Dead Ice: Jean-Claude
In the lead up to Dead Ice hitting the shelves, I’m going to be doing a special blog series. I’ll be answering three of the most common questions I get about a character. I’ll be trying to include something not as commonly known with each answer. Then, you get a sneak peek of that character from Dead Ice. To kick off the blog series, we start with Jean-Claude – of course.
Question: Is Jean-Claude named after Jean-Claude Van Damme?
Answer: No.
Secret to share: In fact, Jean-Claude’s birth name wasn’t Jean-Claude. Vampires only had one name in Old Europe, so if there was already an older vampire with your name, your master could force you to pick a new name or even choose one for you.
Quest: Why is Jean-Claude French?
Answer: Because he refused to be Spanish, the way I planned.
Secret to Share: Jean-Claude was first created in the late 1980’s. That was close enough to my school days that I could still read Spanish and understand it if it was spoken to me – slowly. Please, do not try to speak Spanish to me now, I am too out of practice. My pronunciation must still be good though, because Spanish speakers will still break into rapid Spanish if I answer any question in their native language. As for my knowledge of French, all I can do is apologize for all of it in the early Anita Blake novels because my language “expert” wasn’t nearly as good at French as they told me they were, and well, some phrases are just awful. As my own French has grown marginally better, even I don’t know what one or two phrases were meant to convey. *face palm* It taught me to be more certain that my experts in any field actually were experts. I still pronounce French badly, so much so that I’ve been told by more than one native French speaker that I can learn all the French I want, but I will never speak it as fluently and musically as I do Spanish. In fact, I’ve been told that I speak French as if Spanish was my first language. It was my second, but apparently it has left it’s linguistic mark.
Question: Didn’t I feel that making Jean-Claude French was too much Anne Rice’s territory, because of Interview with the Vampire?
Answer: Yes, I did, which is why I wanted him to be Spanish; but the harder I fought to force him into a nationality that he didn’t want, the more illusive he was on paper. I couldn’t get my main vampire to cooperate on paper until I got out of his way and let him be French. Only then did he show up in his full glory and write smoothly on paper. He showed up in his typical black and white clothing with the frilly shirt, skin tight pants, and great boots. I did not choose his clothes; he did. Though in an effort to keep his clothes up to his standards I would watch the Fashion Channel for the first time and read my first copy of Vogue. I joke that Jean-Claude taught me to walk in high heels; he helped me understand the magic of gliding in heels. I don’t envision ever being as elegant as he is, but writing and living with him in my head for a couple of decades has helped up my grace and poise content. Though he shakes his head over me sometimes, just like he does Anita. He’s been an interesting influence on both her fictional wardrobe and my real life one. People will ask if my husband and I are in a band, or if we’re visiting from New York, as we get off the plane here in St. Louis. I’m not sure exactly what it means that we get asked that so often, but I know that it’s Jean-Claude’s influence, or rather me writing him that’s changed the way I view clothes.
Sneak Peek from Dead Ice:
“Perhaps modern people do not speak of it so bluntly, but it is the age-old game of chase and capture. There is always someone in a relationship who begins the hunt for someone’s heart, and the pursued must decide whether she wishes to be easily caught, or to be a long and difficult hunt.” He smiled when he said it.
I frowned at him. “Have you ever not gotten to sleep with someone you set your sights on?”
He raised the dark, graceful curve of one eyebrow. “You led me on the merriest chase of anyone I had ever met, ma petite.”
54 thoughts on “Dead Ice: Jean-Claude”
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These are the three most common questions about Jean-Claude? How did you come to this conclusion???
She said three OF the most. Not THE three most.
Either way I really expected better questions to be featured. His ancestry and the Anne Rice comparison have been discussed ad nauseum. Plus, I don’t see how she could have taken the Jean Claude Van Damme question seriously
Can’t wait for more!!☺️☺️
me too!
Squeals rather loudly … I can’t wait for more!!
I cannot wait to finish my costume of Jean-Claude, and get to show him off! Of course, I don’t have the right body for the character, but eh. I’ll make do with what I’ve got!
Love this post so much. I am excited for the new book and more of these blogs. Though ny favorites is and has always been edward (ted) and Nathaniel for the guys in her life i love this look on Jean-Claude.
^my
Sorry for the typo. Kids helping me type.
When Ted’s on the scene you know you’re going to get more than just a paranormal erotic novel. You’re getting some of the old Anita back. Her human friends and work associates have been systematically removed over the years. That being said, I love this kissass and less inhibited Anita. Thanks, Edward, Jean Claude and Micah.
