Be sure to click the above link to be directed to Barnes and Noble’s website, in order to pre-order a signed copy of Anne Rice’s upcoming Vampire Chronicles  installment Blood Communion, being released October 2nd, 2018

Writing a farewell post is extremely difficult, something I’ve purposely held off now for a score of months. I admittedly do not know the first way of writing something befitting, or even appropriate, to fully describe the baggage of mixed emotions, dread, but strange equanimity in accepting the necessary inevitability of this blog’s close.

For over a year I staved off the inevitable, ignoring and forgetting the existence of this blog, not wanting to finalize anything. Oh sure, I wrote one or two posts on my Facebook fan page for this blog, as a way of being dutiful by making sure all were aware that there is a reasoning behind the sudden cessation of any content on this blog. No, it has nothing to do with existential crisis, no cataclysmic identity crisis of varying proportion, just a mundane acceptance that my passion has led me elsewhere. I was finding it harder to articulate my feelings about books in the same enthused manner as in the past. Writing book reviews become laborious versus enjoyable, drudgery for the sake of feeling temporal self-satisfaction that I made sure to keep the content coming. And see, this is why I didn’t want to write a departure post because then I would delve into the boring mundanity, the ridiculous Woody Allen-esque pedantic nature of writing a post trying to explain just why you felt closing this blog was a necessity  (he always has one such character in each of his films, films I’m not a big fan of).

And then I realized the simple reason why I was holding back from writing this, why I had so much indecision about  formally ending the blog. It felt suddenly personal: the wonderful, unforgettable connections I’ve made with some of the most amazing writers and publishing house representatives, the many friendships formed, that sense of tenuous connection with a wider world of reading. And above all, a deep, abiding respect for the writing of Anne Rice, a writer that has shaped me into the person whom I am today, the person whose writing granted me internal serenity in my own identity and a feeling of being anchored and belonging in a dizzying, paradoxical world. It felt absolutely right then to end my blog on a note of deep gratitude for Anne Rice’s work by celebrating the upcoming release of Blood Communion, the end of a small trilogy of books that updated the situation on the tribe. A trilogy that achieves the impossible by tying together so many disparate elements from past books comprising the Vampire Chronicles in such a way that mirrors the own ending of this blog. Therefore, I do not need to end this blog on a somber, regretful note, but a mirthful one, one that celebrates the release of a another new, important installment to a series that means so much to not just myself, but legions of other readers. I never would have created the community of readers known today as the Lestat Book Coven, something I hope to dedicate more time to as work on my biography of Anne Rice’s work continues (slated for release in 2022 at this point); it is tentatively titled Beauty of the Dark: Biography of Anne Rice Through Lenses of her Works.. Be rest asurred that the coven has no plans to close at all, it will continue as it always did.

As a way of full disclosure; yes, I have read Blood Communion already, and I am speaking very discreetly about it because this book more than others must be maintained with secrecy. It is a book that left me in a torpor of so many deeply-affecting emotions. Now as I re-read the two books preceding it, I am feeling a more established feeling that there is a tether of meaning stringing along all throughout Anne’s books, eerily leading up to this strangely climatic book. I will hold off saying more because your unadulterated enjoyment of this book must be preserved till its pending release of October 2nd, 2018.

Now, I want to offer thanks and gratitude to the wonderful publicity team at Knopf, part of Random House, who have worked tirelessly with each release to make sure to give each of Anne Rice’s exciting release the type of celebratory air it deserves. They have charitably offered 14 copies that will be given away on this blog space and the Lestat Book Coven, a group that will remain unchanged even after the formal close of this blog to coincide with the release of Blood Communion on October 2, 2018. More details will be given this coming Monday (of course title Mon Dieu Monday! ) about the steps involved with making sure you’re entered into this contest. I am holding off till then because the details themselves are always slavishly rigid and contrary to the spirit of these kinds of posts, which feel more personal, especially one trying to tie together a final run of blog posts as a way of probably celebrating the release of a new Anne Rice novel.

For those who have read this far, you will earn five entries on the Rafflecopter app being launched this Monday, please pay close attention to this blog space for the special link. The Rafflecopter App will be housed on my blog’s Facebook page. Of course, the link will be dropped here first, and the post will be simultaneously shared in the usual places, including visibility on Visitor Posts sub-page on Anne Rice’s own Facebook Fan Page. To earn those five points, you, however, must leave a comment below about the picture from an excerpt of Prince Lestat that was posted on my Instagram picture. You will get five bonus points for liking the picture on Instagram/leaving a comment/and also following my Instagram picture. You must do all five in order to accumulate ten entry points. These entries will be available for everyone on Monday, but if you do them beforehand; the points will still be valid.

Also, to those in the New York area, in lieu of the fact that no formal signings for Anne Rice have been announced to date, we will be hosting a special live Lestat Book Coven discussion meeting at a newly opened wine/coffee bar in the Upper East Side in Manhattan called Stella and Fly. Be sure to RSVP by heading over to the Facebook Event Page. Please note that the event begins promptly at 6pm. EST-7:30 EST; I will hopefully have special giveaways exclusively for those who attend in-person, or those attending the live stream itself. Look for more details to be posted on that page eventually with procedures on how this will all go down in the end. If you RSVP for the event, and plan on attending in-person, you will be able to get 20 points! If you RSVP and plan on cyber attendance, you will get 15 points for the Rafflecopter app. for the Blood Communion ARC giveaway, so keep these things in mind as you make your plans for October, 2nd, 2018. Reasoning behind choosing an Upper East Side venue for our live discussion is a walking tour that will take place afterwards, to help find the elusive Trinity Gate, where we will discuss/re-experience the pivotal closing moments of Prince Lestat. And note I am pretty fair, so if you RSVP for the event, and cannot physically attend, you will still retain the points. I will not be unfair by retroactively disqualifying anyone for this kind of point option. I am trusting many of you here on the honors system. Keep referring back to the event page for more details about our agenda of events for the evening!

Last, but not least, here is the snapshot from a page from Prince Lestat. Without intervening on behalf of what could be fruitful discussion, I will not offer any leading hints of my own thoughts or intentions about the meaning of this page. I hope that the image serves purpose enough to lead on discussion. Images like this will be posted throughout the giveaway period, as a means of encouraging discussion. I have the same picture shared on my Instagram, but it is cropped, so had to include the quote in the description section, fully typed out. Otherwise, it would have been cropped and inscrutable to most of you avid fans of Anne Rice’s work, who cannot wait to conjecture ,preliminary, your thoughts on just what might go down in Blood Communion.  (Lest you’ve forgotten: If you post your thoughts here and on Instagram, while also liking the picture and following my Instagram page, you will earn yourself a total of ten points towards the Blood Communion  Monday giveaway.)

Posts after the giveaway will be more formal, in that I plan on writing two more discussion posts on my thoughts about the series as a whole, as well as the very belated review of Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, a book that eluded any critical, articulate thoughts of my own now for almost two years. A review of Blood Communion will be posted live at 12pm EST on October 2nd, 2018. Also, a much-delayed review of another beloved closing book to another excellent trilogy by friend of this blog, Ronlyn Domingue will also be posted as well during the intervening days leading up ultimately to October 2nd, 2018, the exciting release day of Blood Communion.

And of course, Mon Dieu! Monday is upon us. That’s the most apt title for the Blood Communion ARC Giveaway!

Stay tuned Monday for details on how to win yourself one of fourteen total copies of Blood Communion! Contest will end officially, Saturday, September 15th at 11:59pm.