Diana Or

blackthornxw said: Hi Cassie! I don’t know if you had talked about this before but I would like to know more about Cameron Ashdown. He will appear in Qoaad? How did he and Emma meet each other? I know Emma loves Julian but she didn’t had feel anything for Cam?

She didn’t feel nothing for him, but she didn’t love him. Not at all like she’s in love with Julian. I think she was fond of Cameron, and she’d known him for a long time, their families had interacted over many years. I think she may well even have crushed on him for a while. But not every relationship is an epic love story. :) Cameron, however, has some hidden depths you’ll see on display in Queen, and an unexpected part to play.

In the meantime, I turned up a deleted scene from Lady Midnight with Cameron in it. The characters don’t feel quite like their eventual selves to me, and I’m glad I took it out — it flatly spelled out things that worked much better revealed more carefully — but it’s kind of interesting! 

Emma turned to head down the beach to the shoreline. That was when she saw him. Silhouetted against the water. She wondered how long he’d been standing there, hands in the pockets of his jeans.

“Cam?” she said.

Cameron Ashdown walked toward her, the wind off the ocean tousling his dark auburn hair. He’d always looked like a picture-perfect California surfer boy, even though the Ashdown family were Scottish, as far as she remembered. His shoulders were broad, his eyes were blue, and there was a spray of freckles across his nose.

“I texted you,” he said. “Last night. And this morning.”

“I know.” She put her hands on her hips. She felt slightly undressed, not so much because she was only wearing a sports bra and running pants, but more because when she was training, she felt vulnerable. She didn’t mind training with Cristina, Julian, or any of the Blackthorns, but anyone else from the Conclave, even Cam, was — different. “But we broke up, so —“

He laughed shortly. “Classic, Emma,” he said. “You broke up with me, so you don’t ever have to talk to me again?”

“I think that is how it works. Technically,” Emma said. “If we did still have to talk with each other, what would be the point of breaking up?”

He shook his head. “The thing is, you actually mean that.”

She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. The wind off the ocean chilled the sweat on her body, and all she wanted was to get away. “Cam, I am sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

He looked up toward the sky, as if hoping for celestial support. “I am so stupid,” he said. “This is what, the third time? And I thought it would be different. I figured, why would you keep coming back if you didn’t actually like me?”

“I do like you. I always have liked you.” It was true; she’d always liked Cam — a lot of the members of the Conclave, like Cam’s awful sister Paige, could be viciously nasty about the Blackthorns and their connections to Fae. But Cam had never been. “So why break up with me?”

Emma tucked a damp curl of hair back behind her ear. “I don’t know,” she said. “I guess I thought it had run its course.”

“Run its course?” he echoed. “And that means what?”

She felt herself flush. “That it was never supposed to be serious. Right?”

Cam moved toward her. The sun was truly up now, casting his shadow lightly against the sand. He reached out, and she let him take her forearms, his tanned, freckled fingers spanning their width. “Emma,” he said. “You only have one serious relationship, and that’s with Julian Blackthorn.”

“He’s my parabatai,” she said. “Of course it’s a serious relationship.” She looked up into his blue eyes, squinted against the rising sun. “Why are you here?” she said. “I don’t know what I can tell you to make it different, besides that I’m sorry. Does that help?”

“Not really,” he said. “As for why I’m here — every other time you’ve dumped me on my ass, I have come by, just for the record. I think if you’re going to end a relationship, you should do it in person.”

“You’ve never come by —“

“I have,” he repeated. “I’ve just always run into Julian first.” He let go of her forearms. “You know, it’s weird,” he said. “He’s not bigger than me, and I don’t even think he’s a better fighter.”

Emma wanted to protest, wanted to say Julian could slay Cameron Ashdown with a crossbow, wanted to say that not everyone had to go around sporting huge muscles and a giant neck to prove they were strong. She’d seen Jules bend steel girders; he was as strong as any Shadowhunter needed to be. But she held herself back because she wanted to know what Cam was going to say next.

“But he’s damn convincing,” Cameron said. “I’d show up at the Institute and he’d get to me before I ever got to you. And somehow I’d find myself leaving without talking to you. So I’d wait around, until you wanted me again for some fun or company or whatever. You think I haven’t noticed that you called me and asked if I wanted to go out the day after Julian left for England, and you dumped me the day before he got back?”

“I didn’t know you were so intimately familiar with Jules’ travel schedule,” Emma snapped. “Maybe you should be dating him, if you care so much where he is.”

“I care because you care,” said Cam. “You know I’m right.”

“I know you’re jealous,” Emma said, and immediately regretted it.

“Yeah, I am,” said Cam. “Jealous of your parabatai. That’s a little weird, isn’t it? I mean, he’s supposed to be like a brother to you. Protective, maybe, but what you have between you — it’s different. I’ve been alone with you, and I’ve been with you when he’s around, and it’s like you’re a totally different person. Like he turns on a light inside you. I thought maybe I could make you like me enough that I could turn that light on for you, but —“ He broke off, shaking his head. “I don’t think anyone can.”

“You’re crazy,” she said. “It’s not like that.”

