I'm Extremely Excited to Have You Back on My Channel

Hello and welcome back to my channel! I'm so lucky to have you, Cassandra Clare, here with me today. I didn't think it would be this soon, but I'm not going to complain about it.*laughs* If you want to check out the other two videos that I filmed with Cassie, I'll definitely leave them below, but today we're going to do a little bit of a change of pace and talk about something that Cassie has recently announced that I'm sure has everyone shook. So, what's this new non-Shadowhunter project all about?

New Non-Shadowhunter Project

So, you've recently announced a completely new non-Shadowhunter's project, which is an adult project because it's not YA and it came from literally a story that you've been working on for like 15 years. Before you started working on City of Bones, you started this high fantasy project and then you sort of put it aside because you decided you wanted to work on urban fantasy, but this world didn't have a story, and that was the problem with it. Um, so I think it was earlier... late last year when you were at Yallfest, you suddenly had the idea for the book which is called Sword Catcher. It was the idea for sort of the central character's conflict, which is that he is taken as a child from his home and brought to the palace in his country, where he is forced to be the stand-in for the Crown Prince because he looks like him, and so he goes out in public, basically he lives with the Prince, trains with him, learns all his mannerisms, learns how to talk like him, he grows up with him, and impersonates him in public because of the high risk of assassination, and as this is happening, he's basically one of the few people who spends a lot of time with the Crown Prince because the Crown Prince has so much power that really doesn't have friends. What he does have is this guy who is sort of legally required to always be with him.

The Idea Behind Sword Catcher

So, your main character's name is Callian, and his conflict is partially I know what this guy is like almost nobody else knows what he's really like, and for him to become King would be a terrible thing. So, what do you do? That's only like sort of the conflict that kicks off the book. It has all the stuff that you love, which are these intense relationships, the group of tightly knit friends, and a lot of really intense conflicts, and so and all of that stuff is just stuff that you like.

Your Inspiration for Sword Catcher

I'm just curious, how do you plan to balance this with all of your other works? So, your publisher said that basically, the hope is all of my books, THE LAST HOURS, the Magnus books will all be turned in before you start really working on Sword Catcher or full-time. Then, I'm gonna have Sword Catcher come out in 2021, and its sequel which is called The Ragpicker King comes out in 2023, so between those hopefully I'll have the first Wicked Powers book. So, it's definitely like you know as we go forward there will be a year where we have probably one Shadowhunter book, and then in the fall, the Sword Catcher book, and so I'm hoping that people won't feel like it's taking their place.

Balancing Multiple Projects

It's more like, you know once I finished Magisterium with Holly which we finished this year, I started feeling like I needed to have balance because it's been so long for me that I've had two different projects. So, Shadowhunters and all its spin-offs in short story collections and everything, and then I've also had Magisterium, so I realized when I was done that for me it was really hard to only write in one world. It's just something that I'm not used to anymore, and so I was like well maybe I can bounce back over to something else. And actually called Holly even though we're no longer working on Magisterium, she is still my critique partner, and I was like, "I had this idea you know for this fantasy novel, what do you think like this would be the central conflict?"

