~ By Melina Kantor
Well, Chick Lit Fans. . .
What can I say? It’s Friday, which is a good thing.
The bad news? This hasn’t been the greatest week for our favorite genre.
Behold:
First, we’ve got the now infamous interview in which Pulitzer Prize winning author Jennifer Egan used the phrase “derivative, banal stuff” to describe certain works of chick lit. You can read more about that here.
You know, just go to any RWA meeting or conference, anywhere, and most authors will tell you that they will never, ever publicly diss another author. It’s just poor form. We authors are all in this together, and should support each other.
I guess that means that romance and chick lit writers are just extra classy. 😉
And then, there was this horrifying article that proclaimed:
Yet for some reason, agents are encouraging female writers to think about chick lit marketing when writing their first books. I mean, no one is denying that the genre has mass appeal. But you know what else had mass appeal? “Two and a Half Men.” And Hitler.
Excuse me, Drew Grant. You did not just compare chick lit to Hitler. . .
Even the title of the article, Chick Lit Reimagined as Respectable Fiction, is enough to make your head spin without the added subtitle:
We team up with TheGloss.com to find out how to turn that best-selling genre of female writing into real literature
Real literature?
Again, I say excuse me?
However, you can rest assured that the chick lit community remains strong. We’re certainly not taking this lying down. We’re standing up for ourselves on our Twitter feeds, our Facebook pages, and our blogs.
In fact, chapter member and fabulous author Megan Crane (aka Caitlin Crews) posted a fantastic note on her Facebook page. And Jennifer Weiner was all over the Jennifer Egan comment on her Twitter page. We’re in good hands.
So go curl up with a great chick lit book and enjoy the weekend.
(But first, leave us a comment and let us know what you think of all this nonsense.)
See you next week! 🙂
Melina writes contemporary women’s fiction with a pinch of oregano and a dash of chutzpah. By day, she is an elementary school computer teacher. You can visit her athttp://melinakantor.com.
Pingback: This Week in Chick Lit
Pingback: This Week In Chick Lit
LOL! I can’t take a comparison between chick lit and Hitler seriously. Please, take Hitler seriously. Take chick lit seriously. And play the Sesame Street game–one of these things is not like the other. . . .
Great post. The articles bashing light women’s fiction this week had my arm hairs standing on end. I really just don’t get why some people feel the need to be so high and mighty and judgy! No one is forcing them to write or read “chick-lit” so why the hell should they care what other people do? And the comparison to Hitler was beyond inappropriate.
I think they all need a shot of tequila – hold the lime and salt – to just get over themselves!
Drew Grant should be fired! So not cool! I agree with Maria- there is no need for authors to tear down other writers. Shame on Egan.
Oh, Maria, that’s really good to know!
And Danielle, thanks for sharing the post. I agree. They’ve got to be jealous. . .
Sharing this on my blog and tweeting it! As we used to say in high school: They’re just jealous!
Drew Grant writes fan fic on Charlie Sheen. I think that is all we need to know about her.
As for the Jennifer Egan interview, I’ll just say that I can never understand why some authors feel they have to tear down the writing of others. It says a lot about them, actually.