Mine went: KAREN MERCURY: What gets my goat is when a writer has obviously borrowed a very hackneyed phrase from another writer. I’ve seen it steamroll that way. I’ll read the stale phrase—for example, how her gown “pooled at her feet” when a hero took it off. A month later, you’ll read someone else using the exact same phrase. It steamrolls from there, and pretty soon every single book has a gown pooling on the floor. Same thing with a man “claiming” a woman’s mouth with his. I first read that in gothic romances in the 80s. Pretty soon men were claiming more than mouths. They were staking claims on female body parts all over the place! If you’re going to borrow a hackneyed phrase, make one up yourself. My favorite is “slithering.” I like how satin “slithers” between a hero’s fingers. You can borrow that.
