International Chick Lit Month: Is Chick Lit Simply the Romance Novel?

Shade Lapite is a writer who runs Just Before Bed which is a fantastic book blog so I was delighted when she offered to write a guest post for me. The post is a light hearted look at the comparisons between Chick Lit and romance novels.

It’s not hard to spot the Chick Lit section in a bookshop. The pastel-coloured, cartoon-illustrated cover has become as ubiquitous as the perma-tan hero - big hands, big pecs, big…everything was once reserved for romances. The story lines are becoming pretty standard too. Housewives being abandoned by their husbands and falling for handsome farmers, (The Sweetest Thing by Cathy Woodman) career women being passed over for promotion then falling for the snobs who stole their coveted job (Unlike a Virgin by Lucy Anne Holmes) and organised girl Fridays forced to babysit out of control rock-star comedians then falling for their charges (Lizzy Harrison Loses Control by Pippa Wright). There’s an awful lot of falling in fact they sound curiously like the romance novel circa 1970 with a sense of humour. While the 21st century Chick Lit novel showers us with unfulfilled women toiling in underpaid job (nannies, secretaries, assistants) leaning on family and friends until a man provides that happy ending, the romance genre has done some serious growing up. The scowling, cynical hero is still wealthy and strong jawed but tends to refrain from taking his woman against her will. The women are still achingly beautiful and innocent but they’re not sitting around waiting for an invite to the nearest aisle. Instead they're strong-willed careerists, occasionally even contemptuous of the whole love thing.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this; when a pudgy, beer-swilling, nicotine-addicted Bridget Jones stumbled on to the literary scene she was supposed to usher in a richer more varied representation of womanhood. And for a while she did; from Melissa Bank’s, Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing, to the feisty heroines of Candace Bushell’s Sex and the City. Along with the ditsy Bridgets, Chick Lit encompassed capable women at the top of their game, navigating life and love, friendship and family. You see, there was variety. Now the parameters of the genre seem to be narrowing. Yes the books are still well written, hilarious, moving but the underlying message is consistently - singledom sucks and life’s pointless without a steady man. We already have the romance, and it’s doing pretty well. so it would be a shame if we landed ourselves with an imitation genre. So let’s stop treating singledom like a disease, occasionally ditch the pastel-coloured cover and get back to embracing the full potential of women.

You can read Shade's blog here and you can follow her on Twitter.

International Chick Lit Month: Destiny by Louise Bagshawe

I used to be a real Louise Bagshawe fan back in the day and  I still love her earlier books such as Career Girls, The Movie Set, Tall Poppies, Monday's Child and Tuesday's Child. She really was one of the first authors to bring blockbusters into the 21st century and was quite rightly dubbed the new Jackie Collins. I stopped following her books when they dropped off the boil around the time when she was making political moves (cough cough) because they seemed to lack the spark that made me fall in love with them. However, it looks like Louise is back in the game with her new book, Destiny. The novel is about orphan, Katie Fox who is born into riches and rags but is gifted with great looks and an abundance of ambition. Katie is determined to make it in life and one way of doing that is to marry media mogul, Marcus Baker who is big player on the scene. Sophisticated, powerful and wealthy he is just the kind of guy to make Katie's dreams come true. Pretty soon she has the life she always dreamed of; wearing designer clothes and fabulous jewellery and attending glittery events with her uber rich and glam friends with all the time in the world to lunch and shop. However her lifestyle begins to lose its shine and Katie decides she wants more out of life such as a career of her own and a man she actually loves. Alas she soon finds that leaving her marriage is not as easy as she thinks and she finds herself with a fight on her hands to keep her independence and reputation.

Destiny by Louise Bagshawe is available to buy from today on amazon.

You can check out Louse Bagshawe's website.

