The third part of our blog series focuses on Richard’s love life. We’ve already discussed a number of things, including what Richard was originally going to do with his life and the real antagonist of the series.
So if you haven’t read last week’s blog, it’s time to click to that page now. As always, if you haven’t read the entire series I recommend you don’t read this blog series because there will be a lot of spoilers involved.
You’ve been warned.

So, let’s go!
How it Happened
If you’ve read 1972, you already know Jessica and Richard met when Richard came to work in Newcastle as a journalist. They met in a club and quickly hit it off. Of course, Robert Hardy had to stick his nose in and the idea of a happy marriage was lost when Richard was carted off to prison.
This was never designed to happen, though. To tell you the truth, there was never meant to be a Jessica character at any point. That was added when I started writing the third book.
It was Anna
Anna was the scorned girl Richard left behind in Ripon. He chose his career and his ambitions over someone who loved him unconditionally. For a time, he loved her the same way, and he became obsessed with her.
That was something I wanted to continue. There was only ever supposed to be one lover for Richard in this part of the story. Jessica was an afterthought.
The problem was how could I possibly send Richard away from Ripon and take Anna with him? I couldn’t, to tell you the truth. It wasn’t possible. Richard had to move out of Yorkshire at this point, and that’s what I did with him.
What Happened with Anna?
Anna does return properly in 1973 when Richard reconciles with her, but she fades away. She does make the odd reappearance, but only as a friend. The insanity from both sides dissipates like the mist on a winter’s morning.
I didn’t intend it to happen this way. She should have had a bigger part in Richard’s story, but when she was out of the main storyline there was never a way to put her back again.
One of my ideas was to have her become Peter’s wife, as opposed to Amber. In the end I didn’t like that idea because they weren’t right for each other in the long-term. Through using Amber I wanted to demonstrate Peter had really moved on. And the same with Amber. Having her marry and become Anna Normandeau enabled her to move on with her life as well.
Next Week
Richard wasn’t always the defenceless, incapable young man I often made him out to be. At one point, he had friends, powerful friends.
Find out what this means next week.
Until next time…
James Farner