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Cassandra Clare

Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Tehran, 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 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. Sword Catcher is her most recent novel.


“He glanced furtively up and down the hallway. "Hodge too. Everyone wants to talk to me. Except you, I bet you don't want to talk to me," said Jace."No," said Clary. "I want to eat. I'm starving.”
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“We have a name," said Jace. "Magnes B-""Shut up." Alec hissed, thwacking Jace with his closed menu. Jace looked injured."Jesus," he rubbed his arm. "What's your problem?”
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“Will tossed his apple core into the air, at the same time drawing a knife from his belt and throwing it. The knife and the apple scaled across the room together, somehow managing to stick into the wall just beside Gabriel's head, the knife driven cleanly through the core and into the wood. "Say that again," said Will. "And i'll darken your daylights for you.”
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“This...this...thing?""A parsnip?" Jem suggested"A parsnip planted in satan's own garden," said Will. He glanced about. "I dont suppose there's a dog I could feed it to?""There dont seem to be any pets about," Jem-who loved animals, even the inglorious and ill-tempered Church-observed."Probably all poisened by parsnips," said Will.”
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“Will bounded up onto one of the ladders and yanked a book off the shelf. "I'll find you something else to read. Catch." He had let it fall without looking and Tessa had to dart forward to seize it before it hit the floor. - Clockwork Angel”
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“My father didn't take the sword for me. he took it for him. I doubt he even knew about the trial.""How awfully convenient for you, regardless. And for him. He won't have to worry about you spilling his secrets.""Yeah," Jace said, "he's terrified I'll tell everyone that's he's always really wanted to be a ballerina." The Inquisitor simply stared at him.”
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“Do you know about the cuckoo bird, Jonathon Morgenstern?"Jace wonderwd if perhaps being the Inquisitor—it couldn't be a pleasant job—had left Imogen Herondale a little unhinged. "The what?""The cuckoo bird," she said. "You see, cuckoos are parasites. They lay their eggs in other birds' nests. When the egg hatches, the baby cuckoo pushes the other baby birds out of the nest. The poor parent birds work themselves to death trying to find enough food for the enormous cuckoo child who has murdered their babies and taken their places.""Enormous?" said Jace. "Did you just call me fat?""It was an analogy.""I am not fat.”
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“There were only ever two kinds of people in the world for Valentine," she said "Those who were fir the Circle and those who were against it. The latter were his enemies, and the former were his weapons in his arsenal. I saw him try to turn each of his friends, even his own wife, into a weapon for the Cause—and you want me to believe he wouldn't have done the same with his own son?" She shook her head. "I knew him better than that." For the first time, Maryse looked at him with more sadness than anger. "You are an arrow shot directly into the heart of the Clave, Jace. You are Valentine's arrow. Whether you know it or not.”
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“As long as I can dream, I will dream of you.”
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“Simon. “So, the gig’s at nine, right? What do we do with the rest of the day?”“We?” Simon looked at him in disbelief. “Are you ever going home?”“What, bored with my company already?”“Let me ask you something,” Simon said. “Do you find me fascinating to be around?”“What was that?” Jace said. “Sorry, I think I fell asleep for a moment. Do, continue with whatever mesmerizing thing you were saying.”
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“Kyle shook his head. “Fine. Whatever it is you’re not telling me, I’ll find out eventually.”He got to his feet. “And now, I’m beat. I’m going to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning,” he said to Simon. “You,” he said to Jace, “well, I guess I’ll see you around. You’re the first Shadowhunter I’ve ever met.”“That’s too bad,” said Jace, “since all the ones you meet from now on will be a terrible letdown.”Kyle rolled his eyes and left, banging his bedroom door shut behind him.”
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“Camille sighed dramatically. "The thing that you are too young to understand is that we all hide things. We hide them from our lovers because we wish to present our best selves, but also because if it is real love, we expect our loved one to simply understand it, without needing to ask. In a true partnership, the kind that lasts through the ages, there is an unspoken communion.”
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“Jace looked around uneasily at the walls hung with veils, fans, tiaras, and seed-pearl-encrusted trains. “Everything is .. .so white.”“Of course it’s white,” said Simon. “It’s a wedding.”“White for Shadowhunters is the color of funerals,” Luke explained. “But for mundanes, Jace, it’s the color of weddings. Brides wear white to symbolize their purity.”“I thought Jocelyn said her dress wasn’t white,” Simon said.“Well,” said Jace, “I suppose that ship has sailed.”
