Buzz Words
Wednesday, December 7th, 2005
Ever notice how writers have pet phrases that show up all too often? For example, Robert Jordan is partial to “good stout Two Rivers wool.” Well, I’ve found that the romance industry has its pet phrase too.
I recently received my first issue of Romance Writers Report, published by–surprise!–Romance Writers of America.
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Back cover has an advertisement for Janice Lynn’s novel Jane Millionaire. In big red letters, it proclaims “Sassy, sexy, & Simply Irrestible!”
Inside front cover: Kelley St. John’s first novel, Good Girls Don’t. On its front cover? “A sassy, sexy romance about compromising positions.”
Page 41: The cover to Susanna Carr’s Lip Lock. “Sexy, sassy, delicious fun!”
That was just in one magazine. If I went to Borders and randomly pulled romances off the shelves, how many more instances of that phrase do you think I’ll find? Dozens? Scores? Hundreds? Perhaps the blurb writers need to acquaint themselves with that marvelous little book called a thesaurus.
And I guess those of us who wouldn’t catagorize our novels as sassy and sexy are plumb out of luck.