Scrapbook

Contains a reading from CLOCKWORK PRINCESS as well as a few City of Lost Souls spoilers and some questions relating to City of Heavenly Fire. Also some mentions of how the casting for Magnus and Simon is coming along.

It cuts out mid-answer at the end because my poor camera’s battery died after putting up a valiant fight. You only miss half the answer and my question which was to Maureen about Alexander Newman, so nothing for MI and ID fans there.

Also apologies for the lighting and that my camera doesn’t focus on Cassie, it is my old faithful camera that somehow still works despite how many times I’ve dropped it but lacks technological advancement. So Sarah Rees Brennan and Cassie’s husband appear as looming black phantoms in the wings while Maureen Johnson practices her throwing arm on unsuspecting fans.

All the artwork here is (c) to me and is not to be used or reproduced in any way

Characters (C) Charlotte Freyja and Ashleigh London

The music is ‘You are loved (Don’t give up)’ by Josh Groban, an amazing artist whose work I enjoy very much.

Like The Name of the Star, 13 Little Blue Envelopes was a book I picked up because I was (and subsequently have) going to meet Maureen Johnson and it’s not really the sort of thing I read but I stuck with it.

First of all, we’re introduced to Virginia ‘Ginny’ Blackstone., who has recently learned that her artistic Aunt Peg has died and has been directed to a package containing, you guessed it, 13 little blue envelopes (well 12 considering the first one lead her to the package). The rules are as follows:

Each envelope must be opened in order and can only be opened after the task in the previous envelope has been completed. Envelope one contained $1000 for a one-way ticket to London from New York, a passport and a backpack. So, armed with her purple and green back pack filled with a practical assortment of essentials recommended by guide books she wasn’t supposed to have read, Ginny embarks across Europe following the instructions in the letters and each time learning a little something about her runaway-Aunt.

In London Ginny stays with Richard Murphy at his house in Islington in Aunt Peg’s old room. Whilst there she meets Keith, an older, kilt wearing and slightly excentric student of the arts when she buys up all the tickets for hisStarbucks: The Musicalunder the instruction of one of the letters. From there Ginny is whisked up to Edinburgh to meet Aunt Peg’s artistic idol Mari Adams who gives Ginny a temporary ink tatoo or a lion on her shoulder which she endeavours to keep for as long as she can.

From there it’s Virgins in Rome, a cafe in Paris, Knapps in Amsterdam, windmills, karaoke and endless sun in Denmark, then it’s doubling back to Venice to jump on a big red boat bound for Greece.

But then disaster strikes and Ginny’s bag is stolen and inside it was the mysterious 13th envelope unopened. Having kept her barclycard and passport in her pocket she’s able to withdraw her last 40 euros and called Richard who gets her back to London. Keith visits and as Ginny is explaining her Aunt’s favourite painting to him, a print of which is hanging in her room, she finds a key behind it. A key that opens a cupboard in a Harrod’s store room Richard would let Aunt Peg into (he works there) to paint, revealing a collection of Aunt Peg’s work and a business card with the words CALL NOW on it.

Ginny then finds herself in an auction house watching the paintings be sold and wonders if it’s the right thing to do. Richard says the paintings show the end of Aunt Peg and that’s not how they should remember her, he also reveals that he and Aunt Peg were married, which makes him Ginny’s uncle. The collection sells for £70, 000 (c. $133, 000) and leaves Ginny in a daze of what to do with it.

In the end she decides to do what Aunt Peg never did, go home.

In the end of the book Ginny writes a letter to Aunt Peg, a letter it’s clear she knows she can’t post to anywhere but sums up her feelings over the month long journey she’s made.

‘At the same time, you pulled off this incredible trick. You got me over here, made me do all of these things that I’d never have done otherwise; And I guess even though you were telling me what to do, I still had to do them on my own. I always thought that I could only do things with you, that made me more interesting. But I guess I was wrong. Honestly I pulled some of this stuff out of my butt. You would have been proud. I’m still me…. I still find it hard to talk sometimes. I still do incredibly stupid things at inappropriate moments. But at least I know I’m capable of doing some things now.’

