Fantasy fiction writers Cassandra Clare and Holly Black on inclusivity in their books: ‘You have a place in this world’

Fantasy fiction writers Cassandra Clare and Holly Book were recently in the Philippines for their King and Queen book tour — Holly having written the “Wicked King” and Cassandra, the “Queen of Air and Darkness — presented by National Book Store.

The two sat down for an Ask Away episode with Kapuso host Lyn Ching, where they explained the amazing deal of inclusivity, diversity and representation found in their books.

According to Holly, it is both a conscious effort and “a reflection of our lives and our friends. What we’re doing is reflecting the world we see around us. And it’s good to have representation of our fans and friends in our books.”

Cassandra shares her readers have actually become an inspiration for her. “In creating my first book, I was able to go around and meet fans, talk to them and you see this incredible diversity of your fans, you want to be able to reflect back to them that diversity and say, ‘you have a place in this world.’

“If you love 'The Shadowhunters,' if you love the world of 'Magisterium,' you are represented in this world…we have a character who has autism, someone who is trans, multiple LGBT characters and different ethnicities. I want to be able to hold up a mirror to my fans and say, all of you belong in this world.”

The two admit to receiving backlash for doing so, especially in the beginning of their careers. “I used to get those emails…never from kids but from parents and sometimes even from teachers saying ‘it’s dreadful that you included these characters.’

“And I would just think, but those people exist in real life. I hope that those people really take a look at your attitudes and think about how could it be bad to be telling people that they deserve a place in fiction?’” Cassandra said.

“It is immensely frustrating. There is this sense that they owned the idea of morality. But this is an expression of our morality. This is what we believe in and we believe it every bit as strongly as you believe that. And what you believe is terrible,” Holly laughs.

“The Wicked King” is a book in a series about Jude who is trying to find a place for herself. She is a human who is being raised by the murderer of her parents and she needs to keep her younger brother  safe.

“Queen of Air and Darkness” follows the story of Emma Carstairs. She’s lost her parents, and paired with her best friend Julian, hunts those who caused the death of her parents. It is the third and final book of The Dark Artifices trilogy. — LA, GMA News