WARD JR - LA CONFRERIE DE LA DAGUE NOIRE - Tome 11 : Lover at Last - NEWS, SPOILERS

Barnes & Noble

Cincinnati, OH

March 31, 2012

Welcome to the “un-official” notes from the Lover Reborn Book Signing. I’ve taken them as detailed as I can and hope I caught it all for ya. It was moving fast and furious and I had to “write” them since my laptop’s battery was down for the count.

As with my notes before from other signings, the other attendees are welcomed to add any additions or clarifications to them. Please mark the additions or changes you make with your name. Almost all the submitted questions got answered. But, rather than segregate them out, just look through and you should see your desired answers.

Now, this is the OFFICIAL WARNING… if you have NOT read the book (and all the latest of the Angels series) and you don’t want spoilers…. TURN BACK NOW and STOP READING… because, YES, there are spoilers. Gotta love the WARDen. And, now for the notes:

There were about 1,000 people in attendance. The WARDen actually arrived early for a change and she tried really hard to sign all the books, but unfortunately, she pooped out in the 700s. Many were disappointed, including some of our own BDBLovers group with numbers starting at 893 [picture compliments of Kimberly Flathers].

This year, they tried moving the signing into the music room area. This allowed them to set up more chairs, but it locked about 1/3 or more of the people outside in the main store area – stuck trying to hear over the divider wall and unable to see anything. That is a shame because you have to keep your eyes on the WARDen as half of the entertainment comes from her antics, expressions and “hand gestures” (usually of the lewd or suggestive variety).

But, she felt really bad that not all the books could be signed. So, for the next two books (Angels in the fall and Brothers in the spring), she will do TWO local book signings and hopes that makes up for it. No details yet where the other book signing will be, but it is anticipated that one of each will be at this Barnes and Noble location again.

Also news, this year, they FILMED the book signing and some of the audience members before it (including your author of these notes ). The word is that clips from it will be posted on her FB page and her website. So, keep your eyes opened and be sure to sound the alert if you spot one.

This book signing started off WILD from the get-go. A guy in the audience was dressed in leathers and had his body tattooed with his brothers’ names in the Old Language. He had been displaying them to the screams, cheers and cameras of the women in the audience… and blushing a brighter red than when Qhuinn realized the meeting with the King & everyone was about him.

Well, when the WARDen arrived….

(sorry blurry, she was moving fast...)

The first thing all her fans did was shout out about the fella in leather… so he stood up on his chair again and did a display for her too…. And the WARDen said “Let me say on behalf of all the ladies here… That does NOT suck!” Wild cheers.

Then, of course, she asked “Gee, does anyone have a question for me?” Everybody is waiving, leaping and frantically trying to get called upon… Who is the next book?

She pumps a hand in the air and shouts out....

*crowd erupts*

Yes, a full book, not a novella! She cannot tell us the title yet (Publisher said no), but it will NOT be "Lover Goes Down". LOL (A question I wish I’d thought to ask and will ask in the fall at the Rapture signing… Who will be on the cover of B&Q’s book?)

I didn’t really get it but someone asked about V’s urge to kill and whether that made him like a Wookie? (editorial comment: Really?!? What were they smoking while waiting for the signing to start?) The WARDen seemed a bit confused by it too saying “Are you comparing V to a Wookie? He’s not that hairy.” Then, the WARDen did say that she was, however, a Star Wars fan.

Why was there no bonding scent from Tohr for No’one nka Autumn?...

The microphone interrupts making a loud screeching noise and the WARDen says “My ass is setting this thing off.” Then our own, Phillip Checketts lets out a loud “Wooooohooooo!” and the WARDen loves it!

Now back to the question… When they bond and their mate passes, the thing is that scent is really just for ONE person. So, they don’t get the bonded scent again. They can still love another, but no bonding scent. As for No’one and Tohr…. “Fucking Jerry Maguire – She completes him.”

The scene with the gown made her cry.

Graphic novel? Not in the plans right now and that will be up to her publisher. Right now the WARDen has her hands full (suggestive hand gesture down low at groin level).

Will we see Muhrder soon? Maybe not in Blay & Qhuinn’s book, but we will see him again. She doesn’t know whether it will be this book or the next.

Will the Sympaths play a role? Yes, she thinks so. The Band of Bastards is going against Wrath. What will unite the two? There must be a greater common enemy. The enemy of my enemy… If that does happen, what will that do to Rehvenge, King of the Sympaths? That’s interesting. I don’t know, it will get complicated.