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enE: Hey what's up hello my name is Emma and today I'm here of course the lovelyCassandra Clare. We are here in Charleston South Carolina atBlue Bicycle Books for Yallfest and I'mextremely excited to have you back on my channel.C: I'm happy to be back on your channelE: I'm so lucky I'm like I didn't think it would be so soonbut I'm not gonna complain about it.*laughs*So if you want to check out the two others videos that I filmed with Cassie,I will definitely leave them below but todaywe're gonna do a little bit of a changeof pace and talk about something thatCassie has recently announced that I'msure has everyone shook.So you have recently announced a completely new non-Shadowhunter's projectC: That's true.E: that is the world in how many years?C: It's not gonna come into the world until 2021.E: Oh my goodness. Well we're all waiting already but Iwant to start like right from the beginning,so what inspired you to do something totally new, like where did this idea start?C: It's a high fantasy and it's an adult project so it's not YAand it came from literally a story thatI've been working on for like 15 yearsthat like before I started working onCity of Bones I started this highfantasy project and then I sort of putit aside cuz I decided I wanted to workon urban fantasy but I've always sort ofpercolating in the back of my head andI was it existed like as a world but itdidn't have a story and that wasthe problem with it um and so I think itwas earlier... late last year in the winnerI was, I suddenly had the idea for thebook which is called SWORD CATCHER andit was the idea for sort of the centralcharacters conflict which is that he istaken as a child from his home andbrought to the palace in his countrywhere he is forced to be the stand-infor the Crown Prince because he lookslike him and so he goes out in public hebasically he lives with the Prince hetrains with him he learns all hismannerisms he learns how to talk likeham he grows up with him and heimpersonates him in publicbecause of the high risk ofassassination and as this is happeninghe's basically is one of the few peoplewho spends a lot of time with the CrownPrince because the Crown Prince has somuch power doesn't really have friends.What he does have is this guy who issort of legally required to always bewith him and the Crown Prince as I turnsout to be incred- complicated andreally difficult person and so our maincharacter's name is Callian, his conflictis partially I know what this guy islike almost nobody else knows what he'sreally like and for him to become Kingwould be a terrible thing so what do I do.So that's only like sort of the conflict that kicks off the book.E: It's still so you, it's still so you.C: It is super me! It's super me, I know.But like it has all the stuff that I loveyou know it has like the intense youknow these intense relationships theselike a group of like really tightly knitfriends and a lot of really intense youknow conflicts and so and all of thatstuff is just stuff that I like.E: Yes. Absolutely.So I'm just curious, how do you plan to balance this with all of your other works?C: That's what my publisher said.*laughs*Well basically, the hope is all of my books, THE LAST HOURS, the Magnus books will all beturned in before I start really workingon SWORD CATCHER or full-time then I'mgonna have SWORD CATCHER come out in 2021and its sequel which is called theTHE RAGPICKER KING comes out in 2023 so inbetween those hopefully I'm gonna havethe first WICKED POWERS book. Soit's definitely like you know as we goforward there will be a year where wehave probably one SHADOWHUNTERS bookand then in the fall, the SWORDCATCHERbook and so I'm hoping that you knowpeople you know, since the Shadowhunter books are continuing that people aren'tgonna feel like it's like taking theirplace.E: Yeah that's something to think about.C: It's more like, you know once I finished Magisterium with Holly which we finished this year Istarted feeling like I needed to havebalance you know because it's been solong for me that I've had two differentprojects so it had Shadowhunters and allof its you know attending you knowspin-offs in short story collections andeverything and then I've also hadMagisterium and so I realized when I wasdone that for me it was really hard toonly write in one world it's justsomething that I'm not used to anymoreand so I was like well maybe I canbounce back over to something else and Iactually called Hollyeven though we're no longer working on Magisterium, she is still my critique partner and I was likeI had this idea you know for thisfantasy novel and what do you think likethis would be the central conflict andshe was like oh I would I think youshould do it so she's like, \"write me up an outline so I can see what it's