Facial Quirks

Lately I have been obsessed with hunting down facial quirks - discreetly staring at faces on the street and in the train and tram, and also searching for articles on the net. One might wonder why. I promise you it's not because I enjoy scaring fellow pedestrians and commuters, though I have to admit these quirks make for interesting and memorable features.

I have been searching for different things that would distinguish my characters in the story I am working on. Something that will make them memorable.

I found this article written by John Yeoman at Writers Village on Character Signatures character signatures. Impressive. Writers Village is an absolute writer's dream.

Some of the facial quirks which coul make a face memorable :

• A mole anywhere on the face (my daughter has slightly below the left eye on the cheek) We call it a beauty spot. :D  

• Gap between the upper front or lower teeth : My mom and my sister have the gap. Also reminds me of Anna Paquin from True Blood

• Different eye colour - reminds me of Katsa from Kristin Cashore's Graceling

• Crooked nose

• Dimpled chin.

• Dimpled cheeks - I have one on the right side. It shows up when I smile, so I tend to do that alot..haha my daughter has one on the left side.

•  A wide smile sort of like Julia Roberts'

• Full lips, think lips

• Big eyes cast in thick lick lashes -  Reminds me of my son.  Sometimes when I'm applying makeup, I envy him for having such lush eyelashes.

•  Big, intense eyes -  My daughter has such eyes. Sometimes when she looks at me, I have to avert my gaze. It's as if she can see right through me.

• Scars - Thanks, Diane.   

•  Slightly lopsided smile - Thanks, Kelly

Oh, my left ear is pointed at the tip (not as extreme as an elf's though), and the right one is rounded at the tip.  Guess I  ear gene my dad. :D  That is part of facial quirk, I think.

Do you have facial quirks, know someone who has one or two? Or maybe you could mention a couple to add to the list?

It will be great hearing from you.  Please comment below, and I will add on the list above. Might come in handy for anyone in need. I realised it was not easy finding these on the net. Oh, here is an article in Glamour magazine. If anyone is interested. There are about 104 comments mentioning individual quirks.

Happy Wednesday!

H.D. Gordon's JOE virtual book tour

Author: H.D. Gordon

Book Title: JOE


Source: Blog Tour

Rating: 4/5 stars


Author's Link:  http://hdgordon.com/


Buy Links:Amazon





Book Summary:

From the author of the Alexa Montgomery Saga, comes a book that will take you into the mind of a geniune pyschopath, the lives of six ordinary people, and the world of a very special girl named Joe.

Joe is seemingly an ordinary college student. She works, studies and reads. But in between these activities Joe has a gift that promises to add a dose of color to her life at any given moment. Joe sees things before they happen. Bad things, and the worst thing she has ever faced is just around the corner. Someone is planning a massacre at the college university that Joe attends, and the only person with a hope of stopping the pyschopath is her.

Oh, the beauty of foresight. More like a curse. Joe has four days to figure out the mystery, make plans to take down the pyscho, and save the lives of people. People like you and me. Ordinary people.

My Review:


JOE is written is different  POVs. In each one we get to know the characters, their backgrounds and what each one of them is looking forward to in the near future. H.D. Gordon weaves this story so well, and how each of these characters are connected to Joe, the main character, the silver-eyed, raven haired girl who has the ability to see things before they happen.

The author also did a great job of getting into the villain's mind, drawing the kind of emotions appropriate for this type of character. This guy makes other psychopaths one meets on the streets look like amateurs. Very well done.


This story is gripping, emotional and I was eager to know the outcome after all was said and done. So much action, emotions, conflicts packed in a four days.

I felt some descriptions were a bit too long, though, not that it hindered me in any way. Still enjoyed this story alot.

And I loved the ending :) To see a simple girl who doesn't talk much change so many lives was amazing. Hopefully we will be seeing more of Joe. What a loveable character!

Check out my awesome awards!

I received this wonderful awards from the lovely  C. Lee McKenzie

List your 5 favourite books. 

1. Shatter Me by Taheri Mafi.
2. Delirium by Lauren Oliver  
3. Easy by Tammara Webber
4. A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught
5.Psy-changelling series by Nalini Singh. I couldnt really choose one in this series becuase I love all the books in this series. Worldbuilding is well done.

5 fabulous moments

1. The click moment - that's what I call the moment I solve a plot problem that has been bother ing me for a while in my story

2. It is so uplifting to see a smile from one of my elderly clients when I've done something as small as, well, handing him/her a glass of water. Makes me feel...appreciated. :)

3. Every second I get to spend with my children.

4. The moment I pull the cake from the oven and see the middle is still puffed up - I have a problem at times almost always, for some reason my cakes obey the law of gravity and sink in the middle.

5. When I open my eyes to a new day, with birds chirping out my window



5 Things i love 

1. Love watching TV - My Sat receiver blew up last week after a blood-chilling storm. The last few days have been quite depressing. I'll feel alive once again if it's in working order.

2. Oh, I love sleeping ALOT. Just to catch up with the hours I have to wake up early in the morning.

3. My children

4. To read a book while cuddled up on my favourite burgundy couch.

5. Oldies. There is nothing like the seventies and eighties music.



5 Thinks I dislike

1. Dishonesty
2. People who take advantage of others people's good intentions
3. Gossip
4. Being idle
5. People who have nothing better to do than nit-pick for other people's faults.


5 people I would like to share this awards with:

1. Martina
2. C.A. Szarek
3. Liz Davis
4. Mina
5. Debbie Brown

Happy Monday!

Where do I get story ideas from.

This is a guest post I did sometime back during the Truly, Madly, Deeply You blog tour on Jacob's Beloved Books blog.

