Mundie Moms

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

An Interview with Cassandra Clare About City of Heavenly Fire; TMI Wrap Up Blog Tour & A Giveaway


It's finally here!! City of Heavenly Fire is out in the world and I for one can not wait to read it. It will be a bitter sweet read. One of my all time favorite series is coming to an end. *sniff, sniff* And, with this ending, I know from past reading experiences with Cassie's books, that this ending will be bitters sweet, as not every character will make it. I'm looking forward to finding out what happens with Jace & Clary, and each of the other characters I've come to love. 

Recently I asked Cassie a few questions about the series and City of Heavenly Fire. Before I share her answers, here is a little bit about City of Heavenly Fire.


Published by: Margaret McElderry Books
Released on: TODAY (May 27, 2014)
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books of Wonder
Add it Goodreads
Shadowhunters and demons square off for the final showdown in the spellbinding, seductive conclusion to the #1 New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.
Darkness has descended on the Shadowhunter world. Chaos and destruction overwhelm the Nephilim as Clary, Jace, Simon, and their friends band together to fight the greatest evil they have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in this world can defeat Sebastian—but if they journey to the realm of demons, they just might have a chance…
Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world will change. Who will survive the explosive sixth and final installment of the Mortal Instruments series?
Gah, lives will be lost and love sacrificed. I am just going to pretend that this series has a Disney fairytale like ending, and everyone goes off into the sunset happily ever after. 



HI Cassie! Thank you for being on Mundie Moms today. Congratulations on today's release of City of Heavenly Fire. I imagine this is a bitter sweet day for you. It's your book's release day, and also the last book in a series you've been writing for years. How do you prepare yourself for saying "goodbye to your characters in The Mortal Instruments?
Well, I’m more prepared for the end than anyone else, because it’s something I’ve been working towards for years. Endings are always bittersweet, but I’ve worked hard to give these characters a resolution that’s worthy of them, so it’s also exciting to send them off into the rest of their lives. I guess I feel a bit like a parent sending a child off to college. “Okay, I’ve done what I can, hopefully you’re ready for the world now.”

There are so many fabulous characters in TMI series. I've enjoyed seeing how each of them has grown and changed. Through out the entire series, which character or characters surprised you the most in regards to the changes and choices they made from the first draft, to the end of the published copy of City of Heavenly Fire?

Certainly Magnus, since he was initially supposed to be a minor character. He had other ideas about that! I think every character does a few zigs and zags from my initial plans for them. I would say that what goes on with Simon in CoHf and the choices he makes take him extremely far away from the way he was first introduced, as this very boyish, sincere, innocent character who exemplified what it meant to be human in this treacherous supernatural world. He’s really been through the fire.


I'm asking you these questions prior to City of Heavenly Fire's release, so I've not read the book yet, but I have to know, what's a favorite line or scene from the book that you can share with us? 

There’s a bit on page 515 of my copy, where Jace and Alec are interacting. I wanted to do some work to explore what it means to them to be parabatai when they’ve both changed so much since the beginning of the books. And Alec says “Thank you for seeing me.” I liked that, because to me that’s what most important fictional relationships, whether they are romantic or platonic, are about. We all want someone who sees us.

Let's talk about the ending. Is the end of City of Heavenly Fire, the conclusion you always knew would happen for The Mortal Instruments series/characters, or did the end change through out the course of writing CoHF?

It’s the ending I planned when I outlined the final three books. Initially I had a different idea how I was going to spin off the story after City of Glass, but when I realized it was essentially going to be a second trilogy, I outlined it very sharply because I intended to braid it into the story of the Infernal Devices. And for that I had to be very careful! The endings had to work together thematically, and also temporally — the epilogue of Clockwork Princess actually takes place during the events of City of Heavenly Fire. Reading The Mortal Instruments had to reward readers of The Infernal Devices but also not punish those who hadn’t read it! So I hope it does both, and I do think the ending of CoFA is the right ending for the series — it’s certainly the ending that was always planned.

