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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.


“And I do wish she wouldn't sing about poisoning just after we have eaten.”
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“That demon woman you were lounging with on the divan,” said Will. “Would you call her a friend, or more of a business associate?” Benedict’s dark eyes hardened. “Insolent puppy—” “Oh, I’d say she was a friend,” said Tessa. “One doesn’t usually let one’s business associates lick one’s face. Although I could be wrong. What do I know about these things? I’m only a silly woman.”
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“I don't care," Clary said. "He'd do it for me. Tell me he wouldn't. If I were missing-" "He'd burn the whole world down till he could dig you out of the ashes. I know," Alec said.”
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“i was thining”
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“They all have always loved you, Will Herondale, for you cannot hide what is good about yourself, however hard you try.”
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“But you love her.”Will stared at him. “Of course I do,” hesaid finally. “I had come to think I wouldnever love anyone, but I love her.”
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“I curse you," it said. "All who love you will die. Their love will be their destruction. It may take moments, it may take years, but any who look upon you with love will die of it, unless you remove yourself from them forever. And I shall begin it with her." It snarled in Ella’s direction, andvanished.”
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“Simon's band never actually produced any music. Mostly they sat around in Simon's living room, fighting about potential names and band logos. She sometimes wondered if any of them could actually play an instrument. 'What's on the table?' 'We're choosing between Sea Vegetable Conspiracy and Rock Solid Panda.' Clary shook her head. 'Those are both terrible.' 'Eric suggested Lawn Chair Crisis.' 'Maybe Eric should stick to gaming.' 'But then we'd have to find a new drummer.' 'Oh, is that what Eric does?...”
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“Give me one good reason why I shouldn't chop him into worthless-bastard-themed confetti.--Isabelle Lightwood”
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“Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa”
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“You could know a man not by what his friends said about him, but by how he treated his servants.”
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“God knows we’re all drawn to what’s beautiful and broken.”
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“But am I clever and right or clever and wrong?”
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“I tell myself he's better than he makes himself out to be, but, Tessa, what if he isn't?”
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“She had never asked herself whether it cost him any effort. Any effort to stand between Will and the world, protecting each one of them from the other.”
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“Hang Mortmain," said Will. "And I mean that literally, of course, but also figuratively.”
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“Jem drew back from her, looking dazed. "By the Angel," he said. "Perhaps we do need a chaperon.”
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“Gracious, that's a lot of bosom you're showing," Magnus went on blithely, gesturing toward Tessa with the burning tip of his cigar. "Tout le monde sur le balcon, as they say in French," he added, miming a vast terrace jutting out from his chest. "Especially apt, as we are now, in fact, on a balcony.”
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“Jem knotted his fingers in the material of Will's sleeve. "You are my parabatai," he said, "You said once I could ask anything of you.”
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“He began it,” Cecily said, jerking her chin at Will, though she knew it was pointless. Jem, Will’s parabatai, treated her with the distant sweet kindness reserved for the little sisters of one’s friends, but he would always side with Will. Kindly, but firmly, he put Will above everything else in the world.Well, nearly everything.”
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“And indeed it was, the arrow still protruding from its wet, grayish skin, humping its body along with incredible speed. A flick of its tail caught the edge of a statue, sending it flying into the dry ornamental pool, where it shattered into dust.“By the Angel, it just crushed Sophocles,” noted Will. “Has no one respect for the classics these days?”
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“Tessa, surprising herself, let out a gasp of laughter. Will looked at her, his mouth just beginning to quirk up in a grin. "I must be more amusing than I thought. Which would make me very amusing indeed.”
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“Jessamine flushed. "Ugh! Charlotte, Will's being vexing.""And the sun has come up in the east," said Jem to no one in particular...."And the sun comes up in the WEST," said Will, who had apparently heard Jem's earlier comment.”
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“The girl behind the scrawled letters. I loved you from the moment I read them. I love you still.” - Will Herondale”
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“What he needs now is to love and have that love returned.”
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“It's always better to live the truth than to live a lie.”
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“Astriola. That IS demon pox. You had evidence that demon pox existed and you didnt mention it to me! Et tu, Brute!' He rolled up the paper and hit Jem over the head with it.”
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“Niches set back in the walls contained polished marble statues of entwined bodies. Will looked away from them hastily, and then back. It wasn't as if Magnus seemed to be paying attention to what Will was doing, and he'd honestly never imagined two people could get themselves into a position like that, much less make it look artistic.”
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“Do you really wish to disobey me, Marbas? Do you wish to anger my father?”
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“He carried a pipe in his left hand, and as he examined Will at his leisure, he exhaled sending a cloud of sweet-smelling, cough-induced smoke. 'Finally broke down and admitted you're in love with me, have you?'He inquired of Will. 'I do enjoy these suprise midnight declarations.' He leaned against the doorway and waved a languid ringed hand. "Go along, have at it.”
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“Like what you see?”
