A to Z Reflection

Well it's the 3rd day in May and you ask for an A to Z Challenge reflection. Soooo...here it is .
This was my second year I signed up for the A to Z Blogging Challenge. My theme focused on book characters in the entire Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward.

I made an A to Z list of characters and scheduled all my posts, that way, it's easier to edit and write the letter of the day in advance. You don't even need to write anything as long as you have a title . It also makes me feel more organized.

If you don't know how to do that here is a blog tutorial on how to schedule your posts.

So anyway, I'm glad I'm not going for popularity because I fail at it so badly. I didn't think my posts were that exciting or very creative either, but at least a character was portrayed for each letter and it did take time to put together. Through the process I read the novella about Zhadist and Bella and their daughter Nalla and re-read Lover Awakened and Lover Reborn. So I did study up on my subjects :p

The best part was, I met some fabulous peeps. Laeli (is a beautiful name) who blogs about her adventures in running. I met her pretty early in the challenge because she was listed in the 1300's roughly the same block I was in lol.  She also visited me and commented even though paranormal romance isn't her type of genre, she still made the effort to comment on my blog and I appreciate that so much . I also love her posts. She is from Edmonton I think? I'm from Calgary and I know I was meant to discover her because I needed to start exercising and her blog has very useful and interesting information.

Another blogger I met personifies a cute little hedgehog. His name is John Boswell. I think he's a character in some book he helped put together. Click here to see I enjoyed reading his blog and commented on his fancy food of the day.

Samantha May @writingforcollege says: "It's okay to zag when everyone else zigs." That's the story of my life and damn straight it is! She is studying for her psychology degree and wants to be a writer and has some pretty good and sometimes practical advice to share . I thought it was brilliant!

If you haven't visited these blogs than allow me to encourage you to click on their blog links and tell them I said hello.

Well, the opportunity to participate in this years A to Z Challenge has come and gone and I want to thank  everyone who added their blog to the longest linky list I've ever been a part of or seen for that matter .

Kudos to The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence) and Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons) for doing a bang up job hosting and commenting on my blog :)

Z is for Zsadist

"I was dead until you found me, though I breathed. I was sightless, though I could see. And then you came... and I was awakened.- Lover Awakened, p.424

Stolen as an infant, enslaved, raped, beaten, gang raped, beaten and raped some more for a couple hundred years before being horribly mutilated in the course of his rescue and reunion with his brother, Zsadist has a paralyzing fear of sexuality as a result of his time being used a sex slave. Oh, and his parents are dead.

He is repeatedly described as being "enormous" below the belt or otherwise regarded by others with a sense of envy and/or awe. Zsadist initially believes he is defiled forever, to the point of not wanting to touch his daughter because she'll "get it on her."

Lover Awakened: Zsadist's Story

A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion—until he rescues a beautiful aristocrat from the evil Lessening Society.

Bella is instantly entranced by the seething power Zsadist possesses. But even as their desire for one another begins to overtake them both, Zsadist’s thirst for vengeance against Bella’s tormentors drives him to the brink of madness. Now, Bella must help her lover overcome the wounds of his tortured past, and find a future with her…

Y for Youtube Characters

I've included this youtube video of some of the other characters in the series, because there isn't a name that begins with Y. Yes, we've seen Autumn and Layla already and aren't they pretty. The Band of Bastards aren't as ugly as I'd imagined. Xcor is supposed to be so ugly, the women will not even look at him. I still like him. Ever since he let Payne go after he'd learn the truth about the bloodletter, it showed he had some brains at least.

X is for Xhex

Xhex's story is told with John's in Lover Mine.

Xhex (pronounced Hex ), daughter of No'One/Autumn, is a half sympath masculine female. She is Revhenge's second in command. Xhex is also mated to John Matthew (Tehrror). She was named by Darius.

Xhex was conceived by her mother after she was raped by sympaths near/during her needing. Unlike Revhenge, her father was a common sympath, not royal nor aristocratic. Xhex controls her sympath side with cilices on her thighs. 

Xhex is an assassin by trade, a profession she enjoys, but for most of the series, she works as head of security at Revhenge's club, ZeroSum.

