Character Profiles: Josie Winters
(A Stone Soldiers Encyclopedia Entry)
While she may not be a petrified stone soldier, one could argue that Josie Winters is the most important member of Detachment 1039. But who is this young women with constantly-growing psychokinetic abilities?
Josie Winters began life innocently enough, the daughter of a fireman and an every day, average housewife. Orphaned when her father died in a house fire, Josie grew up with her mother, spending most of her time with her best friend, Jimmy Kane. A honor roll student, the quiet girl with jet black hair and piercing green eyes easily won a scholarship to college. She just decided not to go.
Following a chance meeting in the Arizona desert with an amnesiac super soldier, Josie's life was turned upside down as she learned that dark beings roamed the earth, doing their very best to kill humans in a never-ending dark war. The children of Fallen Angels, these supernatural monsters, and even parahuman mortals possessed great abilities far beyond those of normal men and women. Powers that Josie soon learned she possessed as well.
As she learned, Josie was herself a descendant of a Fellish being, possessing dormant DNA that could lead her children to unlock dark powers. But with the help of the US Military, Josie's dangerous DNA was unlocked in her--giving her the ability to track down a prehistoric shapeshifter rampaging in the modern era. But tracking wasn't all she could do. Josie's unlocked DNA soon revealed itself and the young girl discovered she possessed the power of cryokinesis--the ability to freeze matter with her mind.
Over the course of the Stone Soldiers series, Josie's powers have continued to grow. Thermokinesis revealed itself, a more volatile, uncontrollable ability to cause matter to heat to dangerous levels, particularly when Josie became frustrated or angry.
Super powers are not the only mysterious, incredible aspect of Josie Winters' life. As it turns out, the world isn't as big as one would think. While Josie's father had believed himself an orphan, it turned out the elder Mr. Winters was in fact the cloned offpsring of Colonel Mark Kenslir, the leader of Detachment 1039--the same supersoldier Josie found wandering in the desert in Mythical.
This shocking revelation that Josie was for all intents and purposes the Colonel's granddaughter didn't sit well with either of them. But blodo is thicker than water, and as the series progresses, Josie and the Colonel become closer, building a strange familial relationship neither ever expected.
As of Book 7, Seven Deadly Sons, Josie Winters fights on, alongside her grandfather and her best friend Jimmy Kane, a teenager-turned-stone soldier-turned-werewolf. Learning to be a soldier and to contain her powers as they grow stronger, Josie Winters believes that her place in the world has finally been found, battlign the forces of darkness for as long as she can.
Author's Note: Who would I cast to play Josie Winters in any film version fo Stone Soldiers? That's easy--the character was inspired by the tough girl image portrayed by the talented Elizabeth Gillies, formerly of "Victorious" a children's show I watched wth my kids on Nickolodean. Her tough-talking character Jade was a favorite of my kids who immediately chose her when I asked them to come up with a teen for the part of Josie.
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