“Anyway, I came because I wanted to see you before Julian got back and stopped me,” he said. “That’s it. I didn’t really think I could change your mind.”

The tide had started to come in; it was lapping at their shoes. “I really would like to be friends,” Emma said. “With you.”

The expression that crossed his handsome face was unreadable. “We’ll see.” He turned away, and she watched him go, his shoes crunching on the sand. A few steps away he spun around to face her again. “About Julian,” he said.

She looked at him.

“There’s something cold in him,” he said. “Something scary. I don’t think you see it, but everyone else does.”

She thought of Julian, flecks of paint in his dark hair; Julian picking up Tavvy and swinging him around, Julian bandaging Dru’s scraped knees and smiling at Ty when Ty was clever and cheering Livvy on when she learned to use a sabre. Julian, grinning at her like sunrise.

“Julian isn’t cold,” she said, biting off each word. “Don’t you ever say that again.”

Catarinalosss said: Slightly random question, but will any of the characters in TEC swear, since it was originally an adult series? Dying to read Magnus dropping the f bomb ;)

Heh, sorry to disappoint, but I don’t think he does! The content of Red Scrolls wasn’t changed in any way, but it just never occurred to us to swear much: I guess Wes and I just have pure hearts and unfilthy mouths. There is a good bit of other adult business, if that’s any consolation: it may be clear to you guys that in City of Glass, Alec hasn’t slept with Magnus… and in City of Fallen Angels, he clearly has. In the space between, The Red Scrolls of Magic happen.

ringed-rose-of-lesbos said: Will we see any Catarina Loss in GoTSM?

Yes, the fifth story, A Deeper Love, finds Caterina and Tessa serving as nurses together during the London Blitz. Quick summaries of the stories in GOTSM are here: summaries.

epineclaire said: Hi Cassie, hope you’re doing well! I have a question about QoAaS; will Jace and Clary be present at Robert’s funeral? Will we see Jace’s reaction to the death of his adoptive father? Surely, it does something to him!

Of course. Jace certainly has feelings about Robert’s death and we do get to see them. Whether Jace and Clary can make it to the funeral though depends on if they can make it back from their mission safely …  

rhysands-jace said:will Lily and Maia show up in qoaad?

They both do show up, though I would say Maia has a bigger part than Lily. Lily has a bigger part in TEC though.

crristinarosales said: hey! will we see more of kieran’s brothers (or sisters) in QOAAD?

You’ll see Adaon again and meet at least one more significant sibling of Kieran’s. Meeting all fifty of them would be a little too chaotic though. :D

mortalacademy said: Hi Cassie! I hope you’re doing well! :) I can imagine you’re rushed off your feet busy with writing and what not, but I was wondering about touring/events for Queen of Air and Darkness? Considering it is released in early December, would be touring around that time, and would you be coming to the UK? :)

I will be touring for Queen of Air and Darkness. I’ll be touring in the US and Canada in December, and I’ll be flying to the UK and Ireland to tour in January/February of 2019. And I’ll be in some other countries, too — still trying to get to Brazil and Australia!

mrswilliamherondale said:Hi Cassie! A few days ago I saw some readers talking about Queen of Air and Darkness ARCs, which struck me as odd because it’s the last book in the series so the risk of spoilers on the Internet would very high. In short: no QoaAD ARCs, right? And is there maybe going to be other fun stuff  that readers can look forward to while waiting? TYSM! I can’t wait to read QoAaD in December!

Hello! Yes, no ARCs for Queen — we never do them for last books in a series (at least we haven’t since City of Glass, and that turned out not to be the last book anyway!) Chapter Samplers from Queen will be given out at conferences like BookCon and ComiCon, there will be the stories from Ghosts of the Shadow Market to tide people over and bridge the gap, and of course there will be ARCs for the Red Scrolls of Magic starting in around September, so we’ll be able to do giveaways with those and generally have some fun there. :)

theshadowwolfiethings said: hey Cassie!! I just wanted to know if you could give us a hint about how is going to be kieran and diego’s relationship?

They actually get along pretty well! I would say they have a certain George/Simon roommate vibe, complicated by the Cohort trying to kill Kieran.

dracolovelaceisinlove said: Hey Cassie, I love you so much! Will we see Church again? Is he alright?  

thepurplewarlock said:Hi Cassie. I have a question about Helen and Aline. Sorry if it sounds silly or I’m asking something obvious. At the end of Lord of Shadows, they both get brought back to Idris to be with their siblings at the meeting that went wrong. We know during Queen that they stay to look after the younger Blackthorn’s and the rest of them. My question is this: has their exile been lifted or, given how wrong things have gone, is it a case that the Clave have forgotten to send them back??