Why don’t you know? Why does it sound like someone else is telling you these stories? Are you really writing them or what? The WARDen says the way her process works is that these stories just come to her. It’s like she is the first reader as she is experiencing and writing them.

Will there be a 3-way between Blay, Qhuinn and Layla in the next book? The WARDen says she’d want to ask that girl “Are you fucking nuts?” *laughter* She says, no way! If I did that “People will come to my house and puke on my front lawn (or front door?).”

Will there be any other 3-ways then? Maybe. She just wants us to know that size is not the only thing that matters. *suggestive expression* Then, oh great, my Mom is here. Yes, she’s so proud of me. *laughs*

Will Wrath and the glymera get their shit straight? “Wrath has his shit straight.” “Can I get a witness?” *cheers*

Does Assail have any sympathy in him? Interesting. How can you do things, go outside during the day? She likes to wonder about who his tribe is and where he is from. She doesn’t know if he is a part-sympath, but she likes his taste in cars.

Will we meet Butch and Manny’s father? I don’t know. He has not transitioned and is probably a ¼ or ½ male. Right now he’s pretty busy banging nurses and running around to all the hospitals around the country.

There will be books for Trez (whose will be controversial) and Iam (he seems more calm on the surface, but we will learn that still waters run deep).

When will John Matthew be inducted? There will be an induction very soon, but not him. Keep your eyes opened in the next book.

Will there be a movie (repeat question from past)? I’m focused on the books right now. Besides, how can we possibly cast the Brothers? They’re huge. Then, she adds, but there are plenty of women on my staff who answer that “We could fucking try!”

Layla has the hots for Xcor, but she’s pregnant with Qhuinn’s baby, how do you think that’s going to go? “Not well. What do you think?” *laughs*

Rhage and Mary’s novella is almost over. But, it will NOT be published until after Blay & Qhuinn.

Will Saxton have an HEA? “Who?”, she says. Then, she bites her nails. Then, she says “I’m not going to answer about Saxton right now.” Then, she answers for us “You suck!” and replies, “That his [Saxton’s] job!”

Lassiter says he will never love again, but will he? He WILL get his own book, absolutely. But, she doesn’t know now whether it will be in the BDB or Fallen Angels series. That’s why she shouldn’t say anything about what will or won’t be for the future because she always thought she’d keep the two series separate and that Lassiter would only be in the BDB. But, then the brothers kept showing up in the angels books. There have been many cross-overs and so now she has doubts whether or not Lassiter will cross over to angels series.

Another repeat question from past signings… Will John Matthew find out he is Darius? No. It was a condition of the deal with the Scribe Virgin and it would confuse him too much. Tohr would go from being his father to his brother. He only had Wrath for a friend before and now….

What was the “bat shit” moment? Qhuinn sleeping with Layla. (editorial note: Really? That’s it? Was anyone really surprised or bat shit by that? My God, it was so obviously foreshadowed in the previous books)

We will find out what was looking for Lassiter in the Insider’s Guide, but she doesn’t know when.

There will be a new Insider’s Guide, but probably not until after another 3 to 4 books.

The Scribe Virgin is still in her place even though we haven’t been seeing her. The WARDen is not sure what it will take to bring her back. It must be something powerful. Perhaps if Wrath is in peril…

Will Wrath rewrite the old law to update for modern circumstances? The WARDen replies “What do you think Saxton’s doing in the library, besides …. I may never use Pledge again to clean furniture … when someone can see the face of God and leave a shine?”

Eddy? Will we see him again? She wants to see him get hooked up with someone and not just random banging in bars. It must be an extraordinary event to bring him back. It’s creepy that they are keeping him there behind the walls in the garage even if he does smell like flowers. Yes, we will see him again.

Is there going to be another fade ceremony? “Wasn’t one enough? You know someone has to die to have one.” Then, she decides she’s not going to answer that one.

When is Jose de la Cruz gonna find out about the brothers? The WARDen wants him to run into Butch again and not lose his memory this time.

For the training center to re-open, there first must be a social regroup, the vampires must feel safe enough to return to Caldwell, and the must have something to believe in before it will resume.

At the fade ceremony, the scarification of Wellsie’s name was marked over with a mourning symbol of loss. The mark is to show grieving.

The WARDen says We all make mistakes. I may make mistakes. Butch can dematerialize? No, he can’t. I have an explanation for that, but it will bore you.

Tohr will properly mate Autumn fka No’one and her name is going to be under Wellsie’s on his back. It will be a true mating even without the bonding scent. Autumn is a special kind of lady. She is okay with second place to Wellsie.

