I have just finished re-reading the first three books of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. I first read these books in 2009, and completely devoured them within about two days. This time, I took my time, and spent the energy that the series deserved to read it. I can honestly say that I will never ever stop buying Cassandra’s work… well, that’s as long as she keeps writing and publishing!

I love Cassandra’s work. She spends time developing the characters, just to show you that they are not perfect, but that you can relate to each one of their flaws on the character level.

Her genre style is Urban-Fantasy, which is the same genre that I am trying to write a series in. In Book Three of the series though, she does flip into the more Fantasy side.

But regardless of all this, I want to write like her! I first started writing the Talent series in June 2009. When I read her series at the end of 2009, I thought ‘Wow, I want to be just like her – but with my own stories and characters.’ Her writing is inspiring. I didn’t feel this way when I read the Twilight series, or even the Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. Not like this. Of course there are similarities throughout all these books, in that they deal with love, adventure, good people, bad people, the unwavering bonds of friendship, and the supernatural – in a sense. But this… is different.

But what makes her different as a writer? I really and truly believe that it’s Cassandra Clare’s ‘voice’. No character sounds the same, yet her narrative style flows throughout the books, linking them together in a lovely familiar way. And that’s what I want to achieve within my own work.

I want to have a lovely, familiar voice for my characters to dance around. And I’m hoping this will be the same voice that will wrap itself around my readers to guide them on their journey through my worlds.