All I can say is that since Queen starts up right after Lord of Shadows ended, you’ll get to see how this plays out. Nothing is elided in a time-skip.

aquaillovingkat said: Hey Ms. Clare, I love all your series, and I can’t wait for sword catcher! What is your favourite place to write, or where have you had the best success writing? Also, do you ever write with pen and paper or only on a computer? Much love from Canada! Thank you! <3 I am also super excited about Sword Catcher. I like to write in a variety of places: at home, in my barn, and in coffee shops. I tend to like to have things going on around me while I work, so I invite writer friends over pretty much every day that I’m working. It makes for good company, but it can also be useful for our productivity, because if one of us is stuck on something we can talk through ideas and help each other out. That’s also why we go on writing retreats together—writing can be isolating work, so you have to find ways to push back against that isolation. (Unless isolation is your preferred state. It isn’t mine. : ) I write and outline pretty much exclusively on a computer; my handwriting is awful, and I also have a stress injury in my right wrist from signing books. If you’re curious about writing programs, I write in Scrivener these days and recommend it for novels!

rosqles said: hi cassie! will we see any characters getting a redemption arc in qoaad (eg. zara?)

Zara is a pretty clear analogue for some real-life political figures. I mean, I guess the question is, what would a redemption arc mean for Zara? What would it entail? It’s not as if Zara has someone who’s done bad things for good causes or even understandable causes, like Kieran. People can absolutely make mistakes and find redemption. Zara’s whole belief system is poisoned at the roots. She’s an abusive bigot, and it’s her whole life. So it would depend: what would you consider a redemptive arc for someone like that and what would be the inciting factor for her to start to realize her whole worldview is broken? More of a TBD than an answer. :)

sania0810 said: Hi Cassie, just wanted to ask you if Anna’s secret lover is someone we have heard of or just a random new character. <3

Anna had a first love that didn’t go well, but not a “secret lover” really. I don’t believe we do know who she will be, but we’ll find out soon enough in Every Exquisite Thing, and she certainly is a character in TLH (though admittedly I haven’t described/publicly named every character yet.)

ellacarstairs said: Hi Cassie! Can you tell us more about how the relationship is between Anna and her parents (Gabriel and Cecily)? Lots of love!

I can promise that Every Exquisite Thing is very much about that. It’s not just about Anna’s first love, but about her identity and what it means for her in terms of her family and her place in it.

lovelqces said: hey cassie! without giving anything away, how do you think we’ll feel at the end of QUAAD?

Close-ups from the Shadowhunter Fairytales! 

Little Red Riding Hood

Beauty and the Beast

Momotarō

Puss in Boots

The Wild Swans

Snow White

Frog Prince

Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Rapunzel

Little Mermaid

Sherlock

selmaguillen said: hello cassie! I would like to know a little more about the relationship of Lucie and Jesse in TLH? I could not get rid of the part of “JB + LH” that appears in LOS. I do not think the relationship will be explained much or not as much as I would like :( I always love the couples who have less time on the page, I hope you can answer my question, thanks for this wonderful world of Shadowhunters, kisses from Mexico!

I decided a while ago to pen a little tale of Will and Tessa’s wedding and wedding night. It wound up being a riff on Sleeping Beauty, and taking me quite a while (since I’m writing…four…books at the same time) but I thought I’d share the beginning and post the rest in installments. Warnings for romancey business and not knowing how often I’ll update.

Part One:

Today will be the happiest day the two of you will ever have together.  

Will Herondale sat in the window of his new bedroom and looked out at a London frozen under a chilly winter sky. Snow dusted the tops of houses reaching away toward the pale ribbon of the Thames, giving the view the feeling of a fairytale.

Though at the moment, Will was not feeling very friendly toward fairytales.

He ought to be happy, he knew that much — after all, it was his wedding day. And he had been happy, since the moment he’d woken up, even through having Henry, Gabriel and Gideon troop into his room and bother him with advice and jokes while he was getting dressed, all the way up to the end of the ceremony. That was when it had happened. That was why he was sitting on a window seat staring at winter-bitten London instead of downstairs by the fire kissing his wife. His brand new wife.

Tessa.

Everything had started out perfectly well. It wasn’t strictly a Shadowhunter wedding, because Tessa wasn’t strictly a Shadowhunter. But Will had decided to wear wedding gear anyway, because he was going to be the head of the London Institute, and his children would be Shadowhunters, and Tessa would run the Institute by his side and be part of all of his Shadowhunter life and they should begin as they meant to go on, in his opinion.

Henry, wielding a stele from his Bath chair, helped Will with the runes of love and luck he’d decorated his hands and arms with before he put his shirt and gear jacket on. Gideon and Gabriel joked about what a terrible bargain Tessa was getting in Will, and how they would happily take his place, though the Lightwood brothers were both engaged, and Henry was delightedly married with a small and loudly screaming son, Charles Buford, currently taking up much of his parents’ time and attention.

And Will smiled and laughed, and looked in the mirror to make sure his hair didn’t look disgraceful and he thought of Jem, and his heart ached.

It was tradition for Shadowhunters to have a suggenes, someone who walked alongside them up the aisle to the marriage ceremony. Usually a sibling or a close friend — and if you had a parabatai, the choice for suggenes was made for you. But Will’s parabatai was a Silent Brother now, and Silent Brothers could not be suggenes. So that place beside Will would remain empty as he walked the floor of the cathedral.

Or at least it would look empty to everyone else. To Will, it would be filled with the memory of Jem: Jem’s smile, Jem’s hand on his arm, Jem’s unwavering loyalty.