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“You're not going,"he said as soon as she'd finished. "If I have to tie you up and sit on you until this insane whim of yurs passes, you are not going to Idris." Clary felt as if he'd slapped her. She had thought he'd be pleased. She'd run all the way from the hospital to the Institute to tell him, and here he was standing in the entryway glaring at her with a look of grim death. "But you're going.”
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“He took a deep breath. “We came here to train, and we should train. If we just spend all the time we’re supposed to be training making out instead, they’ll quit letting me help train you at all.”“Aren’t they supposed to be hiring someone else to train me full-time anyway?”“Yes,” he said, getting up and pulling her to her feet along with him, “and I’m worried that if you get into the habit of making out with your instructors, you’ll wind up making out with him, too.”“Don’t be sexist. They could find me a female instructor.”“In that case you have my permission to make out with her, as long as I can watch.”“Nice.” Clary grinned, bending down to fold up the blanket they’d brought to sit on. “You’re just worried they’ll hire a male instructor and he’ll be hotter than you.”Jace’s eyebrows went up. “Hotter than me?”“It could happen,” Clary said. “You know, theoretically.”“Theoretically the planet could suddenly crack in half, leaving me on one side and you on the other side, forever and tragically parted, but I’m not worried about that, either. Some things,” Jace said, with his customary crooked smile, “are just too unlikely to dwell upon.”
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“She gritted her teeth. She was here with Sebastian, on her way to see a powerful warlock, and mentally she was maundering on about the way Jace smelled.”
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“Perhaps there isn’t anything Alec is afraid of.”Magnus glanced at Alec and raised his eyebrows. “Boo,” he said.Jace was grinning. “Come on, surely you’ve got a phobia or two. What scares you?”Alec thought for a moment. “Spiders,” he said.Clary turned to Luke. “Have you got a spider anywhere?”Luke looked exasperated. “Why would I have a spider? Do I look like someone who would collect them?”“No offense,” Jace said, “But you kind of do.”“You know”---Alec’s tone was sour---”Maybe this was a stupid experiment.”“What about the dark?” Clary suggested. “We could lock you in the basement.”“I’m a demon hunter,” Alec said, with exaggerated patience. “Clearly, I am not afraid of the dark.”
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“I'd die for you. You know that. But would I kill someone innocent? What about a lot of innocent lives? What about the whole world? Is it really love to tell someone that if it came down to picking between them and every other life on the planet, you'd pick them?”
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“And we believe in his promises. Therefore you can never lose hope -  hatikva - because if you keep hope alive, it will keep you alive.”
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“Of course you realize you're leaving me in the position of being the one tell everyone - your mother, Luke, Alec, Izzy, Magnus...''I guess I shouldn't have said there wouldn't be no risk to you,' Clary said meekly.'That's right,' said Simon. 'Just remember, when your mother's gnawing my ankle like a furious mama bear separated from her cub, I did it for you.”
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“Well, you're lucky, that's all. Even if he is a vamp now. You must be pretty used to all sorts of weird stuff, being a Shadowhunter, so I bet it doesn't faze you."It fazes me," Clary said, more sharply then she'd intended. "I'm not Jace."The smirk widened. " No one is. And I get the feeling he knows it."Whats that supposed to mean?""Oh, you know. Jace reminds me of an old boyfriend. Some guys look at you like they want sex. Jace looks at you like you've already had sex, it was great, and now you're just friends- even though you want more. Drives girls crazy. You know what i mean?Yes, Clary thought. "No." she said.”
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“Clary found herself wondering if the forsaken were edible.”
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“Because if no one really cares for you at all, do you even exist?”
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“After what happened on the boat, he’s interested in you. Which means you need to be careful. Very careful. In fact, it wouldn’t hurt if you just spent the next few days inside. You can lock yourself in your room like Isabelle.”“I’m not going to do that.”“Of course you’re not,” said Jace, “because you live to torture me, don’t you?”“Not everything, Jace, is about you,” Clary said furiously.“Possibly,” Jace said, “but you have to admit that the majority of things are.”Clary resisted the urge to scream.”
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“It's all right. It doesn't matter what you do. We're dreaming, you know.”
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“People who know and love the same books as you, have the road map to your soul.”
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“I’m glad you think all this is funny.”“You’re not happy to see me, then?” Jace said. “I have to say, I’m surprised. I’ve alwaysbeen told my presence brightened up any room. One might think that went doubly fordank underground cells.”
