Chicklit? Predictable? Hell, yeah!

How do you like your eggs in the morning?
Fried, scrambled, boiled, poached?
There are so many ways.

How do you like your chicklit?
Predictable.
There is only one way.

Those who devour chicklit like to know what they're going to get - a light, frothy read that takes them on the heroine's journey until she has her man/kiss/ring/epiphany.

It's really very simple.  A chicklit reader will know (sometimes from Chapter One - and I have to say, in some books I've read, Page One) who the main character will end up walking into the sunset with but they want to know how she gets there.  They don't want plague, murders, famine and mass outbreaks of smallpox.  They want humour, trials, tribulations and tittilations until they reach that magic swoon.

Pick up any successful chicklit author's work and there will always be one thing that runs through them like a stick of rock - the happy ending that the reader nailed fairly early on in the read, laced with the thrill of wondering how it will happen.

If we took our reader on so many twists and turns with various men who our heroine might end up with and then threw in a curve ball at the end, we wouldn't be trusted and she'd be called a slut.

If we wrote the final chapter awash with misery and despair we shouldn't be writing chicklit.

People can be as snooty and snobby as they like but women love to cosy up with a read that will deliver - the Mansells and Kinsellas of this world are proof of that.

So to sum up ...

How do I like my eggs?
Poached.

How do I like my chicklit?
Predictable - but with humour and surprises along the way.

Otherwise, I'd opt for Dostoyevsky.  Or a self help book.

FUNKY FRIDAY - with author Francis Potts

This week on FUNKY FRIDAY, I chat with author Francis Potts.  He was offered tea or coffee - he went for wine!

Francis, you freely admit to being a young Enid Blyton fan (weren't we all?). Tell me what it was that grabbed you in her novels and do you hold her responsible for your need to write?

Hmm. Has someone been reading Carol’s blog? Enid Blyton isn’t responsible for my need to write (I think of it more as a desire than a need, anyway), but she did teach me something. Stories should be readable. People have told me that they like my style. I didn’t think I had a style. I thought I was just telling stories.

How do you deal with a bad review? Are you a sulker or do you just shrug and get on with it?

Mostly shrug and move on. I don’t see the point of a review that just says ‘I didn’t like this’.

You say you enjoy chick lit. Can you tell us why and what makes a good chick lit read for you?

Hmm. Carol’s blog again? For me a good chick lit read is contemporary, has good dialogue, and a happy ending. Nothing challenging, no wars, no vampires, werewolves, or BDSM. Enid Blyton for grownups.

That's exactly how I see chick lit - I like it to do what it says on the tin. Right. Dream time. What's your ultimate goal as a writer?

To write a bestseller that isn’t run of the mill. A number of reviews describe my stories as ‘quirky’. I’d like to write a quirky bestseller, and make a squillion.

Someone once asked me this question and it got me thinking. If you were offered a squillion pounds but told that you could never write again, would you take it?

Yes. I could probably handle lounging around somewhere warm, maybe on a shady marble terrace, with lots of intelligent and talented women who would chat, pour glasses of red wine and read to me. Maybe a few dancing girls.

Yep - imagination went into overdrive there, didn't it?! Describe your ideal writing day. You may include dancing girls if you wish.

The dancing girls would probably be a distraction. I’d keep them for later. Or when someone gives me a squillion quid. Just a quiet day, without too many interruptions or other things that need doing.

Mean question! How often do you check your sales? I freely admit to hourly, if I'm at home, if that helps!

During a free promo, every few hours. Otherwise once every week or two.

Wow - such willpower! I have to stop myself from being so obsessed.

QUICK FIRE ROUND

Planner or Winger?

Winger through and through.

Night or Morning?

Whenever I get time.

Doer or procrastinator?

Doer.

Writing/first draft or editing?

Now? Finishing the first draft of a collaboration. Life After Pole Dancing.

Tea or coffee?

Wine.

Thank you so much for joining me, Francis.  It's been fun. Hic!  Now I'll let you get back to those dancing girls.

You can follow Francis on Twitter @FPotts, buy his books here or visit his very funny blog.

NEWSFLASH

My Christmas novella 'Cinderella's Buttons' is due for release next Wednesday, 30th October.  You can read all about it here.