As our second International Chick Lit Month ends, we’d like to thank all those who took part.

To all the brilliant authors who shared their stories and advice:
Mandy Baggot; Lauren Baratz-Logsted; Rebecca L. Boschee; Claudia Carroll; Sue Dharmapala; Miranda Dickinson; Stephanie Elliot; Liz Fenwick; Caroline Finnerty; Victoria Fox; Alyssa Goodnight; Michele Gorman; Jane Green; Niamh Greene; Beth Harbison; Sibel Hodge; Cari Kamm; Allie Larkin; Alison Lucy; Eve Marie Mont; Carole Matthews;  Susan McBride; Rose McClelland; Ali McNamara; Sue Moorcroft; Nicola Moriarty; Sinead Moriarty; Clodagh Murphy; Peta-Jo; Jane Porter; Alexandra Potter; Eleanor Prescott; Kate Rockland; Molly Shapiro; Dina Silver; Keris Stainton; Ellen Sussnam; Lulu Taylor; Jessica Thompson; Jen Tucker; Debbie Viggiano; Sasha Wagstaff; Julia Williams.

Thanks to all the bloggers who helped promote the month, including the authors involved in the Chick Lit Author Blog Hop.

And of course thanks to everyone in the chick lit community who took the time to visit the site and share their comments.

See you May 1, 2013 … and remember until then, you can check out all the latest chick lit news at the four organising websites – Chicklit Club, Chick Lit is Not Dead, Novelicious and Chick Lit Central

Dear Sinead,

OK, so your first two novels have been turned down and you’re feeling down and very despondent. Yes you could wallpaper your entire house with the rejection letters. Yes you feel ill every time you see that self-addressed envelope coming back through your letterbox.  ’What’s the point?’ you ask yourself. ‘Why bother?’ you say. ‘I’m clearly not good enough’, you berate yourself… STOP!

Don’t let the rejections prevent you from doing something you love. Of course it’s difficult to keep picking yourself up and dusting yourself down after each rejection. But you know what, no one said it was going to be easy. If you really want this you’ll have to dig deeper, work harder and fine-tune your skill. There are no over-night successes in this industry. Ninety percent of published authors were rejected the first time. Even JK Rowling was turned down seven times.

Instead of beating yourself up, ask yourself some serious questions. ‘Why am I writing?’ ‘Is it just for the glory of being published?’ or ‘Am I writing because I love it, because I feel so calm and content when I am immersed in a book?’

Remember that the reason you started writing is because it’s your passion, so don’t stop. Never stop. Even if you never do get published, it’s what you love to do, so keep doing it. Think of all those authors you admire, all those writers you look up to, they were turned down too. It’s a very competitive market, it’s a tough world, but you can do it. So come on, chin up, keep going, believe in yourself and maybe…if you are very lucky….one day….it might just happen to you!

Sinead xx

Sinead’s latest book is Me And My Sisters which went straight to number one in the Irish Book Charts and was nominated for an Irish Book Award

Visit Sinead’s Website

1) Seeing your book on a shelf is amazing….but it’s also terrifying.

When I got my first publishing deal I was over the moon that someone else – someone with expertise and knowledge about writing – thought my efforts were good enough to be put into print. However, naive as this will sound, I didn’t really stop to think that people – complete strangers – would now read what I’d written. When I saw my book in a store for the first time I was ecstatic……..until the fear descended. What if everyone hated it? Five years later I’m still gripped by this strange combination of elation and terror every time a new book of mine hits the shelves.

2) You can get nine amazing reviews, but you’ll probably only remember the tenth – horrendous – one.

I really admire writers who can be blasé about reviews. The trick, I think, is to try to take all reviews, good and bad, with a big pinch of salt. Of course, like most things, this is easier said than done!

3) Doing book publicity can be nerve-wracking……but also great fun.

