Why I Love Chick Lit by Maya Jax

We have a special guest today! Maya Jax, author of Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me, is here with us to talk about why she loves chick lit. Enjoy!

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Why I Love Chick Lit

by Maya Jax

I read The Devil Wears Prada over a year after it was released and it was the first chick lit book I ever read. Before that I’d only read John Grisham and spy novels , so TDWP blew my mind. It was instant love with chick lit and it’s been going strong ever since. And these are the reasons why I love it so very much:

A little bit of me in each character

Bridget Jones. My god I love this woman. How genius to have such an imperfect character trying to make her own life better and getting it wrong almost every time. She’s totally human! And she’s so lovable because we can see parts of ourselves in her. I know I am far from perfect and I love that chick lit reminds me that we’re all in the same imperfect boat.

Happy endings – the Disney kind

It doesn’t matter how old I get, I still love happily ever after. Literature is great. I’m a huge Shakespeare fan, but when it comes down to it, life has enough ups and downs. When I invest time in a story, I want to know that the character I’ve grown to love is going to be okay when I finish the last page. I love that chick lit ties everything together in a big girly bow.

I would lend her my favorite shoes

After I finished Confessions of a Shopaholic, I felt like I’d just read about a friend. I want Becky Bloomwood to do well in life. I want her marriage to work, and her job to make her happy. I hope her children are healthy and that they aren’t too hard on her when they’re in their teens. I wish for her the same things I wish for my best friend. I can’t think of any other genre where I consistently want to add the main character to my inner circle of friends.

Chick lit takes the best parts of being a girl – the fun, the friends, ups, downs, imperfections we can’t get over – and brings it into a hilarious little escape from reality. It makes us laugh, cringe and feel human. That’s the beauty of chick lit.

Loving spy and mystery novels, Maya Jax entertained the idea of being a secret agent and started working at an embassy overseas while doing her master’s in international relations. During this time, she finished her first screenplay, an action/thriller about spies and nuclear weapons. She pitched it to a friend in Hollywood, who told her she had talent, but to never – ever – show anyone the script again. Realizing her love for writing was stronger than her desire to spy and fight crime, she attempted a second screenplay focusing on what she knew best — trying to make it as a writer. The screenplay turned into a manuscript and the result was chick lit novel Escapades of Romantically Challenged Me. You can read more about Maya at www.mayajax.com.