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This is Chick-Lit

Deanna’s trade fiction debut
with her contribution:

“Dead Men Don’t Eat Quiche”

Paris, somewhere in Europe
Becca is having a dead viscount day. And if she doesn’t think fast, she’ll end up picking her nose in a French jail. Luckily, she’s an experienced amateur sleuth. Now if she can just remember her first lesson from Logic 101, which she passed with a C. If Americans are go-getters, and she’s an American, does that make her a go-getter too?

In the last decade, chick-lit has exploded in popularity. Readers relate to the stories told by a growing group of powerful and fun women: chick-lit writers.

So when Random House announced last year the purchase of a stepsister anthology called This is Not Chick-Lit, cries of protest rang out all over the blogosphere. The not-chick-lit anthology purported to be written by “America’s best women writers” who were setting out to prove that “for every stock protagonist with a designer handbag and three boyfriends, there is a woman writer pushing the envelope of literary fiction with imagination, humor and depth.”

How, one asks, can a genre as diverse and creative as chick-lit be so categorically misrepresented?

Enter the editor of This is Chick-Lit, Lauren Baratz-Logsted. She set out to defend the worth of the genre by commissioning stories from an array of contributors who prove that being labeled “chick-lit” doesn’t make a story, or its author, part of the literary underclass. But quite the opposite. Already the reviews are backing this claim. As Priya Jain, from the hip, feminist magazine BUST puts it, “These stories, which take chick lit beyond its Bridget Jonesian beginnings, show that it’s time to take this maturing genre a little more seriously. In this round of the culture wars, at least, the point goes to the chick-lit girls.”

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Excerpt from "Dead Men Don't Eat Quiche"

When my mother announced that she and my dad were planning to visit me in Paris for their second honeymoon, I did not exactly jump for joie. Nor did I do le danse Snoopy when she mentioned they’d be staying for two weeks. My mother, you see, is the bestselling author of Machiavelli in Heels. Maybe you’ve seen her on TV or heard her on her AM talk radio show, berating women like me to shuck their wimpitude and to wangle their way to the top. Yep, that’s my mom.

I have to admit I’ve missed her in a Stockholm Syndrome sort of way. When I left California I figured I wouldn’t see my parents again for at least another five years, especially as they’re strapped for cash...

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Publishers Weekly recently reviewed This is Chick-Lit. From the review: “This round up of 18 chick lit tales offers plenty of enthusiasm and creativity . . .” and “. . . undeniably lively, inventive stories.”

A cartoonist has created a fun comic strip about the This is Chick-Lit controversy. Check out her thoughtful blog, then follow the link at the bottom of it to her classy cartoon.

“Chick-lit devotees will appreciate discovering new authors, and the uninitiated will be pleasantly surprised.”

Aleksandra Kostovski, BOOKLIST

“Carlyle’s twists— the European setting, the mystery plot—give this story a fresh, ultra-hip feel. . . . Protagonist Becca’s deadpan humor perfectly illuminates the story’s comical characters, especially Becca’s parents, who have come to visit her in Paris.”

Cynthia Harrison, GARAGE BAND

“A wonderful compilation of talented and diverse authors ... a long overdue and smart answer to the naysayers of an often maligned genre. It’s funny, a little edgy, thoughtful and thoroughly entertaining, not to mention lots of interesting and eye-opening stuff for clever guys who want to see how the other half thinks.”

Nelson DeMille, bestselling author of Plum Island

“Like a lot of snotty literary types, I have often sneered at chick lit … I’m here to tell you: I was wrong. These stories, which take chick lit beyond its Bridget Jonesian beginnings, show that it’s time to take this maturing genre a little more seriously. In this round of the culture wars, at least, the point goes to the chick-lit girls.”

Priya Jain, BUST Magazine

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