Jayce is Ashley Monahan’s husband, and in his earliest iteration that’s all he was, an appendage of his wife. He was just a supporting character. His only real functions were to show support for his wife, stay out her way on adventures, and console her in the tough times. He was great at all of those things, but horrible as anything approaching a realistic husband. It took me a while to realize how passive I’d written the poor guy.
So here is a bit more about one of the unsung heroes of a world on the brink of madness. Jayce is a musician. Not a play his guitar in the garage kind, but a professional member of the Utah Symphony/Utah Orchestra. In addition to his work in Abravanel Hall, Jayce volunteers his talents throughout Salt Lake City as part of the musical outreach progam of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
He and Ashley are devout practitioners of their faith, and have been lifelong members of the same ward. Jayce has been supportive of Ashley since before the events of Fantastic America, and has weathered a great deal of scrutiny by members of the church for the couple’s unusual living arrangements since then. In earlier versions of the novel, Jayce had no opinion of this scrutiny and gossip, but his backbone has stiffened recently. His opinion is more realistic and relevant than ever before.