Fans of Interracial Romance discussion

Hopefully, this isn't too personal, but I think it would be fun and healing for us to describe ourselves as if we were writing about an IR heroine based on us.

What is your best feature? What does the hero of your story most admire about you? What are your strengths? Where do your vulnerabilities lie? How would you want to be described if you were the heroine?

My little short story about me... (I hope other people join in on this post, so I don't feel too silly)

Chris looked up from his exam for the hundredth time, because the graduate teaching assistant kept pacing up and down the brick steps next to his seat. The lecture hall had room for 150 students, but only seventy were registered for this class. After four semesters of Calculus, a semester of Differential Equations, and concurrent enrollment in Partial Differential equations he was now sitting in this junior level class, and it was proving to be the bane of his existence. Numerical Methods for Engineers should have been easy compared to all the other heavy mathematics he had under his belt, but the TA this semester just happened to have unreasonable grading standards.

He watched her click by in her heels again, and wished she'd worn a quieter pair of shoes. The instructor of the class was also the Dean of the Engineering department, a busy woman who never proctored her own exams. Instead, she had her TAs watch the class take tests. Chris wished the male TA would switch sides of the room with her, because she was just a little too distracting in the outfit she had on today.

There were seventy students in the room, and she was the only woman among them, or girl rather. She barely looked old enough to be in college, let alone be a grad student who had some power over his grade for the semester. He'd seen her around the halls many times before, it was hard to miss her because she stuck out like a sunflower among roses. She was one of very few women in the college of engineering, and she was the only African American grad student in the program at that time. Even if he could have missed the fact that she was the odd one out, he couldn't have missed the glaring fact that she walked around with a massive chip on her shoulder. She dressed more like she was going to a job interview than a college campus every day, and she tended to walk fast with her nose stuck up in the air. He'd had to jog to keep up with her once while walking with her to the instructor's office, despite the fact that she was a good seven inches shorter than him. She always walked like she was on a mission to save the world...or kill someone who had offended her.

His mind snapped back to the test as she clicked down the steps toward the chalk board at the front of the lecture hall. Wordlessly, she picked up the chalk and wrote "5 MIN" on the board. He looked back down at his exam with a curse. He still had one problem untouched, and he had completely forgotten how to apply the Newton-Raphson method, because he'd been so distracted by her.

Once time ran out, she and the other TA called out for all remaining exams to be handed in. Actually, she didn't say a word... she just started taking exams from people who hadn't finished yet. He watched her as she collected them. She always seemed so uncomfortable when she was within arms reach of another human being. Almost as if she were some high functioning alien who was too weary of all the Earthlings to want to mingle with them too much.

Every time she bent forward to collect an exam, she gave the barest hint of a smile. Once she got to his row, Chris watched as the guy seated next to him held on to his exam.

"Just one more problem," the guy said.

She looked massively uncomfortable with having to speak, but she said, "Time's up. You have to put down your pencil," in a soft voice that sounded more like a nervous child than a graduate student who had authority in this room.

The guy frowned at her, and still refused to give up his exam. She opened her mouth to say something else, but the male TA swooped in and snatched the exam before she could speak again. "Time's up!" he said forcefully.

The female TA looked at the male TA, and quietly moved on. Once she reached Chris, she took his exam, and their eyes met for a moment. Chris had never looked at her face this closely before, and for the first time he noticed that she was kind of pretty. He gave her a little salute, and she responded with a tiny chuckle. She then pushed her glasses back up her nose and walked off. She was attractive, but not in the way other girls were attractive. She looked at everyone in a way that dared them to categorize her as anything other than intelligent. Her eyes dared every male student in the room to give her anything other than respect. She wore her professionalism and smarts like a mantle, but that moment when their eyes met he saw through the little chink in her armor. She was obviously shy. He had fun imagining how she would would react if he told her how hard it had been for him to keep his eyes off of her hourglass figure as she'd pranced back and forth in her little grey pencil skirt.

What a great idea Indigo.plume and bless you. Give me a little time and I'll definitely add something to this. Yay!

TheFountainPenDiva wrote: "What a great idea Indigo.plume and bless you. Give me a little time and I'll definitely add something to this. Yay!"

Awesome!!!! I can't wait :-)

Alexandria wrote: "Wow, this was a very interesting read, Indigo, and a great idea altogether.
I think I'll do one too some time soon."

I'm looking forward to reading it :-)

Great read, Indigo! I'll try to do something, too.

Tea wrote: "Great read, Indigo! I'll try to do something, too."

I can't wait to read it! This sort of positive sharing can be so much fun :-)

I am going to write something for this at the weekend. :)

Kim wrote: "I am going to write something for this at the weekend. :)"

I can't wait to read all of the descriptions. I'm sure they'll be fabulous! I'm such a nerd; this kind of thing really excites me :-)

Indigo: I was really sick this weekend (and then I had work stuff, school stuff, work, then school today), but I will get a short piece together for this thread. Someday.

OK, I will just write it now since I forgot to do it this weekend. It's from the POV of the guy.

Whenever he saw her, she had a book in her hands. Sometimes her lips curled into a tiny smile as she read, and it made him want to know what elicited that secret smile. It had been two weeks since he'd last spied on her in the café--back then, she'd worn her hair in a frizzy ponytail that came to her shoulders, but now her hair was much shorter--a chin-length bob of curls that framed her make-up free face. She looked younger now, less stressed--had her vacation helped? He'd overheard her tell the barista that she'd gone home to visit her family. He envied her if a family vacation could be stress-free. None of his ever were.