Xhex and John's romance is, to say the least, a rough one, but one with a happy ending.

Roughly 20-25 years before her involvement with John, Xhex was involved with another Black Dagger Brotherhood warrior- Murhder- who disobeyed orders not to go to the sympath colony where she was being held captive. He is believed to have gone insane after hearing that Xhex is part sympath.

Symphath: Subspecies within the vampire race characterized by the ability and desire to manipulate emotions...

W is for Wrath

by Violetfey

What doin? Wrath, the Alpha male has to make all the tough decisions being the leader. Now that the Band of Bastards are on the scene, the throne is at stake. Xcor wants to take it over but imo that will never happen.  Meanwhile , Wrath has had two assassination attempts on his life and Xcor is guilty of one attempt . Wrath is also the center and focus of the next novel called 'The King" that is due out next year. He and Beth will be trying to have a baby. Anyway he is fully blind, and his dog, George, walks with him everywhere he goes in the mansion. He doesn't go out at night to fight anymore either.

Book One: Dark Lover
Wrath's Story

The only purebred vampire left on the planet, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But when one of his most trusted fighters is killed- orphaning a half-breed daughter unaware of her heritage or her fate - Wrath must usher the beautiful female into the world of the undead… 
Racked by a restlessness in her body that wasn't there before, Beth Randall is helpless against the dangerously sexy man who comes to her at night with shadows in his eyes. His tales of brotherhood and blood frighten her. But his touch ignites a dawning hunger that threatens to consume them both… 

V is for Vishous

Vishous is semi Divine being the son of the Scribe Virgin, the deity vampires pray to in his universe. He also has a twin sister named Payne.... Vishous, who is well-read and the most intellectual of the brothers, enjoys bondage. When he reveals this to his surgeon shellan, she is highly disturbed. However, after a session in V's "penthouse", she comes around to the idea.

Vishous is also the resident genius and is in charge of communications and security at the compound. Having a hand that glows, it was one of the two legacies his mother the scribe virgin had given him. It would be a strong weapon against the bloodletter at least .

His hand was like a flamethrower and nuclear bomb, capable of melting any metal, turning stone into glass,  and making a kebab out of any plane, train, or automobile he pleased.

He was a valuable and important asset especially to Butch O'Neal the Dehstroyer. Vishous is one of my favorite brothers.

Book Five: Lover Unbound

Vishous' story 

Ruthless and brilliant, Vishous son of the Bloodletter possesses a destructive curse and a frightening ability to see the future. As a pretrans growing up in his father's war camp, he was tormented and abused. As a member of the Brotherhood, he has no interest in love or emotion, only the battle with the Lessening Society. But when a mortal injury puts him in the care of a human surgeon, Dr. Jane Whitcomb compels him to reveal his inner pain and taste true pleasure for the first time- until a destiny he didn't choose takes him into a future that cannot include her.

Undead Ulstead

Black-Dagger - A Lesser

I have to laugh at how utterly hilarious and stupid Lessers have become. Mr. X, the forelesser is usurped, when Mr.O doublecrosses him. Then Ulstead - the calm undead guy with a head on his shoulders manages to become Mr. O's right hand man ,  but is later killed simply because O's tired of him and the Omega favors O more than him lol irdk. They do seem to have problems with management though.

The lessers look like albinos with white hair and eyes. They smell like baby powder and have black blood running through their veins.

U appears in Lover Awakened.

Dawn was just arriving as U walked up to the cabin and opened the door. He slowed as he stepped inside, wanting to savor the moment. The headquarters were his. He had become the Fore-lesser. O was no more.- Ch.39 page336 Lover Awakened

T for Tohrment

source

Tohrment, son of Harm, is a Black Dagger Brotherhood Warrior and the mated of Wellisandra and Autum (No'One). Tohr's story is told in Lover Reborn.