I’ve found that the key to staying sane on live TV or radio is to block out the viewers / listeners and talk to the interviewer as I would a friend. The second I remember that the public is out there is the second I start to worry that there’s spinach wedged in my teeth / or that I sound like an idiot.  Actually, I quite enjoy when PR time comes around once a year as it gives me the chance to get out and talk to real people – as opposed to the fictional ones I’ve been creating in my head!

PS But getting photographed is always, always painful. This does not change, at least not for me.

4) The writing life isn’t glamorous……at least mine isn’t!

I spend most days in sweat pants at my desk, checking my word count obsessively and trying not to get sucked into Twitter. There are very few long, boozy lunches with publishers and agents (unfortunately!).

5) Your mother was right – always try to do your best.

I always strive to produce the best possible story for my readers. At the end of the day, the writing is the most important thing.

Niamh’s fifth novel, A Message to Your Heart, is out in June, published by Penguin.

To check out all the latest news about her writing, visit her at www.facebook.com/niamhgreenebooks

Dear Me,

It’s me (confusing I know, but hang in there kid). This is a message from the future – woo-oo-oo! – and I’m writing this to give you some advice that will stop you worrying quite so much and allow you to just enjoy the thrill of being a writer.

That’s right, I said writer. And before you start to argue with me – er, you – just listen: you are a writer, right now. Not in a few years’ time when you’ve found an agent, been accepted by a publisher and seen your first book in print, but this very moment. Even though to date the only people you’ve dared to show your writing to are a dodgy ex-boyfriend and a scary workmate, you’re still a writer. So here’s my first piece of advice: stop agonising about whether you should call yourself a writer and just be one. Enjoy creating worlds and dreaming up characters to populate them. Let your imagination run free and be fearless in your pursuit of a cracking story.

Next, stop apologising. Ignore the people around you (you know them well) who tell you that writing is lame, childish or ‘not a sensible career choice’. Take no notice of the doomsayers who gleefully proclaim the odds of being published: the mountainous slush piles filled with dying hopes of aspiring authors, the impossibility of finding an agent, the sacks of rejection slips waiting to be delivered to your door. Don’t belittle the fruits of your own imagination by trying to conform to the narrow confines of someone else’s. Walk into any bookshop and see how many new books by new authors are being published – if it has happened for them, it can happen for you. Anything is possible.

Finally, write like you’ve made it already. Nobody knows your story like you do and there is no better person to tell the stories in your head than you. Be confident, believe in yourself and the worlds you create on paper (or on the screen). Be your biggest fan, your most vocal cheerleader and your marketing manager. Make your writing accessible to others – be brave and put it ‘out there’. Start a blog, join online writing communities or real-life writers’ groups where you can meet like-minded people for whom listening to voices in their heads is perfectly normal and not an indicator of sudden onset madness. And above all, be brave. Half the battle in getting published is being seen. The more places you can showcase your writing, the more likely someone will notice. It can happen for you – probably sooner than you expect.

It will all be worth it: the drafts, the revisions, the all-night writing sessions, even that mortifying episode when your computer dies and you have to email that ex-boyfriend you’d hoped you’d never see again to ask him to email the chapters you’ve lost…

Go for it. After all, what have you got to lose?

Love, Me xx

Miranda Dickinson is a Sunday Times Bestselling Author. Her latest book is It Started With A Kiss.

