Get To Know The Six Pack Series: Jessica Harrison

Continuing with my series of posts about the characters in my forthcoming novel Six Pack: Emergence, I want to talk about one of the main supporting characters, Jessica Harrison.

Jessica is 18 years old and has long, wavy brown hair and brown eyes. Her mother died when she was 10 years old and she became somewhat distant from her father. She is intelligent but has a stubborn streak -- a trait that runs in my family. But she has a big heart and tries to empathize with the plight of others. She has leadership skills but finds herself ranked behind Tyler in school. She tells herself that it could have been her at the top of the class, but struggles with the idea that she could be jealous of him.

Jessica's stubbornness is the trait I most identify with in her. I often think that the way I would like to do things is the way things should go and I'm sometimes resistant to changes in my life. That describes Jessica pretty well -- she's been used to living life one way and finds herself adjusting to a new life. I can imagine a lot of people would have difficulty adjusting to changes in their life, though. I think we all get into a comfort zone with the way things are when we grow up, but when we enter a new environment, it can take us by surprise.

Jessica has a deep interest in the fine arts. She likes to sketch, paint and create works of art and her career interest leans toward architecture. Her ability to create things with her hands and mind, along with her intelligence, leads to her gaining the power of telekinesis. It was something I didn't want to overdo, though. I limited her usage of it to situations in which I believed it was warranted and didn't want to use it for jokes. I believe Jessica is the type of person who will try not to use her power unless it's necessary, though there are moments in which may use it out of frustration.

When I wrote the book, I found myself empathizing with Jessica more than my other characters, because she wants so much more for herself than what she thinks she's received. But as she learns the truth about society and herself, she starts to realize she's been in a good position and she doesn't need to worry about what could have been. She probably showed the most growth among my characters and I hope readers see it the same way.