Why I Miss Writing Chick Lit

My first four novels with a New York publisher were all chick lit. I was unapologetic for them being chick lit at the time and I still am, despite my recent suggestion that we refer to it as post-feminist humorous literature. I loved chick lit stories. I loved what they represented. I loved the laughter and the friendships and the drinks and the shoes.

I'm not writing chick lit anymore. It's a tough market these days. Publishers have cut way back on their inventory of those stories because consumers cut way back on what they were buying. It happens. I made the switch to writing romantic suspense and urban fantasy. I love these genres, too. But I miss my chick lit. It's a little like being wistful for your first love.

I know part of it is a bit of nostalgia on my part. It's hard to beat the excitement of getting The Call for the first time, seeing your first cover flat, putting your name in Amazon for the first time and having something actually come up. That was all thrilling.

I think I miss a bit of what the genre was about, though. I miss the laughter and the fun frothiness of it. There were times when I was writing chick lit that I'd sit at my computer and giggle because I was cracking myself up. I miss that mindset. I feel like I was lighter and funner and frothier.

That doesn't happen so much in romantic suspense. I'm jumpier. I'm tenser. I love the intellectual puzzle of putting together the plot (even though that's hard hard hard for me), but the other day I wrote a scene that completely grossed me out. I know it's kind of the point. The bad guy is now completely beyond any chance at redemption. He's gone too far. But it kind of weirded me out that I had that in my head.

So how about you? Does what you're writing affect how you interact in the world?