like\"and I wound up writing the17,000 word outline because you know Inever write something short when I can write something longE: You're such an overachieverSo I bring it to her and she's like,\" you have to show this to your agent\" I showed it at my agent I mean he wasjust like, \"I love this like so much like let me show it to people\" and so it went from there.E: That's so exciting. That's so interesting that you say like you can't write in one world because you're so likenotorious for writing so many stories in the same world.C: I know!E: But that's such an interesting factC: I think that I need to have the balance though to be able to do it.E: So while we're talking about like theMagisterium and everything like obviouslyyou have successful works outside ofShadowhunters. So obviously I'm sure thisis like so exciting for you embarking ontotally new journey,Is there anything that is particularlychallenging about it at this point?C: I think for me the fact that it's an adult project. You know I'vewritten for so long about teenagers andthen for Magisterium I had to learn akind of a whole new language of writingto write middle grade then you have tolearn another whole new language ofwriting to write adults not because,everyone's always like is it gonna bereally filthy and I'm like I thinkthat's not it's the the characters beingolder have a completely different set ofpriorities they're at different placessort of in their life everything theycare about different things they'reinvested in different things you knowthey have different relationships to theworld and that is a challenge becauseit's a not something I do.E: I'm so excited.And so to bring things back to Shadowhunters,today at Yallfest we gota very very exciting new piece of infofor Shadowhunters, includingc: the cover of QUEEN OF AIR AND DARKNESSwhich is my favorite cover so far I loveit I do I love LADY MIDNIGHT but thisone is I think has surpassed it.E: So like were you involved in the process of thiscover like did you say like \"I want Annabel to be on the cover\" or just likecome in front of you and you said, \"This is perfect!\"?C: Um yeah I mean I was I was prettyinvolved we knew we wanted Emma for ourfirst cover. Doing Julian for thesecond cover was actually torture becauseit's so hard to film a guy underwater because they-they don't have the same thing where theclothes floating and the hair floatingaround looks really cool and romanticand just looks really weird so we hadincredible trouble with that and my artist, Cliff, was like \"No more dudes.\"*laughs*It's like okay so we can't do what I hadthought we would probably do which was Mark.E: That's what I was originallyspeculating.C: Exactly.E: So it can't be a guy so I have too muchtrouble picking what girlyou know like could be Cristina. It couldbe Dru. It could be somebody it couldn't be.*my heart breaks internally*but it could be Diana and all ofthem would be totally viably awesome youknow women to put on the cover and Ithought oh I think in this casewe go for Annabel because in a lot ofways the villain stands outside thatcircle of characters and I think alsohaving her like I really love the waythat it's come out because I think ouridea was that sort of she would seem tobe kind of rising and rising in powerand rising in like you know sinister-nessif that's a word and so then itwould be like it would carry with itlike this sense of being beautiful butalso a little scaryE: And so while we're on the topic of Shadowhunters 'cause I clearly canonly go a specific amount of timewithout talking about it. I mean my project is notC: We can talk about Shadowhunters! I mean, my project isn't even started writing so...E: This is true, we are just picking the surface of your brain at the moment.So I started this game on BookTube or like I brought it to BookTube called R.I.P it or Ship it.C: Oh my god.E: Essentially you take characters and you think of themas a pairing so you either rip it, like r.i.p the ship is dead it's nevergonna happen or you ship it. So Iprinted out a bunch of your characternames from all series that we have so far including THE LAST HOURS.So clearly only you like have theinsight on that so I figured we couldpick a few pairings what'd youthink of them?C: Okay, let's do it.E: As a note I did only include ones that were aged like 16-19C: That's probably wise.Otherwise, you're just like \"OH no, rip it\"*laughs*No 12 year olds.E: Yes, so you want to do the honors?C: Okay so I'm just gonna pick out two. I kind of love this.E: Yes pick out two and we'll see what happens.Maybe we'll get her to have some spark of like an alternate universe.C: I love an alternate universe.Oh god, Zara Dearborn...and Simon Lewis.