Marian Keyes

Chick lit is a term used to describe a type of popular fiction targeted at younger women. Widely used in the 1990s and 2000s, the term has fallen out of fashion with publishers while writers and critics have rejected its inherent sexism. Novels identified as chick lit typically address romantic relationships, female friendships, and workplace struggles in humorous and lighthearted ways. The typical protagonists are urban, heterosexual women in their late twenties and early thirties: they represented an evolution of the traditional romantic heroine in their assertiveness, financial independence and enthusiasm for conspicuous consumption.

The format developed through the early 1990s on both sides of the Atlantic with books such as Terry McMillan's Waiting to Exhale (1992, US) and Catherine Alliott's The Old Girl Network (1994, UK). Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary (1996, UK), wildly popular globally, is the "ur text" of chick lit, while Candace Bushnell's (US) 1997 novel Sex and the City has huge ongoing cultural influence. By the late 1990s, chick lit titles regularly topped bestseller lists, and many imprints were created devoted entirely to chick lit. By the mid-2000s, commentators noted that the chick lit market was increasingly saturated, and by the early 2010s, publishers had largely abandoned the category. The term "chick lit" maintains an afterlife as a popular category for readers and amateur writers on the Internet.

Katie Fforde, née Catherine Rose Gordon-Cumming, is a British romance novelist. Published since 1995, her romance novels are set in modern-day England.

Freya North (born 21 November 1967) is a British writer, active since 1996, and one of the precursors of chick lit. Her novels, which have been critical and financial successes, centre on strong female characters and their raunchy exploits.

In 1991, she gave up writing her PhD in Art History in order to start writing her first novel, Sally, about a woman embarking on a no-strings erotic affair. Top agent Jonathan Lloyd at Curtis Brown Ltd put the novel into a five-publisher bidding war which resulted in a three-book deal for a six-figure sum. Sally was published in 1996. Chloe followed soon after, and tells of a woman travelling around the four countries of the UK during the four seasons of the year and her various sensual exploits en route. Polly, about a teacher exchange trip between America and England, was published in 1998 and Cat, about a sports journalist covering the Tour de France, in 2000.

Trembling Blue Stars was the London-based band based music project of Robert Wratten, started in 1996. Later consisting of Harvey Williams, Jonathan Akerman, Keris Howard, Michael Hiscock, and Beth Arzy who replaced Annemari Davies in 2000. Initially begun as a side project of Wratten's previous band Northern Picture Library, Trembling Blue Stars became Wratten's main band when Northern Picture Library broke up in 1995. Wratten took the name of his band from The Story of O by Pauline Réage. Trembling Blue Stars are characterized by melancholic songs with shimmering guitars and introspective lyrics.

Jane Elizabeth Mary Fallon (born 9 December 1960) is an English author and television producer.

Born as the youngest of five children in Harrow, northwest London, Fallon's family moved to Buckinghamshire when she was a child, and she grew up in a house above her parents' newsagent's shop.

She was educated at St Bernard's Convent School in Slough, Berkshire, and University College London, where she studied history, graduating with a bachelor of arts in 1982. Alongside her studies, she started writing for the history department's magazine, for the university newspaper, London Student, and for Pi Magazine.

After her studies, she began working for a theatrical literary agency. After a few years there, she decided to become a freelance script reader and script editor for different theatrical productions and television, and in 1994, she advanced to become a producer on the series EastEnders. This was followed by a number of awarded series, such as This Life, 20 Things to Do Before You're 30, and Teachers.

List of Guggenheim Fellowships awarded in 1954.

Belinda Jones is an English writer.

Harriet Evans Martin (died 1846) was an Anglo-Irish novelist.

Born Harriet Evans, she was the daughter of Hugh Evans, senior surgeon of the 5th Dragoon Guards. George Evans, 4th Baron Carbery may have been a paternal relative, as she dedicated one of her books to him.

Her first marriage, c. 1788, was to Captain Robert Hesketh, R.N., by whom she had no issue. In May 1794 she remarried to Richard Martin MP (1754–1834), by whom she had three daughters and a son. One of her children, Harriet Letitia Martin, would herself become a noted writer.