Clary will always have a special place in my favorite fictional character heart. She was one of the first YA heroines I read and fell in love with. How would you describe the Clary we first meet in City of Bones, to the Clary we see in City of Heavenly Fire? 

I love how Clary evolves. When I set out to write TMI, I wanted to write an epic hero narrative where the hero is a girl, and a relatively ordinary-seeming girl at that. The series is structured on the hero’s journey to the Underworld — the theme of the first book is descent, the theme of the second is hell or the underworld, and the third book’s theme is ascent or heaven. As for the second trilogy, the themes are temptation ("Fallen Angels"); the fall ("Lost Souls"); and redemption ("Heavenly Fire."). The Clary we meet in City of Bones is mostly concerned with her day-to-day life: her art, her relationships with Jocelyn and Luke and Simon. The Clary we meet in City of Heavenly Fire is a warrior. She knows what she needs to do, and she’s prepared to go to great lengths and make sacrifices in order to do it. But one thing both of them share is that neither of them accepts failure. They’re both determined to fight, against any odds.


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Check out where you can find Cassie this week!


About Cassie

Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.
Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and  which later inspired her current pen name).

After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again.

Cassie’s first professional writing sale was a short story called “The Girl’s Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord” in a Baen anthology of humor fantasy. Cassie hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her two cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. She likes to work in the company of her friends, who see that she sticks to her deadlines.

City of Bones was her first novel.

You can find me online at her Website | Twitter | Tumblr | Facebook 


You can find Cassie at the following places this week (US Tour stops):



Wellesley, MA
When: May 27 @ 7 PM
Where: Wellesley Middle School
50 Kingsburg Street
Get more info HERE

West Chester, PA
When: May 30 @ 6:30 PM
Where: Stetson Middle School
1060 Wilmington Pike
West Chester, PA 19382
Get more info HERE

Cassie will be signing at BEA on SATURDAY from 10-11 am at Table 1 in the Author Signing Area. Stop by! I'll see you there ;)


She'll also be signing with Holly Black on Saturday from 11:30-12:30 at table 3 in the Author Signing Area. 


The Giveaway
Thank you to Simon & Schuster, I've got a SIGNED copy of City of Heavenly Fire and a Shadowhunter hoodie to giveaway to 1 lucky winner! To enter, please fill out the form below *US residents only 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

59 comments:

  1. I think my favorite Mortal Instruments book was City of Glass.

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  2. I lovvvvve Cassie's bio. And I feel like the only one who hasn't read her books! I have to read them ASAP. Great post, Katie!

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  3. My favorite book would have to be City of Ashes!

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  4. I think my favourite was City of Glass but it might become City of Heavenly Fire! :P

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  5. City of Bones! It's become one of my go to books for comfort-reading

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  6. City of Glass (haven't read CoHF yet). Love the final showdown with Valentine and that Clary and Jace find out they're not bro and sis.

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  7. City of Glass..I haven't read COHF though,

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  8. City of Glass...I haven't read COHF though.

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    1. Sorry for the repeat..please delete one of the comments.

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  9. My favorite book is City of Ashes. After finishing City of Bones I was so eager to jump further into the story. I really enjoyed CoA because I loved learning more about the other Downworlders. Visiting the Seelie Court, witnessing Simon's transformation and the boat scene are all reasons the second book is the best!

    Thank you for hosting this giveaway and giving us all a chance to win! By the angel - I hope it's me! :)

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  10. I really liked City of Fallen Angels. It had a different feel to it than the first three books that I really enjoyed.

    **Rachelle**

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  11. My Favorite is City of Glass. I loved the way she wove that tale and brought forth Sebastian. It was Epic. Lets not forget Lake Lynn and Valentine talk about heart attack!!

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  12. My favorite is City of Lost Souls. Much to my best friend's dismay since she cries in a corner every time I mention it.

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  13. I think City of Glass is my favorite. There's just so much action and feels in that book AND it's when we find out for real that Jace and Clary are not related and can be together!

