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amchara · 1 year

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Info from Cassie's Dublin Event

So, I bought an online ticket to Cassie's Dublin chat from earlier this week, and listened to it this evening while doing some chores. It's a really decent one- lots of Chain of Thorns discussions and the moderation was fairly tight. Very enjoyable to listen to! I've typed up a few of the Q&As - and one of the moderator questions from right at the beginning, and then the last few. I may go back and grab a few more but this is all I'm typing up tonight.

Also, she all but confirmed who the novella is going to be about. Spoilers and such below the read more. Questions are answered about potential dark Chain of Thorns alternate ending, Adult POV Shadowhunter books, potential Malcolm and Annabel story, most interesting villain / hero who would make a great villain, Matthew and Tessa happy endings.

Okay, as we probably all knew/predicted: Yes, it's going to be a Matthew novella. Cassie definitely confirmed it's going to be about him. Maybe visiting some of the other characters and popping in. Probably not Jordelia in Constantinople because she wants them to have a sweet honeymoon and nothing bad to happen to them and novella's require conflict. Maybe an online short though- like she's written before.

Okay, on to the questions-

After the pandemic - you changed your mind about certain characters and events in Chain of Thorns. For the better, for the worse?

I mean, I think for the better. I hope. It was very very early on in the pandemic and… I had been thinking- goin back and forth in my mind, between various potential endings. As I always do, when I’m plotting anything. For TLH, I remember thinking at some point, I could not write as bleak an ending, I had- I usually have endings ranging from all sorts of things happening. And I remember a few things that made it- at one point thought of an incredibly bleak ending. But then decide that didn’t make any sense. Because if everyone in TLH were to die, I did not understand how Will and Tessa could go on to have any semblance of a happy life. They both would’ve been traumatised forever. Tessa as we know her in the present would not be the person she is, so it didn’t really make sense. So I booted it. And then, there was still some thoughts I had- I don’t know, the transient tragic effects of time, everything vanishes, everyone dies eventually, and I thought, you know what- we got that in TID and that is not what I want to be thinking about and writing about right now. I want to think about human resilience and love and the good things in life and boy- it was a uniquely bleak experience - not that unique anymore, one day we were working around with many other people or in school and then you’re completely alone, and you don’t know for how long. Doing all the work by yourself, and that’s the experience I had.

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Older characters taking central roles in future books?

Understand why you want to see it but it’s not YA and you can have a little bit of older characters, like I had to fight really hard to get Diana’s viewpoint in TDA because she’s like 25 and that’s too old. A question of genre you’re writing. And if you’re writing YA I can’t see a lot of ways you can have a lot of adult characters doing a lot of stuff because core and point of YA that this is about Young Adults who have the agency and direction and are doing and are responsible for making the choices and if there are adults around, those adults will sit on those kids. And will prevent them from making those choices because its the adult’s job to protect kids. So it is a really hard line to walk. In having those parents in the Last Hours I had to be very careful about the amount we saw of them and the amount that they could affect what was going on. They were away or their will was restrained in some manner or they didn’t know what was going on because if they did, they would step in and take over.

And I think the way to do what you’re asking, is to do adult Shadowhunters books. And there’s no reason not to do that. It’s absolutely possible to write adult shadowhunters books that exist in the realm of adult fantasy. Always thought interesting to follow Clary and Jace or Will and Tessa and do an adult book that talks about them as adults and has them as the forward facing characters and that would be something I would be very interested in doing. I do think it would be adult though. (Which we know means spicy). My publisher is like ehhhh (joking)

Would you ever write a novella about Malcolm and Annabel?

That seems really fun, all the things I like - doomed love and bad weather. I have thought about it. Glad at least one person would like to read it because not everyone as into doomed love and bad weather as I am. We know a lot of details about relationship and their lives and I feel it would be fun to see that. Writing Malcolm in TLH was such strange experience because we know Malcolm from TDA, he’s a bad guy, a murderer, a betrayer, a multiple murderer and generally not good. But in TLH this is Malcolm before all that, he was a good guy and now- I have written good people turned bad, but to write someone as good before bad and not even pretending/faking was really interesting and had me thinking a lot more about his relationship with Annabel and what that obsessive love did in terms of being a very good force in his love and then a bad one. Very interesting.

