Fresh from guest editing Dollymix for a month, Robyn Wilder
joins Trashionista as a regular writer. You can
read all about her on her blog, Orbyn.elsewhere.
Favourite chick lit book: Watermelon by Marian Keyes. It was my introduction into chick lit as a
genre, and I’ve reread it about five times.
I love how it breaks all the rules of fiction writing (telling rather
than showing; many, many adverbs!) but still manages to be heartbreaking and
hilarious.
Favourite chick lit author: Marian Keyes, rather predictably. I haven’t read a single book of hers that I don’t like. I totally buy into all her characters, and I love the way her style is still conversational and easy to read even as the stories get more complex. This Charming Man was very ambitious (there is a particularly traumatic scene I’ll never get out of my head) but she draws you in and makes it all seem effortless.
Favourite fictional heroine: Well, I’m a geek so obviously I’m a big fan of Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Partly because of her attitude, rebellious style and choice turns of phrase (“five by five!”). But also because of Faith’s situation – in every generation, a vampire slayer is called, but Buffy’s still alive – still the “chosen one” – so Faith is essentially redundant, which makes for interesting psychology! Um, yes – told you I was a geek.
Favourite non chick lit book: The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter. My teenage discovery of “magical realism” led to countless pretentious short stories which will hopefully never see the light of day!
Do you have a theme song? The novel I wrote (and am still finishing) for NaNoWriMo is about a slightly clueless girl who discovers, amongst other things, her hidden strengths and ability to deal with what life throws at her. In my head, the theme song for the film of the book(!) is 80s favourite Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel.
