Yes, you read that right! As you all know, City of Fallen Angels will be released on April 5, 2011. It is under a strict embargo, so I obviously can’t give one away and send it out now, but read on to find out how a personalized, signed copy of COFA can be yours!

Most of you probably don’t know that I am a volunteer for the Harry Potter Alliance, an organization that strives to do good things in the name of Harry Potter. We have raised money for disaster relief, collected more than 50,000 book donations, and continue to work toward a better world each day.

During March, we at the HPA are working to collect books for a charter school in Brooklyn that lacks a library. While we are sure we will be successful in getting a ton of books for the children at this school, we are also hoping to go one step further and help them make this library a reality–by giving them money for shelves and other necessities. 

Where do you come in, you may ask?

This coming weekend (March 19 & 20), the HPA has partnered with Borders. For every purchase made with this coupon (which can be used both online and in stores), Borders will donate a portion of the money from that purchase to the HPA, which we will then turn around and give to the school.

You can order something online (pre-order COFA! Buy Clockwork Angel! Etc.!) or head to a Borders store and get yourself a latte. Any purchase made with the coupon will help build this school a library, no matter what size. When you make your purchase, keep your receipt. Take a picture or scan it in and send an e-mail to Submissions @ Mundiesource . net (without the spaces) with Borders Day in the subject line. If you just want to show the date on the receipt, that’s fine, too. As long as it is a purchase made on those two days, I’ll assume you’re not lying about using the coupon. Online orders are the same–just copy and paste whatever you feel proves your purchase.

You have until March 26th e-mail proof that you used the coupon. On the 27th, I’ll announce the winner. The winner is promised a copy of COFA, signed and personalized by Cassandra Clare when she comes to NYC on May 3 (tentative date). It will be mailed out as soon as it is signed.

Unfortunately, this contest is only open to US residents. But I have other things coming up that will be open internationally, so don’t fret, overseas fans!

If you have any questions, leave them below. I tried to be as clear as possible, but something here may be confusing.

Cassie just posted this on Twitter, saying she promised the Google Group something special when they hit 5,000 members. So here is a deleted scene from Clockwork Prince, with spoilers cut out.

The darkness came and went in waves that grew ever slower. Tessa was beginning to feel lighter, less like an awful weight was pressing her down. She wondered how much time had passed. It was night in the infirmary, and she could see Will a few beds away from her, a curled figure under the blankets, dark head pillowed on his arm. Brother Enoch had given him a tisane to drink once the [redacted] was cut out of his skin, and he had fallen asleep almost instantly, thank God. The sight of him in that much pain had been more harrowing than she could have imagined.

She was in a clean white nightgown now; someone must have cut away her blood-stiffened clothes and washed her hair before bandaging her — it lay softly over his shoulders, no longer twisted into rat-tails of tangles and drying blood.

‘Tessa,” came a whispered voice. “Tess?”

Only Will calls me that. She opened her eyes, but it was Jem seated on the side of her bed, looking down at her. The moonlight spilling through the high ceilings turned him almost transparent, an ethereal angel, all silver but for the gold chain at his throat.

He smiled. “You’re awake.”

“I’ve been awake here and there.” She coughed. “Enough to know I’m all right besides a crack on the head. A lot of fuss about nothing —” Tessa’s eyes dropped, and she saw that Jem was carrying something in his hands: a thick mug of some liquid that sent up a fragrant steam.

“What’s that?”

“One of Brother Enoch’s tisanes,” said Jem. “It will help you sleep.”

“All I’ve been doing is sleeping!”

“And very amusing it is to watch,” said Jem. “Did you know you twitch your nose when you sleep, like a rabbit?”

“I do not,” she said, with a whispered laugh.

“You do,” he said. “Fortunately, I like rabbits.” He handed her the cup. “Drink just a little,” He said. “It is right for you to sleep. Brother Enoch says to think of the wounds and shocks to your spirit as you would think of wounds and shocks to your body. You must rest the injured part of yourself before you begin to heal.”