You can visit Miranda’s blog here

When I thought about what to write for International Chicklit Month I kept being drawn to Helen Fielding’s less famous creation, International Woman of Mystery: Olivia Joules. She sticks in my mind. It must have been slightly terrifying to follow up Bridget Jones, but it must also have been so much fun to write about this beauty-journalist-turned-master-spy who jets around the world after a man she either a) quite fancies or b) is Osama Bin Laden.  It’s a ballsy, tricky premise that quickly turns the absurd into the hysterically funny and while the book requires a lack of political correctness on your part at times (and understandably took a dive in post 9-11 America) what I love about it, and what I love about Olivia, is how different she is from the standard chicklit heroine that defined the genre.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a pink cover and a happy ending as much as the next girl but this is adventure, satire and political comedy wrapped around a woman who doesn’t make romantic mistakes but instead causes international incidents.  Olivia is no lonely Bridget Jones, wanting to be thin and get into bed with Hugh Grant, in fact ‘over time, she had painstakingly erased all womanly urges to question her shape, looks, role in life, or effect upon other people’ which sounds like a kick in the ass for Bridget.  Most of all I love her Rules for Living because some of these have stuck with me all this time, especially: 2) No one is thinking about you. They’re thinking about themselves, just like you.  But also more simply: 9) Be honest and kind.  They are good rules – 15 in all – and worth laminating.  But just in case you haven’t read the book and are put off because you think it might be all guns and jets and espionage and Lara Croft style utilitarian clothing then take strength from rule 10) Only buy clothes that make you feel like doing a small dance.  Olivia Joules in an International chicklit heroine of our times and I for one wish she would come back.

Alison Lucy is the author of  THE SUMMER OF SECRETS, which is out now.

You can visit Alison’s website here

Introduction by Amy Bromberg

Today, we welcome Dina Silver and her debut novel, “One Pink Line.” A graduate of Purdue University, Dina has spent the past fifteen years feeding her red wine habit by working as a copywriter in the advertising industry. In addition to writing ad copy, she formed Dina’s Ideas, a greeting card company, in 2003. Dina serves as the sole writer and designer for the business and has penned over 300 greeting cards since its inception.

After seeing the bulk of her professional prose on brochures and direct mail pieces, she is delighted to have made the transition to novelist this year. She even has another novel, “Kat Fight,” coming out this summer! I initially connected with Dina on Facebook. We hit it off right away and Dina sent me a copy of “One Pink Line.” To say I loved it is an understatement (and I have the review to prove it!) “One Pink Line” is a great example of a loving and moving chick lit novel.

You can find Dina at her website, Facebook and Twitter.

Dina is here to tell us what Sydney, one of the heroines of “One Pink Line,” is up to these days, and she does it in story form. If you haven’t read “One Pink Line,” please note that this contains spoilers. If you want to wait until after you’ve read the book, the post will be waiting for you when you get back. In the meantime, you could win your own copy, as Dina has two paperbacks and two e-books to give away to some lucky readers anywhere in the world!

Pride for the Bride

I hurried up to the brownstone on Oak Street, which housed Ultimate Bride, and took the stairs to the second floor where Grace was waiting impatiently in the reception area.

“They had me standing here for fifteen minutes before anyone even glanced in my direction,” she huffed and waved her long arms. “I literally had to grab some woman by the elbow to get her attention.”

I smiled at my daughter, so tall and beautiful, only weeks away from becoming a wife, yet displaying the exact same pout she’d had since she was two years old.

“Grace, you have an appointment, they know you’re here, and I’m sure they will get you into a room as soon as they can,” I said as we observed a women dressed in all black lugging an enormous gown over her shoulder, trying desperately to make haste as she passed in front of us.

“It looks like she’s carrying a dead bride,” Grace snickered.

“Grace!” I gasped, but at least she was smiling.

Grace sighed and reached for my hand. “Sorry, mom, I feel better now that you’re here.”

“Thanks, honey,” I said. I was over the moon to be spending the afternoon with her. For a mother, watching your daughter stand on a pedestal being fitted for her wedding gown is right up there with having your daughter be placed in your arms minutes after her birth, as two of life’s greatestpleasures.

“I have to tell you something,” Grace started with a look of fret, “and I’m probably picking the wrong moment to do so, but here goes.” She paused. “Kevin replied ‘yes’ to the invitation.”

The wedding plans had taken a toll on our normally amiable relationship when she broke the news to me that she wanted to invite Kevin, her biological father, to the ceremony. Since she inherited my smart-ass gene, I assumed she was simply trying to push my already frazzled mother-of-the-bride-buttons, until she then broke the news that she’d gone ahead and invited him without my blessing. She told Ethan and I that it was important to her to at least extend the invitation to him – a gesture of good faith, she said. The expression on my face must have been revolutionary, because in all of our years together, I’ve never seen Ethan look at me with such fearful trepidation.The argument that ensued between my headstrong daughter and I included a trifecta of door slamming, saliva hurling and ego bruising. Although we both agreed on one thing, we each thought the other was completely selfish and void of any common courtesy.

