Mundie Moms

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Cassie's Post About The City of Ashes's DELAY


Cassie took time from her vacation/writing retreat to post about the announcement on the DELAY (not cancelation) of the City of Ashes movie.
By now you guys likely know that the filming of City of Ashes was delayed (not cancelled, delayed): In fact a lot of you knew about it before I did since I found out from Twitter this morning!

Some of you have been asking me about it, and I wish I could answer you, but — I think I’ll quote Rick Riordan here — though the movies are based on my books, they are not my movies. The books are my books, but the movies belong to the production company. They make the decisions they make, and sometimes I know about them and sometimes I don’t. I’m sorry I can’t answer you, but it’s like asking me about your math homework—I would like to help you but I don’t know the stuff. (I am very, very bad at math.) Like I said a year ago, I am a terrible source of movie news and that remains true.

Delays happen in the movie biz. Lots of things happen in the movie biz—it’s a really chancy business, which I know about generally because my grandpa worked in movies and I think would’ve approved of me taking to the peaceful writing life instead. Look, I never thought they’d make the first movie. I literally assumed it would be cancelled up until the moment of the premiere.

According to The Wrap:
“The decision to delay “City of Ashes” was made several days ago after Constantin spoke with its international distributors at the Toronto International Film Festival, Moszkowicz told TheWrap. While Constantin is committed to making the sequel, the company did not want to rush into production with an unfinished screenplay, preferring to take the time to get right.”

 Speaking for myself —and honestly, for readers and fans, too — I think a delay could be good. The draft of the screenplay I saw for the first time last week was very far from the book City of Ashes, and if they’d really started shooting in September there wouldn’t have been time to change it. From the limited amount I know, it seems to me better to take the time to get it right than to rush ahead.

Bottom line:  The movies are not up to me and I am not part of the production team that makes them. I am distanced from what’s going on right now also — I am in Provence writing City of Heavenly Fire* and having a late celebration of my birthday with a big group of friends. Do I totally sympathize with people being disappointed at the delay? I do. But like I said, movies are v.v. chancy and out of my control — I remember when Screen Gems dropped the project, and we all assumed that was that, and later they picked it back up again. There’s no way to know what will ever happen in films, especially if you’re not in the business. I am incredibly lucky in my career and my readers, and even if they made a movie where Magnus ran for president or something, it wouldn’t change that.

We now return to our regularly scheduled posting of snippets and fanart — and the countdown to Heavenly Fire. If I hear anything movie related that’s news, I’ll let you know!
* Provence.

Here's my thoughts on Cassie's post:

One, I don't know about you guys, but I'm seriously shocked that Cassie found out about the delay on Twitter. What a horrible way to find out. Seriously.

Two, I am seriously glad they did delay this movie to get it right. If you've been in a fandom before, you know how important the second movie is. If the studio strays even the slightest bit from the book, the fans will not be forgiving or as forgiving as they are with the first movie.

Third, if there's a movie based on Magnus, I'm totally watching it.... I don't care if he runs for President or rides a llama around town, I'm there. Just saying.... #VoteForMagnus

Fourth, THANK YOU Cassie for taking the time explain how an author's and the movie studio's relationship works.

Aside from the movie, I can not wait for City of Heavenly Fire!!! Also, I'm not opposed to them starting on Clockwork Angel while City of Ashes is delayed. *coughs* Just saying. ;)

Hideous Love by Stephanie Hemphill, Book Review


By: Stephanie Hemphill
Published by: Harper Teen
To Be Released on: October 1st, 2013
Source: arc from publisher to review
3 Stars: It Was a Good Read
Pre-Order from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add it to Goodreads

From award-winning author Stephanie Hemphill comes the fascinating story of Mary Shelley, a brilliant teenager who wrote one of the greatest literary masterpieces of all time: Frankenstein.

An all-consuming love affair.

A family torn apart by scandal.

A young author on the brink of greatness.

Hideous Love is the fascinating story of Gothic novelist Mary Shelley, who as a teen girl fled her restrictive home only to find herself in the shadow of a brilliant but moody boyfriend, famed poet Percy Shelley. It is the story of the mastermind behind one of the most iconic figures in all of literature: a monster constructed out of dead bodies and brought to life by the tragic Dr. Frankenstein.

Mary wrote Frankenstein at the age of nineteen, but inspiration for the monster came from her life-the atmospheric European settings she visited, the dramas swirling around her, and the stimulating philosophical discussions with the greatest minds of the period, like her close friend, Lord Byron.

