Last week I wrote about how one popular writer gets around the “-ly” problem. Diana Gabaldon is the author of the much acclaimed Outlander series. I think the acclaim is well deserved. These are wonderful time-travel romance books that I am enjoying thoroughly and would recommend to anyone.

But Ms. Gabaldon has developed one stylistic quirk that brings me up short and right out of the story every time I encounter it. Which is, regrettably, often. In what might be a response to the current undeserved disfavor in which adverbs ending in -ly find themselves among self-proclaimed writing gurus, Ms. Gabaldon often simply leaves off the -ly. I’m not sure how she punctuates this particular variation on the language (I’m listening, not reading). Problem solved, right?

Well, gentle reader, here are some real examples from An Echo in the Bone. You decide:

“He turned for the shore, cutting smooth through the water.”

“Roger shrugged helpless.”

“‘What?’ I said startled.”

“‘You can’t leave,’ I whispered urgent.”

“Tears welled in his own eyes then, unexpected.”

“She bit her lip at that and nodded reluctant.”

I offer these examples reluctant, since I love this book wholehearted. But I do wish somebody had edited a few -lys back into it.