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 the Fabulous Book Fiend

It's FUNKY FRIDAY  again and this week I welcome Catriona Merryweather from The Fabulous Book Fiend.  We settled for a gossip in our PJ's with cake and coffee and this is what she had to say.

What made you decide to start a book review blog?

I started chatting to Mary From The Sweet Bookshelf a while ago and she had an abundance of books to review. I offered to help & she ended up giving me a regular review spot on her blog. Through that I went to a few bloggers' events and met Amanda from One More Page and Kerry from Readand Repeat. All three of them encouraged me to start my own blog and so in March I eventually bit the bullet and went at it on my own. They've all been really helpful in getting it set up and making it much easier to get into the hang of posting...

What type of book keeps you turning the pages and up all night?

I'm a big chicklit fan and so if I'm really into a chicklit novel and I'm past 70% there is NO WAY I'm going to sleep. I just love reading about people like me. The more drama and romantic mishaps the better! Lisa Jewell's most recent book had so much drama I couldn't put it down from start to finish!

As an avid reader and reviewer, would you ever put pen to paper yourself?

I would love to write my own stuff I just genuinely don't have the time. When work is busy I only really get reading time at the weekend and I've barely had my television on all summer! If someone handed me some secret extra time that's definitely what I'd do though!

What type of books make you want to chuck them at the wall?

I'm not a fan of crime and mystery and struggle with anything set in other worlds or futuristic lands. I'm a lazy reader in that I like to read about people like me in times and settings I can visualise. Crime and mystery is just too complicated for bedtime reading!

How do you tactfully say you hated a book?  Or do you say it as it is?

I adopt the parents' evening approach. If there's something I don't like I say so, BUT I find something positive to talk about. Quite often too, I can see things other people might like in a book so I try and draw attention to those to. I had to write a review of a book I didn't like recently and I stated that it wasn't my cup of tea.  I would never write that I enjoyed a book when I didn't.

Is there one book you could read over and over again?

Bridget Jones's Diary is the book that kind of introduced me to women's fiction when I was a teenager so I have massively fond memories of that and would love to read that over and over. I could easily read anything by Rowan Coleman, Miranda Dickinson, Milly Johnson, Sophie Kinsella or Lindsey Kelk again and again though-their books just feel amazing to read!

Here is the link to my blog.

My Twitter is @shoefiend1984

Thanks so much for joining me, Catriona.  Us writers need readers like you and we thank you for all you do.

Next week, I welcome writer Neil Doran.