In the mirror, he saw a Will Herondale, nineteen years old, who looked composed and calm: inside his soul breathed grief and love. Until this last year, he had never thought that the heart could hold a full measure of sorrow and happiness at the same time, and yet as he grieved Jem and loved Tessa he felt both in equal parts. He knew she did, too, and it was a comfort to the two of them to be together and share what few others had ever felt, for though Will believed profound grief and profound joy could happen at the same time, as equal love did, he could not believe it was common.

“Don’t forget the cane, Will,” said Henry, snapping Will out of his reverie, and he handed Will the dragon-headed cane that had been Jem’s. Will carried it, the jade head smooth under his fingers, as they made their way downstairs and into the heart of the church.

Will came in through the back and moved swiftly to the altar, decorated with heaps of white flowers that had come from Idris. They filled the room with a scent that reminded him of Herondale Manor in the Idris countryside, a great pile of golden stone where he and Tessa would now spend summer months. His heart lifted at the thought.

It lifted further as he leaned Jem’s cane against the altar and turned to face the room: he had been afraid that the Conclave of London, in their prejudice and bigotry, would avoid the wedding: feelings about the fact that Tessa was half-warlock ranged from indifference to outright coldness. But the pews were filled, and he saw beaming faces throughout: Henry beside Charlotte, who had left baby Charles in the care of Bridget, her hat trembling with a mass of flowers; the recently married Baybrooks, the Highsmiths and Bridgestocks, Sophie moving to make room for Gideon and Gabriel, and even Tatiana Blackthorn, holding the blanket-wrapped bundle of her son, Jesse, and wearing an oddly familiar pink dress.

Will glanced toward the back of the church …

Beauty and the Beast

Momotarō

Puss in Boots

The Wild Swans

Snow White

Frog Prince

Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Rapunzel

“Please. I’ve taught at Shadowhunter Academy. I —” Caterina began to cough, her shoulders shaking. Her eyes widened in alarm.

Cristina slid out of bed, alarmed. “Are you all right —?”

But Caterina had vanished. There wasn’t even a swirl of air to show where her Projection had been.

Cristina hastily threw on her clothes: jeans, an old t-shirt. She wished with all her heart that Emma was here, that they could talk about last night, that Emma could give her advice and a shoulder to cry on.

But she wasn’t. Cristina touched her necklace, whispered a quick prayer to the Angel, and headed down the hall to Mark’s room.

He’d been up as late as she was, so there was a high possibility he was still sleeping. She knocked on the door hesitantly and then harder; finally Mark threw it open, yawning and stark naked.

“Híjole!” Cristina shrieked, and pulled her t-shirt collar up over her face.”Put your pants on!”

pagaechelon95 said:

Hi Cassie I love the world you’ve created. May I ask you something about Alastair Carstairs and Charles Fairchild’s relationship? 

Alastair and Charles are friendly! Everybody needs a friend. ;) Charles, who is such a political wheeler dealer, was interim Head of the Paris Institute a year ago, and he and Alastair got acquainted when Alastair came to Paris on his travel year. (Paris is important to both of the Carstairs kids, as it’s where they spent the happiest time of their childhood.) Charles taught Alastair a lot about politics, and Alastair—who is a little lost, and has family issues—took his lessons to heart. Both the Carstairs are eager to come to London, and for Cordelia that’s because she wants to be with the Herondales. For Alastair, part of the reason he’s happy to come to London is his pal Charles.

hi!! can we have a little something about barbara and eugenia?

Barbara and Eugenia are very much big sisters! The family was always a little worried about Thomas, who was small and delicate for their whole childhood, so the sisters have always kept a beady eye on their brother. Eugenia’s the fiercer one, fond of telling off all the boys for their pesty ways, while Barbara is gentler and a little inclined to retiring to her fainting couch and declaring she has the vapors. Barbara also has an Understanding with a Young Gentleman.

Here’s a little Lightwood snippet…

Barbara patted Thomas, as if his brawny arm was a small boy’s head. “I was merely anxious about you, Tommy. Surely you are not vexed.”

Thomas’s brows were drawn sharply together, making his amiable countenance dark for the briefest interval. Then he sighed, drew his sister toward him in the circle of his arm, and stooped to press a kiss upon her brow.

“No, Babs,” he said. “Of course I am not vexed. Can you spare your brother a dance, though I know Oliver will be loath to part with you? I will take care not to be clumsy.”  

commandergranger said: Will James and Lucie know about Jem, that he is brother Zachariah, and the relationship he has with their parents?

Lucie and James know all about Jem, who they call Uncle Jem amongst themselves and not Brother Zachariah. As a child Lucie used to cry bitterly when Uncle Jem had to go away, which of course he always had to do. The fate of Jem, and his necessary separation from the Herondale family—all of whom love him, and who he loves deeply—are one tragedy the Herondale kids have grown up with. Yet Jem is always looking out for the Herondale kids and Cordelia, and his love is a comfort and a strength to them, especially in the dark times ahead.

tidtlhtmitdatwp1903 said: Are there still plans to do ten short stories leading up to TLH?