*laughs*I have to rip this one, Zara's a horrible person.Like she's one of the few characters,nothing about them that I like yes and Ifeel and I love Simon so I feel like hewould be able to tolerate Zara for abouttwo minutes before... fleeing and maybe in arranging herE: That's a stretchassassination so I think we're gonnahave to say no on that one.E: I think it's like like shipping Umbridge with Ron Weasley.C: YEAH exactlyC: Somebody probably does do that though.E: Oh my god, there's Harry Potter Fanfiction for everything.C: Like Harry and the Giant Squid.E: Oh my goodness, there's too many.C: I could totally do this all day, this is so entertaining.Malcom Fade...and Clary Fray.E: Oh my goodness. I tried to put some interesting characters in there.C: I think what's interesting about Malcolm is that wemeet him in THE LAST HOURS and he's sototally different because he hasn't hadthese huge betrayals in his life thatI'm like majorly changed him so I feellike Clary and Malcolm of THE LAST HOURS could probably make it work for a littlewhile but I don't think current Malcom with Clary would work.E: I'm gonn have to read THE LAST HOURS like with this in my mind.C: Well it would be interesting.E: So do you ship it?C: No, I don't think I ship it.Sorry Malcolm but I know what happens toyou in the future.Aline Penhallow...Raphael Santiago.*laughs*Well Aline is a lesbian. Raphael is an aromantic asexual so they will neverever have a romantic relationship but Ithink they can be a totally awesomebuddy-cop team yeah I'm like take downbad guys and you actually will see theminteract with each other in THE RED SCROLLS OF MAGIC so that's something to look forward to.So I guess I would have to rip it but with noprejudice.E: Yes, I think we can expand the word \"ship\" to maybe like \"friendship\".C: Yeah, I \"friend\" them. I friendship them.E: Let's pick out a few more. I'm actually really enjoying thisC: I know this is really fun.E: And you just have so many to choose from.C: Okay so we have Cordelia Carstairs...C: And Gideon Lightwood.E: Hm...C: Are they related? No.E: At this point, how many of your characters are not-E: somehow related?C: I mean, they're all a little related.C: Um... Gideon... He's a little older than Cordelia.E: This is very true.C: And I feel it probably- it wouldn'twork out but I think that they couldhave a lovely friendship. I feel like I need to get to one where I'm gonna ship it though.E: I feel like you're very set in the relationships that you have formed in your head.C: It's possibly true.Matthew Fairchild and Christopher Lightwood.Okay you know what, that could totally happen.C: I'lll ship it, I'll ship it.E: You ship it?C: I ship it.E: I think from what we do know of them with the published works like Tales From Shadowhunter Academy,and the things that you've shared, I could see it.C: I ship Matthew with most people, I see it. So it's fine.E: Yeah, he's a cutie.E: Okay wanna go for the last one?C: Okay. James Herondale...C: LUCY HERONDALE.*laughs*C: You know I feel if it told this story.E: Oh my goodness, yeah.C: We've already done the incest.E: I was like this is just going like rightback to the beginning.C: I know! It was so funnywhen we did the panel that we were wewere just doing about expanding world soit was like well sometimes you know youhave to, you set up, you know a pairof characters and then later you wishthat you could get them in relationshipyou can't because they're like brotheror sister or something and I was like Ireally don't see why that's a problem.*laughs*I really feel like you can just fix that one.I gotta say that they are super close brother and sister they're super supportive.Lucy is super supportive of James. James loves his little sister super protective of her,chases off all guys that are around her yes they're not good enough for her. She is super protective of himbecause you know people judging becausethey believe that you know his abilityto see the sort of see the shadow worldis like a devilish power and all that soI would say that I \"relation-ship\" them asfamily like super hard. I think they're a great brother-sister relationship.E: Aw I'm so excited to learn more about them. I feel like that was the perfect one to end on.C: Yeah the perfect one to end on!C: I was like \"AHAHH\"E: Well, Cassie, thank you so much for being on my channel again.C: Of course! I always enjoy.E: It's always a pleasure to have you.Don't foget to look out for the release of QUEEN OF AIR AND DARKNESS coming...C: December 4th 2018.E: I'm so so excited.C: I'm so excited for you guys you get to readit and I'm sure I will talk to Emma againbefore that and we will have more exciting things to tell you.E: Of course, I will leave all of Cassie's information, her website, social media links though I'm sure you already all follow them.But that is it for this video, thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you soon for a new one. Bye!!\n"