Which fav villain to write and which of our stereotypical heroes to write would make an excellent villain (Me: It’s Julian- why are we even pretending about this?)

Sebastian was fav because what makes a villain interesting in a lot of ways is how close they are to your heroes, and he was Clary’s brother! And he was a loathsome individual but he was really interesting to write especially because if he hadn’t been given demon blood as a child, might’ve been decent person and we see at end of book that there could’ve been alternate timeline where he wasn’t villain and just Clary’s brother. And that was really interesting, I had the most fun with him.

Audience member: I think Magnus

Oh my god, that’s such a sad thought! Poor Alec, what is he gonna tell the kids- Dad’s gone evil? I can’t even think about that, not that I don’t think he wouldn’t be a good villain, very inventive and powerful so would be terrifying villain. I think, if you know about TWP and read TDA, we’re going to see Jace as a villain. So I have been working on that and he makes an excellent villain because he all these qualities - he’s determined, never gives up, if he wants something, will make sure he gets it, terrifying villain. Super strong and all that- and these qualities making him a good hero also make him a scary villain. Look forward to it.

Is it possible for Matthew to have a happy ending in his life?

Very sweet question. Matthew is based on someone I know and love, my stepfather who was an alcoholic before he met my mother and by the time he met her, had been in AA and never drank again in his life. Remember talking to him about it, he was the sweetest guy and most kind and you could talk to him about anything, and I said, it’s so wonderful you’re no longer an alcoholic. And he said, I am an alcoholic, I’ll always be one, I am just an alcoholic who doesn’t drink. And it really lodged itself in my heart. Because I love him so much as a father and he has this thing in his past, it makes me so sad.

And as I went on to know him (tries not to tear up- died five years ago.) He didn’t think of it that way, he thought of it as being an alcoholic as being just something part of his life, he didn’t drink. He didn’t think of it as bad, shameful, negative, he thought it as something that had made him stronger and kinder. And when I think of that, I think about Matthew. And that is - I want to be clear that, I didn’t want anyone to wave a wand at the end of the book and say Matthew, you’re cured, you’ll never want to drink again. I wanted to go through the process of Matthew realising he has a problem, wants to stop, does stop with the help of his friends. And he may always be an alcoholic who doesn’t drink but like with my stepfather, it makes him kinder (he’s already kind), kinder, sweeter, stronger, better. So I think- you know. I don’t want anyone to look at the fact that he had this illness as a tragedy. I want them to think about it as a thing that makes Matthew who he is, who is a very wonderful person. And he deserves a happy ending, and yeah- absolutely (tearing up) and while it is not always about deserving, sometimes- in this particular case, I think it would be a really nice message to see Matthew get a happy ending. And that’s all I’m going to say.

Audience member: I think it was incredible that you were able to share- I know it’s really sad that he went through that and everything but its incredible you’re able to portray a piece of what he went through, in this character. Because Matthew as a character is going to live on forever in your writing, so you made his memory eternal, which is really cool and I admire that.

(Cassie: That’s so sweet)

Ever think of loophole where Tessa is able to become mortal and live out her human life rather than have her live on forever (Cassie clarifies - you mean, live out her human life with Jem? And then die at the same time.

Um. I think we’ll have to see what happens because we have another couple in that situation, which is Magnus and Alec. So, we have to think (audience groans) - immortal people going around having affairs, making people fall in love with them and then not dying- how selfish. We have to think about how it would be to have only one of those couples live out that ending. So we’re thinking about-

(interviewer- there can only be one?) Like Highlander? There can only be one happy ending? I don’t think of it as a sad ending necessarily because what do you get with anyone you love- you get a lifetime and what your lifetime in these books are, it differs. But I do think its interesting because we have more than one couple in this situation, so I think we have to think about- how does this work and what’s the messaging about only one of them getting this particular killer ending. So.. we’ll have to see how it goes, obviously I can’t say anything. I know. We were all happier five minutes ago.

Tagging: @belle-keys @ibrushmyteeth-donttellanyone @themimsyborogove @lifeofbrybooks because I think you'll all have some vested interest in some of these answers. :)

#chain of thorns #chain of thorns spoilers #the dark artifices #tessa gray #annabel blackthorn #malcolm fade #jace herondale #matthew fairchild #magnus bane #alec lightwood #the mortal instruments #jem carstairs #will herondale

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