To think nobody ‘pads’ in real life, is this just a book thing? Stuff you only read in books…

[Hottubby]

‘She slipped on his shirt and padded across the room ‘
Does anyone ‘pad’ in real life? I have read it 4 times this week (I’m on holiday and reading a lot of chic lit!). Why is it only used in books?

”His eyes darkened” is one I have often read but never observed in reality. Can eyes really change colour?

Also heroines seem to smell either of vanilla or lemon.

I hate that. If the blurb says ‘Katy is a struggling author who has just moved into a small village…’ then I put it straight down.

I tend to read crime fiction. What annoys me is the number of female detectives who have a cat but don’t ever seem to come home in time to feed them. I want to start a female detective cat rescue.

Where I live in the North East "padded" just means walked so it's used a lot. My DP will say he had to pad home for example. I don't tend to use it as much as I'm not from here originally.I haven't really heard it used elsewhere though.

And what about tabloid speak ? Chardonnay blasts love rat Jordan. She found him romping with Chantelle. Phew what a Scorcher as crowds set to hit the beaches this weekend. Star studded evening as Shirley Ballas joins Justin from CBeebies at community centre opening. etc

Yes! Definitely had that problem with Wolf Hall.

Reading an outlander book right now and love the stories but all of a sudden, I seem to be reading about people clearing their throats a lot before they speak and making weird 'Scottish' noises. Really annoying me now.

"She flipped and flopped her way across the creamy shag pile as her brooding billionaire boyfriend smirked appreciatively. She reminded him of a beautiful, mysterious trout. He fingered the top button on his crisp white shirt as her erotic fish-dance reached its hypnotic peak. Oh yes, he thought, she really was the prettiest fish in the whole river. He made a mental note to buy her a diamond or four the next day."

@oakleaffy I'd read a book set in that house!

It's perfectly possible to read the classics and the not-so-classics.You don't have to stick to one or the other.

<pads away>

Any book where the heroine ‘pads’ across the floor (usually a bedroom floor) is instantly mentally filed as ‘trash’ in my mind.

Maybe not in books but the press always talk about "revellers" at celebrations. Not sure I've ever discussed revelling with anyone in person.

😂😂😂

I think, on the whole, I stump about like Winnie the Pooh does. (except when padding to the loo in the night to not wake Himself up)

Hahaha!!!😅 Please write a book, I'd buy a dozen!

No female has legs in tabloids. Always 'pins'

@Arcadia Interestingly, a friend of mine is an author and the advice from all publishers and creative writing gurus is that the sentence has to convey what's going on, not how it's said.

Using words like 'whispered, muttered, mumbled, cursed' is regarded as poor writing.

This made me chuckle as my daughter got a reading book from school this week and one of the sentences is ‘dad pads in.’ I thought it was a funny word for a four year old child to have to know.

"Overstuffed sofa" !! How can that be?

Sylvia Day is alright. Predictable, but engaging enough characters. A bit of substance.

thanks I'll give her a go

Alternatively, they’re “putting on a leggy display”.

Another one is the word tresses instead of hair. A word I’ve never actually heard out loud - only in lowbrow writing!

@35965a Maybe eyes flash infrequently, you would know it if you saw it.

I was talking to a friend, and we were discussing her sexless marriage. Then moved on to how she was going to invest a fairly large sum of money.

I said, well, we know a fund manager who would advise you. Then said his name. Her eyes lit up and then she tried to cover her surprise. She had been having an affair with him for 6 months! Kept it a total secret.

Rare perhaps?

Depends on the pile of the carpet

@Hottubby

Have we missed "creamy thighs?" Or have I been reading the wrong books?

There are few phrases that properly wind me up, but I do get annoyed when the writer uses the same one, over and over.

In one (horse related), the main character was forever taking a horse for 'a pick of grass' - there are multiple ways to describe that, to use the same one each time is lazy and irritating.

But for all you clever clogs out there - you try writing some of this stuff and see how quickly writing fairly normal descriptions of actions starts to look stilted and weird!

Nooo I never use the handle!! Holding the mug in both hands is the best of a hot drink for me