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Adverb Abuse
When a former editor of mine first edited THE ETERNAL TRUST he advised me to quickly and completely remove most adverbs ("ly" words) from the prose. Adverbs are those often over and misused modifiers of verbs that answer questions of when, where, how, why, under what conditions and to what degree. Adverbs also modify adjectives or other adverbs to intensify or limit the intensity of the word they modify. The less adverb usage theory being that if you choose a strong enough verb, you don't need an adverb. So whenever I wanted to give the editor a hard time, I'd stick "ly" on just about every word I could. Ah, such fun!

(Note: He's not my editor any more . . .)

Very, Very Potterly
I've just finished reading Harry Potter 6. Though the story had a bit of a slow start, it thumped right along until I began to notice the writer's technique. The woman is very, very in love with adverbs. She'll happily and consistently stick an adverb on any verb, such as "...he said inquiringly." Why not just write "he asked?" Of course, then one might see "he asked strongly" or even "he asked most strongly."

It's a pattern of easy evil, really, using adverbs. Once you throw one in, it seems chained to bunch of others, drawing them relentlessly into your prose like a winch. See what I mean?

Ciao, ciao, Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm--ly