This luminous verse novel from award-winning author Stephanie Hemphill reveals how Mary Shelley became one of the most celebrated authors in history


This is a book that surprised me due to the fact that I sat and read it in one sitting. For starters I'm not a huge fan of verse, which this book is written in. The fact that it was done in verse, in my opinion, worked well for the story over all. I felt as though I was getting a glimpse into Mary's life, and reading snippet from her journal entries. Though I get she may have written some entries a bit more elegantly, I felt over all this style of writing made this book an interesting one to read. Second, I liked that this book was written differently than many YA books I've read. It's tone and wordage is one that makes it feel classic, and stayed, to what I felt, was true to that era. I loved the history that this story has in it, which also added to the book's classic feel.

I was fascinated by Mary Shelley's life and story. I LOVED and admired that she thought for herself, something that was not common during this time period. Much of that credit goes to her mother, Mary Wollstonercraft. Mary's mother was one of the first feminist writers, and her ideals shown through with Mary. Mary herself was very opinionated and unlike many of the women of her time, wasn't afraid to do things on her own and seriously think for herself (huge kudos to that). I greatly admired the fact that she was someone who didn't allow society to tell her what to do, though there were many times she was forced to make do with society's way. That didn't mean Mary didn't voice an opinion. Mary came across to me as someone who was very independent, strong willed, and at times stubborn. For her, these were traits that worked well in her favor and got her through some very difficult and dark times in her life.

I was shocked to find the many tragedies and heartbreak that marred Mary's life. That's not to say that Mary didn't have an exciting life, because at times she did. She had many travels around Europe. She also had her fair share of tragedy, heartbreak and was shunned from her own family. To me, Mary seemed like an incredibly strong person to endure and deal with all that she does. First there was the scandalous courtship/relationship and then marriage she and Percy Shelley had, then the death of some of her children, the depression, and all that she endures with Percy's, um, wondering eye.  For being such an opinionated women, I couldn't help but wonder many times while reading this book what in the heck Mary saw in Percy. There were times while reading Mary's story that my heart literally broke for her, and then there were times my mama heart was so happy for the small moments of happiness she had. Of course there were the times I wanted to tell her to wake up and move on with the people who did nothing but bring her down.

Very rarely do characters make me mad, but Mary's husband Percy, and sister Claire do just that, as do her father and step mother. I rarely despise characters, but I despised Claire and Percy in a huge way. I won't even list all the things that drove me insane about these two, because my review would be nothing but a gripe against them. However, I will say after learning more about Mary, I am shocked she put up with these two. I get Percy was her husband, and during this period of time it may not have proper in a respectful way tell her husband to man up or hit the road. Given his affairs and lies to Mary I was shocked she didn't really stand up to him, but instead accepted it even though it caused her so much pain. I understand one, that was acceptable during this era, and two, he needed to be around much more for her to do just that. Oh and then Claire. How did Mary put up with her and not give her the boot. Seriously, these two were horrid people to Mary.

The thing that made me the maddest in this story had nothing to do with the writing style of this book, but with the way society treated Mary. I'm so peeved over the fact that such an amazing and gifted writer got little credit for a classic that fans even today love. Not only was she not allowed to put her real name on the book, society for the most part turned their backs on her for the life Percy lived. Mary Shelley was truly a visionary women, whom allowed little to stand in her way, and in the end was virtually ruined. This part of her life was so hard to read about. I literally felt heartbroken and mad on her behalf. OKay I was also extremely peeved she received the brunt of the crap her husband did.... but that's another story.


 Over all this was a good read. I was truly fascinated with Mary's story, and loved the history in this book. For all the things I listed that I liked about the book, the verse being one of them, I also felt like that is one of the things that also hurt the book. With all the rich history that makes up Mary's story, I felt that the verse hurt the author's ability to really go into detail with it, that  have worked perfectly in some of the scenes in the book. Now on the same note, obviously I was hooked with the details I did get, because I read the entire book, I just wish I could have gotten more in some of the scenes that felt incomplete to me. Over all I got enough of Mary's story to understand her motives, her thoughts, and her decisions, and what inspired her to write Frankenstein.

If you're looking for something that's a bit different from your average YA read, has a strong, independent female lead, plenty of history, is rich in scandal, and gives you an inside look into the what inspired Frankenstein, than I'd recommend picking up HIDEOUS LOVE, and get to know Mary Shelley a bit better.

City of Heavenly Fire Snippet


Cassie's at it again.... she's teasing us with snippets from City of Heavenly Fire. Check out today's snippet (which was posted here):

a rune, hovering like an angel: a shape like two wings joined by a single bar

Seriously Cassie, I won't complain if you want to share more.... like a chapter or two or maybe half the book. *coughs*

Confessions and Clues Week Tour Post & Giveaway


Hello & Welcome to today's Confession and Clues Week. Each day one blog will be charing clues to the mystery that's found within the pages of James Patterson & Maxine Paetro's bestselling teen detective series. The second title in the series, Confessions: The Private School Murders, will be on sale September 12th. 

About the book
Confessions: The Private School Murders is the gripping second installment in James Patterson’s #1 New York Times bestselling new teen detective series!

