Cassandra Clare, real name Judith Rumelt, is the American author who wrote the bestselling young adult series collectively known as The Shadowhunter Chronicles.

Personal lifeEdit

Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Tehran. As a child, Clare traveled frequently, spending time in Switzerland, England, and France. Clare returned to Los Angeles for high school (Windward School), and from then on split her time between California and New York, where she worked at various entertainment magazines and tabloids including The Hollywood Reporter.

She is also friends with author Holly Black, and their books occasionally overlap, Clare mentioning characters from Black's novels and vice versa, such as Val and Luis from Black's Valiant. She is also said to be a fan of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga, even making fanfiction for it at one point.

The Mortal Instruments seriesEdit

In 2004, Clare started working on her first-published novel, City of Bones, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan. City of Bones was released by Simon & Schuster in 2007.

City of Bones, a contemporary fantasy story revolving around characters Clary Fray, Jace Wayland, and Simon Lewis became a New York Times bestseller upon its release. City of Ashes and City of Glass completed the trilogy. In 2009, a fourth installment, City of Fallen Angels, was announced, and published on April 5, 2011, which is actually the start of a second Mortal Instruments cycle. City of Lost Souls and City of Heavenly Fire will follow. She said this new cycle is going to be focusing on the same characters as in the first cycle, as well as a few new characters we will meet in the new books.

In 2009, Clare also announced a new series of prequels called The Infernal Devices set in the same universe as The Mortal Instruments, but in the Victorian era. This series is planned to consist of three books: Clockwork Angel, released on August 31, 2010, Clockwork Prince, released December 6, 2011, and Clockwork Princess, released on March 19, 2013.

The Mortal Instruments series has been optioned for film by Unique Features and Constantin Films. First-time writer, Jessica Postigo, has been hired to write the screenplay, based on the first book in the series. Lily Collins has been cast as the lead role of Clary Fray, and actor Jamie Campbell Bower has been cast opposite her as Jace Wayland.