Lauren Baratz-Logsted, a proponent for the genre termed “Chick-Lit,” has gained the respect of her readers and peers by writing what she knows and feels. After leaving her job in 1994, after eleven years as an independent bookseller, she decided to try to become a full-fledged writer. She worked as a book reviewer for Publisher’s Weekly, a freelance editor, a quasi-librarian, and a window washer in the interim years. Eight years later, she landed her first contract with Red Dress Ink for her novel, The Thin Pink Line.
The idea for The Thin Pink Line came to Baratz-Logsted when, after ten years of marriage to fellow writer, Greg Logsted, and just when she had accepted the fact that she might never be pregnant, life turned the tables on her. The pregnancy began a thought process that revolved around the question, “What if some crazy woman was making the whole thing up?” The answer to this question took the form of her first dark comedic novel dealing with a woman who fakes an entire pregnancy.
Red Dress Ink seemed the perfect fit for the dark comedies and satires Baratz-Logsted wrote at that stage in her career. Unbeknownst to her, Red Dress Ink was also the Chick-Lit publisher at the time, and her first contract with them was her introduction to the Chick-Lit genre. Baratz-Logsted had no problems accepting the label. In fact, she embraces it to the point that she published an anthology, This Is Chick-Lit, in 2006.
She recently took time out of a busy writing schedule to answer some questions for our readers.
R&T: Describe “Chick-Lit” for our readers.
Baratz-Logsted: Contemporary fiction, about women dealing with contemporary problems, that is characterized by its edgy tone more than anything else.
R&T: There are some people in writing/reading circles that consider chick-lit lacking in depth or substance (I have been one of the converted thanks to your fantastic stories.) In your opinion, why does this particular genre spark such “controversy” in the literary community?
Baratz-Logsted: You know, I think we live in a culture––and I’m not convinced it’s so different than previous eras––that once a thing becomes popular it becomes time for detractors to try to take it down. That said, the publishers haven’t always helped with Chick-Lit’s image. Some of the covers are cheesy, easy to make fun of, and the jacket copy is homogenized so all the books sound alike. That’s said, because if you read the books, as you have done, you find there’s just as much diversity within the genre as there is in any other genre.
R&T: Was it your intention to write in this genre or did you write a piece that was categorized as “Chick-Lit” by readers, publishers, etc.?
Baratz-Logsted: I had no idea that Red Dress Ink was the Chick-Lit publisher when I sold The Thin Pink Line to them. I simply was at a place in my life where I was writing a lot of comedy, what I would classify as dark comedies or satire, and the reviews I was reading for books published by the then newly launched Red Dress Ink seemed to fit that category.
R&T: For your anthology entitled This Is Chick-Lit, what editorial criteria did you use in choosing each of the contained pieces?
Baratz-Logsted: I had certain authors I wanted to work with from the start because I knew their work to be the kind that transcends genre stereotypes and several other writers approached me when word of the project got out. I asked all the writers to 1) give me stories that had important themes cloaked within their humorous shells, 2) write a one-liner on how they feel about Chick-Lit to preface their stories, 3) tap one lit writer for my appendix, “Reaching Across the Aisle,” in which each Chick recommended one Lit her own readership should love.
R&T: What is your writing routine? Has it changed over the years?
Baratz-Logsted: In the beginning, when I used to have all those part-time jobs, I had to get up between 2:30 and 4:30 in the morning to get my writing in. Now that situation has eased somewhat. I now get up around 5:00 and work on business-related email-type stuff, like interviews, before my daughter gets up. Once she leaves for school at 7:00, I work pretty much straight through until it’s time to get her at the bus stop at 4:00. I set daily quotas depending on the project––a chapter or two a day, or a certain number of pages–– and tell myself I’ll die if I don’t achieve those quotas.
R&T: Are you one of those writers who prefers long hand or do you prefer using a typewriter or computer?
Baratz-Logsted: I’m now a full-fledged computer woman, but inspiration can hit in the strangest places––like movie theatres––so I’m always prepared to fish a pen out of my purse, frantically hunt for scrap paper, and write in the dark.
R&T: What is the writing life to you?