The idea was always the the short stories would be brief vignettes of the past lives of the TLH main characters, which would also be included in the book. I thought it would be fun to release them earlier, so that readers could have a taste of TLH and get to know James, Lucie, Cordelia and Grace better, and I’m still planning on doing that, yes! But I’m also happy things have been worked out so my friends and I get to do Ghosts of the Shadow Market, as now there are two looooong short stories set in the period leading up to TLH, in which we get more of Matthew, Anna and all the gang. Much to enjoy, I hope!

xkitiberius said: Hi Cassie! I have a question about James and Matthew. Both have very different personalities and even being parabatai, will there be some kind of disagreement between them during TLH? I love you and your work (especially the work called Matthew Fairchild, man of my life).

Matthew would be delighted. ;) James and Matthew have always made being very different parabatai work for them—James keeps Matthew right, as Matthew says in Nothing But Shadows. Whenever Matthew is tempted to abandon Shadowhunter duty and go have fun, he thinks WWJHD  (What Would James Herondale Do). James cares a lot about being a Shadowhunter, about their tradition of protecting humanity—which makes him awfully conscious of how he, with his demonic and not Nephilim qualities, might endanger those he loves. Matthew, a more blithe soul, is able to comfort and cheer James—in James’s darkest times, he makes a beeline for Matthew, who is a light to him. I always think it’s fun to see how a mixture of similarities and differences make friends complement each other, as with Will and Jem before them (part of the reason that James and Lucie both desperately want parabatai is that they have the example of their father). So Matthew and James both have strong senses of humor, but James is more wry, and Matthew is more absurd, and they both make the other laugh. They both love reading, but Matthew likes modern literature, which James has come to appreciate since it helps him understand how Matthew sees the world, and James loves older stories of adventure and chivalry, which Matthew comes to admire more as he can see James being a hero in the same style.

That said, James and Matthew will have a very significant conflict in TLH.  You’ll see what it is!

xserapherondalex said: Hi there! I was just wondering, I’m sorry if you have answered this in the past but I don’t remember it, are we going to have any musician in TLH? We had Jem in TID, Jace in TMI and we don’t have anyone in TDA. So, will we have any musicians or it will be like in TDA?

We are going to have some musicians, yes! The Last Hours is very much about art, and how people interact with it. (All my books are to a certain degree, which is why Julian and Clary are artists.)

Alastair Carstairs used to sing ghazals, but he’s become less and less comfortable with how people perceive him due to his Persian heritage, so he doesn’t anymore.

Jesse Blackthorn used to play the piano when he was alive. Sometimes, certain people can still hear a faint tune being played in dusty Blackthorn House…

Thomas Lightwood makes up songs in his head, but he’s too shy to tell anybody about them. Except for the one person who he does tell.

cairstine said: hello Cassie! can you tell us more about Grace Blackthorn? she seems like a very interesting character to me and i would really like to know what she was like before she became cold to everyone, i’m sure there’s a reason for that. will she become friends with the gang throughout the books?

Well, here I have an opportunity to talk about how writing works. I’m really happy you guys care about the TLH characters and want to know more about them, and I love answering your questions about them! But I can only really talk about how the characters are at the start of the Last Hours, because who they may become is part of the journey of the books, which we have to go on with them. We can infer things like what kind of mother Tatiana might have been to make Grace turn out to be distant and dedicated to keeping her emotions hidden, but as Grace is a designedly mysterious character, reading the books is going on a journey of discovery about her for both the reader and my characters. The gang all have very different relationships with Grace (James loves her: Matthew thinks she is bad news: Christopher finds it difficult to remember her name) and those relationships are going to develop and change enormously as the books progress, so I can’t answer for the whole gang or tell you what happens with them. That said, I think Grace is a very interesting character too. ;)

elinaevermore said: Hello Cassie, can you tell us something about Anna? I’m in love with her. Will we see a lot of her in TLH?

We will — Anna’s quite a significant character. I love her too, she’s so much fun to write, and I hope you’ll enjoy getting to know her better in Every Exquisite Thing. (The title btw comes from Oscar Wilde: “Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.”) Not that Anna’s tragic, I’d say she very much is a joyous person! But she was hurt in the past.

—

I’m happy you like James and Matthew! Matthew is fifteen in his chapter in GOTSM, and the incidents and his choices in his story influence his behavior and his character, and impact his fate enormously, casting a long shadow on his life to come. 

crristinarosales said: hi! will we see julian go on an anti-hero kind of path for qoaad or maybe twp?

—-

I guess I would say there’s a big difference between a hero, an anti-hero, and a villain. We’re all pretty clear on heroes, but anti-heroes are a bit more complicated. They tend to be heroes who lack the traditional qualities of heroes — often lacking the “always choosing the unselfishly right thing” quality we attribute to heroes.