“Where were his shellan and their young? Where was Darius? Where were all the others who had pared off from the trudging path his boots still strode so that they could take residence in the velvet ever-after life of the Fade? Did they watch what happened down here? Did they see what transpired, both the good and bad? Did they miss those they’d left behind? Did they know they were missed? …He shook his head as he stared at the closed door. You never knew the last time you were seeing someone. You didn’t know when the last argument happened, or the last time you had sex, or the last time that you looked into their eyes and thanked God they were in your life. After they were gone? That was all you thought about. Day and night.” -Lover Mine (Tohrment) 

He is the biggest disappointment of all . Upon hearing that his beloved shellan died, he just ups and leaves everyone in a tornado of destruction leaving everyone behind thinking he was dead.  It was a long time before we heard from him again. He was hauled back, emancipated and almost dead, by the angel Lassiter. I also hated Tohr and Autumn's relationship. It wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for Lassiter.

Wellsie was his first wife and they were going to have a baby until Mr. O , the lesser who kidnapped Bella , shoots wellsie in the head, and that's when things went downhill for him.

S for Scribe Virgin

The Scribe Virgin , Annalise, is the mother of the vampire race. Mother to her blooded children Vishous and Payne. Sister to the evil Omega and mortal enemy. When in her presence you must conduct yourself accordingly. With respect and never ask questions. Be extremely polite and make sure to include the phrase, "If it would not offend..."

"My apologies, I know there're a lot of grammar errors here but I didn't do it."

R is for Rhage

Rhage is the most handsome and the strongest of the Brothers. He has blond hair, and neon blue-green eyes, and a square-cut jaw. When he gets mad he unwillingly becomes a type of godzilla , ferocious beast because he was cursed by the Virgin Scribe. She cursed him for accidentally killing a white owl and sentenced him to 200 years with the beast. He has a tattoo on his back like a serpent that actually moves , creepy. He falls in love with Mary Luce as does his beast. Just the tone of Mary's voice soothes and calms the both of them.

He also loves tootsie pops.

Rhage, Son of Tohrture aka Hollywood

Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetites. He's the best fighter, the quickest to act on his impulses, and the most voracious lover-for inside him burns a ferocious curse cast by the Scribe Virgin. Owned by this dark side, Rhage fears the time when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him.
Mary Luce, a survivor of many hardships is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world and reliant to Rhage's protection. With a life-threatening curse of her own, Mary is not looking for love. She lost her faith in miracles years ago. But when Rhage's intense animal attraction turns into something more emotional, he knows that he must make Mary his alone. And while their enemies close in, Mary fights desperately to gain life eternal with the one she loves...

Q for Quay

Quinn + Blay = Quay 

Quinn comes from an aristocratic family of the glymera , who disowned him because of something so trivial as having two different colored eyes. How shallow. He has one blue and one green eye.           

After slicing Slash's throat defending his friend John Matthew, his family accuses him of murder, but through a political loophole, Wrath saw that he could become John's personal bodyguard aka ahstrux nohtrum ; his protector.

He becomes a strong fighter and is very loyal to the brothers. He once saved Wrath from Xcor's (pronounced Core) assassination attempt and again this time he fly's a plane in order to get Zsadist safely home in one piece and that is considered honorable and deserves recognition. Indeed , he is inducted into the Black Dagger Brotherhood. 

Blay has always known he was gay and that he had strong feelings for Quinn but it took a long time for Quinn to realize that he is in love with Blay, his best friend. 

Let me just say that Layla will not be losing Quinn's baby thanks to Blay. He asked Payne to heal her and she did. Awww that was nice of him and Payne.

Keeping Saxton and Blay's break up from Quinn was plain mean. I did not like that at all.

Book 11 - Lover at Last

Qhuinn, is used to being on his own. Disavowed from his bloodline, shunned by the aristocracy, he has finally found an identity as one of the most brutal fighters in the war against the Lessening Society. But his life is not complete. Even as the prospect of having a family of his own seems to be within reach, he is empty on the inside, his heart given to another.... Blay, after years of unrequited love, has moved on from his feelings for Qhuinn. And it’s about time: The male has found his perfect match in a male. It’s hard to see the new couple together, but building your life around a pipe dream is just a heartbreak waiting to happen. As he’s learned firsthand. Fate seems to have taken these vampire soldiers in different directions... but as the battle over the race’s throne intensifies, and new players on the scene in Caldwell create mortal danger for the Brotherhood, Qhuinn finally learns the true definition of courage, and two hearts who are meant to be together... finally become one.