Eventually, as could have been predicted by anyone who knows both Grace and I, my daughter got her way. Kevin was invited to the wedding. Whether he dared to show up or not would be another story.

How to win “One Pink Line”:

Since Dina’s last name is Silver and the title of her book has the word “Pink,” just tell us what color represents your personality. (One entry per person.)

Giveaway ends June 3rd.

Introduction by Melissa Amster

Given that Jane Green is one of the most well known names and faces of chick lit, it should be no surprise why we asked her to write a piece for International Chick Lit Month. You may have already seen her this month, as she was our Hall of Fame choice! Her storytelling mastery has earned her this role many times over. Who hasn’t put their hand on their heart and sighed whenever “Jemima J” was mentioned? Who hasn’t cried as soon as they thought of “Promises to Keep?” Who hasn’t wanted to switch places with a woman they’ve never met? (Well, if anything, we can do it vicariously now!) Jane Green’s novels are unforgettable, and not only is Jane kind and wonderful online, but also in person. Amy and I have both met her and still talk about those experiences. I even wrote a tribute for her! If you haven’t “met” her yet, you can visit Jane on Facebook, Twitter and at her website. She’s great to her fans, so don’t be shy! And if you haven’t read any of her books yet, RUN, don’t walk, to your local library or bookstore, and stock up right away! Her latest novel is “Another Piece of My Heart” and it’s not to be missed! (If you want to see how much I loved it, look no further!)

Today, Jane is here to talk about the character we know and love best, Ms. Jemima Jones herself! We get a peek at her life as she is living it now. I’m hoping everyone here has read “Jemima J” at least once by now. If you haven’t, read it ASAP and then come back and find out what happens a while down the road. Don’t worry, Jemima’s not going anywhere after ICLM ends.

Exposure

It was John Lennon who said life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans, and certainly, she had lived a busy life, one she hadn’t expected, could never have predicted.
She hadn’t expected, for example, to morph from a large, unhappy, unseen girl, who hid her insecurities in food, into a slim blonde beauty who became, for a short time, a style icon in certain magazines.
It made her feel special, for a while, even as she held her breath, expecting the media to expose her as a fraud. Surely it was only a matter of time before Star magazine discovered the ‘fat’ pictures, surely they would show the world she wasn’t nearly as perfect as she appeared.
The fact that it never occurred, didn’t mean Jemima Jones stopped expecting it.
Being the public wife of the charming, handsome Ben Williams, star of his eponymous late-night talk show in the States, wasn’t nearly as much fun as it sounded. Wherever they went, they were on show. Fans approaching them in diners, at the park, even, at times, screeching to a halt as they walked through town, running towards them with pen and paper in hand.
Ben loved it. He had worked hard for it, found it validating and fun, but Jemima, who dreamed of nothing more than a quiet life, found the intrusion overwhelming.
When she showed up at school for concerts, women she barely knew were overly lovely. She could never tell if it was because they liked her, or because they were drawn by the flame of her husband’s success.
These past few years she has stopped going.
At first, New York was bliss. Ben’s show was at midnight, too late for anyone they knew, all knee-deep in diapers and trying to find a great sitter.
Jemima had purpose back then. Motherhood fulfilled every part of her in a way writing never had. She threw herself into mothering with full abandon, only now realising that was the time things started to become…unsettled.
It shouldn’t have been hard for Jemima Jones appeared to live a charmed life. A sprawling house in Westchester, a famous husband, all the privileges that brings; and yet she had never felt so alone, so ignored, so invisible to all.
The afternoon of her life saw Jemima Jones as unhappy as she ever was before she reinvented herself, transformed herself with diets and makeovers to make the one man she had always loved, notice her.
Until he didn’t. They stopped noticing each other. So immersed in their separate lives, they took each other for granted, and that, as we all know, is what allows dangerous things to happen.
That, as we all know, is how a woman like Jemima Jones finds herself, at forty years old, a single mother of two teenage children.
With no idea what she’s going to do next.

