The Chick Lit Cookbook - Guest Post

About the Book:

You’ve said it a dozen times before: If only you had the chance, you would write a chick lit novel. But between job, boyfriend, kids, school — life — you just can’t find the time.

The Chick Lit Cookbook: A Guide to Writing Your Novel in 30 Minutes a Day is the solution. This fun, cupcake-themed guide will take you from start to finish of your first draft. In 13 chapters, each with a short exercise that will get you writing now, you will learn how to create the perfect main character, her ideal love interest, a world for her to live in and an adventure that will draw in readers. You will outline your entire first draft — and then you will write it.

The Chick Lit Cookbook is a beginner’s guide to writing funny, snappy, sucks-you-into-the-story prose about modern women, life and love. It is full of tips and techniques, prompts and pep talks that will spark your imagination and inspire you to put pen to paper. The exercises can be done while sitting on the bus, waiting at the doctor’s office, or talking on the phone with your mother-in-law. This book will show you that you can and will write a chick lit novel.
Whether you’ve been wishing for years that you could write chick lit or are a brand-new fan of Bridget Jones and Becky Bloomwood, you owe it to yourself to pick up this guide. The Chick Lit Cookbook will prove to you that writing a novel can be fun and easy — it’s just like baking cupcakes!

Guest Post:

A few of my favorite chick lit novels…and why I think they work

I love chick lit. Devouring books by my favorite writers is what led me to write The Chick Lit Cookbook: A Guide to Writing Your Novel in 30 Minutes a Day. (It’s also what inspired me to start writing my own chick lit—you can follow along at chicklitcookbook.tumblr.com.) When I crack the spine of a book by one of my favorite authors, I know that I’m going down the rabbit hole—in a good way. Here are a few of my favorite chick lit books and why I think they are so special. I’d love to hear your favorites!

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding: This book is not only hilarious, entertaining, and full of great plot twists, it’s also genius. Helen Fielding is so dang smart. Throughout the book, Bridget is dealing with a very real societal prejudice against single people. A lot of the book could be read as social commentary on why women feel as though they need to live up to impossible standards by having perfect partners, perfect jobs, and perfect bodies. But you don’t even notice this when you’re reading, because you’re too busy laughing at Bridget. That’s what I call good writing.

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella: I love this book because it was the first time I could not stop reading a character’s receipts. Receipts. That’s what this book revolves around. It turns out receipts tell you so much about someone’s life—or in this case, her shopping addiction. I’d love to write a book with some kind of alternative format like this sprinkled in.

This Charming Man by Marian Keyes: This book is dark, but I have to put it on the list because I stayed up all night reading it. It’s a loooooong book. I like the jumping around from multiple perspectives, and I love the charming cross-dressing male love interest. And I still can’t believe I didn’t get who was the bad guy at first…

Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding: It might not be as layered and complex as the original Bridget Jones’s Diary, but man, do I love Bridget. She really holds her own in this one, and yet it’s as entertaining as the first. Props to Fielding for killing off everyone’s favorite man—that was bold.

The Icing on the Cupcake by Jennifer Ross: Another book with a fun structure; there’s a cupcake recipe at the end of each chapter. I can’t help but love books that

resemble cookbooks, especially when the recipes are for cupcakes.

I’m looking forward to reading some new chick lit, especially by indie authors. What are your faves?

Thanks for hosting me, Marlene!

Buy The Chick Lit Cookbook: A Guide to Writing Your Novel in 30 Minutes a Day at Amazon or Smashwords.

About the Author:

I have a cat named Mitzi and a husband named Andrew Quinton. I live in Seattle and I write a lot of things: a book on how to write chick lit, articles about religion and other American sub-cultures, and currently, a book about my year in an evangelical church. I love to write and have wanted to be a writer since I picked up a pencil. My favorite color is purple and my favorite food is chocolate chip cookie dough.

I also teach.  I would love to teach a writing workshop in your town/library/bookstore/cupcake shop. Drop me a line at alicia (dot) delosreyes (at) gmail (dot) com.

Connect with the author at:

Website * Blog * Twitter

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