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FaithfulReader.com: What was the first Chick Lit book you read?
Robin Jones Gunn: I should explain that I wrote the first
"Sisterchicks" novel before being introduced to the Chick Lit genre. I knew that I wanted to write a story loosely based on an adventure my best friend and I had 12 years ago when we went to Finland, but I didn't know how it would be categorized. The book was turned down by the first publisher, and then after Multnomah published it, an article in USA Today listed SISTERCHICKS ON THE LOOSE! as a Chick Lit novel. I was surprised because I'd set out to tell a story about best friends in midlife and wasn't trying to find my way into a new genre. On the recommendation of a friend I picked up one of the "Shopaholic" novels at the airport before a long plane ride. At that point, the first three "Sisterchicks" novels were already written. So in many ways I was pretty late at doing my homework on Chick Lit. I rented Bridget Jones's Diary and read Kristin Billerbeck's WHAT EVERY GIRL WANTS. I didn't set out to write for the Chick Lit market, but once my books were labeled as such, it was clearly a fun party to be invited to.
Allie Pleiter: Oddly enough, I didn't think of the books I'd read in terms of whether or not they were "Chick Lit" or not. Some of that may come from the fact that my natural voice is already rather chick-lit-ish (is that a legal word?), so that what I enjoy reading naturally tends toward the Chick Lit style. The first book I read that was widely classified as Chick Lit was THE NANNY DIARIES. The voice of that book is so sassy, so thick with internal commentary, that it almost became its own character outside of the heroine.
Tracey Bateman: BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY, but the "Ashley Stockingdale" books by Kristin Billerbeck made me a fan of the genre. I also love, for a more Mom Lit-type book, Robin Jones Gunn's "Sisterchicks" series, which focuses on moms discovering themselves all over again.
Neta Jackson: SISTERCHICKS ON THE LOOSE! by Robin Jones Gunn. We traded books when we were both signing at a Books-a-Million trade show. And I want to read WHAT A GIRL WANTS by Kristin Billerbeck to see what it's all about, because she unabashedly set out to write Chick Lit and loves it.
Laura Jensen Walker: The hilarious BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY, which kicked off the genre. But long before that, I read Jane Austen's EMMA, which is a perfect example of Chick Lit way before its time.
Penny Culliford: BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY by Helen Fielding. Seminal!
Judy Baer: The first Chick Lit book I ever read was BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY. Interestingly, I read it after I'd started THE WHITNEY CHRONICLES.
Annie Jones: Of the current crop, BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY.
Lori Copeland: SISTERCHICKS ON THE LOOSE! by Robin Jones Gunn.
Kristin Billerbeck: BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY, and it's still my favorite.
Sharon Dunn: Kristin Billerbeck's SHE'S OUT OF CONTROL
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