P is for Phury

Phury and Zsadist are twins, but were separated as infants. Their nanny kidnapped Zsadist and sold him into slavery. Phury takes it upon himself to find him, and takes a vow of celibacy after he finds him. He shoots himself in the foot just to be able to free himself to save his brother . He is handicapped now and wears a prosthetic foot. He also has an enemy within him who is a Wizard. In order to shut the voice of the wizard up, all he can do is smoke  -  red smoke [opium?], and dull himself with drugs. He becomes addicted and eventually needs detox.

Book Six: Lover Enshrined 

Phury's story

Fiercely loyal to the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Phury has sacrificed himself for the good of the race, becoming the male responsible for keeping the Brotherhood's bloodlines alive. As Primale of the Chosen, he is to father the sons and daughters who will ensure that the traditions of the race survive and that there are warriors to fight those who want all vampires extinguished.
As his first mate, the Chosen Cormia wants to win not only his body but his heart for herself- she sees the emotionally scarred male behind all his noble responsibility. But while the war with the Lessening Society grows more grim, and tragedy looms over the Brotherhood's mansion, Phury must decide between duty and love.

O for Omega

The Omega is the Ruler of Dhunhd (hell) and is the Scribe Virgin’s brother. He is the evil god that wishes to destroy the vampire race out of spite and envy.

Unlike his sister, who was given a one time gift of creation , the Omega takes bad humans and turns them into Lessers . So basically, his weapons in destroying the vampires are the lessers.

The lessers (usually rapists, murderers and criminals) are inducted to become undead by having their heart ripped out and placed into jars and the Omega’s blood pumped into them. His blood is black and they smell like baby powder. He rapes them and from then on they don’t eat or sleep and can’t get it up, so that nothing distracts the lessers from the Omega’s mission.

He is evil, sadistic, genocidal - and literally an animate figure of living darkness. He’s also gay.

The Omega brought Lash into the world as his weapon against the Dhestroyer prophecy. Remember Butch O'neal the Dhestroyer? Butch has the ability to suck the essence of the lesser into his mouth and the idea is when all of them are destroyed in like fashion the Omega will also be powerless. But, Lash was born of a human female and is somewhat of a failure to the Omega so far.

N for Nalla

Zhadists and Bella's favorite time is spent reading to their daughter. Nalla's favorite book is "Oh, the Places You Will Go" by Dr. Seuss

Father Mine: Zsadist and Bella's Story: A Black Dagger Brotherhood Novella

Amazon

As a former blood slave, Zsadist bore the scars from a past filled with suffering and degradation until Bella came along and helped heal his emotional wounds. Now, though, with the birth of their child, the demons of his past have been resurrected, called forth by the innocent eyes of his beloved daughter, Nalla. Unless Bella and Nalla can bring him back with their love, he may be lost to them forever.

Basically it's about Z not knowing how to deal with being a Father. He was afraid when Nalla would start asking questions about his scars on his face and wrists and back, would she hate him? Only in his dreams. His scars didn't matter to her, like they didn't matter to his Shellan Bella, because babies only need their fathers love and boy did she have her daddy wrapped around her little fingers once he allowed himself to look at her! Rhage's shellan, Mary, was the one who taught Z to read and write and in this story she also counselled him through his fears so he could be a better father.

M is for Manny Manello

Lover Unleashed #9, is probably my favorite book in the series because I really like Payne and Manny. They make a perfect couple.

Payne is paralyzed when sparring with Wrath and Manny is called in to help her. Manny is Chief of Surgery at St. Francis Hospital and is 45 years old. He used to be Dr. Jane's boss and he was romantically interested in her. I like him because he doesn't take any guff from Vishous, Payne's brother, but he did have his memory wiped clean twice

Manny discovers Payne can be healed by having sex.

He is also a vampire/human hybrid, like Butch, but chose not to go through the transition because of the chance it might fail. Manny is technically Butch's half brother.