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  14. Thanks for the giveaway. I really liked the City of Ashes for some reason. <3

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  15. My favorite book is City of Lost Souls. This book stood out from the others because of Jace’s involvement with Sebastian. I found it interesting how Clary remained faithful that she would do whatever she could to help Jace. This book showed sides of each character we hadn’t seen before.

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  16. Since this is for a contest I'll say City of Glass, but honestly its hard to choose a favorites when you love each book for different reasons. Although I have a sneaking suspicion that after I finish reading City of Heavenly Fire it will become my favorite of the series and my previous statement will be thrown out the window entirely...

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  17. City of Bones got me hooked!

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  18. All of the books of TMI are great but City of Fallen Angels would have to be my favorite at the moment. For starters Clare writes more about Simon, his personality as he is coming to terms with being a vampire; not just physically and mentally but also emotionally. Next there is the romance with Clary and Jace. They finally are an official couple, not all is perfect but they both love and trust each other enough to overcome the predicaments that come their way especially at the end of the book when Clary, Simon, and Jace are fighting against Lilith on the rooftop; their love for one another is a “love that moves the sun and the other stars.”

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  19. City of Fallen Angels because we get to learn the characters even better there and there are so many Epic plot points. Also that book in particular is especially quotable and has some of my favorite quotes :)

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  20. My favorite was the third one because Clary and Jace got to be together for a little bit before poop hit the fan.

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  21. I'd have to say the first or third one. The first books always draw us into the world within the book, while the third one had a nice (supposed to be) conclusion to it.

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  22. City of Glass is my favorite so far.

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  23. My favorite was city of lost souls because so much information was in it and it just was a big hit with all the details

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  24. So far my favorite is City of Glass. I have enjoyed the spinoff series a lot and can't wait to see the direction it takes.

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  25. Still City of Bones. The first one I fell in-love with. :)

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  26. City of Fallen Angels Because of the sense of false security.

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  27. Christina R.

    Haven't read any of them!! But they sound so so awesome and she seems super nice as a person as well as being a wonderful author :)

    Thank you :)

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  28. City of Glass! Loved it, couldn't put it down.

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  29. I don't have a fav b/c I haven't read them yet. I'm hoping to change that soon! Thanks for sharing!!!

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  30. City of Lost Souls - fav cover too.

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  31. Oh gosh! I really want that book in my shelf

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  32. I totally love City of Glass!!

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  34. My favorite would have to be City of Bones because it stared it all.

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  35. The first one, it is when the magic start :)

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  36. City of bones because it really made me fall in love with the characters, can't wait to see how it all ends

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  37. I haven't read all of the books yet but I do have all of them on my bookshelf except for City of Heavenly Fire. Thanks for the giveaway!! :)

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  38. I am not prepared for this book. It will arrive next week and I hope I will survive, otherwise I won't wear my I Survived Heavenly Fire shirt...






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    If you want it you can get it here: http://teespring.com/CityOfHeavenlyFire/

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  39. I think my favorite would be City of Ashes

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  40. I loved, LOVED City of Glass!

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  41. I have yet to start the series, tho I do have most in my TBR...........

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  42. My favorite? I have to pick one??? That's just cruel, but if I must then I suppose it would be City of Glass but I love them all!!!! P.S. My copy of City of Heavenly Fire hasn't come in the mail yet so I haven't had the chance to read it :(

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  43. I really loved City of Fallen Angel! Thanks for the giveaway :D

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  44. My favorite was City of Glass. Thanks for the giveaway! :)

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  45. My favorite Mortal Instrument book is City of Lost Souls

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  46. My favorite book would have to be City Of Bones because to me it's the book that made me fall in love with The Mortal Instruments series and it pulled me into reading Cassandra Clare.

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  47. I think City of Glass was my favorite, closely followed by City of Bones!

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  48. I can't possibly pick ONE. I love city of ashes and city of glass... those two reallllly stood out for me. But I just finished city of heavenly fire and it was pretty durn good! Such an epic finale! Those are my top 3 TMI books :)

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  49. I would have to say City Of Bones because, it is when I fell in love with the books! thank you for the great giveaway!

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