But they can also lack characteristics I would consider part of the traditional stereotypical gender binary — male heroes who aren’t physically strong, female heroes who have vices like smoking or drinking — in short, characters doing significant work at undermining traditional gender roles is sometimes enough to get you labeled an anti-hero or even a villain. We are often cued to see flouting of gender roles as an aspect of immorality, since we are all influenced by the stories which came before us, many of which feature very traditional takes on gender—that is, in fact, what traditions are made from. (Good women need to be rescued, witches have agency, villainous men take an interest in clothes and are openly emotional, &c.) I definitely did want to interrogate and invert gender roles for Emma and Julian in some aspects, so Emma is the stronger fighter physically, and the one with sexual experience, while Julian is the cerebral one, focused on children and homemaking. And I think that does make people eye them sideways, feeling unconsciously cued to discomfort. I get a lot of questions about Emma’s morality tied into her sexual past, and Julian’s morality tied into what he might be plotting (as if he wasn’t always working towards the clear goal of protecting his family, and instead had “burn down the world” yearnings a la Sebastian), and I do think it’s partially because we are used to having characters who seem to differ from the societal norm be “immoral.”

But of course, characters don’t just seem anything—what makes character is what characters do, and why. Antiheroes include Sherlock Holmes, Tony Stark, Jessica Jones, Severus Snape, Jaime Lannister, House, The Bride in Kill Bill, Spike in later seasons of Buffy … Will in Clockwork Angel appears to be an anti-hero and turns out to be a hero. Hero, villain and anti-hero all exist along a spectrum of morality, and they can switch places with surprising ease.

In some ways Julian has always been an anti-hero so asking if he will turn into one — well that horse has left the barn. Julian lies to protect his family and does ruthless things to protect his family: he chooses his family’s good over the greater good and always has. He is able to keep secrets from both Emma and from the reader, which makes him (I hope) an interesting character but also an unsettling one. We don’t always know what he’s up to, while by the end of Clockwork Prince we knew what Will was about.

thedarkmarvels said:

hi cassie! will we find learn who kits mother is in qoaad, or will that have to wait until twp? geniusherondale said: hello Cassie!! can you tell us a clue about kit’s mother? uriecookie12 said: Hi, Cassie. :) I really love your books and I fell in love with Ty and Kit. Will we see Kit’s mother in QOAAD or is she set to show up in TWP? Lots of love.

A very popular question! Obviously the identity of Kit’s mother is a mystery right now, and a significant one. Kit only knows the story his father told him, which isn’t true. A great deal of the details of this mystery are shown in Ghosts of the Shadow Market: we will meet her, as part of Jem and Tessa’s search for the Lost Herondale. If you don’t read Ghosts, you’ll get the answer to Kit’s mother’s identity in Queen and TWP.

It’s a fairly significant part of Kit’s story, and part of the reason Jem and Tessa were so keen to find him.

history-maker-viktuuri said:

Hello Cassie!! Can you tell us more about the dynamic of the friendship between Ty and Kit in QoAaD?? I’m looking forward to reading more about them.

Obviously the dynamic between Kit and Ty is going to be significantly affected by Livvy’s death. It’s a crushing occurrence for Ty, and the way he responds to it is going to affect his future and his relationship with Kit. Kit is desperate to make sure Ty is okay in the moment, so much so that it may blind him to longer-term issues.

feyreismeiamfeyre said:

Hi, Cassie! So, I love Julian very very much, along with a bunch of other characters, but with him I feel the most in common what with him being almost like a parent figure to his younger siblings and taking care of them… My question is, will Julian get a happy moment in QoAaD (he truly deserves many many of them)? Like a chill and joyous moment with no drama, maybe a beach day or a moment of enjoying his favourite sandwich with lots of pickles and mayo… I just want him happy!

——

In a strange turn, there is a scene where Julian eats a sandwich. BUT IT CONTAINS THE BLOOD OF HIS ENEMIES.

Okay, it doesn’t really. It contains lettuce.

Maggie Stiefvater has a really interesting post about downtimes for characters, and why we want to see them be happy and relax, because it’s a release of tension, but also the way you buy that relaxation at the expense of plot. I think it’s an interesting piece about how writers calibrate tension and catharsis carefully in books, since too much of one or the other ruins your pacing. She calls scenes where people, say, happily eat a sandwich Ice Cream Cake scenes, which is funny in the sense I’ve always called them frosting scenes — as in, frosting on cake is great but an entire cake made out of frosting is disgusting. So I guess I would say that if you look at my books you can see that characters are usually happy and bantering and doing cute stuff in small moments between bigger ones, or at the end of the book where we sigh, sit back, and allow ourselves to relax.

lilyherondale13 said: Hi Cassie! I love your work, you are such a wonderful writer! May I ask you something: could you tell us something on we don’t know yet on Rayan Maduabuchi? I love him in Lord of Shadows! Ps: I love the Centurions, but only the good ones as Diego says! (Sorry for my english, I’m French). Xoxo!

Merci! ;)  I’m fond of Rayan too — along with Divya Joshi he forms a sort of power triad with Diego at the Scholomance, in terms of the Centurions who aren’t assholes. He helps Diego hide Kieran, and rescues Kieran from a specific and unusual torment set up by the Cohort. He also runs afoul of Horace Dearborn …

alessandra-lightwood said:

Hi Cassie! I’m very anxious for QoAaD, and I would like to know if Jamie has a big role in this book? And if we meet more Rosales, like Cristina’s mom?

