How far can I twist "brief info on characters" in query?

I'm sending out a few more queries this week on my current novel. (Sadly, a case of "blankopagophobia" has derailed my efforts at newer material this morning.) One set of guidelines states that along with the synopsis and sample pages, I should include a brief bit of info about the characters.

Okay, a lot of the necessary information about the characters is in the synopsis. What I'd thought of sending, because I have it on hand and that nicely circumvents the bpg syndrome mentioned above, is descriptions of my characters' hands. It was something I did way back in the beginnings of the book, and it worked better than anything else when I was trying to get into these particular characters' heads. But I fear it would be seen as a) flippant, and b) innappropriate.

Comments? Thoughts? Asides?

chaostitan said:

This is a new one for me, klostes. I've never seen an agent require character information. As you stated, the necessary information is usually presented in the synopsis, so I'm not sure what else you could tell them.

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This is a small press, independent publisher, so they're looking for a little bit different info, I'm guessing. I don't know, really; it seemed very odd to me as well!

sfecphory said:

Unless it was very relevant to the plot of the novel, I would think that it would strike the agent as an odd choice.

However, I will say this: it sounds like an excellent writing exercise.

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It actually was a fantastic exercise; I don't remember where I got the idea from.