I’m so excited for this novel it’s insane! I haven’t missed a book yet!
Since you are answering questions, I have one about a bit character from the early Anita books. What happened to the ex-cop vampire, Dave and his bar? I’ve been re-reading most of the Anita books and wondering about him.
Thank you.
i would like to see/know more about Nicky. What was Nicky Nicky like when he came to you while first writing his character?
Jean-Claude could never be anything but french!!! I ran into your books by accident 10 years ago and haven’t stopped reading them….thank you so much and I hope you never stop!
Love this so much!! 😀 Thank you for sharing these facts with us 🙂
I can not wait for this to come out
Sounds great so far and thanks for the answers although I can think of plenty more questions. Waiting for the next time and more answers.
Let the countdown begin!
I am so happy the next book has more of John Claude. Love him!!!! Anymore Merry books coming?
Anytime one of our group mentions Merry Gentry, someone will immediately reply “Five more years!.” 🙂
All I can say is ….mmmmmm
jeanclaude is one of my favorite people in the Anita series ,he might not have been as a spanish man who has to display machismo but as a french man he has the ability to be hard yet soft at the same time and his ma petite is able to be the same
and, more please….
why is Anita Jean Claude’s most chased after love,Asher and Jean Claude had shared a human servant, but what made anita so special that Jean Claude had to have her?
Jean-Claude can have any woman he desires, at any time – and he doesn’t usually need his vampire powers to get them. Anita, on the other hand, is a challenge to Jean-Claude. The one woman he desperately desires, and she stonewalls him at every turn. She eventually falls for him, but at the same time, she does not lose her self. Only to other vampires is she “named” his servant, when in reality, she’s her own woman, capable of making her own decisions.
I love it! Can’t wait to get Dead Ice! And please tell us of Edward! He is my fav character even a little over Anita!
I have been reading this series forever and I am still in love with the characters …. so I absolutely cannot wait for Dead Ice … on pre-order so I get it right at midnight 🙂 thanks LKH for sharing them with us
How exciting. I love these “behind the scenes” peeks. I look forward to them all. And Jean-Claude *sigh* adore him! Thank you.
Jean-Claude cracks me up, but he can be annoying as hell
Why hasn’t Anita’s enemies gone after her bio family as leverage against her? Case in point, her brother. Given that kids today are so into zombies, why has he never reached out to his zombie raising big sister? Hmmm.
So looking forward to dead ice. In the UK Amazon is advertising the book as being released on June 4th in both Kindle and Hardback, but I recently read somewhere that release date was June 9th can you tell me which is the right date please.
I too had hoped for June 4th but also see that in USA June 9th is release date.
Thank you! As a college student I’m in finals week, your posting was a breath of fresh air of creativity in a stress storm. You’ve made my day!
I have read all your vampire books & all of Anne Rice’s and never once thought of her vampires when reading about Jean-Claude. French or not, he’s an original! I also am waiting patiently for Dead Ice.
Its interesting how the characters have such detailed lives. The books have some of the best details I’ve ever read. I look forward to more origin bits, and Dead Ice!
thank you for the insight, so exciting. can’t wait to read more about the characters
Please, please start a page where fans can vote on what actor would play a character in one of your series if it went to film. It would be fun to envision the ultimate ‘dream cast’. I sometimes find it hard to envision some of your characters whose individual characteristics are extreme (ex: violet eyes and ankle length hair?) It would be great to humanize them a bit.
I have loved Jean-Claude from the beginning and he has evolved so beautifully along with Anita. Thank you for listening to him. He is perfection. May your characters continue to speak to you. You are the greatest. Felix dia de Las Madres’
can’t wait !!! but I was always wondering, how jean-claude and Asher were in their’s human life !
I mean, were they in the bourgeoisie ? (noble families)
sorry I’m French (Quebec) so … not so good with the writing !
If I remember right Jean-claude was a whipping boy for a rich family. that’s why he has scarring on his back.
I may be thinking of another vampire but I think it was him.
