Who Can Tell Me More About Cassandra Clare?
So I know The Mortal Instruments started life as Harry Potter fanfiction, but that's about it. Was anyone around when it was fanfiction and reading along? Was that her penname? Dare I say it, does anyone have a copy of the old works saved somewhere you can send me, just from pure interest's sake? Was it called the Draco Trilogy? I'm trying to work
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I've dipped in and out of fandom ever since it began, and only transferred to Harry/Draco in about 2004, pre that I was quite Harry/Ginny still... That's why I want to read the Draco Trilogy though because everyone chalks up "cool Draco" and "sexy Draco" etc (the leather pants) to these stories. So if this is where my fandom version of Draco that I know and love originated I definitely want to know about it!
I've actually read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell over six months ago now and I really loved reading it. I actually thought it was quite an original concept, to write about us, the fandom readers and writers and the life of an assumed "typical" fangirl. I haven't read Carry On yet though and would like to. I guess Carry On is another thing all together because yes, that definitely is Harry Potter fanfiction haha!
The comment that made me doubt Cassandra Clare was that the Fanlore page mentioned she pulled whole sections from an out of print fantasy novel "The Hidden Land" by Pamela Dean. All the other references to pop culture like Buffy etc would be fine to my mind, but full on pulling a section of a novel is too far. If she actually did it - this is just going off what Fanlore said. We all have influences from the things we consume around us, and we may even want to chuck in a statement or two that other well known figures have said where appropriate. But the actual prose always needs to be your own. IDK that's just my thoughts.
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I think when Cassandra Claire made use of quotes from published books, Buffy and used other popular culture references, it was never meant to be more than playing around with quotes and words. It was only later, when she had become a BNF because of the Draco trilogy that it became a problem. Obviously, she should have referenced the quotes etc. then.
But there has been a lot of hate directed against Cassandra Claire, and even today people disregard her as a writer because of the long-ago plagiarism charge. Personally, I think it sucks. She did and does write her own prose, and even when I am not a huge fan of the Draco Trilogy, the fanfic has captured the imagination of a whole generation of Drarry fans. If I remember right, it's well-written and fun reading.
I saw Cassandra Claire a few years ago in person at a reading in Germany. She struck me as a very shy and introvert personality. Appearances can be misleading, of course, but personally I feel she did not deserve all the shit fandom put her through. Again, my two cents only. :)
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I think you're right I don't think she deserved the heat she's gotten over it. Fandom is meant to be fun and welcoming and accepting. Also, the very nature of it means we're taking something else that someone created and using it to our own ends - so we're all plagiarisers really. I know we put in disclaimers, state it's all for fun and not for profit, but at the end of the day we're still skipping the hard steps of character development and world building, and operating in someone else's space. Mixing in other fandoms into a story isn't a new thing either - everyone does it. I think the hate stems from pure human jealousy at her success if I'm perfectly honest.
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