In summary, although Keith does appear in London, Edinburgh and Paris as the romantic interest his presence isn’t much else felt and Ginny is often unsure of where she stands with him. This is a change from the ‘girl falls for guy everything is perfect candyfloss and paper hearts for everyone’ mental state and makes Ginny more relatable. That said, the romance isn’t the focus of the book, it’s Ginny’s journey and the letters. Admittedly I got to the end of the book and it didn’t really feel like an end, it didn’t feel like a story, it felt like I’d just read a book about a month of Ginny’s life with little visible change in her. But maybe that’s the point.

13 Little Blue Envelopes takes a girl out of her comfort zone and shows her it’s okay to make mistakes, these things happen and life goes on but in a very subtle way. Ginny hasn’t faced monsters or near death experiences or romeo-and-juliet perils of the heart she’s just faced life and come out the other side knowing a little bit more about herself and what she’s capable of. A whole world of opportunity has been opened up in her eyes, not just by the money, but from the sheer act of doing what she’s done. From that perspective this book presents not only en enjoyable read but a learning experience and I’d recommend it.

There is now a sequel where I believe the purple and green backpack has been found with the envelopes inside entitled The Last Little Blue Envelope. It will be on my to-read list this summer.

“Well I basically stuck to me mother’s advice about cake baking. Which is line the bowl with butter, always use a warm spoon and if it’s a really special event…

.

.

.

get it at Marks and Spencers.”

- Calender Girls

So once again I baked cakes (they were not bought at M and S) for Cassandra Clare’s London signing, tickets still available here (2 for 1 deal and all), baked a day early as I have to head up to the London MCM Expo in about 5 hours and I don’t think the hotel room comes equipped with an oven.

“Black for hunting through the night
For death and sorrow, the color’s white
Gold for a bride in her wedding gown,
And red to call enchantment down.”
― Cassandra Clare

You can see some of my attempts at shadowhunter runes were more succesful than others. I rarely draw these on the computer never mind with temperamental icing pens. My apologise that they look like random squiggles D:

Also tried to do the shadowhunter family rings…as cakes…with limited success.

And and…since I actually knew that Maureen Johnson was going to be there I made her a special 13 Little Blue Envelopes inspired cake. Had to use purple instead of navy as I didn’t have navy icing. Still need to finish that book.

Finally I did (attempted to do) Sarah Rees Brennan’s Demon mark. This is because I didn’t even know she existed let alone that she’d be at Cassandra Clare’s signing last year. So this is a belated cake, whether the rumours be true that she will be there tossing bras onto the stage or not, if not, I’m sure Cassie would eat it in loving memory of Sarah.

Donna Tartt (via amandaonwriting)

Response:

(via sarahreesbrennan)

WIP2~

WIP~

cassandraclare:

 Under this cut are spoilers for City of Lost Souls, but also an in-depth discussion of sexual assault as it pertains to books in general and The Mortal Instruments in specific, with a discussion of rape culture and rape myths. There is also an excerpt from a scene that contains a violent physical assault. 

Read More

I don’t reblog, but I reblogged this because it SHOULD be read by AS MANY people as possible.

So went down the printers today to get the Team Good (collab with Aromaninvasion) poster printed 8D

Taking it up to London to be signed by Cassandra Clare on Saturday woooooo

This poster will then be auctioned for Reading is Fundamental, and ALL profits will go to the charity.

The poster will be in a plastic wrap inside a cardboard postage tube to insure it will arrive at it’s new home uncreased and intact.

