Chick-lit, originality, and Brandilyn Collins

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.12.2006

Blog book giveaway:
My Monday book giveaway is PINK by Marilynn Griffith.
My Thursday book giveaway is THE PREACHER’S DAUGHER by Lyn Cote
You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for PINK and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned.

Chick-lit: I did take time today to catch up on a couple e-mail loops I’m on, one of which is the chick-lit loop. There’s been a really good discussion about where the genre’s going—if it’s evolving, if it’s dying, what?

Most people had good points. One woman especially said something that resonated with me, and which I think applies to most other genres as well:

A lot of chick-lit now being published is a lot of the same rehashed storylines. You know what I’m talking about—bridezilla, weirdo mother, dating lots of losers, etc. It’s making chick-lit readers bored.

As chick-lit writers, we have to take the essence of chick-lit—the voice, the plight of the single 20- or 30-something woman—and give it a different spin. If we keep up with the market and see that bridezilla is being overdone, then take a different theme and turn it on its head. It forces writers to be more creative, more unique, more original.

I see this a lot in entries I judge. Some entries have a really unique theme, idea, premise, or characters. However, many of them don’t have that something different to make it stand out as a story.

I think writers sometimes don’t pay enough attention to that aspect of storytelling. The characters are so real, the story so alive in their minds, they don’t want to think that it needs a boost of something to make it memorable.

MEMORABLE.

Scarlett. Everyone knows who I’m talking about.
Bond. Don’t even have to say his first name.
Darth Vader. (Okay, that’s actually movies)
Harry Potter. (No discussions from the anti-HP corner)

They’re all memorable stories. Scarlett puts b*tch in a whole ‘nother level. When it first came out, Ian Fleming’s James Bond was THE man’s man. Darth Vader is not your typical “son betrayed by father” story. Harry’s stories make the wizard/witch fantasy something out of the box.

I’ll take Brandilyn Collins as an unwitting example. EYES OF ELISHA, DREAD CHAMPION—her Christian heroine has visions and solves crimes. Innovative, especially when it first came out, especially within Christian fiction. Not your typical suspense, not your typical paranormal, not your typical crime story.

Okay, okay, my rant is over. But all you writers (and there are a lot of you who read this blog) really analyze your story. What makes you stand out within your genre?

TMI:

Diet: According to my body fat % scale, I’m down one fat percentage! I don’t know how, considering I haven’t been eating that well lately and exercise has been nonexistent. But oh well! I’ll take it!

Comments

Heather Diane Tipton said…

woohooo down one fat percentage!!!! yay!!!

Thu May 11, 11:57:00 PM 2006

Ruth said…

Congrats on the diet!! :) And great thoughts on chick-lit!

Fri May 12, 06:12:00 AM 2006

Delia said…

I read a lot of books of many different genres. My favorites are romance (of pretty much any kind) and you do see a lot of repetition in the themes, characters, conflicts, etc. What does make the same storylines still interesting is when the author adds that little something special that makes it his/her own.

Way to go on losing one fat percentage! But, wait a minute...I think...maybe...yep, it somehow made it's way here, lol.

Fri May 12, 08:19:00 AM 2006

Mirtika said…

Actually, heroines solving crimes with visions was done in the romanctic suspense genre before Brandilyn (in films on tv, and by Linda Howard and others). Brandilyn had the schmarts to put the Christian Fiction touch on it and bring it to CBA. :)

Mir

Fri May 12, 11:56:00 AM 2006

Ruth said…

Hi Camy -- I sent you an email w/ my address yesterday afternoon -- it must've not gone through. I'll send you another one here in a sec. Sorry about the delay! Thanks!! Ruth

Fri May 12, 04:16:00 PM 2006

Anonymous said…

I think a lot of what you said about the chick lit realm has to do with character. We have to not only care about her, but we have to believe in her and her struggle. True, storylines can become cliched, but it's the characters (like Scarlett, Bond, Vader and Harry) that stick with us after the cover of the book has turned. That's how I want to stand out: memorable characters. Hmmm... maybe I should get back to my WIP on that note.

And congrats on the lost 1%!

Sat May 13, 11:46:00 AM 2006

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

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Toilet seat cover

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Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

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Writing Progress on Camille's Next Book

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Lady Wynwood and the Senhora’s Bargain excerpt

Here’s a snippet of the Lady Wynwood novella I’m posting on Patreon at the moment: “If you will follow me?” the butler said and led the way up the staircase. The first floor hallway was long and sumptuous, with paintings on the wall and small statues on spindly tables next to elegant Chinese faces. The sound of music was slightly louder, but still muffled, and Laura could hear no voices at all. On the second floor, after traversing a narrower hallway with closed doors on either side, the butler knocked at a door at the end. A deep, smoky voice bade them enter. The room was dim but for the roaring fireplace and a few well-placed but low-burning lamps. The furniture looked comfortable and was upholstered in shades of burgundy and hunter green, and although the light did not reach the heavy curtains, she assumed they were the same colors. From the far corner approached a woman who had been standing behind the heavy wooden desk situated there. She was dressed in a dark burgu...

January 11, 2025 Weekly Roundup

KICKSTARTER: My Kickstarter is starting next week! Look for a post here on Patreon and an email newsletter. THIS MONTH ONLY: Subscribe to Tier 3 to get a book box in May https://www.patreon.com/posts/119485728/ BONUS: Protection for Hire Behind-the-Scenes: Wings Domestic Abuse Shelter https://www.patreon.com/posts/119266114/ BONUS: Sneek peek video of the Special Edition hardcover of Lady Wynwood’s Spies Volume 1 https://www.patreon.com/posts/119321861/ REMINDER: I posted my book release/posting schedule in my New Year’s post https://www.patreon.com/posts/119127050/ REMINDER: “Bidding on Treason” novelette available for all paid subscribers for this month only! https://www.patreon.com/posts/119191277/ Free books: Sherri Wilson Johnson, Christian Romantic Suspense https://sherriwilsonjohnson.com/bayside-betrayal-rr2025/ In October, my novella Bento and Betrayal releases in the multi-author Christian Suspense anthology, Don’t Blink. C.D. Gill, who writes Clean R...

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Free short story: How Laura Met Aya

One of the perks of Tier 2 and higher in my Patreon is that they get a bonus short story twice a year. They voted to read about how Laura met the Senhora and so I worked on “Lady Wynwood and the Senhora’s Bargain” at the end of November and I’m just about finishing it up right now. When outlining this story, because it was so intertwined with how Laura meets Aya, I ended up writing a short story about how they met, which became the prologue. (And then the story of how Laura meets the Senhora exploded into a novella instead. I’m not sure exactly how. I just kept writing and writing and writing …) Anyway, as a Christmas gift, I decided to give my patrons the prologue of “Lady Wynwood and the Senhora’s Bargain” because it’s a complete short story about how she met Aya, which I think some of you might like to read. (In order to see the post, you may need to register for a free Patreon account and then Follow my page for free). Enjoy! “Lady Wynwood’s Encounter” (how Laura met Aya)

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Tabi socks, part deux

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Lady Wynwood #7 early release Kickstarter