Book Nine: Lover Unleashed Payne's Story

Payne, twin sister of Vishous, is cut from the same dark, warrior cloth as her brother: A fighter by nature, and a maverick when it comes to the traditional role of Chosen females, there is no place for her on the Far Side… and no role for her on the front lines of the war, either.
When she suffers a paralyzing injury, human surgeon Dr. Manuel Manello is called in to treat her as only he can- and he soon gets sucked into her dangerous, secret world. Although he never before believed in things that go bump in the night- like vampires- he finds himself more than willing to be seduced by the powerful female who marks both his body and his soul.
As the two find so much more than an erotic connection, the human and vampire worlds collide … just as a centuries old score catches up with Payne and puts both her love and her life in deadly jeopardy.'

L is for Layla

Layla is a chosen female who kind of makes bad decisions and messes everything up . She is also quite dumb imo. She is having Quinn's baby [stupid mistake] meanwhile becomes very acquainted with the traitor Xcor [big mistake] , head of the Band of Bastards. In fact, he loves her, and it would be interesting to see if he and his merry men ally themselves with the BDB.

K for King

Introduced as the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Wrath later assumes the role of king of the vampire race.  Book 12 is going to be about Wrath and is due out sometime in 2014 . It will be called The King. I think J.R. Ward is saying Wrath and Beth will be having a baby .

J is for John Matthew

John Matthew is the reincarnation of Darius of Marklon. You can read about it in book 1: Dark Lover. When The Scribe Virgin rewarded Darius by letting him be with his daughter Beth, he had to sacrifice the power of speech - Dark Lover Page 385 Chapter 54 He was born with the Brotherhood’s star-shaped scar on his chest and has seizures everytime he is close to Beth which proves that he really is Darius; not to mention he has no vocal chords. There are other clues, like, he is left handed.

Born in a public bathroom and raised in an orphanage, he is the most written about, and his book is Lover Mine. His shellan is Xhexania who is a Symphath. All his life he seemed very maladjusted and the fact that he couldn't speak made it worse. To communicate he used sign language and wrote things down on paper. I didn't care for him other than the fact he was Darius incarnated because I didn't understand him.

Book Eight: Lover Mine 

John/Tehrror's story

John Matthew has come a long way since he was found living among humans, his vampire nature unknown to himself and to those around him. After he was taken in by the Brotherhood, no one could guess what his true history was- or his true identity. Indeed, the fallen Brother Darius has returned, but with a different face and a very different destiny. As a vicious personal vendetta takes John into the heart of the war, he will need to call up on both who he is now and who he once was in order to face off against evil incarnate.
Xhex, a symphath assassin, has long steeled herself against the attraction between her and John Matthew. Having already lost one lover to madness, she will not allow the male of worth to fall prey to the darkness of her twisted life. When fate intervenes, however, the two discover that love, like destiny, is inevitable between soul mates.

I is for iAm

Trez and iAm are brothers and are called Shadows or Moors. iAm is the quiet one. They are both royal members of the s’Hisbe of Shadows (suh-HEEB), but we still don’t know what that means other than they are both very strong and very powerful. They make up Rehvenge's private guards who stand outside his office and watch over things at ZeroSum.

iAm runs Salvatore’s Restaurant . The previous owner ran up some major gambling debts and exchanged ownership of the restaurant in order to cancel his debt to Rehvenge and his continued good health. iAm insisted that the sauce recipe be included in the deal. Under his management, the place actually turns a profit. With Rehvenge’s ‘staged suicide’, iAm inherited Sal’s, while Trez got the Iron Mask.   iAm was once in love with a female Trez has never met and it left him feeling miserable. He doesn’t talk about it.

H is for Havers

Havers is the vampires doctor/surgeon. He is Marissa's brother, however he declared that they were no longer family when he evicted her from the family home. He runs a clinic in his basement for all of the species, he also works in conjunction with his sister, referring possible cases of domestic abuse to Safe Place. Havers once attempted to have Wrath killed (before he rose to the throne) because of how he treated Marissa during their nonsubstantial mating.

source wiki

Havers wears bow ties because he thinks they are more dignified, more refined.