Special thanks to Jane Green for bringing us back into Jemima J’s world! We are so glad she was a part of ICLM this year.

The Song Remains the Same – Allison Winn Scotch
by Annmarie Ottman, of Chicklit Club

Thirty-two-year-old Nell Slattery is one of only two passengers to survive a plane crash. A week after the crash, she emerges from a coma with amnesia and the daunting task of piecing together her former life. Her sister, mother and husband overwhelm her with pictures and stories of her past. As she examines the stories and photos of her former life, Nell is forced to trust in herself to find the truth of what her life and marriage was really about. As she starts to uncover the past, she questions what betrayals she can forgive. The author manages to take a storyline that could have been an overused cliche, and turn it into a unique thought-provoking novel. A definite must-read with an ending that will leave you satisfied.

Keeping Up With The Moriartys
by Nicola Moriarty

Recently I discovered (along with the millions of others that tuned in to watch The Voice here in Australia) that singer Guy Sebastian has a brother. A brother who also sings, and who no longer wants to live in his older brother’s successful shadow. For just one second before he began to sing I thought, ‘Well really, what are the chances that he can sing too?’ And I immediately had to bite my tongue. One word rose up in front of me: hypocrite. Because just a second later, I realised that I could in fact empathise with Chris Sebastian. I’m the youngest in a family of six children. Of those six, fifty per cent of us are published authors. Yep, three sisters from the one family, all writing and I’m the latest one to join the ranks.

At the top end of the family, my eldest sisters, Liane and Jaclyn Moriarty are internationally best-selling, award-winning authors. And then there’s me. The baby of the family, trying to make a name for myself. Tensing up every time I read a review of my debut novel Free-Falling because I’m waiting for the moment when someone compares me to my sisters and reaches the conclusion that I’ve come up short. Terrified when I ask my publisher the following four words: ‘how are sales going?’ Rushing to reassure people when I tell them what I do, ‘But I did always love writing, honestly!’

So the one question that seems to come to mind for most people when they hear about my family is, ‘What was your upbringing like?’ And it makes sense; when you hear about a family of musicians, you imagine their childhood to be full of musical instruments and sing-alongs; maybe you picture them in a mini-bus, crossing the country to visit concerts and festivals. But I’m not sure what the equivalent upbringing is for a family of writers. Literary discussions around the kitchen table? Poetry workshops in the rumpus room? I can’t say that I can recall anything quite like that. But what I do remember is Liane making up my bedtime stories instead of reading to me, and I was always enthralled because she wrote me in as the heroine of the story. I remember my sister Kati using Blyton classics to teach me to read. I remember that I loved escaping into the worlds that reading books provided and I equally loved making my own attempts at creating those worlds.

I visited several different career paths before returning to my love of literature and I was asked recently if I would have written a novel had my eldest sisters not done so first. In all honesty, I was stumped by the question. I know that I most definitely would have been writing, because that’s always been a part of my life – but I do wonder if I would have been compelled to complete an entire novel without that confidence boost that comes from a lot of inspiration, plenty of pride and just a little bit of (perfectly healthy!?) envy. So while coming from a family of writers may fuel my insecurities, I have a LOT to be grateful for, because becoming a writer feels very much like coming home, which really is quite lovely.

Nicola Moriarty is a writer, student and mum from Sydney’s north west. Her debut novel Free-Falling was released in February and is a tragic-romantic comedy, about two women dealing with the loss of one man. Her second novel is due out early next year. She loves hearing feedback from readers (particularly nice feedback) because it helps to quell her inferiority complex.

nicolamoriarty.com.au
www.facebook.com/NicolaMoriartyAuthor