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“Remember when I told you, that I didn’t know if there was a God or not, but either way, we were completely on our own? I still don’t know the answer; I only knew that there was such a thing as faith, and that I didn’t deserve to have it. And then there was you. You changed everything I believed in. You know that line from Dante that I quoted to you in the park? ‘L’amor che move il sol e el’altre stell e’ ? It’s a bit of the very last verse from Dante’s Paradise. ‘My will and my desire were turned by love, the love that moves the sun and the other stars.’ Dante was trying to explain faith, I think, as an over powering love, and maybe it’s blasphemous, but that’s how I think of the way that I love you. You came into my life and suddenly I had one truth to hold on to—that I loved you, and you loved me.”
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“Will nodded slowly, then looked up at tha black sky. "The stars", he said. "I have never seen them so bright. The wind has blown off the fog, I think."Magnus thought of the joy on Will's face as he had stood bleeding in Camille's living room, clutching the demon tooth in his hand. Somehow I don't think it's the stars that have changed.”
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“If you insist on the chase then you'd better start running 'cause dude, you're in for a marathon”
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“endless hope, endless disappointment.”
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“Whatever doesn't kill me...had better start running.”
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“Shadowhunters don't say good-bye, not before a battle. Or good luck. You must behave as if return is certain, not a matter of chance”
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“He opened his mouth. The words were there. He was about to say them when a jolt of terror went through him, the terror of someone who, wandering in a mist, pauses only to realise that they have stopped inches from the edge of a gaping abyss. The way she was looking at him - she could read what was in his eyes, he realised. It must have been written plainly there, like words on the page of a book. There had been no time, no chance, to hide it.“Will,” she whispered. “Say something, Will.”But there was nothing to say. There was only emptiness, as there had been before her. As there would always be.'I have lost everything', Will thought. 'Everything.”
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“Will sat where he was, gazing at the silver bowl in front of him; a white rose was floating in it, and he seemed prepared to stare at it until it went under. In the Kitchen Bridget was still singing one of her awful sad songs; the lyrics drifted in through the door: "Twas on an evening fair I went to take the air, I heard a maid making her moan; Said, 'Saw ye my father? Or ye my mother? Or saw ye my brother John? Or saw ye the lad that I love best, And his name it is Sweet William?" I may murder her, Tessa thought. Let her make a song about that.”
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“You might want to put some clothes on' suggested Jace 'I'm all for the bra and panties look, but you don't want the Silent Brothers to die of excitement”
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“I know," he said, looking down at himself self-consciously. "I am not-I mean, I look-""Beautiful," she said, and she meant it. "You look beautiful, James Carstairs.”
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“When two souls are as one, they stay together on the Wheel. I was born into this world to love you, and I will love you in the next life, and the one after that." ~Jem Carstairs”
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“You sound as if you don't mind what happens to it," said Tessa. "Won't you miss it here? This place has been your home."His fingers stroked her wrist lightly, making her shiver."You are home for me now.”
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“I don't know how I could sleep at night, not knowing I was surrounded by a thousand other sleeping, dreaming souls. - pg 120, Jem to Tessa & Will”
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“When I think of you, and you are not there, I see you in my mind's eye always with a book in your hand.”
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“Jem is my greatest sin.”
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“I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there’s a life after that, I’ll love you then.”
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“Unfortunately, Lady of 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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“Alec isn’t happy,” said Magnus, as if she hadn’t spoken.“Of course he isn’t,” Isabelle snapped. “Jace—”“Jace,” said Magnus, and his hands made fists at his sides. Isabelle stared at him. She had always thought that he didn’t mind Jace; liked him, even, once the question of Alec’s affections had been settled. Out loud, she said:“I thought you were friends.”“It’s not that,” said Magnus. “There are some people — people the universe seems to have singled out for special destinies. Special favors and special torments. God knows we’re all drawn toward what’s beautiful and broken; I have been, but some people cannot be fixed. Or if they can be, it’s only by love and sacrifice so great it destroys the giver.”Isabelle shook her head slowly. “You’ve lost me. Jace is our brother, but for Alec — he’s Jace’s parabatai too —”“I know about parabatai,” said Magnus, his voice rising in pitch. “I’ve known parabatai so close they were almost the same person; do you know what happens, when one of them dies, to the one that’s left—”“Stop it!” Isabelle clapped her hands over her ears, then lowered them slowly. “How dare you, Magnus Bane,” she said.“How dare you make this worse than it is —”“Isabelle.” Magnus’ hands loosened; he looked a little wide-eyed, as if his outburst had startled even him. “I am sorry. I forget, sometimes . . . that with all your self-control and strength, you possess the same vulnerability that Alec does.”“There is nothing weak about Alec,” said Isabelle.“No,” said Magnus. “To love as you choose, that takes strength. The thing is, I wanted you here for him. There are things I can’t do for him, can’t give him . . .” For a moment Magnus looked oddly vulnerable. “You have known Jace as long as he has. You can give him understanding I can’t. And he loves you.”“Of course he loves me. I’m his sister.”“Blood isn’t love,” said Magnus, and his voice was bitter. “Just ask Clary.”
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“Kill me, little sister. Kill me and you kill Jace, too.”
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