You might well meet Cristina’s mom ;) Jaime has a role in this book, but it is not huge — Diego has a much much bigger role, because Jaime is one of the main characters of TWP and so this series is meant to serve as an introduction to him, not a telling of his story. This is Cristina and Diego’s time (as far as Rosaleses go) and Jaime’s comes later. Jaime’s a lot of fun, so I’m definitely excited for his place at the forefront.

helen-blackthorn said:

Hey Cassie, will we be seeing a lot of Dru & Helen bonding now that she’s back and Livvy is gone? I’d love to see more sisterly bonding in TDA especially after what happened in lord of shadows!

I think it’s natural to look at Dru’s situation (and Helen’s) and think they each just lost a sister, so here’s a sister restored to them, and clearly they would be joyous. And they are, but people are more complex than that. Dru worries Helen has been away so long that they won’t understand each other, and resents Helen for doing the things Julian usually does because it feels to her as if he’s being replaced. Helen worries that Dru won’t love and accept her, and worries she has no idea how to deal with kids or raise them. Aline makes a frittata. It’s not as if they don’t bond, but it’s a complicated path!

ailecstuff said: Is Kieran ok? Do they take care of him in the Scholomance? Are they giving him good food?

Diego is the one who takes care of Kieran in the Scholomance (along with Divya and Rayan) and it’s all from his POV. The Scholomance experience really changes Kieran, in the way he looks at the world, at Shadowhunters and even at his own responsibilities to his people. In the meantime he annoys Diego by sleeping under his bed, and Diego feeds him juice, berries, meat, and anything else unprocessed. :P

carolinagain said:

Hi Cassie. i absolutely loved kieran! his redemption, his flaws, his strength, his relationship with christina. i have made some awful mistakes, and seeing characters like kieran who have too but then overcome them is so comforting and inspiring, in a way. i am wondering if we will see more of kieran as a character in himself? not just mark’s ex, but as the exiled faerie prince? we did a little LM, and i loved it sm! thank u for such a wonderful, diverse cast of characters. much love to you! <3

I’m glad you like Kieran! Of course Kieran’s relationships with other characters, including Cristina and Mark, are extremely significant to him — they are an enormous part of how he has changed, and overcome his past mistakes. All characters are defined in part by their relationships with other characters, as Emma and Julian’s relationship is significant to them, as Emma’s relationship to Malcolm defines her, as Julian’s relationship with Ty changes him, as Mark’s relationships with Kieran, Cristina and Julian define him  — we are all an interconnected web of love and friendship and enmity and forgiveness. No man is an island, etc. ;)

That said, Kieran being an exiled Faerie prince has always been significant, from his ability to gather information that would save Tavvy in LM, to his summoning of his father and meeting with Adaon in LoS. It is even more significant in Queen, where we start to see how the politics of faerie are falling apart and building back up again, and what role Kieran has in all of that. Who will sit the Unseelie Throne if not the King we know is a big piece of the QUAAD puzzle, and Kieran is integral to that — with Mark, or Cristina, or both, by his side. ;)

takemy-hxnd said: Hi Cassie, I was wondering if you could tell us more about Helen and Aline in tec and tda. Thank you

I always love to see love for Helen and Aline! Helen and Aline are back in Queen of Air and Darkness with a bang, and we see how they work with the established dynamic of the LA Institute. Everyone is thrilled to have them back, but it is also weird when a disruption comes to one’s life, even if it is a joyful disruption. Aline is always standing up for her lady, and sometimes Helen really needs it.

And in The Eldest Curses, we see Helen and Aline fall in love, and before they are united, they are at odds–Aline wants to protect Alec, and Helen is investigating Magnus and Alec for crimes they may well have committed. Helen feels like she needs to be a great Shadowhunter, to prove her faerie blood doesn’t make her prejudiced in favor of Downworlders… and part of why she wants that is that she doesn’t want to be an obstacle for any of her little brothers and sisters, who she loves so much. She wants to make her dad and her family proud of her, and to honor the memory of Eleanor Blackthorn, the human mother who took her and Mark in, and raised them as her own. So Helen and Aline’s mutual attraction is very complicated. Particularly as Aline isn’t out quite yet.

yourfavoritetumor said:

Will we see Jace and clary in Qoaad, and if so will we get their POVs?

mmherondale said: Hey Cassie! I was wondering if we will see Will reacting to Lucie and Cordelia deciding to be parabatai. Since he had such a strong bond with Jem, I can’t stop imagining him being extremely happy with his own daughter being parabatai of a Carstairs. Thanks for taking the time to answer us, you are amazing. Love from Denmark!

Hi Denmark!

Will’s delight in Lucie and Cordelia as parabatai is ongoing. Lucie is always pushing for Cordelia to become her parabatai ASAP, to visit, to move to London, and Will is always like “Yes Lucie yes” as the Clave is like “no Lucie no.” The Clave’s attitude toward women being parabatai is unsurprisingly sexist—it’s not forbidden, but their thinking is “Oh ladies, do they really know their own minds? Warrior brothers, great, gentlemen showing their lady parabatai the best way to Nephilim, great, but oh ladies, so emotional, are you two sure you want to be parabatai, are you sure?”

