YA Author Appreciation Featuring: Cassandra Clare!

YA Author Appreciation posts are hosted by the wonderful Suz @ A Soul Unsung. Thank you Suz for featuring me on your blog!

"YA Author Appreciation Featuring"

Cassandra Clare

I grew up with three sisters, with me being the quiet, observant one.  I stayed quietly curled on the couch, with our dog Pepper in her dog bed, or in a willow tree for many of my childhood years. One of my best friends was my cousin. We would do so many things together; run in the cow pasture, walk in the crick, play on the fallen, moss covered trees that we deemed “the rain forest”. And every day of the summer that we were not dancing under willow branches or playing mermaids at the local beach, we rode our bikes to the library. Now, this was not your everyday, two block bike ride to get to our destination. This was a bike ride though the country, hill after gigantic hill, three mile ride, twice a day. But we did keep up with some pretty spectacular tans.

The library for me was a place that I was able to travel to new worlds and other lives that made my heart flutter. I spent so many days skimming my fingers across the spines and smelling the ink on the well-worn pages. The library was a gift, especially for a little girl who owned almost no books of her own.

As a teenager, I fell out of books and worlds of wonder for quite a few years. Having an after school job and a long-term boyfriend, I didn’t have much time to stuff my nose in a book. What I did try to read were adult books; my attempt to be an adult.

Some years later, after I married my now hubby, my aunt started me on the Twilight series. This was my first step into YA novels. But, it wasn’t until 2009 that I really fell into reading again. I had a job as a housekeeper at a nursing home and worked with some truly terrible people. Things in my life were not going as planned, and mine and my hubby’s year was just not turning out to be a good one.

During a trip to Walmart, I happened upon The City of Bone by Cassandra Clare. The cover jumped and yelled at me “Pick me up!”. So I did. And I never looked back.

I read the first three books in a matter of days. I tripped into these books head first, danced in the pages as the words of Cassie trickled into my mind. I dreamt about the world of Shadowhunters for days. I think it is safe to say I fell in love, and never came out.

In a way, Cassandra Clare helped me get back to my “dance with my imagination” mind set. I was always a bit of a dreamer. The characters in The Mortal Instrument books really struck a chord with me. Jace was funny, charming, and incredibly frustrating. I had never read about such a boy before, and knew that was the type of love interest my mind loved to read about. Her other characters are intriguing, well written, and incredibly rounded. Cassie’s writing is also a huge part that reached into my chest and swelled my heart. With heart stopping lines like, “There is no pretending," Jace said with absolute clarity. "I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there's a life after that, I'll love you then." And also fun ones like, “I don’t want to grow up, I want to be an angst ridden teenager who can’t confront his own inner demons and takes it out verbally on other people instead" (Jace) Cassandra Clare never fails to write fabulous words that make my heart fly.

I now always try to find books that have romances that could be similar to the one in TMI with Clary and Jace. Romance in YA has to be my most sought after and beloved books in the YA genre. But almost nothing can hold up to the romance in TMI.

The Steampunk series by Cassie, Infernal Devices, also has equally witty, fantastic, and frustrating characters that have found a place in my heart.

The Mortal Instruments helped really pushed me into the reading habits that I have now. After reading TMI, I began other YA books that grabbed ahold of my interest. Some of the first ones included Hush, Hush; Fallen; The Hunger Games. At first, I was a little nervous because I am an adult reading YA books. But, I realized that YA is not about your age. A good book is a good book, no matter what age it is “intended” to be for. YA books are pretty much my everything, outside of my hubby, work, and my family. Because of my love for YA books and Cassandra Clare’s brilliant writing, I found my way to the YA book blogging world via a post by Anna @ Anna Reads (Love Anna!). Here is her Cassandra Clare post that made my tummy tickle: *click me* I thought, “Hmm. I never knew this place existed. I wonder…”. And I took a chance. I started my own YA book blog; this was a huge leap for me. I do not leap often. But, I found this amazing world full of fantastic people who love the same things that I do. I am eternally grateful for my hobby, my followers and new blogging friends, and all the amazing authors that I have met along the way. I have had the chance to read some truly fabulous books and befriend some wonderful people.

And I have mostly Cassandra Clare to thank for this! Thank you Cassie for letting the world in to your wonderful words and your brilliant mind.