Cassandra Clare and Holly Black Author Signing



When Christinabean and I got to Chapters for this signing, we had learned our lesson. We got there early and plunked ourselves in a seat. We then took turns going to get books, snacks, bathroom breaks etc. It was so much better waiting when you have a seat! We had a lovely surprise when Jennifer Shannon, the Marketing Director for Chapters, Central Canada, called on the two of us to go up and help with the draw for tickets to the Suzanne Collins signing on Nov. 20. We were both gobsmacked (yes I know it's an odd word, but it fits the bill!) to say the least. We had met Jennifer when we were at the Smart Chicks signing. Thank you so much, Jennifer, it was lots of fun - we felt as if we had made it to the 'big time'.

When CC and HB finally came out for the signing, only a very few minutes late, they did readings from their books 'City of Fallen Angels' and 'White Cat'. CC did ask anyone who was recording with their cell phones to stop, and my memory is not that good, so I can't give you any previews, sorry.

After the readings they told us some stories. Cassie Clare talked about her visit with Sarah Rees Brennan to Europe taking pictures of Victorian architecture for the book, only to realize too late that she had taken a photo of a nude man cooking his breakfast - Paparazzi here we come!

Holly Black told a wonderful story about research for the book -specifically what it would be like to be tied up in the trunk of a car. So she was! Only to realize that the car was a hatch-back and everyone could see into the back window! Holly's advice is that if this should ever happen to you, be sure to ask for a neck pillow!

HB mentioned that White Cat is inspired by a fairytale called 'The White Cat' and she went on to describe the story in hilarious detail. I can't begin to explain it to you, but if you are interested HERE is a link to the tale from Andrew Lang's Blue Fairy Book. She also mentioned that she is very interested in characters with their moral compasses off point, which is ably illustrated in this new book.

Cassie Clare brought her award from the Chapters 2010 Teen Read Awards. Jace won for Best Hottie. I'm sure she was just accepting on his behalf. He must have been off killing demons or something. It is a great big heavy glass award and she says it's great for deterring muggers.

Earlier we fans had submitted questions for the two to answer and this is just a sample of their replies -

Q & A
CC - If you could pit any of your characters against other characters from another book, who would it be? - Dumbledore and Magnus (what a great duel that would be!)

HB - Do you have any plans to continue writing the Spiderwick Chronicles? - No, not at the moment but she would not be adverse to the idea. Talk to Tony.

CC - Let's discuss Magnus' sexuality. Is he gay or bisexual? - He is bi.

HB - How do you come up with such original names? - She takes a familiar name and a word that she likes and combines them. (I'm quoting here) She "mushes them together".

CC - In regards to Magnus, how far will Alex and Magnus' relationship go? - Camille will return in City of Fallen Angels book 4.

CC - Will you write more Shadowhunter books after Book 6? - Book 6 is the end but she does have ideas for the Shadowhunter series in different worlds. It would be a totally new trilogy and Mortal Instruments characters may have walk on parts. She would like to work on a ton of other projects outside of the Shadowhunter series.

CC - Why was Church blue? - Actually, Church is not literally blue, he is a blue persian cat. Cassandra spent much of her time writing at Holly's house and Fizgig (Holly's blue persian cat) is silvery blue so she thought she would write him into the book.

CC- Do you know what the novels will be like before you write? - When pitching, you have a completed ending and you know where to start but often the middle changes as you write.

HB - White Cat is a very different story from the rest of your novels, was it difficult to write? -Holly wrote White Cat from a male perspective and in first person which was hard.

CC - Are Will and Jace related? - They share the same last name and there are 5 generations between them.

Both - If you weren't writing, what would you be doing? HB - would be a teen librarian (yea!!) CC - would be a reporter.

Best quote of the evening - Cassandra Clare said "Writers are fascinated with weird things. This is what we do."

As you can see, the line up to meet both authors was extremely long! This is only part of the line (the front part). All in all Christinabean and I had a fantastic evening, and because we were at the front of the signing line (well about 20th anyway) we even had time to go out for dinner afterwards.



When will the next signing be - that would be today, 1:00 - Suzanne Collins, injured hand and all. This is a ticketed event and we could only get one ticket. So I get to go, on the condition that I get Christinabean's book stamped. Oh the sacrifices I make! I'll tell you all about it next week. That is of course assuming that I don't get lost on the way. I won't have Christinabeans trusty GPS to give me directions.