Cassandra Clare - Personal Life

Personal Life

Judith Rumelt was born to American parents in Tehran (Iran). Her parents are Elizabeth and Richard Rumelt, who is a business school professor and author. Her maternal grandfather was film producer Max Rosenberg. As a child, Rumelt traveled frequently, spending time in Switzerland, England, and France. Rumelt returned to Los Angeles for high school, and from then on split her time between California and New York, where she worked at various entertainment magazines and tabloids, including The Hollywood Reporter.

While living in Los Angles Judith began writing fan fiction using the name Cassandra Claire. Her The Draco Trilogy based on Harry Potter and The Very Secret Diaries based on The Lord of the Rings were popular. she deleted her fan fiction from the Internet shortly before her first published novel, The City of Bones, was published under the name Cassandra Clare.

She is also friends with author Holly Black, and their books occasionally overlap, Clare mentioning characters from Black's novels and vice versa, such as Val and Luis from Black's Valiant. Clare is Jewish, and has described her family as "not religious".

She currently resides in Amherst, Massachusetts, with her husband and three cats.

Judith is also credited with creating the "City of Fallen Angels treatment" where a "letter" from one character to another is attached to the back of a book. The goal is to spur print book sales.