don’t think so , I don’t recall to read about scaring in his back…
* the only scar I remember is his cross shape scar on his chest near his heart
Jean Claude was a whipping boy for a aristocratic families son. Whenever the boy was naughty instead of him being punished Jean Claude was punished instead. He spent all his time with the boy and was schooled along side him but had to take the boys punishments
Bloody bones, he takes a bath and tells Anita about his childhood and the scars on his back
I am so grateful for all your various posts. I too have a daughter who seems to change every time I think I’ve got things figured out. She is about to graduate high school and is very excited about her new girlfriend and what they are going to do together. She also loves to go to events like the Houston Pride Parade. She considered herself “open minded” until her dad went with me to a mani-pedi and decided that he liked the purple so much that he needed to have his toes done too. Well we discovered that her open minded ideals did not stretch to dad having purple toenails. I’ve tried to explain that acceptance goes for more than just what she thinks is acceptable, it’s about understanding that everyone has different views on what is acceptable and that being okay. It is your posts on polyamory and acceptance that made me able to explain that. The lesson did not fail to backfire though, as the next morning my son couldn’t find any clean socks and decided to wear his sisters hot pink socks. I foolishly informed him that those were girl socks and he needed to find his own. He promptly informed me back that I was being closed minded and that he had as much right to wear pink socks as dad had to wear purple toenails, and to not judge like I had told his older sister the day before. I admitted defeat and decided to be happy that at least one of my children listened to what I said.
Your comment had me giggling. I’m in my 40’s! Giggling!
Like you, I have thought about what acceptance of others truly is. Sometimes Anita’s mental acrobatics drive me insane. She’s okay with the concepts, then something triggers panic, then she’s okay again, then she’s panicking again, then it’s onto something else that’s bugging her. As much as I felt like I was getting whiplash and wishing that we could just get on with it already, I had to admit something… to truly accept a concept or a choice for ourselves or for somebody else we have to go through the same gymnastics to get the progress.
Laurell admitted in an afterword of one of her books that writing the series was a lot like therapy for her. The inner and outer turmoil of the characters reflects how we all deal with whatever button gets pushed. Whether it’s lifestyle choices, grief, relationships, etc. don’t we all think we’ve got a handle on something then get tweaked on the nose by a detail we didn’t see coming?
My daughter says she’s open and accepting then says some of the most judgmental things I’ve ever heard. My son says he’s open and accepting and follows through with word and deed. Kids are interesting.
When I first came across one of your books, It was maybe a little more than 1/2 way of all you have written so far.. I was so hooked I went to the library and got as many as they would let me take at a time until I got caught up!.. I read them all in less than a year! yaay for more!!
Awesome, looking forward to the new book.Love the Anita books so much.
If you ever need Norwegian for an old Viking Vamp let me know. And I am Norwegian born and breed trough and trough, so my Norwegian is good. I speak it every day. lol
Seems to me that Jean Claude is the one being chased-by all of us in our dreams. LKH-you have created the ULTIMATE in a fantasy lover-and he truly loves Anita and Asher. Your best writing comes from JCs’ weakness in the face of his 2 great love affairs. You show how different love can be but still be true love. Just a different flavor. I love the way you describe your men-you notice men on behalf of all of us who are too embarrassed to acknowledge it. I wish I could see it in a movie or video game-but it would never measure up to the world you have created-amazing-thank you for decades of Guilty Pleasures! (Video Game would measure up the best!)
Sorry for the long post-but while I love the classics-you are a true AMERICAN classic! Anne Rice can Bite Me!!! ( ;})
Do you think we will ever get more on Edward? Ever sense Obsidian Butterfly i have been wondering about Van Cleef and if we learn more on Edwards past and if Anita will find out more about Van Cleef or meet him.
I’m not sure it would be a good idea for Anita to meet Van Cleef. Based on what little we know of him, one of them will likely end up killing each other. Or both. Of course, playing Devil’s Advocate, it’s entirely within the realm of possibilities that Anita, fearing for her life, will activate her succubus powers, and make Van Cleef another one of her helpless sheepple (sheep-people). 😀
I think Van Cleef would be an extreme idiot if he ever approached Anita. Edward would kill him. If VC doesn’t know that already, he hasn’t been paying attention. Olaf is still out there and a threat. Edward feels guilty about that. I don’t think he’s forgotten or stopped looking for him. If VC ever came around he’d feel the same way. I’d be surprised if he hasn’t made it very clear what his feelings on it are behind the scenes.
I think that VC should be brought in when Olaf is brought back in along with the assassin that came to Anita wanting her to raise his ancestor.
That would be totally fun to read! I still think that Edward should get his shot at Olaf though. I think the only person we’ve seen Edward personally kill was Riker. Everybody else he seems to get rid of offstage. Or is that just me?
Well I think he helped kill a few more bad guys than that just Riker was the only main bad guy he killed which I think is as it should be because Anita is the focus of the story line most of the time. Because he has been her back up in quite a few books and the main bad guys were Anita’s to kill but I think Edward has helped kill alot of the main bad guys underlings. I do agree that Edward should be the one to kill Olaf but I think it would make sense to have VC and a few of his people to come to Anita for help with Olaf then Anita call Edward in as back up. Or something like that anyways.