The character of Penny has always been completely formed in my head.
Logical, pragmatic and driven, she relies on Leisha and Audrey to keep her from falling. The world often doesn’t make sense to Penny, but she doesn’t shy away from it.
Instead she takes on life with a firm hand and a clear head. She knows what she wants – and what she doesn’t – and she sets out to make sure she does things her way. However, her unique combination of beauty and brains equips her story with an unfortunate downfall.
She meets Leisha first, before Audrey. When I originally wrote these characters, they were in separate short stories. Leisha was Audrey’s friend Leah, so they were in one story, and Penny had other friends, but no best friend, in another. When I meshed the two stories together, it was apparent that Penny and Leisha, as she became known, were friends first, and they met Audrey later. I used the defining event from Penny’s original short as the story arc, but stretched it in unexpected ways until it provided the perfect stage for Penny to move from adolescent to adult with just the right amount of damage to provide the best channel for the whole of the story to be told.
I hope you enjoy meeting Penny next Friday.
Joni Page 