SEP’s Character Description–Why I Think It Works
The reason I think this description (see post from earlier today) is so fantastic is that SEP describes our hero not by looks alone but by his looks as they relate to his personality.
–The heroine assumes there is something about him that proclaims he was not born into blue blood–but had a rough past.
–His hair color is the color of brown between a glass of Bud and a leather portfolio–he’s surrounded by leather in his office, the glass of Bud she can picture him enjoying
–The other comments pertain to the obvious level of success he’s attained, the hard work he does and his passion for it.
A description like this would never be possible on a first draft (at least for me). You really have to know your character spot on to do such a concise description like this!
How to Describe Your Hero (the Susan Elizabeth Phillips Way)
I’ve been doing a lot of judging lately–for the GH, for my local chapter contest. And a lot of editing on my own manuscript.
Here’s what I’m noticing: a lot of writers, myself included, prefer dark haired heros with dark eyes.
After a while, how sick can you get of describing ebony, black as night, jet black, dark, brown, mysterious, black as midnight, exotic–you know what I mean. Seems like you just drain yourself (and thesaurus.com) of words to describe your hero’s dazzling, ever-changing hair and eyes as you’re writing him through the 300+ pages of your manuscript.
But then I read this. This passage is taken from page 7 of Match Me If You Can by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. What follows is the very first description of the hero, Heath Champion, also known as The Python, through the eyes of the heroine Annabelle Granger, who is just taking over her grandmother’s matchmaking business. He does sports PR at the highest level–the same job as Jerry MacGuire. She first sees him sitting behind the desk in his very high-end office:
(I had to take a deep breath and stop reading after this paragraph. It just bowled me over!)
“He was square-jawed and tough, everything about him proclaiming a brash, self-made man–a roughneck who’d flunked charm school the first couple of times around but had finally gotten it right on the third pass. His hair was thick and crisp, its rich color a cross between a leather portfolio and a bottle of Bud. He had a straight, confident nose and bold dark eyebrows, one of which was bisected near the end with a thin pale scar. The firm set of his well-molded mouth proclaimed the low tolerance for fools, a passion for hard work that bordered on obsession, and possibly–although this might be her imagination–a determination to own a small chalet near St. Tropex before he was fifty. If it weren’t for a vague irregularity to his features, he would have been unbearably gorgeous. Instead, he was merely drop-dead good-looking. What did a man like this need with a matchmaker?”
Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Match Me If You Can
Writing like this is why SEP is a goddess!
What makes this different–what makes it stand-out writing?
(I’m going to come back later and tell you why I love this so much.)
Top Ten Stories Announced in Jane Austen Made Me Do It Short Story Contest
The top ten stories selected by popular vote in the Jane Austen Made Me Do It Short Story Contest have just been posted by editor Laurel Ann Nattress–AND MINE IS ONE OF THEM!!!
THANK YOU TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHOM I TORMENTED MERCILESSLY OVER THE PAST TWO WEEKS TO VOTE FOR ME. AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO MAY HAVE LIKED IT WHO IS NOT RELATED TO ME. Thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
CONGRATULATIONS, Everyone!!! Be sure to go to pemberley.com to read these stories–one will be selected for the Jane Austen anthology coming out this fall by Ballantine books! And don’t forget the other 78 unique and creative stories still posted as well. All so well done!
The Top Ten stories listed alphabetically by author are:
54 – Sophy and the Armada, by K. Ann Adams
56 – The Love Letter, by Brenna Aubrey
25 – The Marrying of Margaret, by Tracie Banister
78 – Assuming: A Tale of Persuasion, by Hannah Cowan
23 – Carpe Diem, by Jane Greensmith
85 – Mary Bennett Falls Head Over Heels, by Jenni James
70 – The Lost Portrait of Jane Austen, by Miranda Liasson (THAT’S ME!!!)
31 – Attempting Elizabeth, by Jessica Melendez
04 – Spinning White Hair Gold, by Megan Snider
16 – Mr. Collins Last Supper, by Shannon Winslow
Release Day for Tamara Hogan’s Taste Me
A hero who experiences the world through TASTE? Who is also an incubus. And a heroine named Scarlett in a rock band called Scarlett’s Web who is a siren, able to amplify emotional energy with her voice.
WOW.
Put these two together in a dangerous underworld and you’ve got 2009 GH Finalist Tamara Hogan’s sizzling new debut novel, TASTE ME, a sexy, fast paced urban fantasy out from Sourcebooks TODAY.
I’m especially excited for Tammy because I’ve been following her progess over the past year and a half or so on the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood blog–from GH winner to publishing contract to revisions to–waalah–gorgeous novel!
Read an interview with Tamara on the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood blog here and visit her website here. And then run out and (or click to) buy her book! I can’t wait to read it!
Congratulations, Tammy!!!
Voting ends tomorrow in the Jane Austen Short Story Contest at pemberley.com
You have until tomorrow at midnight Eastern time to vote for your favorite Jane Austen-related short stories at pemberley.com.
There are almost ninety! I’m still reading them all!!
My story is #70, The Lost Portrait of Jane Austen.
The top ten winners of the popular vote will be announced Tuesday.
Oh, and who are you rooting for tonight?!
