I can't think of a time where I wrote a long lengthy intro to the heroine. Mine have generally been seen as pretty or even beautiful by others, but their own view of themselves is less linked to their appearance. If they know others see them as pretty, they think it's convenient but not necessarily how they see themselves.
Some I've written as being slim by nature; some work at it, a few have been curvy. I have yet to write about a pudgy heroine but these are women in the prime of life from 21 to mid 30s (I have an idea for one that would be late 50s but it's going to take finishing something else before I get into that one). Mostly they have careers: home decorator, photojournalist, teacher, painter, sculptor, lawyer, psychologist, wantabe writer, folk singer, and one mom/homemaker.
They fall in love with men who range from border patrolman, investigator, architect/builder, cop, high school principal, truck driver/manager of animal rehabilitation center, mechanic, photojournalist/writer, cowboy, to wealthy financier/entrepreneur.
Only two of mine have had children from before they met the hero-- epilogue sometimes adds to that. They have been blondes, redheads, brunettes, , all different lengths of hair, and all Caucasian. I tend to write about what I know hence the careers and backgrounds of my characters.
These woman face trials and tribulations through the man they fall in love with as well as what life throws at them. They face these problems with strength; and if they don't know what they want or how to be strong to begin, they will figure it out. They are as apt to save the hero as be saved. They do not lose themselves in falling in love with him although they make adjustments in their lives necessary for a relationship. If not to start, at least by the last chapter, they, like their heroes, will grab life by the horns and make of it what they want it to be.
Finding photos of my heroines was even tougher than the men. Pretty is easy to find. But strong looking women who still fit my own heroine mold, less so. I think readers like to imagine what these people look like and yet at the same time, people on the covers are known to sell better (I now have three without people; so we'll see). I used to have one cover, with what I would consider an ordinary heroine on the cover, as I described her to be inside, even readers who liked the book hated that cover. And yet what I write is not a story about goddesses (generally) but about women, who feel real to me, as though they could be someone I know and would like.
Below are a few of the images I purchased at Canstock, which I believe fit my heroines. I have bought many thinking they'd work and never did although someday who knows; so I keep them. They might inspire a new book if not end up a best friend in a trailer.
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Here's the thing I think you might notice about them, unlike the heroes, they look like the kind of women you could see in a grocery store or at work. They're pretty but not to the mythic/goddess level. That might be less true of the women in the historical novels. I'll give that some thought when I begin to put them into their covers and trailers.