Martin established her reputation with the publication of her Remarks in 1802, a well-regarded critical study on the performances of stage actor John Philip Kemble (1757–1823).

Kristin Harmel is an American novelist. Her most notable works include The Book of Lost Names, The Forest of Vanishing Stars, The Sweetness of Forgetting, and The Paris Daughter.

Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys: True Tales of Love, Lust, and Friendship Between Straight Women and Gay Men is a 2007 anthology co-edited by novelists Melissa de la Cruz and Tom Dolby, comprising 28 personal essays about the subject. The foreword was written by Armistead Maupin.

Melissa Hill is a former pornographic actress and director. She was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2014 and XRCO Hall of Fame in 2015.

Anna Maxted is an author based in North London, England. Born in 1969, she is married to fellow author and journalist Philip Robinson and they have three young sons. She writes female contemporary fiction which is viewed to be at the high end of the chick lit market.

Milly Johnson is a British author of romantic fiction. She has written 20 best-selling novels with over three million sales worldwide, one book of poetry and 5 novellas. She was nominated for the Melissa Nathan award for Romantic comedy in 2012, winner of RoNA Award for Comedy Romance in 2014 and 2016 and Winner of Channel 4's Come Dine With Me – Barnsley edition. She was honoured with the Romantic Novelist Association's Outstanding Achievement Award in 2020. She is also an after-dinner speaker, poet, professional joke writer, short-story writer and newspaper columnist.

Born in Barnsley on 23 February 1964.

She was an avid reader and writer of stories from a very young age and was strongly influenced by the works of Enid Blyton, the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen, Catherine Cookson, Stan Barstow and Barry Hines, who also gave Johnson a great love of birds and she regularly flies birds of prey at the Falconry Centre in Thirsk. She was educated at Agnes Road Primary School, Longcar Junior School and Hall Balk School for Girls. At university she studied drama and teacher training at St Luke's Campus, University of Exeter.

Lindsey Kelk is a bestselling British author, journalist and formerly worked as a children's book editor. She was initially signed up to a three-book deal by publishers HarperCollins following the submission of a manuscript for her first novel. To date, she has published 17 adult books and is also the author of the children's book series, Cinders and Sparks. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Adele Parks is an English women's fiction author. She has written 21 novels in her 21-year career as an author and is one of the bestselling authors of women's fiction in the United Kingdom.

Parks was born in Teesside. She decided she wanted to be a writer at the age of 7 and studied English at the University of Leicester. Before becoming a novelist, Parks worked in advertising and management consultancy. Her debut novel, Playing Away, was released in 2000.

As of Jan 2022, she has sold over 4 million UK edition copies of her novels and her books have been translated into 30 languages. Every one of her 21 novels are bestsellers in the UK.

Her Majesty the Queen gave her the honour of M.B.E in the New Year Honours List 2022. She was a judge of the Costa Book Awards in 2010 and has regularly been the judge of the Costa Short Story Awards. In 2009 she was awarded an honorary doctorate, a Doctor of Letters, by Teesside University. Her Quick Read book, "Happy Families" won the Learners’ Favourite Award. She is an ambassador for literacy charity The Reading Agency and a Patron of the National Literacy Trust. She is also a Patron of The Guildford Book Festival.

Lucy Diamond is an English author of female lead fiction, whose real name is Sue Mongredien.

The following is a list of books from the Richard & Judy Book Club, featured on the television chat show. The show was cancelled in 2009, but since 2010 the lists have been continued by the Richard and Judy Book Club, a website run in conjunction with retailer W H Smith.

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010 – Winter

2011 – Spring

2011 – Summer

2011 – Autumn

2012 – Spring

2012 – Summer

2012 – Autumn

2013 – Spring

2013 – Summer

2013 – Autumn

2014 – Spring

2014 – Summer

2014 – Autumn

2015 – Spring

2015 – Summer

Robyn Ann Sisman was a publisher and author who commissioned Robert Harris to write his 1992 novel Fatherland and produced six novels of her own.