Question: Is the character of Richard Zeeman based on your ex-husband?
No, Laurell, the question was "is Richard a stand-in for your ex-husband?", the answer to which is almost certainly "yes". And if not, then certain things line up very conveniently.
But he, like all my characters that truly come to life on the page, has grown and changed in ways I never saw coming and certainly didn’t plan.
Like being turned into your personal punching bag for several books. Which was totally not planned. Not at all.
The more I tried to push the two of them together, the more they fought it
If by "them" you mean "Anita". From what I remember reading, Richard practically bent over backwards to make Anita happy, and then when things got too real (which Richard warned her about, btw), Anita ran straight to JC.
Fiction doesn’t mirror fact
And thank all the gods for that, especially if it's you're fiction.
As for you small, but vocal minority that are still urging me to kill off Jean-Claude and Micah, so that Anita can ride off into the sunset with Richard – no. Not only no, but absolutely, positively, not happening.
Wait, there are actually trufans who want that? After all the times LaLa has proudly proclaimed that after the first book she promised Anita that she would never, ever hurt anyone Anita cares about? How deluded are these people?
Question: Will Richard ever find another person to be his one and only love?
No. The answer is no. He had a chance to be with Laurel Anita, the Best and Most Perfect Woman Ever, and he blew it. Even now, he can only be her occasional lover.
I hope he does, and I have a few potential women in mind, for him it will have to a woman if it’s a new character.
Yeah, I doubt that. I'm pretty sure the only way for Richard to be happy would be to get far, far away from Anita and her little freak show. And that's not going to happen, because I don't think LKH is quite over her divorce, despite what she says.
He also keeps dating women who like pretty standard vanilla sex and that really isn’t what Richard likes.
Because everything, everything comes back to sex. And there's no experimentation, no discussion, no negotiation - if one partner isn't into what the other is, the relationship can't possibly work.
I’ve even written a short story, “Shutdown,” where he tries to have his vanilla cake but keep his bondage cupcakes.
I actually read "Shutdown", and that isn't what happens at all. IIRC, Anita, Micah, and Richard do everything they can to make that poor woman as uncomfortable as possible, then proceed to blame her and act like it's all her fault, and that she was just a horrible evil prude the whole time.
I’m not sure Richard is ever going to find someone that special, but I hope so, because I’d really like him to be happy and content with his life and himself.
No you don't. You clearly don't, otherwise he would be.
re: the Sneak Peek:
Because "love" is really all about possession, really. And your partner isn't really a person - they're just an object, and should be treated as such.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2015-05-13 08:15 pm (UTC)Question: Is the character of Richard Zeeman based on your ex-husband?
No, Laurell, the question was "is Richard a stand-in for your ex-husband?", the answer to which is almost certainly "yes". And if not, then certain things line up very conveniently.
But he, like all my characters that truly come to life on the page, has grown and changed in ways I never saw coming and certainly didn’t plan.
Like being turned into your personal punching bag for several books. Which was totally not planned. Not at all.
The more I tried to push the two of them together, the more they fought it
If by "them" you mean "Anita". From what I remember reading, Richard practically bent over backwards to make Anita happy, and then when things got too real (which Richard warned her about, btw), Anita ran straight to JC.
Fiction doesn’t mirror fact
And thank all the gods for that, especially if it's you're fiction.
As for you small, but vocal minority that are still urging me to kill off Jean-Claude and Micah, so that Anita can ride off into the sunset with Richard – no. Not only no, but absolutely, positively, not happening.
Wait, there are actually trufans who want that? After all the times LaLa has proudly proclaimed that after the first book she promised Anita that she would never, ever hurt anyone Anita cares about? How deluded are these people?
Question: Will Richard ever find another person to be his one and only love?
No. The answer is no. He had a chance to be with
LaurelAnita, the Best and Most Perfect Woman Ever, and he blew it. Even now, he can only be her occasional lover.I hope he does, and I have a few potential women in mind, for him it will have to a woman if it’s a new character.
Yeah, I doubt that. I'm pretty sure the only way for Richard to be happy would be to get far, far away from Anita and her little freak show. And that's not going to happen, because I don't think LKH is quite over her divorce, despite what she says.
He also keeps dating women who like pretty standard vanilla sex and that really isn’t what Richard likes.
Because everything, everything comes back to sex. And there's no experimentation, no discussion, no negotiation - if one partner isn't into what the other is, the relationship can't possibly work.
I’ve even written a short story, “Shutdown,” where he tries to have his vanilla cake but keep his bondage cupcakes.
I actually read "Shutdown", and that isn't what happens at all. IIRC, Anita, Micah, and Richard do everything they can to make that poor woman as uncomfortable as possible, then proceed to blame her and act like it's all her fault, and that she was just a horrible evil prude the whole time.
I’m not sure Richard is ever going to find someone that special, but I hope so, because I’d really like him to be happy and content with his life and himself.
No you don't. You clearly don't, otherwise he would be.
re: the Sneak Peek:
Because "love" is really all about possession, really. And your partner isn't really a person - they're just an object, and should be treated as such.