Wealthy young women are being murdered, and the police are looking for all the right answers in all the wrong places.  And Tandy Angel wants to know who’s really responsible.

In the meantime, Tandy’s brother Matthew is on trial for the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, actress Tamara Gee, and Tandy is delving deeper into the Angel family closet to uncover the mysteries of her scandalous family

As the victims continue to pile up, can Tandy untangle the mysteries in time?  Or will she be the next victim?


Confessions and Clues Week


There have been a string of murders on the Upper West Side in New York City.  A killer is on the loose targeting private school girls, and while the police look for all the right answers in all the wrong places, Tandy Angel is determined to uncover who is really responsible.  Tandy has shared these clues that hint at who the killer may be.  


But to piece together the full story, you’ll have to pick up a copy of James Patterson’s Confessions: The Private School Murders, the sequel to the #1 bestselling Confessions of a Murder Suspect, on-sale October 7th however books are sold.


Clue #3:


Meet Marla Henderson.  She’s 17 years old, a junior at Brilling Day School, and one of four victims of an apparent serial killer on the Upper West Side in New York City.


Marla had a 3.9 grade point average at school, but suffered some trauma in her life when her father died of a heart attack…completely unexpectedly.  As a result, Marla was prescribed Paxil for her depression.  

One of these tidbits above ties into the identity of Marla’s killer.  Who is Marla and who could have killed her?  Read Confessions: The Private School Murders to uncover more clues and evidence.  Learn more about the other victims at jamespattersonya.com.

Like Confessions on Facebook
Follow Confessions on Tumblr


The Giveaway


One winner receives a journal, a custom t-shirt and a copy of Confessions: The Private School Murders!

To Enter, please fill out the form below:

Stop by YA Book Nerd, for your next clue!

Cover Reveal: The Bane Chronicles #6: Saving Raphael Santiago by Cassandra Clare & Sarah Rees Brennan


Check it out Shadowhunters! Yesterday EW revealed the cover for the next installment in The Bane Chronicles, Saving Raphael Santiago by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan. Here's what they said:

The sixth installment of The Bane Chronicles is almost here! In Saving Raphael Santiago (out Sept. 17), Raphael goes missing, and his distraught mother hires Magnus Bane to track him down. Of course, that’s assuming Raphael can be found. But if anyone can do it, it’s likely the series’ titular character. Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan paired up for SRS. Check back next month for the release of No. 7, The Fall of Hotel Dumort.

We're looking forward to reading this one when it's out next week! You can pre-order it here on Amazon.

A Moment of Silence



Today we're taking a moment of silence to honor those who lost there lives in the terrible tragedies that struck our nation on 9/11/01, and to think about those who survived that day, and to those who lost loved ones that day. WE WILL NEVER FORGET.

Waiting on Wednesday: CHAMPION by Marie Lu



By: Marie Lu
Published by: Putnam / Penguin Teen
To Be Released on: November 5th, 2013
Series: Legend #3
Pre-Order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add to Goodreads

The explosive finale to Marie Lu’s New York Times bestselling LEGEND trilogy—perfect for fans of THE HUNGER GAMES and DIVERGENT!

He is a Legend.
She is a Prodigy.
Who will be Champion? 

June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps Elect while Day has been assigned a high level military position. But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them once again. Just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything he has. With heart-pounding action and suspense, Marie Lu’s bestselling trilogy draws to a stunning conclusion.

I can not wait for this book's release!!! I've already pre-ordered it and am now patiently waiting for it to be November 5th.

 Read an excerpt


Check out the trailer

DELAYING The City of Ashes Movie



The fandom is a buzz right now with The Wrap's article about the City of Ashes movie. Here's part of what was said (read the entire article here):

The decision to delay “City of Ashes” was made several days ago after Constantin spoke with its international distributors at the Toronto International Film Festival, Moszkowicz told TheWrap. While Constantin is committed to making the sequel, the company did not want to rush into production with an unfinished screenplay, preferring to take the time to get right.” — The Wrap

They are delaying, not canceling the movie. If they were canceling the movie, they would have said they were canceling it instead of delaying it. Yes it stinks they came out an announced this, but at the same time this says a lot about Constantin films. As a fan, I appreciate the fact they want to get this right. Why rush something that might be done horribly, vs taking the time to get it right. Yeah it sucks they're delaying the movie, but THANK YOU to the film studio for wanting to get this movie right for fans. Hopefully the movie won't be too delayed and they'll announce more about it soon.

TMI Movie: An Interview with Chad Connell aka The Blue Eyed Demon


Amazing Stories Magazine shared their exciting interview with that hunky blue eyed demon Shadowhunters get a good look at, at the beginning of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones movie. If you don't remember, he's the hottie who lets Clary & Simon in the club, and the one who meets an um, well you can say an untimely death thanks to Jace. Check out Erin's interview here, with the actor behind those bright blue contacts, Chad Connell.