Usually he found himself drawn to lithe, athletic girls. The ones who looked as though they survived on nothing more than air and a little protein. But she was short, soft...he imagined if touched her he would feel firm muscle under her flesh but she didn't look like she cared about going to the gym. She looked like a woman who enjoyed food, who savoured a good glass of wine or a square of dark chocolate and didn't give a damn if it went to her hips. Hell, he loved her hips.

Very NICE Kim!

Love it!

Kim wrote: "OK, I will just write it now since I forgot to do it this weekend. It's from the POV of the guy.

Whenever he saw her, she had a book in her hands. Sometimes her lips curled into a tiny smile as s..."

Thanks Kim! This was a great description.

"Whenever he saw her, she had a book in her hands. Sometimes her lips curled into a tiny smile as she read, and it made him want to know what elicited that secret smile."

Love that sentence. It reminds me of the first line from Daphne DuMarier's Rebecca. In that story, the first line sucks the reader into the story in a powerfully quiet and unassuming way. In your description, the hero's first thoughts about the heroine are like one of those gently insistent whispers that you can't help but pay attention to... I want to know more about this secret smile and the book that caused it. I want to know more about his reaction to learning more about her just as much as I want to know more about her, lol. I wish it hadn't ended.

Alexandria wrote: "So I promised to write mine a while back, and though I started it out as prose, it ended up being in verse.. I hope that's alright.

I'm nervous as it's a little personal.. here goes!

Me
To be me ..."

Alexandria, you had nothing to be nervous about! This is a safe space to share your deeply personal thoughts about yourself. Thanks for doing it in verse. If verse feels right and authentic to you, then verse is perfect for this thread.

"Hair course as grass tuff of the dry savanna I adorn.
The state of my hair, my poor ma does daily mourn.
'Tis my hairdressers' constant source of headache-
For to straighten it I've refused, I won't quake."


I particularly enjoyed your vivid use of imagery that highlights your ancestry. In the verse about hair, you manage to touch on the sensitive "good hair" issue that has plagued the self esteem of many beautiful Black women (myself and my sister included). You said quite a lot in only FOUR lines!

Thanks for demonstrating how even a few short lines can pack a powerful emotional punch. I envision your poem being performed in public and helping other women and girls to see the beauty in themselves through your vulnerability.

Wow Alexandria! You can do verse. That's incredible.
Kim, I really liked he last line about her hips.
I'm so glad you started this thread, indigo, it's really inspiring.

(I did a fantasy one. The POV of an Elven warrior and hunter)

And suddenly, she laughed.

The straight back, the strong shoulders, relaxed just a little. She kicked her legs just a little as she sat down on the barstool of the tavern, letting him have a glimpse of strong beautiful legs hidden under a long, deerskin skirt.

"You do have a sense of humor, Elf, I never would have expected it."

She smiled. It was as if a hot flame from the earth's beginning was pouring from her, making her eyes light up and her deep brown skin radiant. Her locs swirled down across her shoulders to her waist, her full lips and firm mouth had for the first time he'd seen softened into a smile.

So, she was capable of laughter. She was capable of joy.

With all that had happened to her, with all the years she stood up alone to a sorcerer's curse her spirit had never faltered.

She was as strong as the forest she protected. As strong as bamboo-she'd bend but never break.

All of these are great! Now I am no writer by any means but I am working on mine and I will post as soon as I am done with it. This really is an awesome thread you started Indigo.

Alexandria wrote: "@mrsbookmark Nice! I love Elven warriors btw. If I had to choose to be a supernatural being, I'd go with being an Elf and hopefully meet Legolas and live HEA! lol

@A-W Looking forward to reading y..."

Great! Another Elf fan. I love elves.

mrsbookmark wrote: "(I did a fantasy one. The POV of an Elven warrior and hunter)

And suddenly, she laughed.

The straight back, the strong shoulders, relaxed just a little. She kicked her legs just a little as she s..."

I've never read a fantasy romance before, but I think I will start soon. This description was great. My favorite like was:

"She smiled. It was as if a hot flame from the earth's beginning was pouring from her, making her eyes light up and her deep brown skin radiant."

Best description of an engaging smile EVER! Thanks :-)

I have been reading this thread but previously wasn't inspired to contribute because it's supposed to be about me. Maybe it's a self esteem thing, but at a loss of making my own description interesting enough. Easier to catalog my faults, than make them romance heroine worthy. Especially after all the great ones everyone else did.

Well it's not me but a real life person, none the less. For the last couple of days, I've been at the hospital with my Grandmother. She has a nurse that is so beautiful to me, I had to interrupt her, just to let her know. I'm not a writer so my description will be, quite literal. Forgive me in advance.

Looking at her, made Beyonce's "Flawless" come to mind because she really did "woke up like this..." She didn't have a stitch of make up on, yet her skin looked Airbrushed. Ironically my real life skin tone references aare always make-up based, so hers matched Iman's Earth 1 exactly. A medium dark brown, but with an unexpected amber undertone that is hard for to describe. She had huge hazel-green eyes, that reminded me of Bambi because shape, and beautiful long black eyelashes. The eye color, dark skin, and Muslim head wrap made nosey enough to find out she was from Somalia.