My inspiration comes from almost everywhere: Walking down the street, in the shower, watching TV, that space of time between waking up and sleeping whne my mind is drifting in all directions … 

For Truly, Madly, Deeply, You, I was inspired by a couple who I visited in their home during my home visits. The man was 93 years and his wife 88. While I sat there listening to them, telling me how they were best friends even before they got married, my mind wandered. I began weaving a story: a friends to lovers story. Only in mine, the male harbors feelings for his female friend, but she has no idea how he feels. And the woman is so guilt ridden the only way she can protect herself is ‘block’ any feelings the hero gushes over her. As I am not an outline person, I sit and just let the characters take over.

In Truly, Madly, the story is more character oriented and less plot. More about friendship and love, and discovery and with a bit of salvation thrown in there. I focused on the two characters, Frey and Liese, and explored their relationship and their feelings toward each other.

There is nothing as heady as when ideas blossom inside my mind. Intoxicating. 

What about you? What inspires you to write a story? 

My Friday Fantastic Feature: Liz Grace Davis

Sooo, It's that time of the week again. On spotlight is  the talented Liz Davis Grace,  the Author of Chocolate Aftertaste and Tangi's Teardrops, and a fellow Viennese. It is wonderful to have an author who lives in the same area. Makes me feel.. well... not alone. :D

Recently I discovered she designs book covers as well.  Here is one that left me breathless.The colours blend so beautifully, so when I first saw this, I imagined a Christmas romance...or something, but definitely Christmas-y.

Another one that had my mind churning out ideas was this one. Oooh, those eyes reflected on the mirror do say alot, don't they?

If you would like to get more info about her book covers, please hop over @ http://gracedaviscovers.weebly.com/index.html

Do you judge a book by the cover?  - Myself I don't. But I do appreciate a well done cover.  I think a book cover goes a long way soothing the eye. :D

Cover Reveal: The Watcher by Lisa Voisin

Today I have a cover reveal to share with you. The Watcher by Lisa Voisin will be released March 4th, 2013. Want a chance to win angel wings necklace? Please check the end of this post and enter this awesome giveaway!

Millennia ago, he fell from heaven for her.

Can he face her without falling again?

 

Fascinated with ancient civilizations, seventeen-year-old Mia Crawford dreams of becoming an archaeologist. She also dreams of wings—soft and silent like snow—and somebody trying to steal them.

 When a horrible creature appears out of thin air and attacks her, she knows Michael Fontaine is involved, though he claims to know nothing about it. Secretive and aloof, Michael evokes feelings in Mia that she doesn’t understand. Images of another time and place haunt her. She recognizes them—but not from any textbook.

 In search of the truth, Mia discovers a past life of forbidden love, jealousy and revenge that tore an angel from Heaven and sent her to an early grave. Now that her soul has returned, does she have a chance at loving that angel again? Or will an age-old nemesis destroy them both?

Ancient history is only the beginning.

 

Giveaway Swag Gift:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thief Of Shadows Book Review

Book Title: Thief of Shadows (Maiden Lane #4)
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Source: Netgalley
Genre: Adult historical romance
Setting: London, England 1738
Rating: 5/5 Stars











Book Summary:

A masked man...
Winter Makepeace lives a double life. By day he's the stoic headmaster of a home for foundling children. But the night brings out a darker side of Winter. As the moon rises, so does the Ghost of St. Giles—protector, judge, fugitive. When the Ghost, beaten and wounded, is rescued by a beautiful aristocrat, Winter has no idea that his two worlds are about to collide.

A dangerous woman...
Lady Isabel Beckinhall enjoys nothing more than a challenge. Yet when she's asked to tutor the Home's dour manager in the ways of society— flirtation, double entendres, and scandalous liaisons—Isabel can't help wondering why his eyes seem so familiar—and his lips so tempting.

A passion neither could deny...
During the day Isabel and Winter engage in a battle of wills. At night their passions are revealed...But when little girls start disappearing from St. Giles, Winter must avenge them. For that he might have to sacrifice everything—the Home, Isabel...and his life.

My Review:

 I read the first book in the Maiden Lane series sometime last year, so when I saw this on netgalley, and that it was Winter Makepeace story, one of the characters I was really curious about in Wicked Intentions, I was quite excited to read this. And I wasn't disappointed. There's that saying that goes, "Still waters run deep." After reading Winter's story, I totally agree with that saying.

St. Giles is part of London, ridden with orphans, prostitutes, almost every horrible thing one can imagine. Winter the schoolmaster and manager of the orphan home and The Ghost of St. Giles lives to right the wrongs. And then there is Isabel, one of Winter's home patrons. These two are brought together by the fortune event (or misfortune, I do prefer the fortunate) when Isabel saves The Ghost from a riot, and later on when the orphan home is in danger of falling into someone else's hands. As the story advances, so does the romance between these two as well as the mystery surrounding children disappearing in the streets.

I loved Isabel's character. On the outside, she is strong, confident always sure of herself.And she is older and more sexually oriented than Winter.Then her life is revealed through her POV. This is someone who had gone through alot in her life, and is still suffering. I really sympathised with her.

I loved Winter's character as well, maybe a little too much. On the outside, he is the boring, stern schoolmaster who has dedicated his life to the children in his home. On the inside, and also when he takes the role of The Ghost, he is daring, passionate, wields swords like flash of lightning. And he is younger than Isabel, inexperienced in the matters of making love. He is also stubborn, and straighforward. Never minces his words, and oh so gentle (could see that whenever he was with Isabel)

So when these two finally got together, the scenes left me breathless. And what a happy ever after.

I'm really looking forward to Lord of Darkness, which also features a character I adored and felt sympathy for in Wicked Intentions. Yay! In the meantime, I will play catchup with the other book in the series.

Fan of well written, action packed, and scenes which leave one breathless... I recommend this series.