Tessa was dubious, but she took a sip of the tisane anyway, and then another. It had a pleasant taste, like cinnamon. Barely had she swallowed the second mouthful when a feeling of exhaustion swept over her. Jem took the cup and she lay back against the pillows, listening to his soft voice telling her a story about a beautiful young woman whose husband had died building the Great Wall of China, and who had cried so much over his loss that she had turned into a silvery fish and swum away across a river. As Tessa drifted off into dreams, she felt his gentle hands take the cup from her and set it down on the bedside table. She wanted to thank him, but she was already asleep.

I’m on Team Jem, so I love it! What do you think?

Hi, everyone! In the weeks leading up to the release of City of Fallen Angels, there are going to be a few videos coming our way to build up the hype. The first video is embedded below and it catches you up on the first three books (and also totally makes you want to reread them for the next few weeks!). Check it out and let us know what you think! (The videos are done by VLC Productions. Let her know what you think, as well!)

Hey everyone! Cassie just posted the link to chapter one of City of Fallen Angels. It’s called “The Master” and you can click here to go to the page and read it in all its teaser glory! Check it out and then come back here and let us know what you thought!

Each day this week, one of the blogs linked below will post the same chapter with parts redacted. At the end of the week, you’ll have the full chapter! Happy Shadowhunting!

Monday	Mundie Moms
Tuesday	Wondrous Reads
Wednesday	Novel Novice
Thursday	Naughty Book Kitties
Friday	Story Siren

Hebel Design is doing a Valentine’s giveaway once she reaches 500 followers on Twitter. The prize–a “love” rune ring pictured left–will be given away to one of her followers who tweets @HebelDesign using the hashtag #LoveGiveaway.

For every 50 followers she gets over 500, she will increase the prizes. So if she gets 550 followers, there will be two rings to be given away, 3 rings for 600, etc.

The contest officially begins on February 7th, so don’t send your tweets just yet! But everyone should go follow @HebelDesign on Twitter. (And tell her that @mundiesource/@dorothydonne sent you )

If you had no idea that this fantastic Mortal Instruments / Infernal Devices inspired jewelry existed, I feel sorry for you. You should go here and see all the awesomeness that has been created.

Sorry for the double post today (and that this isn’t Jace casting news, which you all seem to want desperately). But hey, you all like contests, right? So get going!

Cassie just posted this cookie from Clockwork Prince on Twitter. Click here to go to the tweet or read it below. It’s Tessa and Jem.

They slowed finally at the southeastern corner of the church. Watery daylight poured through the rose windows overhead. “I know we are in a hurry to get to the Council meeting,” said Jem. “But I wanted you to see this.” He gestured around them. “Poet’s Corner.”

Tessa had read of the place, of course, where the great poets and writers of England were buried. There was the gray stone tomb of Chaucer, with its canopy, and other familiar names: Edmund Spenser, who had written The Faerie Queen, “Oh, and Milton,” she gasped, “and Coleridge, and Robert Burns, and Shakespeare —”

“He isn’t really buried here,” said Jem, quickly. “It’s just a monument.”

“Oh, I know, but —” She looked at him, and felt herself flush. “I can’t explain it. It’s like being among friends, being among these names. Silly, I know . . .”

“Not silly at all.”

She smiled at him. “How did you know just what I’d want to see?” 

“How could I not?” he said. “When I think of you, and you are not there, I see you in my mind’s eye always with a book in your hand.” He looked away from her as he said it, but not before she caught the slight flush on his cheekbones. He was so pale, he could never hide even the least blush, she thought — and was surprised how affectionate the thought was. 

She had become very fond of Jem over the past fortnight; Will had been studiously avoiding her, Charlotte and Henry were caught up in issues of Clave and Council and the running of the Institute —even Jessamine seemed preoccupied. But Jem was always there. He seemed to take his role as her guide to London seriously: they had been to Hyde Park and Kew Gardens, the National Gallery and the British Museum, the Tower of London and Traitor’s Gate. They gone to see the cows being milked in St James Park, the fruit and vegetable sellers in Covent Garden, had watched the boats sailing on the sun-sparked Thames from the Embankment. And as the days went on, Tessa felt herself unfolding slowly out of her quiet, huddled unhappiness over Nate and Will and the loss of her old life, like a flower climbing out of frozen ground. She had even found herself laughing. And she had Jem to thank for it.