 A pair of female parabatai are a rare thing in 1903. Moreover, these are not usual ladies. Lucie, due to her demonic heritage, is always a little under suspicion–though not so much as James, as to all appearances she is is unremarkable, whereas James’s eyes are proof nobody can turn away from. And Cordelia is under a cloud that is even more of a problem. Will is so happy for Lucie when Cordelia finally arrives. Lucie relies implicitly on her father to support her and the parabatai she wants: against the Clave, against the Angel if necessary.

“What if Cordelia has changed her mind, and says she will not have a minx like you?”

“She would never!” Lucie was outraged.

ti-bae-rius said: Hi Cassie! I wondered if you could tell us more about Christopher Lightwood? I have a feeling he’ll be my favourite in TLH. Also, I wanted to tell you how much I love Ty. I’m autistic too and he’s the first character I’ve ever properly related to. Much love from the UK xxx

I also love Ty — and Christopher, and am glad your heart is open to him! Christopher is very absent-minded, and that means even when he tries to be helpful, he doesn’t quite manage it. Christopher is also an oddity in the Shadowhunter community, in that he doesn’t value the same things they do: Christopher is actually a very skilled fighter, but it mystifies him that the people around him place so much weight on battle prowess, and that his father Gabriel wishes him to concentrate on his knife-fighting rather than his disastrous experiments. Christopher is also fun to write in the same way Henry is fun to write about–the passionate inventor is a great, fun personality, and Henry is very much Christopher’s role model. But Henry when we met him was already a good deal older than Christopher, and married; he was always kind-hearted and grounded by his love for Charlotte. Christopher does not have that one very strong tie. Christopher is somewhat too removed from the world, but he loves his friends and they love him, and maybe that will save him. That’s what love is supposed to do, right? ;)

Now perhaps an adorable Christopher snippet…?

“Christopher,” said Thomas. “Would you take James away immediately and show him an interesting scientific experiment?”

Christopher frowned. “Which one?”

“Any one at all!” said Thomas. “I will escort the ladies home.”

Christopher’s brow cleared. “Ah, I understand perfectly. This is what Matthew said we were to do, about not letting James out of our sight and above all else keeping him away from…”

theredcarstairs said: Hi Cassie! First of all I really want to thank you for the world you’ve created! I was wondering one thing about the TLH saga: you’ve already answered about the relationship between Cordelia and Sona, so how will the relationship for both Alastair and Cordelia be with their father Elias? I cannot wait for all the Persian things you will talk about in this saga thanks to this family!

Thank you. It has been great fun researching all things Persian, as you say: learning Farsi with my mom, going through books of mythology, old photos and histories, remembering bits of my childhood in Tehran, &c.

lightinglampinthedark said: Hi cassie I love your books so much that sometimes it hurts. I was wondering if Will would want Lucie to marry Alastair. I know he’s a Carstairs and thats probably a reason but I don’t think he would pressure her to especially if he sucks. Does he pressure her or forbid her from dating anyone else? Or does he just drop hints or something. I love Will and I know I will love Lucie and the other Last hours characters.

Haha, poor Alastair. Matthew Fairchild agrees with you! Nobody really dates in the Edwardian era, though you can court a lady–if a gentleman drops by the house at visiting hours often, asks you to dance a lot, and squires you around on outings, you probably have “an understanding.”. So Will cannot forbid Lucie to date. But of course, we all know and love Will, and Will would never pressure Lucie into anything, or forbid her to do anything–unless he thought she was throwing herself into danger. Certainly if Lucie said unto Will, “Da, I have considered Alastair and I find him to be a pill, I wish to marry this nice Shadowhunter in good standing, I love him”… well then, Will would be happy for her. Will would be less happy if he thought Lucie was making bad choices, and putting herself in jeopardy, or getting herself involved in dark magic. Will loves Jem, so he looks with the generous eye of love on Alastair and Cordelia, willing to believe in their goodness, thrilled that Lucie and Cordelia want to be parabatai. (When Lucie decides she wants to be Cordelia’s parabatai–and we’ll see the moment it happens–she thinks that she has found what her father had.) Will likes the idea of uniting his family with the Carstairs family, because of how much Will loves Jem, but more than anything he wants his children to be safe, happy, and to find real, true love. Will believes love —platonic or romantic — saves and transforms you. He wants nothing less for his kids.

immerundnie said: Hi Cassie! I’m waiting for the last hours since years and I’m so happy you’re giving us details and I can’t wait for matthew’s tale! Will we get to know more about Alastair even through the other characters pov? I can’t wait to know more about him I feel in my heart he’s not bad. <3 thank you so much for all. Love you.

I’m so happy you guys are interested in TLH! I know you’ve been waiting for it, and I really appreciate your patience and am working hard to make sure it pays off! I really love these characters and am delighted your heart is open to loving them too.