The reason we have not seen Butch vaporizing the lessers is because it is very draining on him. In intense rapid battles, he must save time and energy by just stabbing them.

Audience member suggested that if a movie gets made, the WARDen should retain the rights so she can control it. And, she should put it on cable so that it can be longer like a miniseries. The WARDen said cable, heck I want to use the Spice Channel! How about pay-per-view?

Where is Qhuinn’s brother? We will learn in Blay & Qhuinn’s book. But will he be a vampire or a lesser, she asks? I can’t help but remark, does that mean we may think “less” of him? She laughs, but then says, how could we? He beat up our man.

Butch’s ancestor is related to Wrath, so they call him cousin. But, it doesn’t mean it was an immediate relative, just somewhere in the bloodline.

Where can we get Lassiter’s movie? She laughs. Then says, she imagines the scene when Tohr looks up and sees the boobs bouncing on Lassiter’s chest. He must’ve wanted to go blind.

Are Wrath and Tohr related? Not in any meaningful way.

Are Wrath and Xcor related? Definitely NOT... going to answer that. LOL But, the look she gave….???

How detailed on the intimacy will she get with Blay & Qhuinn in their book? She replies “How frontal do you want them to be?”

A Zsadist subplot during Blay & Qhuinn’s book is possible.

AGAIN ANOTHER REPEAT QUESTION *sigh* What are the coffins in the garage? Who are they for? She thinks they must be for the original brothers from the Old Country. Thinks but is not sure.

When will we see Ahgony, Phury and Cormia’s child? He was born 5 years after this so probably not for a few books.

Wrath is bonded in some manner to the Scribe Virgin.

The other book [Tohr’s was the first – because not sure how readers would react to his loving another & a major tearjerker] she dreads writing is Blay & Qhuinn’s because of reader expectations being so high now.

Blay & Qhuinn’s book opens as a flat out tear jerker. A profound, earth-shattering moment opens the book.

Michael from Story of Son- will he ever come back or will his kids have any ties to someone in the BDB? Can’t answer, keep reading.

Will there be any new and unmet characters? Eventually maybe, but doesn’t want to get the aperature too wide. Too many characters dilutes the story.

This is one of the reasons why she is enjoying the novellas. She gets to go back to some of the characters and really get inside them again and focus on them.

When John Matthew first saw Beth and Fritz he had a seizure because even though the patch job the Scribe Version did on his memory was blocking him from remembering them, his feelings for them were so strong it caused a short circuit. As he is around them more, it lessens and he no longer has that problem.

Are Rhage and Zypher related? They are so alike. She sees parallels, but is not sure. She still can’t believe that Rhage was bragging about being the bigger whore bag than Zypher. Would you really want that to be what you brag about?

Throe is the son of the original brother, Throe.

She doesn’t know whether Payne will be able to heal anyone. She may step in from time to time, but not regularly. If she could heal the brothers anytime, they would be invincible and there would be no “conflict” – without conflict, there is no story. She thinks it must either be limited in how often she can use it or it must be able to run out with a finite supply. The best thing she likes about Payne’s ability to heal is that Boo & George – no actually Boo is not worried about that shit, she doesn’t know and is not gonna say what Boo is, but death isn’t a problem for Boo – but George can live forever because of Payne.

She may never show when V and Jane are mated in the books. It is suggested by the plot line, but she cannot write all the sideline details to every story.

What was the favor that the Scribe Virgin demanded of Wrath in book 1? She has an idea, but we will find out later. It does play a part in later books.

They ask AGAIN what will happen with Layla and Qhuinn since she wants Xcor. The WARDen says “She’s fucking pregnant! She wants to bang the guy who wants to kill the King!” What do you think? It’s not going to go well. (editorial comment: Duh!)

Your favorite scene in Lover Reborn? There were many: “Hop along holly can I play with your tail?” Lassiter behind the bar singing Orgasm, Orgasm, Orgasm. Lassiter watching Maury yelling “you are the father”. Lassiter bringing Big Macs. Autumn fka No’one looking at the field of snow. It gets cold and blue up there, if you didn’t know, and the shadow comes out. Lovely. Many pants down moments.

The WARDen says “I balled my eyes out writing this book.”

People loved Wellsie. They need to believe in an HEA and that it is still forever. But, she also wanted her brothers to be able to find love again.

Will Tohr and Autumn have a child? She doesn’t know. Autumn’s already had Xhex and she’s not sure that Tohr would want to go through that again.

Tohr will probably not see his dead son again until he is in the Fade. That is why Wellsie stayed there. She didn’t want to leave their son alone in the Fade.

