Cascade Library Interview with LRH Balzer

Interviews by Fans
Title:	Cascade Library Interview with LRH Balzer
Interviewer:	Cascade Library
Interviewee:	LRH Balzer
Date(s):	April 12, 1999
Medium:	online
Fandom(s):	The Sentinel
External Links:	interview is here, Archived version
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In 1999, LRH Balzer was interviewed for Cascade Library.

Some Excerpts

I first heard about the show when a friend sent me a video of the first six episodes. I didn't watch it until I went to MediaWest and several young girls said I had "Blair hair", then showed me a picture of a rather emancipate young man looking as though he was about to faint. It didn't interest me at all! A month after I got back from MediaWest, I decided to watch the tape while cleaning up, and ended up watching all the episodes in one sitting.

I didn't see Sandburg as being someone who would willingly let himself be cared for. He was far too independent and self-sufficient for that. It would be difficult for him to ask for help, especially if he was hurting emotionally. I had a friend many years ago who came up with this and used it on me, and it worked, surprisingly. I've used it on others and found that people who have had to take care of themselves all their lives have difficulty in letting down those barriers. The fear of "breaking down" altogether is what keeps them from trusting. The concept of "15 Minutes" was so that you knew you had the freedom to 'disengage' from being dependent at a fixed time. You could let yourself be vulnerable. You know you have succeeded when someone recognizes (as Sandburg does in Double Room) that they need "15 Minutes" and the value of asking for it, knowing it will be freely offered.

In the Bible, there is a wonderful story of David and Jonathan, two men who very passionately loved and cared for one another. "And the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and he loved him as himself..." I see them as "knitted souls", where together they are greater than either would be individually. While both are strong and independent, each meets the needs of the other in a very natural, bonding kind of way.

No Center Line takes place immediately *after* S2P2, which gave me a chance to do missing scenes from that episode. As for what inspired it, I have always been extremely impressed with the relationships on Nash Bridges. Nash and Joe are close on screen as TS viewers wish Jim and Blair were. Their verbal and nonverbal expressions of love for each other are on almost every episode and they have gone undercover as a gay couple on several occasions. The other two male regulars, Evan and Harvey, have a mirror relationship to Nash and Joe, extremely close, discussing very personal issues and are physically comfortable with each other. The storyline on Nash Bridges has Evan dating Nash's daughter, which has put a level of tension between the two. I had an idea for a TS story, but soon found myself wondering how Nash would have handled the situation if it had been Evan that was kidnapped and I found I couldn't picture it as clearly as I could see how Jim would handle it. So I decided to write that into No Center Line. Nash learning from Jim and Blair's relationship and how Jim allowed Blair to take comfort when *Blair* needed it, not when *Jim* felt a need to give it. It should be about ten chapters, plus the prologue and epilog. It'll be in a zine called Knitted Souls #7 - No Center Line, illustrated by Warren Oddsson, and should be available by the beginning of May.

Man from U.N.C.L.E. has long been a favorite. I've written nine MFU fan-novels so far, and hope to do another one this summer. I also enjoy writing "Classic Trek". I think my Kirk & Chekov storylines are often similar to "Ellison & Sandburg". I have always written "buddy" stuff and h/c. I enjoy reading Starsky and Hutch and Professionals as well.