Is Dorothy Parker rolling in her grave over the concept of chick lit — the cutesy nickname for fluffy, chick-penned novels that have been flooding the literary market for the past five years? Perhaps, but it looks like the genre won't be fading into obscurity anytime soon — whether that's a good thing or not depends entirely on one's fondness for reading about sassy, sexually-charged magazine editors in New York City and their penchant for designer labels.
Online resources and discussion forums for chick lit abound: See chicklit.com and chicklitbooks.com for all things pink and Prada.
One of the first examples of chick lit — Bridget Jones's Diary — was penned by a Brit, and there's plenty more Bridget knockoffs to be found at chicklit.co.uk, which bills itself as "the online women's magazine that celebrates 21st century woman's contemporary fiction and lifestyle." (For the stateside version, see chicklit.us).
On chicklitwriters.com there's a bit of discussion over the burgeoning backlash of "anti-chick lit" writers and readers, who characterize the genre as shallow and a step backward for women. If you tend to agree, you might be more interested in such sites as womenwriters.net and womenwriters.org which tend toward the more feminist and scholarly side of female authors.
Want to try your hand at chick lit or feminist storytelling? Take a look at womenwritersblock.com, a site that encourages amateur women writers of all genres to post their work for critiques and feedback.
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