Will Lash be back? She grins. Then she claims the mike is broken. *laughs* (This is also a repeat question… but this time, she answered it…) He was not inhaled by Butch, he was stabbed back to the Omega. So, yeah, he will be back.

She will NEVER tell what V meant when he said the WARDen lied to him, but it is true. She will also never print something again, like that, which she is unwilling to answer. But, no matter how many times we keep asking this, she will NOT answer it.

The other Chosen are still there and they will step up to assume Layla’s feeding duties now that she’s pregnant. But, what the WARDen really wonders is if there will ever be a functioning Primale (pronounced prih-mah-lee) who actually sleeps with them again. She also commented, to many cheers, that she needs to put up a pronunciation guide on Facebook.

She said of people who don’t like Layla, you don’t even know her yet. She doesn’t even know herself. She’s just now coming out of the cult-like mentality of the Chosen.

Why do V & Lassiter hate each other? She hopes to explain that sometime.

Even though there was no Fade Ceremony for Throe’s sister, that does not mean that she did not go into the Fade and does not mean she is stuck in between. That is just what they believe. It’s also bullshit that you can’t go to the Fade if you commit suicide. The Fade ceremony is just for the survivors, it’s not really for the dead.

Another LOUD screech from the microphone/speakers. WARDen: “My ass is on fire!” Phillip Checketts: “Woooooo!” WARDen: “Can we book you for every signing?” Crowd goes wild with laughter and cheers.

You will see Marissa a lot in Rhage and Mary’s book. The WARDen really likes her and Butch.

Throe & Xcor both want Layla. How is that gonna go? Again, not well. “Shit is not going to go well.”

Will there be more battle-ready women? I wonder that too. Maybe when the Training Center re-opens.

She cannot tell us the name of Rhage and Mary’s baby right now. But, she got a kick out the audience suggestion of Rhampage. She thinks that would be a perfect name for a two year-old, but cannot take suggestions for copyright reasons.

Will Wrath have an heir? “What do you think the novella about Wrath and Beth’s baby is about?”

Qhuinn will have a LOT more visions.

Will John Matthew, Blay and Qhuinn ever all be inducted together? Not the kind of 3-way she was picturing. *laughs* Answer is a big keep reading.

Someone from the audience says “I need you to answer a question.” WARDen “What the fuck do you think I’m doing? Is this just a dream?”

There will be a delay in consecration of the matings because of the Scribe Virgin’s absence right now.

All Vampires get the names of their mates on their back. No, she will NOT tell us whether or not Blay and Qhuinn will get eachother’s names on their backs.

Did Tohr love No’one before Wellsie? At that stage in their lives, No’one was not receptive to that and Tohr was not in a place to do that either. She thinks if they’d had longer together, they would have grown to that with time.

Wellsie tried to spearhead a return to traditions, but that movement got lost with her death and the raids.

The Brothers have not been on her message boards much because she needs to focus time on writing books.

In the angels, the score is still 2 to 1 even though Mathias is coming back. Devina is just getting dinged for cheating.

The Scribe Virgin would or will sanction the mating between Blay and Qhuinn.

Yet again, one of our own gets her attention as she calls on Phillip Checketts for a question by saying “That guy who talks about my ass” and Phillip yells out “It’s all about your ass.”

How will Saxton feel about rewriting the laws to allow Blay and Qhuinn to be together? It is hard because he loves Blay. Then, Phillip adds “One more quick question about your ass?” She laughs.

Lessers may or may not be in the next book(s), they turn up as the story allows.

How did Xhex and Muhrder meet? Muhrder’s got a secret and that’s why it’s hard to know when to bring him back.

There will be a heartbreaking, tearjerker moment in Beth and Wrath’s novella when he wants to know and can’t see…. What are the color of his baby’s eyes?

Another annoying repeat question? No, no, f-ing no (okay… that is my addition ), but no, Wrath will not regain his sight ever.

A funny moment. The WARDen realizes she keeps bending over and flashing her chest to the audience. Then a woman tells her “That’s all right, we can’t see ANYTHING.” The WARDen flips her off after joking that she knows she’s flat chested.

Yet another repeat question… No, Manny will not risk transition to become a brother/vampire because you can die.

There was a youtube video she talked about before the book came out. Folks wanted to know who or what the video was about. It is V seeing Lassiter on youtube doing a flashmob dance to Rianna’s Umbrella song.

The final question: There were four brothers who went thru the war camp. We know three are Darius, Tohrment & V. Is Muhrder #4? “Maybe. And we’re going to end on that note.”

And, with that, JR left the building...