Baratz-Logsted: It’s telling the stories I want to tell––and those stories are varied, running the gamut from literary fiction to Chick-Lit to YA––and telling those stories in a way that will make the reader feel or laugh or think. All the rest––Amazon rankings, reviews, the increasing amounts of promotion authors are called on to do––is sound and fury, distracting from the real job. Not that I mind if the rankings are good, the reviews are good, and the audience is satisfied.
R&T: Have you ever experienced writer’s block?
Baratz-Logsted: I hope none of your readers hate me for this, but no. I’ve learned that if I’m sluggish about writing a certain scene, I can go work on another part of the book that I am excited to work on and then come back, refreshed.
R&T: Who in your life is your greatest inspiration?
Baratz-Logsted: My daughter, Jackie, (who is seven years old). She’s a honey. And my husband, Greg Logsted, who just sold his first book, a tween novel called Sock Puppets in Love, to Simon & Schuster. Oh, and, of course, my mom.
R&T: Who is your favorite author?
Baratz-Logsted: That’s like asking me to pick just one inspiration, but I’ll say Gabriel Garcia Marquez because Love in the Time of Cholera is my favorite book.
R&T: If you could choose a classic novel to represent your life, what would it be?
Baratz-Logsted: Pride & Prejudice, at least for my professional life, because I do find that an author needs a lot of pride to survive in this business but that, if she writes anything that even remotely smacks of commercial fiction, she meets up with a lot of prejudice.
R&T: Your novel, Vertigo, is a period piece that takes place in Victorian society. How did you go about researching the time frame of the novel and personalizing that era for each of your characters?
Baratz-Logsted: The characters themselves are personalized by their distinct voices in the book, but that effect wasn’t achieved by doing any specific research; it came about from a lifetime reading British fiction and watching Masterpiece Theatre. As for the time frame, I read several books each on Victorian style and the British penal system.
R&T: Nancy Drew is an iconic character that serves as the sage in your novel entitled How Nancy Drew Saved My Life. Was Nancy Drew a role model to you growing up?
Baratz-Logsted: Ironically, not really! I was more of a Trixie Belden girl––not that I’m any good on a horse––but I did read plenty of Nancy too. And, let’s face it, she’s one of the most iconic characters in literature, a symbol of the brave and intrepid even to those who haven’t read her or read her widely.
R&T: Your main characters seem to share your passion for writing in one shape or form (i.e. journaling, letter writing). Do you find it easier to relate to these women because of the common ground found in the writing lives you all share?
Baratz-Logsted: My characters and I often have technical things in common, although I hope I’m not sociopathic, as many of them are, and I’ve never conspired to kill my husband. But I relate to writers, or people who have a burning need to put words on the page in whatever form, more than I do anyone else. I’m not alone in this. A New York Times poll a few years back showed 81% of Americans say they have a book in them, so I’m guessing my readers can relate to my characters at least on that level as well.
R&T: In your opinion, what is the best story that you have written? Is that piece your favorite?
Baratz-Logsted: Ooh, that’s hard! They’re all so different from each other. I guess my all-time favorite is the unpublished novel Z. It’s about a writer––another writer!––who returns home to [Connecticut] after 15 years in L.A., only to meet and fall in love with a man who may be Zorro, the real Zorro. It has comedy, romance, drama, magic realism, even swordplay, and it’ll break my heart if that one never gets published. Of my published books, it’s a three-way tie: The Thin Pink Line, for originality; Vertigo, for its voice; Angel’s Choice, my first YA novel, for its importance.
R&T: What is the favorite piece of advice given to you as a writer?
Baratz-Logsted: Nelson DeMille once told me, “Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own.” Then he told me it was Nelson Algren who really said it, but I still think it’s grand advice.
R&T: What advice do you have for new writers?
Baratz-Logsted: Believe in yourself and keep putting one writing foot in front of the other. Always remember, the only person who can ever really take you out of the game is you.
For more on Lauren Baratz-Logsted and her work, visit her website.
Read a review of How Nancy Drew Saved My Life and other books reviewed by The Rose and Thorn at Roses and Thorns book review blog.
Michaeline Johnson lives in Worth, IL, a southern suburb of Chicago. She will be attending the University of Chicago in the fall to pursue her BA in both English and Film. She enjoys reading, movies, and writing.
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