“You are a good friend,” she exclaimed, and when, to her surprise, he said nothing to that, she said, “At least, I hope we are good friends. You do think so too, don’t you, Jem?”

He turned to look at her.

Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Cassie just released the placeholder cover for Clockwork Prince. The final cover is scheduled to be released at Book Expo America in May.

The cover’s background shows Temple Bar on Fleet Street, near the Institute. The star of this cover will be Jem according to what Cassie has already told us.

Cassie also included a quote from CP:

“What desperation drove you to me, in the middle of the night, in a rainstorm? What has changed at the Institute? I can only think of one thing…” – Magnus

I don’t know about you, but I totally dig the placeholder covers (if you didn’t notice, we also have them for City of Lost Souls and City of Heavenly Fire!). I can’t wait to see Jem own it! What do you all think about it?

(PS: Just something to think about: By the time this cover is revealed, we all will have read City of Fallen Angels! Rejoice!)

Please keep in mind that there has been no official confirmation of Alex Pettyfer signing on to The Mortal Instruments, so all information should be taken with a grain of salt and considered “possible” until we get word from Camp Alex or Camp Screen Gems.

Now that that pesky little disclaimer is out of the way, let’s look at what we’ve got as evidence!

Yesterday, Alex Pettyfer’s IMDB page was updated to list The Mortal Instruments (2012) as a project he was working on. It is listed as being in pre-production–which fits because filming is currently scheduled to begin in April (according to our Clary, Lily Collins).

In relation to the IMDB page, it should be remembered that anyone with an IMDB Pro account can log in and add/change cast members to/in a project. So this isn’t as concrete as many people would think. However, given all the press he has been doing lately (for I Am Number Four) in which the subject of The Mortal Instruments is raised, it wouldn’t be surprising if this edit was official and merely preceding an announcement.

Also updated yesterday was Pettyfer’s Wikipedia page, which was edited to read something along the lines of “Alex Pettyfer accepted the role on January 25, 2011″ but the text has since been deleted and now reads:

Sources also say that he has been offered the part of Jace Wayland in the upcoming portayal of Cassandra Clare‘s best selling book, City of Bones. No news if he has accepted the part yet.

Some believe that all of this news about Alex is coming in order to build hype for his appearance on Ellen this Friday, January 28. Since it isn’t uncommon for show hosts to ask guests about upcoming projects, the Ellen Show would be a perfect opportunity for Alex to make all of the rumors official if he has in fact accepted the role.

Alex has spoken about the books and the character of Jace to MTV’s Holllywood Crush. The two corresponding videos and interviews can be found here and here.

What do you think? Will there be an announcement on Ellen? Will there be an announcement, ever? Or do you think the coy “maybe, maybe not” act is just to garner attention for his current project? Let us know in the comments!

Cassie has just updated her LiveJournal to give us all some awesome news! The City of Fallen Angels audiobook will be narrated by two readers: Chuck Bass Ed Westwick and Molly Quinn. I have to say that I’m very excited about Ed Westwick and I’ll certainly be picking up this audiobook!

About this voice casting, Cassie had the following to say:

Chuck Bass Ed Westwick! Sorry, Gossip Girl is my secret love and Chuck especially so, as I have mentioned before, so I’m going to keep doing that. I hope he can bring his classic slightly evil drawl to Jace’s sarcastic lines. I also have to say I am looking forward to him reading Magnus.

Cassie also added the following about Molly Quinn:

[She] is already a fan of the books,, has great comic timing, and is cool enough to wear a Star Trek uniform to ComicCon.

So altogether let’s just say I am super excited! Looking forward to recording starting.

Cassie says the male points of view (Jace and Simon) and Clary’s point of view split pretty evenly in the novel, so it makes sense to have both a male and female reader.

I’m excited! What do you all think?