Infernal Devices: Clockwork Fandom

Hello All,

I hope no one logged onto this in the desperate hope that I had any kind of new information about Cassandra Clare's upcoming Clockwork Princess book (March 19th, 62 days from this very moment), because, unfortunately, I don't. I just have a lot of love and emotions.

So I just re-read Angel and Prince, and I've been going through Clare's blog posts about CP2 and I just need to say that I have no idea how this story is going to end and I'm very anxious about who lives, who dies, what the HELL Tessa really is, and WHO SHE ENDS UP WITH!

 Art Source: cassandraclare.com

I've never had a story stay with me for so long after finishing the book than I do with Clare's Shadowhunter stories. I have friends that don't really like the Infernal Devices, but I love them; the uniqueness of the unfamiliar customs, locations and traditions of not just another country/continent but of another century brings a new level of detail and intricacy to the storyline.

I love the characters; Tessa starts out insecure and unsure of herself, but is constantly loyal to her beliefs, and incredibly independent, as well as smart/sassy and funny. She doesn't let Will or Jessamine's bad attitudes get her down, just counters them with sass (boo ya!).
William Herondale is an interesting beast; he feels everything with a passion that I didn't understand the first time I read through the books, and I "get it" just a little bit more now, but I'm still caught between finding his emotional extremes reckless or endearing.
James Carstairs; OMFG I LOVE JEM. He's soft spoken but never lets anyone speak over him, he's kind and thoughtful and he's not self-pitying, despite his very valid excuse. I know that Clare has pretty much set up this whole story for him to pretty much die in the middle of it, but I'm pretty sure I will mourn his literary loss like an actual dead friend instead of a fictional character, because I want Jem and Tessa to be together with an absurd passion that won't leave me alone.
I mean, to me, their relationship just sounds so much healthier than a relationship with Will would be. From the first moment Tessa meets Jem, she becomes happier, like a weight is lifted off her shoulders, and as their friendship grows, absence from him grows from missing him to an almost physical hurt. Her first kiss with Jem is described as breathing air, while kissing Will leaves her breathless -last I checked, it was really really good to breathe. Jem is consistently caring and thoughtful, and his obvious affections are shown gradually, with more regularity.

I didn't start this post as a "reasons why I want Jem and Tessa to be together" update, I just wanted to gush about the books in general, in the hopes that it will stop distracting me for a few weeks so I can start classes and my show and my internship without wondering what will happen in a book I won't see for another 60+ days.

Maybe I'm crazy, but does anyone else kinda read books and, like, picture them in your head like they were playing out like a movie? Well, that's how it happens in my head when I'm reading, and when I read the Infernal Devices, everything has this not-quite sepia filter, but like everything's covered in a sort of Steampunk fog/smog. It adds another level of interesting to my reading of the books, because I've never read anything Steampunk before, but it's just one more thing that endears me to these books.

I like meeting all of the Shadowhunters with names that we recognize, like Lightwood, Fairchild, Herondale, Wayland, etc. and wondering how we get from these characters to the ones we meet/will meet in 2008/2012. It's also really interesting to get this new level of Council and EnClave politics that we only peek into in the Mortal Instruments series.

I need to end this post somewhere or it will never be finished. So here it is: I love these books, I love Clare's writing and stories, and I will be impatiently waiting for March 19th to arrive.

Thanks for reading,
Amy Liz

UPDATE:

OMG THE INSIDE COVER JACKET SUMMARY OF CLOCKWORK PRINCESS HAS BEEN RELEASED, CAN'T FUNCTION OMG

here it is, for those who are curious

Uneventful Day

Hello All,

Today was completely uneventful and has me begging for the fast-paced lifestyle of my Boston school life. I don't even care that I will obviously need to do homework and classwork and lots of boring textbook readings while I'm at school, at least I'll be working, and I'll have my friends back with me, and I'll be doing SOMETHING productive!

I was really sore from the gym the last two days, so I took a day off today, and I think it really messed with my day's motivation, because I told myself that I was going to write at least 10 pages of one of my stories, but I got down maybe two pages of one story, and then I started to switch to another but I got distracted by a twitter video from Disney and from the fast-fading light of the day outside, and it's difficult to write in bad lighting.
Also, am I the only person in the world who still writes their stories in a notebook? I realize this probably makes finishing something that much longer to accomplish, but I just feel like it's more personal and more a part of me and my mind and my soul if I take the time and energy to carve it out on lined paper and pen ink. Don't you? Or am I just being a sentimental, tree-killing fool? Even if I am, it will probably take a long time for me to change my ways, anyway. Probably the only that could give me a motivation to do such a thing is a VERY high paycheck, and even then I'll probably still try to write as much as possible down in my favorite college-ruled notebooks.

I've also learned something today:
Writing while watching movies/tv is not very productive, writing-wise. Its just plain distracting, and it throws off your focus and makes it difficult to concentrate on either project, the story or the movie, and you just waste time. Music has a similar affect on me, unless it's wordless background music. If there are words, and I know them, I won't be writing, I'll be singing, and I can't do both.

I'm watching Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" right now and it's SUPAH cute! Love this movie so much.

also, just saw this commercial when I signed on to YouTube to look for the "Spirited Away" commercial. Cute and it gets right down to the point, plus I LOVE FUNIMATION Studios!

That's all, I guess.
Oh! Also, I finished "Clockwork Prince", by Cassandra Clare, and I think it's my favorite. I am in love with Jem. I'm only very scared that he won't get a very happy ending in the last book, "Clockwork Princess," but I hope to God he does -he's my favorite character right now, and I really think that if Tessa could man up and give him a chance, she and Jem could be very happy together.
But anyway, you should read the series. Start with "City of Bones" and go on from there.
It's an AMAZING series.

That's all,
Thanks for reading!
Amy Liz