Isabelle straight? I didn't go into writing Alec thinking "there must be a gay character in this story." As Alec's character evolved, I realized that he always seemed to be angry about something and that he seemed to dislike Clary more than made sense. That he was in love with Jace explained both things about him, and suddenly I understood his character better. Once I did, I knew I very much wanted it not to be the only character note about him. Alec is a good guy, a great friend, an excellent demon hunter, and has a terrible dress sense. He's just also gay.

Where do the names in the books come from?

The names in my books come from all over the place. Sometimes they can take a long time to develop. Clary Fray is named after two friends of mine. Her name was originally Valerie Frayre (after the artist who does some of the character art on the artwork page), then Valerie Frayne, then (when a friend of mine was also writing a book with a heroine named Valerie) Clary Frayne, then Clary Fray (my editor's choice) -- then when I realized Clary was a nickname, she became Clarice, and finally, Clarissa. (She's not named after me. Her first name does sound similar to "Clare", but I should point out that Cassandra Clare is just a pen name, so I think it more reflects that I must like that particular name-sound.) Jace was originally Will, but Jace is a name I always liked, and it needed to be something that could be short for Jonathan. Max and Isabelle are named for my grandparents. Alec's name was originally Alex, but Alec is a more interesting version of Alexander, I think. Simon and Maia are named after friends of mine, while Maryse, Robert, Jocelyn and others are simply names I picked out of baby name books and the like. (Luke Garroway I picked because it sounded a bit like loup-garou, which is French for werewolf.)

ABOUT WRITING

What's your favorite thing about being a writer and do you have 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,As for tips for writers, check my FAQ section at my cassandraclare.com website. If you're looking for tips specifically for teen writers, you can find a whole list of them here.

How long did it take you to write City of Bones?

About two years.

Was the whole series planned out in advance, or did you make it up as you went along?

I always had the story plotted out from the beginning. I sold the series as a trilogy. That means I had to submit a detailed outline to the publisher of each book in the series. Your publisher wants to know not just that you know how to start a story but also that you know how to end one, and that nothing too crazy happens. So I had the story plotted out, because it was required. I also always knew it would be a trilogy. It is structured on the hero?s journey to the Underworld -- the theme of the first book is descent, thus each epigraph makes reference to descent ("The Descent Beckons," etc.). The theme of the second is hell or the underworld, and all the epigraphs make reference to hell or the underworld ("the Gates of Hell"). The third book's theme is ascent or heaven, and all the epigraphs make reference to ascent or heaven ("The Road to Heaven").

What kind of music do you like? Do you listen to music when you're writing?

I always listen to music when I'm writing. In fact I made an iMix of the songs I was listening to when I wrote City of Bones. You can find it here: City of Bones iMix. If that link doesn't work, you can find the playlists here.

Can you read my story/book/poem?

Sorry, but for legal reasons I can't! Try a critique group like critters.org.

Are you characters based on real people?

Not as such. They're composites, generally, of people I know.

MISCELLANEOUS

Do you know the shirtless guy on the cover of the book?

Uh, no.

Will you be going on tour/doing signings?

I update my events page whenever I'll be doing a signing in a certain place. If you're a bookstore or a librarian interested in having me do an event, please feel free to email me!

Do you have a personal website or mailing list?

The personal website is at www.cassandraclare.com, and you can also join the Mortal Instruments mailing list! Please do join. You can find out about events like readings and signings either on the personal website or the mailing list. If you've got more questions, you can email them to me at cassandraclare@gmail.com.

Is there a fansite or somewhere I can go to discuss the books with other people?

You can find links to numerous fansites here.

Would you come to my school/library/town and do a signing?

School, library and bookstore appearances are organized through my publisher. There's a form to fill out here.

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!

I like listening to audiobooks. Is there an audio version?

Yes! City of Bones is read by the actress Ari Graynor, and City of Ashes and City of Glass are read by Natalie Moore, all out from Simon and Schuster Audio.

I live in England, Australia or New Zealand. Can I buy your books there?

Yes. My publisher in those countries is Walker Books.

Will there be foreign editions of the book in translation?

Yes. The Mortal Instruments trilogy has been sold in Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Finland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Brazil, and Denmark. You can see the foreign editions with their covers on the editions pages in the "About the Book" section of the site. Remember, if you want the book in English, Amazon ships worldwide and any English-language bookstore should be able to order it.

Did you know there's another book called City of Bones?

In fact, there are several other books called that. Books share titles all the time. I called my book City of Bones because there's a city made of bones in it -- I didn't find out there were other books with the same name until later!