1. What drew you to writing fantasy?

I grew up reading fantasy. My father was a big fan of fantasy and science fiction, so those were the books we had in our house. Obviously there’s a large fantastic component to children’s literature anyway, and when I was a kid, my favorite books were those by Edward Eager, Susan Cooper and E. Nesbit. I was also big fan of fairy tales – the original grim ones – and folklore. So when I moved on from children’s books, I moved on to Tolkien and Terry pratchett instead of moving on to realistic contemporary fiction. (The one thing I made an exception for was historical fiction.) So when I decided I wanted to write, it was natural to write fantasy. You write what you love to read.

2. You’ve written about vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, etc. Do you have a favorite fantasy character that you love to bring to life?

As in a favorite sort of creature? No, not really, though I find writing faeries difficult. They seem very removed and archaic and their doublespeak – they can’t lie, but they love to mislead – is a pain. I always have to run my faerie dialogue by Holly Black before I can send it out.

3. Who are your favorite young adult fantasy writers? Do you have any books you would recommend to your fans?

I don’t really believe in favorites. When I was a kid I did, and I was always rearranging my booksholf in order of what my favorite was down to my least favorite, until eventually I realized I was being silly because different books were my favorites in different ways, and appealed to me at different times. That said, I would recommend two books that haven’t come out yet as books to look for: The Replacement, by Brenna Yovanoff, and Bitterblue, the new Graceling book by Kristin Cashore.

4. What was the best writing advice anyone ever gave you?

I was once advised that once you’re done with a book, read the whole thing aloud to yourself. It takes a long time but it really lets you hear things like overused words, awkward sentence construction, and the like.

5. We’d like to hear a little about your new series/trilogy, Clockwork Angel. What can you tell us?

I can tell you it’s set in 1878, in New York and London. It features a girl named Tessa, who is summoned to London by her brother; once arriving there, she is kidnapped by warlocks calling themselves the Dark Sisters. They train her to use a power she never knew she had before, and when she escapes from them, she discovers that there’s a whole supernatural world that was invisible to her before: a world of vampires, werewolves, faeries, and all sorts of beautiful and horrible things. She teams up with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute – she’ll let them use her shapeshifting power to help them if they’ll help her find her brother – and starts to have feelings for two of them: two best friends, Will and Jem.

6. In Clockwork Angel , you’re taking us out of urban fantasy and into steampunk. What inspired you to take the Shadowhunters in that direction?

I would actually say I’m just adding steampunk elements into urban fantasy. Pure steampunk is about mechinisms and steam-driven devices – it’s mechanical/technological. I’m using magic to animate and power technology that wouldn’t have been available to the Victorians in this era.

7. Why did you choose 1878/Victorian age as the back drop of this new series?

Because it’s after they put in sewers – before that London used to stink like you wouldn’t believe – but before electric lightiing, which seemed too modern to me. The perfect era!

8. Can you give us some background on our new heroine, Tessa?

Tessa is a proper Victorian girl – she’s what would be called “shabby gentility”, she came from an upper middle-class background of bankers and doctors but when her parents died, she and her brother were raised in comparative poverty by their aunt in New York. Tessa’s a reader; she loses herself in book, and in the fantasy world they provide. But she’s also able to be practical and a realist, mostly because of her brother, Nate. Nate’s a drunk and compulsive gambler, and taking care of him and covering up his problems has forced her to grow up fast and face some ugly realities. So the Shadowhunter boys don’t scare her much!

9. Can you give us a preview of the relationship between Tessa and Will?

It’s very different from the one she has with Jem. This book focuses more on Tessa and Will; the next on Tessa and Jem, and the third, well, we’ll see. Will is a mess of a guy – he will remind readers of Jace in that he uses sarcasm to deflect attention and has a tragedy in his past, but unlike Jace, who saw his father die, Will’s tragedy is ongoing. It’s happening to him every day, and the worst thing about it is that he can’t talk about it with anyone. He wants to let Tessa in but he knows he can’t, so he pushes her away. But during the times when he weakens and does let her in, they have an electric connection neither of them can ignore.

10. Where can our readers find you on the internet? Will you be participating in anymore book tours/conventions this year?

You can always check my signings page: http://www.cassandraclare.com/cms/appearances

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.