Happy pub day! RAGPICKER KING is out in the world today and I’m delighted to share it with all of you. Buckles will be swashed, adventures had, and hearts broken. Speaking of which here is some release day art by one of my favorite artists, Frostbite. Lin bandages up Conor’s hand. Love the way he’s looking at her. 💕 #cassandraclare #swordcatcher #theragpickerking

Story titles for Better in Black!

Check out the new excerpt!

The story of Simon Lewis and Isabelle Lightwood in Better in Black, will it take place during which books? Will there be any updates for TWP?

Hey! Because it covers Simon and Izzy getting engaged, the story takes place right after Lady Midnight. There's plenty in the story to situate you in time. As for hints about TWP, there are some scattered through Better in Black, especially in the Emma and Julian and Jace and Clary stories; however, not knowing what's in the stories won't do you any harm when reading Wicked Powers.

Dru and Ash by EK Belsher! From Wicked Powers.

I am happy to share that my publisher is running a Goodreads giveaway from 1/22 to 2/21 for advanced copies of The Ragpicker King! Enter for a chance to win a galley of the second book in the Chronicles of Castellane: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/404487-the-ragpicker-king

Hi guys! So excited to reveal the super-special limited first edition of the US hardcover of THE RAGPICKER KING, which will include an illustrated case, featuring stunning artwork of Lin and Conor by the wonderful @charliebowater! Now remember — we've done this before with lots of collector's editions for Shadowhunter books. The only way to get the special edition is to pre-order. There's no specific bookstore you need to go through, any preorder anywhere will work. If you want quick links to Ragpicker King at your favorite bookstore you can find them at SwordCatcherSeries.com #theragpickerking #swordcatcher #cassandraclare

two birthday snippets

For my dear friend Cat of TMI Source.

Jace& Clary (happy birthday, Jace!) from Better in Black:

“Remove your mind from the gutter for a moment,” said Clary. “We have to find Maryse’s brother, and bring him home.”

To her surprise, Jace looked worried. “There’s the chance he won’t want to come home.”

“Of course he will. Think how you would feel, if you spent decades completely cut off from your family, your friends, everyone and everything you know.”

“I think,” Jace said carefully, “that I would feel extremely angry, if my family and friends and everyone I knew made me choose between them or losing you.”

“All the more reason to find him and tell him things are different now. That Maryse is different.”

“What if he doesn’t care? Just because she wants his forgiveness doesn’t mean he’s ready to forgive. And…” Jace looked away. “Sometimes losing someone hurts less than getting them back.”

And some Kel&Antonetta from Ragpicker King:

Kel turned to Antonetta. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shouted at you. I should have thanked you. You saved our lives.”

She took the front of his jacket in her small hands. The wind off the water bit at them coldly; Antonetta was shivering. Kel wanted more than anything to wrap her up in his cloak. “What happened, Kel?” she whispered. “Who were those people? Why were they chasing you? And the people you’re with—”

“Antonetta.” His throat ached, hard, as it had not in years—not since that first time she had turned away from him, at her debut ball, and he had forced himself to show nothing, to give no sign that it hurt. Antonetta, I can’t tell you. I want to, but I cannot.

“Don’t ask me,” he said. “If you demand an answer, I will lie to you. And I am a very good liar.”

“I know,” she whispered. 

Letter from Jace to Clary (for Kickstarter)

[written for Theresa]

Dear Clary,

You said you wanted me to write you a letter for your birthday, so here I am, writing that letter. At first I thought that maybe you weren’t serious. After all, we live in the same house. We are not separated by time, dimensions, or the turbulent ocean, which are the usual reasons people write letters.

 I thought maybe you were being self-effacing, that you just didn’t want me to go to any trouble, especially when we have wedding planning coming up (hopefully soon—since we’re waiting on a peace process, it could be a while). 

So I came up with the idea of taking you on a flying motorcycle to see the Northern Lights, but when I suggested it you said no, you only wanted a letter. 

I suggested we portal to the south of France and pick lavender and have a picnic, but you said no, you wanted a letter. 

I suggested we use our Shadowhunter skills to break into the Met so you could stand in front of every painting for as long as you want, but you said no, you’d rather have a letter. 

I suggested we portal to the Tokyo International Anime Fair, because I remembered you saying you’d always wanted to go, but you said no, you’d rather have a letter. 

I suggested I could find you the best, most beautiful sword that you’d ever seen, and had your initials carved into it, or a subtle message like “I <3 Jace” but you said no, you’d rather have a letter.