Art by Street-Angel and Aromaninvasion
Characters belong to Cassandra Clare

So the reason I bought this book was because I’m going to a signing in London next weekend for Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson so I thought I’d check out some of the latter’s works. This will actually be the second time I’ve seen Johnson, the first time was because I was in the area and nearly got run over by a fire truck, so I was sat at the back of the room (this was October 2011, maybe some of you were there?) listening to her talk about ghosts and not really knowing what was going on. I had intended to try and get a copy of The Name of the Star there but there was a veritable flood of eager tweens so I slipped away.

It has to be said horror and paranormal isn’t what I usually go in for, the last time I read a ghost related series it was Meg Cabot’s Mediator series which I can remember liking at the time but I couldn’t tell you anything about it now, apart from the fact that the girl falls in love with the ghost and it ended happy because it wasn’t going to end sad.

The Name of the Star is written from the first person perspective of Aurora ‘Rory’ Deveaux who goes from Louisiana to Wexford, a mixed-sex 6th form college (-college here meaning “school for seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds.”) with two houses (dorms), Hawthorne for the girls and Aldshot for the boys. Rory touches down in London on August 31st in the wake of a murder ‘in a manner emulating the first Jack the Ripper murder of 1888…’

Now I went to a school like Wexford so I’m sure you’ve had that feeling reading a book that’s set on familiar turf and comparing the experience. I think Johnson managed to capture the atmosphere and explain it and make it relatable for anyone who hasn’t had that experience. You’re also reminded just how current this book is when one of the characters, Charlotte, wears Amy Pond’s kissogram outfit for the fancy dress party. She’s only been a companion since 2010.

Back to the book, Rory nearly chokes and it’s explained that a near death experience combined with a pre-disposition has left Rory with the ability to see ghosts. On September 8th, the date of the second Ripper murder, Rory and dorm-mate-turned-best-mate-Jazza are sneaking back into Hawthorne and Rory sees a man that Jazza can’t.

After this Rory and Jazza gain a new roomie, Bhuvana ‘Boo’ Chodhari. Shortly after Boo arrives Rory finds herself getting mixed up in a world she never knew existed and on top of that, the ‘Ripper’ turns his attentions on her.

Although an interesting idea I personally found the book a little slow to start, not that we weren’t getting a feel for Rory and there was plenty of information and facts about the original Ripper murders that even someone who hadn’t heard of Jack the Ripper could follow, but once Rory did get in on the behind the scenes action she was met with a wall of ‘classified information’. Being from her perspective that means the reader doesn’t get a lot of answers until the other characters decide to hand them out.

Then we have Stephen, Callum and Bo, Johnson’s answer to the ghost busters armed with the terminus disguised as phones instead of large back packs. We get near death experience back stories for Stephen and Callum and glimpses of their personalities and how they interact as a group but I wonder if we saw too little of them to really get to grips with them or real feel the suspense when the action hit. That said, a sequel novel is set to follow, The Madness Underneath.

Then there’s Alistair and Jo. Alistair appears to haunt the library and has read every book at least twice, well most of them, and seems to be there to provide dry wit and homework assignments while Rory gets herself into trouble. Jo is Boo’s friend and the British army’s last active soldier from the Second World War, still in her uniform, still defending the East End.

It’s not very well explained exactly what ‘ghosts’ are or how they come back and this is swept under the ‘we don’t fully understand it yet but we know we have to deal with it’ rug but not necessarily in a bad way. The science behind this fantastical element is somewhat brief but that could just be because Johnson plans to expand on it, no need to play all your cards too soon. However the public reaction and the reactions of those close to Rory, even of Rory herself, to the Ripper-madness is very realistic, believable and relatable. It helps to keep the story grounded and the reader finds themselves believing it could all be possible and that it’s happening to them right along side Rory.

On it’s own The Name of the Star isn’t enough but it definitely works as the opening to a series. Johnson has lined up a diverse and intriguing cast, with one or two last minute surprises thrown in at the end of The Name of the Star that have set up The Madness Underneath to be a truly can’t-put-it-down read.

