tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post3067617112214353989..comments2023-06-10T08:37:15.879-06:00Comments on Obsidian Bookshelf blog: HT Great Descriptions of Eye ColorValhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16732605505724248028noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-54266653789991376502012-04-22T08:51:21.960-06:002012-04-22T08:51:21.960-06:00Very pretty! The irises are just starting to bloom...Very pretty! The irises are just starting to bloom out here and I've never seen such a gorgeous velvety purple. I'm glad the article helped. :)Average Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03955137026396047753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-90553439540696564152012-04-21T21:14:48.124-06:002012-04-21T21:14:48.124-06:00I've been driven crazy by trying to describe a...I've been driven crazy by trying to describe a character's eyes.Thanks to this I finally settled on a descript.In the beginning her eyes are 'the violent,angry purple-gray of thunder clouds.' Later after she changes are eyes are 'the vibrant purple of a newly blossomed iris.'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-58865955148395587852011-07-28T10:21:49.886-06:002011-07-28T10:21:49.886-06:00Hello, Anonymous! Where would we be without Google...Hello, Anonymous! Where would we be without Google Images? I must use it several times every day. I really like the description you ended up with. I've always had a liking for that blue-green color on a peacock's feathers.Average Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03955137026396047753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-35328688839662280142011-07-27T21:48:09.191-06:002011-07-27T21:48:09.191-06:00I had a character who had green eyes. I kept seei...I had a character who had green eyes. I kept seeing the green in my head but not being able to describe what it was like. I finally got tired of guessing what kind of green it was, ended up googling the word green and looking through endless pictures until I found the right one. I ended up with "Eyes as green as a lovebird's feathers." It was a lot of work for something that seems so simple now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-82164962472415557062011-05-24T10:52:07.460-06:002011-05-24T10:52:07.460-06:00Hello, Anonymous! That is a very intriguing questi...Hello, Anonymous! That is a very intriguing question. You could go with dark brown eyes with perhaps a starburst of gold rays around the pupil, and maybe long beautiful eyelashes. Dark eyes can look very mysterious, and brown eyes with some lighter color within can look gentle and reassuring. Hope this helps, and good luck with your writing! :)Val Kovalinhttp://obsidianbookshelf.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-11264800287441591872011-05-24T02:46:29.694-06:002011-05-24T02:46:29.694-06:00Hello! I would like to ask if what is the appropri...Hello! I would like to ask if what is the appropriate eye color for a doctor? I would want it too look like it's a gentle eyes but very mysterious. Thanks :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-4533120688504996042010-07-11T11:30:08.489-06:002010-07-11T11:30:08.489-06:00I understand.I understand.Average Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03955137026396047753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-34969184349652252482010-07-10T22:07:14.432-06:002010-07-10T22:07:14.432-06:00I am probably not going to actually use all of the...I am probably not going to actually use all of them but I have to have them ready so I remeber that they are there even if the reader never meets them.Stourmyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01196272943937321495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-52517206043589642882010-07-09T09:06:34.780-06:002010-07-09T09:06:34.780-06:00I see what you mean. Twenty! That's a lot of c...I see what you mean. Twenty! That's a lot of characters.Average Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03955137026396047753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-73718030203880203922010-07-08T22:47:01.612-06:002010-07-08T22:47:01.612-06:00Glad you like it, kinda fits in with her initials....Glad you like it, kinda fits in with her initials. But it's getting hard to come up with original descriptions when I have over 20 characters (only three are main) but I want to make sure everyone is ready should they get a chance in the spotlight later.Stourmyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01196272943937321495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-18062438190355751592010-07-08T11:45:01.822-06:002010-07-08T11:45:01.822-06:00Hi, Anna! Horse manure hazel Ha, ha! Very fitting ...Hi, Anna! <i>Horse manure hazel</i> Ha, ha! Very fitting for the villain. :)Average Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03955137026396047753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-15496334139442062962010-07-07T23:50:35.660-06:002010-07-07T23:50:35.660-06:00This is Anna(see post about Dr. Simmers) I think I...This is Anna(see post about Dr. Simmers) I think I have decided her eyes are a shade between brown and green that I might describe as “horse manure hazel” Oh the joys of properly describing colors.Stourmyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01196272943937321495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-61196431216873095722010-07-07T22:59:37.334-06:002010-07-07T22:59:37.334-06:00Hi, Anna! I'm glad this article could help. Th...Hi, Anna! I'm glad this article could help. Those character description sheets are such a good idea. Even if the info doesn't make it into the story, you know it and it gives you a rich sense of character that comes across in the writing. <br /><br />I'm laughing at the initials, ha, ha! That kind of name definitely makes monogramming clothing / belongings completely out of the question!Average Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03955137026396047753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-11146660300069455982010-07-07T18:11:13.696-06:002010-07-07T18:11:13.696-06:00I have been looking through your how-to sections, ...I have been looking through your how-to sections, trying to decide on an eye color for a doctor who is "plump, pasty, blonde” She is the villain in my story and I am filling out a character description sheet so I have something to reference. I may or may not include it in the story but just in case I want her to have “eyes of a villain” BTW her name is Agatha S Simmers, MD. You might laugh at her initials. Also I have posted once or twice as anonymous.