Amazon discontinued the ability to create images using their SiteStripe feature and in their infinite wisdom broke all previously created images on 12/31/23. Many blogs used this feature, including this one. Expect my archives to be a hot mess of broken book cover images until I can slowly comb through 20 years of archives to make corrections.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Did I Just Make Up A Word?

Super Librarian's Romance Novel Glossary

Series Bait (n.)

def. When secondary characters pop into a romance novel for no apparent reason other than for the author to pimp them out as protagonists for future books in a never ending series.

Usage: The story was supposed to be about this hot, Alpha Army Ranger wounded in combat and the naive, virgin doctor who nurses him back to health, but the other guys in the hero's unit kept showing up and did nothing other than spew forth dialogue that no man would say in real life. Then it dawned on me they were just series bait and I skimmed those chapters.

Glossary idea shamelessly stolen from Margee.

And did I just make up the term "series bait?" Or did I read it on another blog? Cuz honestly, I think it's kind of clever and I'm not a terribly clever girl. Hey, if I did make it up all on my own I'm thinking I might trademark it.

6 comments:

saucydiva said...

I don't know who made it up, but I love it. It bugs the crap out of me that half the books I read these days have best friends and siblings clearly dying for their own book, but rarely do I consider them to be compeling enough to want to search out these books, unless I love the author, but it still bugs.

azteclady said...

You were reading the book I read a couple of weeks ago, hmm?

Rosie said...

Dude, how ya gonna trademark it when you're telling everyone? Hurry, scurry, trademark!

Katiebabs a.k.a KB said...

I am reading such a book where this happens. :)

azteclady said...

It's an epidemic!!!


*ahem*

Wendy said...

Ha! Azteclady - we probably didn't read the same book. This term actually popped into my head when someone mentioned an older book by a very popular author to me. I had to bite my tongue from ranting about how much I loathed it and how the series baiting drove me insane.

Rosie: I don't know if I can trademark cuz I wouldn't be surprised if I unintentionally stole the term from someone else. I'm not a terribly original person.

Saucydiva: That's a whole other blog post LOL. Ahh, the good old days when you could find a stand-alone romance.......