And then I realized that while we have had an amazing time together all these years, and  we’ve always gone around the world and seen incredible things, that things are different now. Now there is a shadow hanging over everything, the shadow of the situation in Alicante. And I realized that what you actually wanted is something you can keep with you that reminds you of hope.

So let me tell you, in this letter, why you should hope. 

Because no matter what we are facing, we are still us, Jace and Clary. We still have our friends and the people who love us. We have faced so much together, and we have always come out of the darkness into light. And in the end, I believe that love will always win out against hate, because I have faced some of the greatest evil that has ever been known, and the strength I have found in how much I love you has always carried me through. So keep this letter with you, even the in dark moments. Especially in the dark moments. I hope that it brings you comfort to know that I love you more than life itself. And if it doesn’t, remember: You could have had a flying motorcycle ride to see the Northern Lights, and you turned it down.

yours, 

Jace

Hi guys! So excited to announce I’ll be going on tour in the US for Ragpicker King. All the events are ticketed and come with a book, and I’ll be giving away some fun swag…including a chapter sampler for The Wicked Powers (not the same as the one for the Kickstarter…) It’s been a while since I went on tour and it’ll be a while before I go again, so I hope to see all of you who can make it!

Tickets: https://cassandraclare.com/events/

alas alastair lost his hat and is mad about it

Chairman Meow to Church

Well, it's been a while! I am trying to be better about posting, I truly am. Today, since it is a miserable rainy day here, have an adorable letter from Chairman Meow to Church, after Church has moved to England. :) Written for Diane from Kickstarter.

Church Cat,

My person, the taller one, promised me that he would bring this message to you at your new palatial home in England. He has told me that the palatial home actually belongs to your human, but I do not believe him. That sounds like humanist anti-cat propaganda.

He also said he did not know what a small cat would do with such a large home. Clearly he does not understand us at all. As you know, there are many rooms that can be important in a cat’s domain. There is the room for lying around sleeping in, and the room for chasing mice, and the room for meowing loudly, and room with the best sunspots for napping in, and the room with the best furniture for sharpening claws, and the room where there are most likely to be mice.

This is the second time I have mentioned mice. I must be hungry. I will find my other human and alert him that it is time for the can-opener. Please accept this housewarming gift of a false mouse stuffed with drugs. The humans call it catnip. I’m sure you have enjoyed it before, since you are very old.

Meow,

Meow

Kit to Ty

Election day: misery, stress, hair-pulling, at least for Americans (and a lot of other people around the world affected by our politics!) So I thought I'd post a distraction; I hope it helps and doesn't annoy!

A while ago I posted the beginning of a letter from Kit to Ty, created for a Kickstarter backer. Here's the full text:

A letter from Kit to Ty, never sent.

Ty, Ty, Ty.

Your name looks strange written out like that. Like an abbreviation. But Tiberius would be so formal. I never think of you that way. Or, I suppose I should say, I never thought of you that way. Tenses matter in these situations, I guess.

It’s late, past midnight, and I’m sitting on the windowsill in my bedroom at Cirenworth. Jem and Tessa gave me one of the best rooms. Of course they did. It has a view out over the gardens. Sometimes I see the ghost of a dog there, a golden retriever I’m pretty sure, running in and out of the flowerbeds. He seems like a pretty happy ghost. I think about how much you like animals and how much they love you, because of course they do. But it’s too late; this dog passed away a long time ago. You probably couldn’t even see him. It’s too late for a lot of things, now.  

I’m still mad at you, and I don’t feel good about that. Maybe if I could forget, I could forgive. But I can’t forget that night you brought Livvy back. I’ll suddenly remember even when I’m thinking about something else. I’ll be in the middle of helping Tessa in the garden and suddenly I’ll turn around and I’m back in Idris. 

I remember I told you I loved you. I remember I told you I would help you, but not if you raised Livvy from the dead. Not if you did necromancy. But you wanted that more than you wanted me.

And I understand that. I’m not angry about that. Here’s what I’m angry about: when you brought Livvy back, you changed yourself. You made yourself a different person than the one I loved. I don’t know the person you are now. You took yourself away from me. I can’t forgive that. And you made me someone who has to keep a secret I never wanted to keep. I was raised by someone who had so many awful secrets, and when I started my life as a Shadowhunter I wanted to do it openly, and honestly. But now I’m just someone else with secrets I can never tell. Just like my dad.

It makes me angry, so angry. I want to yell at you. I wish you were here so I could yell at you.

Kit