Descriptions are not my strongest suit. I used to leave them out completely, but my publisher asked me to put them in enough times that I've gotten in the habit of getting them over with upfront. I tend to keep them short and one-time, though. Here’s how I’ve described the race or ethnicity of some of the character in my novels:
--Coach Harley puts a thick, dark hand on my shoulder. "Calder." I turn and look into the murky brown eyes of my assistant. I see there again the galling pity and something else, something I can’t quite read.
-- Tommy is lanky with a shock of black hair that contrasts boldly with his pale skin.
--Malcolm, a burly African-American guy who looks like he should be a linebacker instead of the second best marksman on Grant's rifle team, says, "What about self-defense?"
--Cory and O are identical twins, but, as they got older, Cory cut his hair short and tight and O grew his long and weaved it into dreadlocks. They both have the same mocha skin, a beautiful combination resulting from their Ethiopian mother and Scotch-English father, and the same arresting, green-brown eyes. They're the same height, of course (medium tall), but their builds are different – O has that lean body from swimming, and Cory’s legs have grown muscular from the years he spent playing soccer.
-- "What’s up?" the tall, thin one asks, but he isn’t the one who interests me. I turn instead to the sturdier, darker-skinned boy, whose short, tightly curled hair looks a little uneven around the ears, like he’s shaved it himself. "You go to Calvert High?" I ask him.