ASMCity of Bones is a young adult novel by Cassandra Clare, not to mention the first book in the New York Times bestselling series The Mortal Instruments. For the adults in our audience, can you give us a quick description of what City of Bones, the movie, is about?

Chad Connell (CC): City of Bones is about self-discovery. The story follows Clary Fray as she learns of her true identity as a Shadowhunter (someone who hunts demons). It starts with Clary witnessing a murder which no-one else sees, at a night-club. This event is the catalyst for the whole saga, because, as it turns out the victim is a demon (played by yours truly) and his murderers are fellow Shadow Hunters and among them her main love-interest “Jace Wayland”. While uncovering the truth of who she is, she also must protect one of the mortal instruments– The Mortal Cup– from the story’s primary villain “Valentine”.
ASM: What character do you play? Can share your vision of him and his role in the film?
CC: My character is the first demon the audience is introduced to. In the books I am referred to as “The Blue-haired Boy” or the “Blue-haired Demon”, but in the movie my character’s name is “Lambert- which is an homage to the man who helped inspire the whole look– Adam Lambert. I help Clary enter the night-club and we flirt while inside. Later she sees me murdered by several Shadow-hunters. What intrigues me most about this character is why the whole team sought him out in the first place. Demon-hunting is their way-of-life, so to seek him out in a crowded night-club, implies that he was of particular importance. There’s got to be a great story there.
ASM: Were you familiar with the Mortal Instruments series prior to being cast in the film? What was your reaction to getting the audition for the part?
CCI was somewhat familiar with the series. I actually had sent a few tapes for other roles in this film, months prior to auditioning for The Blue-haired Demon. I was thrilled to be part of such a big feature.
ASM: What was the audition process like?
CCI believe they had been auditioning for this role for a while before I got in the room. It’s a fairly dark, brooding character so I went in wearing a leather jacket, ripped clothes and sat in the waiting room clumsily applying eye-liner and black nail-polish. It was a pretty quick turn-around between the audition and shooting… I found out later that day, or the following day that I booked the part, then was on set experimenting with the wardrobe department and hair & makeup for the character’s look.
ASM: Did you do any special preparation for the role once you got it?
CCKnowing that the books had such a dedicated following, I felt it essential that I read them for myself. I picked up a copy and tried to get a sense of who the character was. I would say the majority of the preparation involved though, was the physical transformation. There were hours of hair-colouring and each shoot-day started with a long make-up process. There were some re-shoots later on, and I had already dyed my hair back to it’s natural colour, then had to go back to blue; it made for some pretty interesting interactions in my everyday life.

ASM: What did you enjoy most about playing the Blue-Haired Demon?
CCThe sense of appreciation The Blue-haired Demon has. Given that my character appears only in the beginning of the movie, it’s pretty spectacular to see the fan-base. I’ve discovered how strong the support is for this character and his significance to the fans of the books as the motivation for plot.
ASM: Young adult films are very popular right now. How does it feel to be a part of this film, which is based on a series that has such a strong fan following?
CCThis is my first role in a film based on a popular series of books like this. The energy the fans have is infectious and makes you feel like you’re a part of something big. I sat in the theatre on the opening night of the film, and was sitting next to a girl who could not contain herself. She was giddy during exciting parts and crying in the emotional parts. It’s overwhelming to see the affect it has on the true fans.
ASMDid you face any special challenges with your role? What was it like on the set, having nephilim and demons everywhere? 
CCWhen you’re involved in the creation of a character that doesn’t have a huge amount of screen-time compared to the length of the film, there is a personal challenge in bringing on the importance that it deserves. Each moment is crucial, but it’s equally important not to overplay anything. The fight sequence was certainly a challenge also. Kevin had me in a choke-hold as Jemima had her lasso around my neck, all while Jamie was thrusting a blade into my stomach. It was fine for the first few takes, but by the tenth run through it, it got pretty tiring!
Being one of the Demons myself, I felt right at home. We had a large cast of background actors who were all dyed and pierced so I blended in easily. What was most remarkable was the number of fans hanging around the location trying to spot anyone with a rune on their body.
ASM: Do you have any “favorite moments” during the filming process?
CCI think my favourite moment actually came after shooting, and getting to see the final product. Specifically the audience’s reacting when I appeared on screen and when I was killed.
EU: For those who haven’t yet discovered the “magic” of the Mortal Instruments, what do you think people will enjoy the most about this movie?
CCWhat separates this franchise from others is that it has seriousness and depth but also moments of humour and levity. It knows when not to take itself overly seriously and can present the lighter side, even in a darker tumultuous tale. Not to mention there are some real gifted performances by a great cast.

SOURCE (read the entire interview here)

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