International Chick Lit Month: Chick Lit is Still in Vogue

I came across Chick Lit Is Not Dead last year while browsing on the world wide web and as I am a firm lover of the genre I immediately added it to my bookmarks. The blog was set up by best friends Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke and celebrates Chick Lit in many ways. Liz and Lisa's distinct point of view have won them plenty of fans who follow them regularly. Chick Lit is Not Dead covers book reviews, interviews with chick lit authors and also cover topical issues such as the whether Royal Wedding is a relevant to current times. Their famous 'Do's and Don't"s is where authors gives us an insight into their psyches and the very popular 'Ask Liz and Lisa' special is where the duo dish out advice on various issues. I caught up with Liz and Lisa who took time out to tell me about their blog and Chick Lit books.

What made you start blogging?
We'd been best friends for over twenty years when we released our first novel, I'll Have What She's Having in January 2009 (being re-released as an e-book this summer) and started our popular blog Chick Lit is not Dead as a way to gain more exposure. We had no freakin' clue what we were doing. Now, two years later, with several authors being featured per week, regular original blog posts written by us and giveaways galore, we'd like to believe we know slightly more about what we're doing. However we still have a lot to learn.

Describe the concept behind Chick Lit is Not Dead.
While querying our first manuscript we kept hearing, we really like this book but...Chick Lit is Dead. But we felt in our Chick Lit loving heart of hearts that there was a still a market for all types of fiction that appeal to women. Yes, the original stiletto wearing, Prada clad heroine's time may have been over, but that kind of character doesn't have to define Chick Lit forever. To us, Chick Lit describes books that women want to read, whether it's a gripping memoir or Jennifer Weiner's latest novel. Our site supports and celebrates all good books.

Over the last year bloggers have really made their mark in Chick Lit coverage, how do you think they will continue to push the boundaries over the next few years?
It seems like publishers and authors are really beginning to embrace the power of a book blog tour. We think that bloggers will continue to grow in their influence- especially as eReaders become more popular and people turn to the Internet for book reviews.

You have a huge following, do you ever get stressed about maintaining such a high standard? 
We feel really thankful that people have responded so well to Chick Lit is Not Dead. We're constantly amazed at how incredibly awesome our followers are. And yes, we definitely stress about keeping things fresh and there may have even been a girlfight here or there about what direction to head next. But at the end of the day, we just like to have fun with it and enjoy the ride. We're releasing our second novel, The D Word, this Summer and we hope that will give us lots of new things to write about.

What do you do when you are not working on your blog? 
Liz: I love to spend time with my husband and two children and have a "day job" in pharmaceutical sales.
Lisa: I am building my resume as a freelance writer and juggling being a new mom to my baby girl. We spend a fair amount of time just trying to get each other on the phone for a live conversation. Damn you time zones! (Liz is in California, and Lisa in Chicago...)

Describe a typical day in the life of Liz and Lisa. 
Liz: Scrambling to get out of the house, scrambling to get home, beg the children to go to bed, write, write, write and attempt to squeeze at least one trashy reality show in. Repeat.
Lisa: Hauls her post-baby booty out of bed at 5:30 a.m. to get a work out in before the baby wakes. Juggles writing and feeding and changing diapers all day. If lucky, I squeeze in an episode of a bad reality TV show. Repeat.

Where do you source your stories from? 
We don't usually report on anything that actually need to be sourced. We prefer to shove our own uneducated opinions down people's throats instead! =)

What are your favourite glossy magazines? 
Us Weekly, People, Entertainment Weekly, Shape, Self, Writer's Digest, Vogue, Fitness and Fit Pregnancy. (Beginning to think we have too many magazine subscriptions!)

Name five blogs that you read religiously. 
Ivy League Insecurities, Ask Allison, BooksSparks PR, Manic Mommy and Whispering Writer. (Oh and Perez Hilton too)

You can read Liz and Lisa's blog here

You can follow them on Twitter and you can join their Facebook Fan Page.

Welcome to International Chick Lit Month

Chick Lit is defined as a type of post-feminist or second-wave feminism that went beyond female-as-victim to include fiction that covered the breadth of female experiences, including love, courtship and gender.