A note on the cover art, I have the cover on the right and I really like it, it has an eerie feel to it and draws you in. Although the cover on the left confuses me, the only red-head I remember was Charlotte, head girl at Wexford and veritable pain in the ass, unless I missed something? Though I believe Rory was described as dark haired and I’m assuming it is her on the right hand cover, I’m not sure what the left hand cover is meant to convey about the book? I’ll never know, oh well.

If a glimpse into the paranormal brushing up against every day life is your thing, with a little bit of suspense, horror and history thrown in then you’ll thoroughly enjoy this book.

Team Good by *Street-Angel

So you may remember my ‘City of Lost Souls Anticipation Week’ drive, well, it was ‘shamelessly’ copied from me by ~ookamikaze where he took 5 requests over on his tumblr [link] (shamelesslypromoteallthelinks).

I sent him a message saying ‘shamless indeed, we should do a collab in honour of the ocassion’ and zomgosh he agreed 8D So then he said he’d had a request for the main 6 in battle poses so we decided to split the work between the two of us. Since Jace was his favourite and Magnus was mine that was easy, I took Clary as the other main, we split the Lightwoods and he’d always wanted to draw Simon so it worked out pretty easily.

We have been beavering away behind the scenes to bring you this, we were originally hoping to have it up on the 7th of May with ‘Can the Lost Be Reclaimed’ on it but then we missed the deadline and got caught up in READING City of Lost Souls. Then we discussed putting the City of Heavenly Fire tagline on instead and it fitted the feel of the picture better so that’s how we ended up where we are.

The background was all Alex’s idea and handiwork, I just did the shadows.

Now you know what these were building up to 8D:


This was, I believe, my first true art collab, isn’t that exciting? 8D There was much back-and-forth-ing via drop box and this thing is so big it nearly broke both our photoshops.

So yes, onto this charity poster business, we have asked Cassie and we have her full support (she even wants a copy). Bidding will start at £10.99 and ALL profits will go to Reading Is Fundamental. Where and when bidding will commence will be finalized after the poster has been signed by Cassie next weekend when she is in London as part of her UK tour (all other tour info can be found here [link] ) so keep your eyes pealed for updates.

Until after the sale of the poster the watermark/advertisement/wordspam across the center will remain. After that a higher quality, unmarked version will be re-uploaded.

Izzy, Simon and Jace were illustrated by ~ookamikaze
Clary, Magnus and Alec were illustrated by *Street-Angel

Izzy, Simon, Clary, Jace, Magnus and Alec belong to Cassandra Clare

~Enjoy

dsilza asked: Um okay WOW. I loooove 'Just See It My Way.' Gorgeous! But I thought I'd let you know, you sparked a massive idea/inspiration with the way you drew Emma. In the book I'm writing my main character has red hair, and I just got such a better image of her with similar hair and woww! thank you! :P

Good to know 8D

To Your Mark by *Street-Angel

Seraph blade, seraph arrow is all the same thing yes?

Alec Lightwood being bad ass B) Has to be said, he was pretty damn bad ass in City of Lost Souls. Give him Hawkeye’s bow from the Avengers and gay, straight or bi I might just have to jump him.

Just kidding.

Alec belongs to Cassandra Clare.

Partner piece to Cyanic:


Click through for full colour. Please do not remove the click through links, or the links to the original on DA.

Just See It My Way by *Street-Angel

Emma, stop talking.

Emma and Stephan belong to Charlotte Freyja

What I was listening to: [link]

Nothing wrong with a bit of diversity.

Cassie Clare recently made a post on Tumblr regarding white washing in books and hollywood which is something we should all be against. Personal taste is fine but removing diversity all together should be discouraged actively.

Inspired by this I thought I’d do a piece of my characters Stephan and Emma as racial discrimination is a big issue in the story. Stephan is bi-racial and proud of it, but it’s also a huge hang up for him because he’s constantly being told he’s not good enough because of it.

Enjoy~