What are we talking about? Hair. Mine, yours, and our characters.
I think I’ve mentioned here before that I don’t like change. Any kind of change. I wore my hair the same way for over twenty years. My daughters kept telling me I should change. (Both are much more okay with change than I am.) I didn’t believe them until I went through some photo albums for a project for my husband. OMG! They were right. I was a curly headed blonde for over twenty years. I got perms and had it highlighted—expensive, but I felt like I looked good pretty much all the time and I didn’t have to do too much too it. Definite benefit. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it is my moto.
Very, very highlighted blond on wedding day. (We’ve both improved with age. :))
Hair says a lot about us. I was busy and needed something that was fast to keep up. Kind of no-nonsense, but fun. (I’m not sure the daughters would agree it was fun. LOL)
Still very blond, but not so high.
Ever since I’d been in college I’d wanted to have red hair. I played a role in a play that I used a rinse on my blonde hair to fit in more with the family. I remember the first time I looked in the make-up mirror after I’d put in the hair color. I’m not kidding, my eyes seemed to jump right out of my face. Play ended. Life went on, but that memory remained.
My husband over the years commented about how much he like red-heads. I told him one day I’d surprise him. (Neither of us are high on the spontaneity scale—it takes us two years to decide to buy a car.) I can’t remember how many years ago it was that I took the plunge and changed my hair color. Kept the curls. Can’t do too much at one time.
Don’t remember what my older daughter (in pic above, too) & I were doing here. Don’t even recognize location. 🙂
Met my husband for supper and sat across from him for over ten minutes before he asked if I’d done something to my hair. LOL Since then I’ve lost the curls. And I love it. People who haven’t known me for a long time think the color is real. And I do like how my eyes look now. I must’ve been meant to be a redhead. My mother had red highlights in her hair when she was a child and I did, too. So it is kind of natural. 🙂
In researching for this post, I found I’d worn nearly this same hairstyle (but in my natural dishwater blonde hair color) as a young mom.)
Our character’s hair say a lot about them, too. In my first book, VERMONT ESCAPE. One of the things the hero doesn’t like about the heroine is she’s blonde. His ex had bleached blonde hair and wore it in a high bubble—stereotypical of Texas women’s hair styles. Well, it’s stereotypical because a whole bunch of us wore our hair like that for years. (See wedding pic above.) The heroine’s hair was more the color of corn and she wore it in a low ponytail down her back. You learn some things about the hero from all of this. He notices details-like hair, and he was very hurt by his ex. We learn about the heroine. She wants a no-nonsense hair style. What’s easier than pulling your hair back in a ponytail? The low ponytail is classy. When my daughters were kids, I wore mine like that. Easy upkeep. (Couldn’t find the pic of me just before I cut it.)
Each of the women in the Second Chances Series has a different hair style and color. I found pics of 4 actresses to suggest the characters. Really helps with keeping them straight. One is dishwater blonde (surprise), another brunette, another red-haired, and the last is a very dark almost black color.
Do you use hair to say something about your characters? Are you a fan of change? Do you want a different style every year or so or every six months?
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Word by Word 
Hi Marsha, Entertaining post! I enjoyed reading this retrospective on hair. During my 20s and 30s, I experimented with different hairstyles, everything from shoulder length to afro. I recall one month where I visited my hair stylist three times to get the look right. The past 20 years, I’ve stuck to my pixie look.
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Hey, Joanne, boy you were really adventuress and had some money to make it 3 times in one month to the hairdresser. LOL Wow. I love your determination. The pixie is darling on you, btw. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and sharing.
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Love the photos, Marsha…and you really suit red hair! I’d have never guess you weren’t born with it!
When I had all my hair cut off, in 2011, went from waist length to an inch long, I got the only coloring I’ve ever had. The hair dresser talked me into a streak in the front but when he was finished, I hated it because it just looked wrong with my skin. I sat there for another hour to get it changed. 🙂
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Hey, Kathryn. Thanks for your kind words. I thought about whether I should reveal the truth, but decided maybe I’d encourage someone else who’d always wanted to do it to take the jump.
Boy, you really jumped off the deep end with that change in hair styles. What color was your streak? Red or white? The white ones always make me think of those stories where people have some dreadful experience that causes that little streak to appear. May have to use that in a book sometime. :)Thanks for stopping by and sharing.
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Hi Marsha, beautiful wedding photo! I agree, you look fantastic as a redhead.
My hair is super slow growing, so when I managed to get it to shoulder length, I held onto it for years, lol. Now it’s short, wash and dry, and I love it, so easy to care for 🙂
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Hey, Jacquie. Thanks for the kind words. My hair doesn’t grow very fast. I can easily make it 4 weeks between cuts. Could go to 5, but the color needs a boost sooner. The wash and dry thing is really great. One of the things I loved about the curly perm period. Easy to care for. The perm was probably not too great for me hair. I think the coloring is not as harsh as the perms. Thanks for stopping by and for sharing. 🙂
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Hi, Marsha! I’m with Kathryn, I always thought you’d had red hair. LOL. Over the years, I’ve gone from my brown to almost all blonde until recently. Last summer, I went on a cruise with Handsome and family. Someone took a photo of us and I realized with my hair so short and blonde, I looked as if I had no hair. Back to my brown and more of a longer bob. What we women go through….
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Hey, Vicki. I think that’s why I’ve stayed with the red. Because most people think its real and I get lots of compliments on it from strangers even. I say thanks and pass it on to my hairdresser. 🙂 I think of you as blonde, It’s the dishwater kind that mine would be if it were whatever it’s “natural” color would be now. I didn’t share of the pic of me with pretty dark brownish hair. I had them put a rinse on so I could grow out the white blonde (which my husband told me after the fact he really didnt like. LOL) Went to pick up my daughter from church moms day out and she didn’t recognize me. Started crying. Quite an experience. It worked great for being a gypsy for Halloween that year.. Thanks for stopping by and sharing.
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Reblogged this on Jeannie Hall Suspense.
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Thanks, Jeannie. 🙂
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