I went to the Chain of Thorns tour tonight!
As promised, I saw Cassie today and wrote down her answers (paraphrased) to the questions asked to share here with you all -- and I asked her a question of my own, too!
It was a spoiler-free event, so those of you who have not finished or read any part of Chain of Thorns can read on safely :D
Question: Was it intentional that a Lightwood dies in every series? [referring to Max (TMI), Benedict (TID), Robert (TDA), Barbara (TLH)]
Answer: No, it was not intentional and not planned to be that way. But there are so many Lightwoods. In retrospect, it sure looks like it, doesn't it?
Question: What was your process of creating Grace Blackthorn?
Answer: Grace is a parallel of Estella from Great Expectations, as The Last Hours is a retelling of that story. I wanted a character to be an embodiment of "explanation not an excuse." I also wanted to give Estella the chance to tell things from her perspective, which is never revealed in Great Expectations. So Grace is that character who is able to display the other side of that situation through her point of view.
Question: How did you come up with the parabatai curse?
Answer: It's a greek work and when I learned the meaning, I was immediately interested in exploring the power of non-romantic love. That's where the concept of parabatai came from. The curse then stemmed from expanding on what it means to be parabatai and who could and could not have one. That is where the curse came to be, and of course, how it became a focal point of TDA.
Question: How can I find a man like James Herondale?
Answer: I asked myself the same question when I was younger: "Why aren't men like men in books?" I met my husband at a book club and we began sending books to one another that we liked. So my advice is to find a boy, girl, person who enjoys books, too.
Question: Who is your favorite parabatai pair?
Answer: Will and Jem.
Question: Who in The Last Hours was the easiest to write? The hardest?
Answer: The hardest characters to write were Grace and Matthew, as they both faced very complex problems that don't have an easy or single solution. The easiest characters to write were Cordelia and Lucie. Lucie, because she is also a writer and I very much had a passion for it the way I did when I was younger, too. Cordelia was easy to write because she was fun to write. (Bonus: The most fun to write is Magnus.)
Question: Who is your favorite character from each series?
Answer: Didn't want to answer at first, but admitted the following: TID is Tessa. TLH is Lucie. TMI is Simon. No answer for TDA.
Question: Who in TLH was your favorite point of view to write from?
Answer: Alastair, Thomas, and Lucie.
Question: Will we ever see Jace and Clary again in a prominent role?
Answer: They will be in The Wicked Powers, but the story focuses on Ty, Dru, and Kit, so prominency will remain with them.
Question: How did you develop Ty [Blackthorn] and who was your inspiration for him?
Answer: My stepbrother, who always said he looked for characters who exhibited similar characteristics as him, but it was never the same as having a character who was also autistic, and used the word, too.
Question: What made you decide to make Coredlia Iranian?
Answer: I was born in Iran and Farsi was my first language. I can't speak it fluently now, but I wanted to make a character that incorporated that part of my life. To make her character and her family's characters, I had a group chat with my mother's friends, who were a bunch of 80-year-old Iranian women. They were very happy to help. Sometimes they argued amongst themselves about a question I had and who had the correct answer, and I would just sit back and watch it unfold while a little scared.
Question: Is there a plot line or detail you look back on and regret doing?
Answer: THE FAMILY TREE. [She went on to explain that when she first made it, she had no intention to write any other historical book. But she got the idea for TLH while writing TDA, and suddenly the path and story she wanted to tell did not align with the already-published family tree. So basically, my theory was right and we have confirmation from CC herself that it's just a result of premature development!]
That was the last question of the night, but I saved the question I asked her myself for last! I asked her if Cecily and Gideon had official birthdays, and if so, if we would ever learn them, since we know the rest of the TID cast's birthdays from the 10th anniversary birthstone cards.
Her answer: I never told you guys their birthdays?! I have what I call the Bible and it contains everything about all the characters like their birthdays, star signs, etc. So yes, they do have birthdays. I don't remember them off the top of my head, but I'm sure it'd be no problem getting it out to you guys. There's no reason for not.
So, yes, they do have birthdays, and if she remembers that I asked, we might find them out very soon!
I had a great night and there were some hilarious answers to questions that weren't TSC-specific, but I simply just cannot write that fast.
225 notes
·
View notes
Alec's broken arm
Mundane circumstances because magic and runes could easily heal a broken bone.
So if Alec had a cast due to broken arm.
Magnus would write something flirty on it.
Madzie would draw something that looks like a hippo, but she would assure him is a unicorn.
Jace would write something he thinks is funny.
Magnus would cross out what Jace wrote and write a love poem underneath.
Izzzy would write that he earned this cast due to stupidity.
Clary would draw a comic strip depicting how he got his arm broken. (When Alec is asleep, cause he didn’t let her near him with a marker when concious.) Izzy put her up to it and provided the Info about the accident.
Magnus would add that even as a comic figure Alec looked dashing.
Max would make a sticker out of a picture of Magnus and stick that on the cast, so that
"there is a theoretical chance that during a lecture, because you caught me cutting class again, you will see your boyfriend on your arm and mentally go to your happy place and forget to ground me."
18 notes
·
View notes