Wikipedia

May not only marks the end of Spring but the start of the first ever International Chick Lit Month which is a celebration of Chick Lit. A website has been set up specifically to mark the event which will consist of guests posts by authors, tips on how to write that novel and get it published and authors choosing their favourite Chick Lit books. Organised by Chicklit Club, Chick Lit is Not Dead and Novelicious it looks like May will be one hell of a month. Chick Lit often gets a bad rap from what I class as cultural snobs or those who are too short sighted to see that it is far more than fluffy pink covers. To me Chick Lit is a genre that embraces modern femininity; it covers issues that young women face such as challenges in the workplace, friendship, personal growth, family drama as well as romances. The term really came to fruition in 1988 as college slang for a course called female literary tradition and in 1995 it was used in an anthology called Chick Lit; Postfeminist Fiction. In a nutshell Chick Lit are books that features a female protagonist whose womanhood is heavily themitzed in the plot. Titles such as Bridget Jones's Diary, Sex and the City and The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing helped to establish the term and push it into the mainstream which got the publishing industry on board and behind the genre. However, the original Chick Lit author was Jane Austen who penned Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and of course Emma which which have been adapted into TV shows as well as films. Nowadays Chick Lit has really grown up and been divided into sub genres such as Mommy Lit, Career Lit, Chick Noir, Expose Lit and Lad Lit.  Over the month I will be doing a Chick Lit special which will feature a whole treat of reviews and stories on the genre. There will be a review of Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin which has been made into a film and I will be comparing both book and film. I will be asking fellow bloggers to talk about their favorite Chick Lits and there will be a review of Lindsey Kelk's digital short story, Jenny Lopez Has Had a Bad Week. So join me as we celebrate this fabulous month.

To kick off the month I am giving away four Sweet Valley High t-shirts, all you need to do is email me at ondolady@gmail.com telling me what your favorite Chick Lit book is - please put International Chick Lit Month in the subject field. The deadline is 31st May.

Chick Noir

Since its inception chick lit has often come in for a bit of a bashing. Many people dismiss it as fluffy, vapid, disposable and even badly written works of fiction. I will be the first to put my hand up and agree that a lot of books in this genre are not worth the pretty paper that they are printed on but on the flip side there are some very good books out there. Authors such as Jane Green, Sophie Kinsella, Louise Bagshawe, Mike Gayle, Robyn Sisman and Lisa Jewell turn in amazing stories and serve chick lit well. There is a new modern fiction category on the block; chick noir which is post modern chick lit with an edge. This differs from chick lit which is all about getting the guy and living happy ever after while chick noir is much more dark and features single women who grow to be happy in their own skin and not obsessive about being married. The pioneer of this exciting genre is Jane Fallon, author of Getting Rid of Matthew and Got You Back. Fallon's talents do not just lie in fiction, she is an established TV producer and has worked on fantastic shows like EastEnders, This Life and Teachers which are infamous for their portrayal of strong women.

Both Fallon's books, Getting Rid of Matthew and Got You Back cover the tales of infidelity and unravels the lives of the wife and the mistress. Getting Rid of Matthew was released last year and secured itself on Richard & Judy's summer read and went to become a bestseller. I am sure that the eye catching cover with a lady in a pencil skirt and stilettos cannot have hurt. However there is no denying that Getting Rid of Matthew is a great piece of fiction. The book tells the story of Helen whose lover, Matthew turns up on her doorstep and announces that he has left his wife. From there you expect the story to take the conventional approach of focusing on the couple and their trials and tribulations but remember that this is not chick lit but chick noir and that calls for a few twists and turns. Hence the entrance of Matthew's wife, Sophie who is picking up the pieces of her broken marriage. Then there is the small matter of Helen deciding that Matthew and her are not right together and hatches a plan to return him to his wife.

Fallon manages to turn Helen who some people would define as a self centred cow into a very sympathetic character. Compelling and extremely funny are the words I would use to describe this book as the writer takes you through the story with style as well as a lot of substance. It is so good that a certain Jennifer Aniston has acquired the rights for her production company, Plan C with plans to turn it into a film. Fallon's new book, Got You Back offers more of the same with two women; wife and mistress colluding to plot the down fall of husband James who has been leading two separate lives. So just as women are leading their lives as they please on TV shows such as Sex and the City and films like The Women, it seems that we have now reached that place in books.

To find out more about Jane Fallon, check out an article in The Guardian here.