Mirror Image: How I Created Jesse Lockhart

"Jesse sounds just like you!"

Since publishing PRIVATE RELATIONS, I've received this feedback on multiple occasions. In fact, close friends of mine have said that my main character, Jesse Lockhart, sounds so much like me that they've wondered if the novel itself is based on truth.

I've assured them that that's not the case, and for the most part they seem satisfied with my answer. However, their ongoing ribbing has me wondering: Do all novelists writing in the first-person inevitably inject their main characters with a hearty dose of their own personality?

In my friends' defense, Jesse and I do have quite a bit in common. We're both the same age; we both live in New York City; and we both hail from Philadelphia. To the uninformed reader, one might take a look at both of our backgrounds and assume we're one of the same. However, there are several important differences between Jesse and me.

In fact, that is how he as a character was born.

To be frank, Jesse and I are two sides of the same coin. He’s what I could have been if my life had turned out differently. As far as upbringings go, I had a pretty good one. My parents are still married to this day, living in the same pretty house in an even prettier suburb. We weren’t rich, but I never lacked any of the essentials, and enjoyed quite a few “extras” like frequent vacations as well.

Now, as for Jesse’s life? He had it rough. He grew up in a poor neighborhood in Philadelphia and, had it not been for his acceptance into a prestigious private school, he very well may have remained there. Now, I’ve certainly worked hard for the life I live now, but I’m not naïve enough to think that fate and luck played a part in everything as well.

And for those wondering what Jesse looks like, here's a visual. (Yes, Paul Wesley from THE VAMPIRE DIARIES)