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13293831861545926113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-37708320405366330812010-01-06T12:29:23.174-07:002010-01-06T12:29:23.174-07:00Oh, yeah, totally! (as we continue chatting like n...Oh, yeah, totally! (as we continue chatting like neighbors, while leaning on the virtual back fence, ha, ha!) <br /><br />To me, that sort of cover is trying to manipulate sales from readers who want multicultural elements while the story is in fact not really earning the readership with real ethnic characters. Essentially the cover is just hopping on a trend.<br /><br />The other thing that really frosts my cookies is when there actually IS a multicultural or interracial aspect in a romance (which I always like and look for) but the art department is so careless that they just give us the same two naked white male chests on the cover! I mean, really!Average Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03955137026396047753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-67083700498964752192010-01-06T11:47:40.163-07:002010-01-06T11:47:40.163-07:00Hmm. You and I are just having a conversation here...Hmm. You and I are just having a conversation here today. LOL<br /><br />I do like to know race. I hate when one character on the cover of the book is clearly black or Asian but they NEVER describe either character in the book so it totally throws me off. I don't know which is which and it bugs me. Don't make a big deal out of the race thing by putting one guy on the cover who's of a different race and then calling them both white waspy names and never once describing a characteristic which MIGHT clue me in. Pet peeve there. ;-)Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15495571402942021799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-53476966311704737152010-01-06T11:43:29.054-07:002010-01-06T11:43:29.054-07:00Seriously? Wow. Yes, I was shocked to hear it, mys...<i>Seriously? Wow.</i> Yes, I was shocked to hear it, myself!<br /><br />Dr. Frankenstein, ha, ha! I know what you mean. And I know I'm not the only one who reads a great novel where the characters aren't described so I build them up in my imagination, and then I'm never all that pleased when the characters get cast for a movie.<br /><br />Case in point: <i>Gone Baby Gone</i> by Dennis Lehane. My husband and I both read the book and then we sat there in shock as we watched the first five minutes of the DVD. <br /><br />The actor who played Patrick Kenzie made the character seem far younger than I had imagined and kind of stupid or like a "thug" as my husband said. We hadn't pictured Kenzie like that at all. <br /><br />The actress who played Angie Gennaro looked, well, Irish, and she was supposed to be a smokin' hot Italian babe (in one of the Lehane books, she gets some leverage from the fact that she's the granddaughter of a Mafia crime boss). Anyway, my husband and I just couldn't continue watching the DVD. It was just too weird.<br /><br />The thing that really throws me is when I get no description for a long time in a fiction, and suddenly I get something specific. For example, in one m/m story I read about 20 pages under the usual assumption that we readers make that the character was my own race (white) and then found out -- whoa! -- he's actually black! I had to start over again and re-read those 20 pages with my new image of him in mind.Average Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03955137026396047753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-72147931583409275102010-01-06T11:25:45.040-07:002010-01-06T11:25:45.040-07:00"I have a friend who got a romance fiction re..."I have a friend who got a romance fiction rejected by an editor simply because she didn't have enough physical description of her characters."<br /><br />Seriously? Wow. Maybe I do come from it from the other side then. But I have read books where it describes the body from top to bottom and I feel a bit like Dr. Frankenstein trying to put together individual pictures of his feet, thights, abs, arms, chest, neck, face, hair, eyes, etc. all together to get one whole person. I'd much rather read "tall athletic blonde with long hair and green eyes". "I" know what atheletic means to me, to you it might be something else but don't force me to visualize the size of his bicep or his calf.Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15495571402942021799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-57048675569179434052010-01-06T11:11:01.246-07:002010-01-06T11:11:01.246-07:00Hi, Kassa and Tam! Thanks for the comments.
Kassa...Hi, Kassa and Tam! Thanks for the comments.<br /><br />Kassa, would you believe that I remembered them specifically? My memory isn't so fabulous that I managed to recall the page number as well, but I remembered the basic description + book and just paged through the books until I found them again.<br /><br />Tam, whoa, that's a gorgeous quotation from Ally Blue's novel! I'm going to add it. Thank you! <br /><br />And what you said here I find fascinating: <br /><br /><i>I'm not big on lots of description and not too fancy of words. LOL I like to let my imagination do some of the work.</i><br /><br />I tend to agree with you. I lean much more in that direction myself. Different genres have different expectations, and what you just said is the norm for literary fiction and mystery fiction and science fiction. The readers for that type of fiction actually get irritated if we writers interfere with their imagination by forcing characters' physical description on them! <br /><br />I grew up reading science fiction and then mysteries later on, and one of the hardest things I've had to adjust to in writing m/m romance is the romance genre requirement for LOTS of physical description of the characters. I have a friend who got a romance fiction rejected by an editor simply because she didn't have enough physical description of her characters.Average Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03955137026396047753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-37844890312600982362010-01-06T10:20:21.307-07:002010-01-06T10:20:21.307-07:00Huh. I never really thought about it before. I gue...Huh. I never really thought about it before. I guess it's not something that sticks out for me. Although this line from Ally Blue's Willow Bend always struck me and I'd love to meet someone with eyes like this just to see what they look like. <br /><br />P. 16: Eyes so pale blue they were almost white, fringed with lashes like black lace.<br /><br />I'm not big on lots of description and not too fancy of words. LOL I like to let my imagination do some of the work.Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15495571402942021799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6937658685163119346.post-36491065378835742942010-01-05T18:43:47.281-07:002010-01-05T18:43:47.281-07:00Such great descriptions ... those are really great...Such great descriptions ... those are really great. How did you find those quotes? Did you remember them specifically? Or just that certain books had great eye colors?Kassahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11492731096086969911noreply@blogger.com