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“You do not want to help us,” Will said to Magnus. “You do not want to position yourself as an enemy of Mortmain’s.” “Well, can you blame him?” Woolsey rose in a whirl of yellow silk. “What could you possibly have to offer that would make the risk worth it to him?” “I will give you anything,” said Tessa in a low voice that Will felt in his bones. “Anything at all, if you can help us help Jem.” Magnus gripped a handful of his black hair. “God, the two of you. I can make inquiries. Track down some of the more unusual shipping routes. Old Molly —” “I’ve been to her,” Will said. “Something’s frightened her so badly she won’t even crawl out of her grave.” Woolsey snorted. “And that doesn’t tell you anything, little Shadowhunter? Is it really worth all this, just to stretch your friend’s life out another few months, another year? He will die anyway. And the sooner he dies, the sooner you can have his fiancée, the one you’re in love with.” He cut his amused gaze toward Tessa. “Really you ought to be counting down the days till he expires with great eagerness.”
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“Yech," said Simon."Don't 'yech' me. You're the one with the magical spit.”
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“We had and incident. I took care of it.""Really." Jace's voice dripped sarcasm. "Do you even know how to use that knife, Clarissa? Without poking a hole in yourself or any innocent bystanders?”
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“When Will says 'enterprising', he means 'morally deficient.'" "No, I mean enterprising," said Will. "When I mean morally deficient, I say, 'Now, that's something I would have done.”
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“And I remind you of your mother now? I have got to look into a manlier cologne.”
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“... everything seemed to him a uniform shade of gray- even the people! He had been unable to believe it could rain so much in one place, and so unceasingly. The damp had seemed to come up from the floors and into his bones, so that he'd thought he would eventually sprout mold, in the manner of a tree. "You do get used to it," he said "Even if sometimes you feel as if you out to be able to be wrung out like a washrag." p 311”
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“You have always been what you are. That's not new. What you'll get use to, is knowing it.”
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“We don't require luck," said Will, "we have a heavenly mandate, after all. With God on your side, what does luck matter?”
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“Magic is a dark and elemental force, not just a lot of sparkly wands and crystal balls.”
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“She realized that this scarred, sarcastic boy, was gentle with the things he loved.”
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“You bit de Quincey," he said. "You fool. He's a vampire. You know what it means to bite a vampire." "I had no choice," said Will. "He was choking me.""I know," Jem said. "But really, Will. Again?”
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“Get up, Imogen, and get yourself ready for battle. From now on, the orders around here are going to come from me." "And the first thing you're going to do is free my son from that accursed Malachi Configuration.”
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“We’re meant to protect each other, but not from everything. Not fromthe truth. That’s what it means to love someone but let them be themselves.-Jace Wayland”
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“She felt as if the world were tilting and she was clinging on helplessly, trying to keep from tumbling into a black abyss.”
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“The witch grunted. "Love gone wrong. The worst."Jace made a soft, almost inaudible noise at that—a chuckle. Dorothea's ears pricked like a cat's. "What's so funny, boy?""What would you know about it?" he said. "Love, I mean."Dorothea folded her soft white hands in her lap. "More than you might think," she said."Didn't I read your tea leaves, Shadowhunter? Have you fallen in love with the wrong person yet?"Jace said, "Unfortunately, Lady of the Haven, my one true love remains myself."Dorothea roared at that. "At least," she said, "you don't have to worry about rejection, Jace Wayland.""Not necessarily. I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting.”
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“I have something for you," he said. He dug into his pocket and brought out something, which he pressed into her hand. It was a gray stone, slightly uneven, worn to smoothness in spots."Huh," said Clary, turning it over in her fingers. "You know, when most girls say they want a big rock, they don't mean, you know, literally a big rock.”
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“He stood up. "One of the Silent Brothers is here to see you. Hodge sent me to wake you up.Actually, he offered to wake you up himself, but since it's five a.m., I figured you'd be less cranky if you had something nice to look at.”
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“I’ve been wandering around all night—I couldn’t sleep—and I kept finding myself walking here. To you.”
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“She shook her head. She was so pale under the diffuse lamp-light that she looked almost transparent, as if Simon could have looked right through her. The way, he supposed, he always had.”
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“...trained in self-defense.' Tessa looked sideways at Jem in astonishment. 'He means me?' Jem nodded. His expression was sombre. 'I can't - I'll chop off my own foot!''If you're going to chop off anyone's foot, chop off Benedict's,' Will muttered.”
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“For you to find a needle in-God, not even in a haystack. A needle in a tower full of other needles.''Plunge your hand into a tower of needles,' said Magnus, 'and you are likely to cut yourself badly.”
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“Then I'll come,' said Tessa, 'I've never been on a train.' Will threw up his hands.'That's it? You're coming because you've never been on a train before?''Yes.”
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“Though your ability to quote the Bible is impressive. Better than my Aunt Harriet's.''Did you hear that, James? She just compared us to her Aunt Harriet.”
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