Questions about Daddy Claws
Q: Why is this book called ‘Daddy Claws?’
A: I’m tempted to say that the answer to this question could take up a whole book, but, it can’t.
Daddy Claws was the first cover I ever made for The Twelve Mates of Christmas, as a ‘joke cover,’ to see if people were really interested in the series. At the time, single dad romances were really popular, as well as romances with the word ‘daddy’ in the title.
I found a super sexy Santa stock photo and knew I had to use it.
In this case, Daddy Claws is a single dad — to Pandora Claus, his adopted daughter. He isn’t a ‘daddy’ in the kinky sense, but I gave a wink to readers that were expecting that by having him dress up as Père Fouettard — the Christmas companion to Santa Claus that carries a whip. He’s a character in the French Christmas tradition. Père Fouettard has a whip, so Krampus dresses Santana up as Père Fouettard for the Halloween party so that Santana can be sexy for Befana. This is all done without Santana’s knowledge, as he isn’t really into Halloween.
Santana is a Daddy in that he is a DILF and a single father. It is obviously not a kink thing. He’s just a DILF.
Q: Why isn’t the Krampus Trampus Stampus on the cover of Daddy Claws?
A: A few reasons.
- I don’t think it would be allowed concerning decency standards for covers.
- I use front shots for my covers as often as possible for visibility. I did not have a good Christmassy picture of a guy from behind. I would need a shot where there’s a prominent butt, dude turning to face the camera, showing pecs, and it would be an awkward pose.
- I don’t know how to add a tramp stamp onto a body, regarding how to curve the tattoo.
- Spoiler for the book. The Naughty label was not a spoiler for the first nine books.
Q: What happened to the Krampus Trampus Stampus?
A: Krampus made it disappear during Christmas Day. It was put there by Krampus, not by Fate.
Q: Was Santana really on The Naughty List?
A: Yes, because Krampus effectively hacked the lists, because he’s a demon and that means he breaks all the rules.
Q: What’s the deal with the French restaurant, Réveillon?
A: Réveillon is a French word meaning ‘eve,’ also used in the French term for Christmas Eve. The restaurant is a ‘pop-up’ restaurant put on by Krampus and Perchta, in an attempt to get Santana and Befana to reconcile. Krampus is the maître d′ while Perchta is the waitress. Avery was the chef the whole time!
Q: How the heck is this A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens?
A: Because Daddy Claws is, at its core, a ghost story.
There aren’t actual ghosts in the story, but, it’s a ghost story.
Get ready for some real English literature major bullshit.
What is a ghost?
To me, a ghost is a representation of (usually) a person from the past, in its most vague sense. That means the person doesn’t need to be dead, and the representation doesn’t need to be a semi-transparent person floating through a house.
The scent of an ex-boyfriend’s cologne is a ghost.
The usage of a word that someone you haven’t seen in years used to use is a ghost.
The taste of childhood candy is a ghost.
This is usually called a ‘trace,’ I think? I didn’t do a lot of work in hauntological studies, so sue me.
If you read ‘The Little Bear Maid,’ you’ll remember the book starts with the hero scenting out the maid that cleans his place when he’s gone, noticing the small things she does, noticing the scent she’s left over his penthouse. That’s not really about a ghost, though, because they haven’t met yet. Or maybe it is. I don’t know. I’m not a hauntologist.
What ghosts are in the work?
There are four people dressed as ghosts, but they’re not actually ghosts in that they’re representations of the past.
The real ghost is the ghost of the romance between Santana and Befana.
Various things are unfamiliar and familiar to the pair of characters, from the way they feel when they dance and during sex, to their natural scents, to seeing certain rooms for the first time in decades.
The various feelings they have for each other are also ghostly.
Their relationship died once, but at the same time, it never died, as it stayed alive in a ghostly form. It’s some weird shit.
What ghosts are in A Christmas Carol?
Jacob Marley — Ebenezer Scrooge’s past business partner, he’s basically the narrator ghost who tells Scrooge he’s about to get visited by, and I quote myself, ‘hella ghosties.’ He wears a chain.
Ghost of Christmas Past — this is a ghost that shows Scrooge what he did in the past on Christmases. This ghost is described as being ghostly and glowing.
Ghost of Christmas Present — this is a ghost that shows Scrooge the present state of Christmas happening all around him. The ghost is described as wearing green.
Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (a.k.a. Ghost of Christmas Future, a.k.a. Ghost of Christmas In Space With Rockets And Jetpacks And Shit): this is a ghost that shows Scrooge what’ll happen in the future, by pointing at stuff instead of talking like the other two ghosts. This ghost is in a black cloak.
What ghosts from A Christmas Carol are in Daddy Claws?
Krampus is Jacob Marley.
- He’s the first person dressed as a ghost that Santana talks to that night.
- He gets all the other ‘ghosts’ together.
- He quotes Jacob Marley.
- He wears a chain made of glow sticks.
Rowan is the Ghost of Christmas Past.
- He’s a magical being that got with his fated mate during a ‘Christmas past’ — the events of Cupid Claws.
- He’s a reminder that Santana was spending his past Christmases helping other magical men find true love, but he never found true love himself.
- He’s a matchmaker, and just as it’s ironic that Rowan, a matchmaker, couldn’t find himself a match until the events of Cupid Claws, it’s ironic that Santana has played matchmaker but has remained single.
- He’s a reminder that fated mates exist.
- He’s dressed as a normal ghost.
Boreas is the Ghost of Christmas Present
- He’s a mirror of Santana, showing what’s going on with someone else during Christmas Present. Boreas and Santana are portrayed as opposites through the series because people perceive them as opposites, but in reality, both are very similar! Boreas represents Santana in the present (at the time of the party) — a powerful magical being who has no fated mate and, even surrounded by people, is very alone.
- He’s wearing a green ghost costume.
Jack Frost is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
- Jack is a mirror of Santana in that he’s a single magical being (at the time of the party) but he’s also a younger man than Santana. He’s a reminder that there’s another generation of magical beings — Jack and Pandora’s generation, among others.
- He shows Santana his ‘future’ but doesn’t actually say much to Santana (remember, Jack forgot his lines!)
- Rather than show a sad future, he inspires Santana to go after Befana.
- He wears a black ghost costume.
Q: Was Avery in on Krampus’ plan to ‘ghost’ Santana?
A: Absolutely. That’s why there was a Halloween party as the Christmas Eve Eve party.
Q: What’s the deal with the ‘belief’ theme?
A: The idea of ‘believing’ in Santa Claus has to do with believing whether or not Santa Claus is real.
Other interpretations, the interpretations I’m using, have to do with ‘believing in’ someone, as in having faith in them, and ‘believing’ them in terms of believing that they’re telling the truth.
Befana doesn’t believe Santana is telling the truth about the past until later.
Santana doesn’t believe in himself, which is ironic given he can believe in various magical beings…such as ghosts (believing that they’re real), but he cannot believe in (as in have faith in) something he can hold and see — himself.
Q: What was the deal with Pandora’s gift to Befana?
A: Pandora giving Befana the keys symbolized accepting Befana into her life.
If Pandora was a teenager, she might have given Befana adoption papers to adopt her, during a future Christmas. Pandora’s a grown ass adult, but, she lives at her father’s house in The North Pole because she hasn’t had a reason to move out.
That house has both Pandora and Santana’s room…as well as the first-floor ‘storage’ room that used to be Pandora’s nursery. That nursery was also potentially going to be Befana’s literal ‘broom closet,’ but Santana had never gotten around to arranging that. The room was turned into a nursery very quickly by the Christmas elves on the night/morning Santana rescued Pandora. Pandora, with the help of some Christmas elves, cleared it out and made it ready for Befana to use for whatever she wanted.
The two keys represent that Befana is not only allowed in the house but allowed to make the house her own. The key to the house has Santa hats on it, a symbol of the Claus family, while the key to the broom closet is Befana’s unique key, just for her (there’s probably a spare somewhere for practical purposes), with a witch hat on it — her specific symbol.
The gift is also special because Pandora made it herself (with some help from the elves that helped clear out the room) rather than by using magic. She made an intentional gift, rather than a random one summoned out of thin air.
Q: Did Befana and Santana ever fall out of love with each other, date other people, or move on?
A: No, no, and no.
Q: Why didn’t Befana and Santana just talk to each other?
A: Because this is a paranormal romantic comedy, where the paranormal problems have normal solutions, normal problems have paranormal solutions. There’re paranormal problems in a normal world, normal problems in a paranormal world, and every other dang combination you can think of. Just because they’re good at delivering gifts, that doesn’t mean they’re frikkin’ mind readers — after all, you do have to mail Santa Claus a list of the exact items you want, don’t you? When I send my boyfriend to the store to get tomatoes, I don’t have to micromanage him that much! (But of course, I do anyway)