GCC: Martha O’Connor

I had a big blog post planned for today, but current events knocked the wind out of my sails. I’ve been flying a lot in the last few weeks, but it was a long time after my flight on September 11th that I could get on a plane without freaking out. It’s never over, and every so often, we’re reminded that crazy people can kill people in the U.S. just as easily as they can people in coffeeshops in Baghdad or Tel Aviv.

(And with the added security, I worry that Sailor Boy is going to miss his flight on Friday, since he’s leaving for the airport right after his exam and has a tight window.)

Moving on to the topic of today’s blog post, which is the GCC tour of Martha O’Connor’s paperback, The Bitch Posse. I know some of you skip the GCC posts. Don’t skip this one.

Wow, this book looks amazing! Sadly, I’ve been under serious deadline during both the paperback and hardcover release, but you can bet your ass I’m buying it right now, so it will be waiting for me as soon as I turn in SSG2. Reviews peg it as reminiscent of Joyce Carol Oates, Donna Tartt, and Alice Sebold. I’ve heard martha describe the story of writing it. It sounds similar to what Madeline Hunter calls “my f*** you book.” She was tired of not selling her novels, bored with what was on the shelves, and decided to write the equivalent of a big middle finger to the publishing world: a mean, uncomprimising, messy, harsh, bad-tempered novel about terrible heroines and what could possibly redeem them.

And it sold in four days. Go, Martha.

In high school, Cherry, Rennie, and Amy called themselves The Bitch Posse. Today, Amy is a wife and mother-to-be, trying to live a normal life. Rennie is a writer who engages in a number of self-destructive relationships. And Cherry is in a mental hospitaland has been ever since that one fateful night fifteen years ago, when a heart-wrenching betrayal and the unraveling of relationships led them to a point of no return, where their actions triggered unimaginable consequences. These secrets have torn them apart, while inextricably binding them to one another. What happened to them? And can they survive their shared history, even today? The Bitch Posse is an anthem for friendships that defy societys approval or disapproval. Its a novel of secrets, courage, sacrifice, and hope against the odds.

Here’s the first page. tell me this doesn’t grab you:

CONSUMER PRODUCT INFORMATION

The Beverage You Are About to Enjoy Is Extremely Hot. Sip Carefully.

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.

Professional Driver on Closed Course. Do Not Attempt.

Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics.

You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.

Warning: You Have Now Entered a Chick-Lit-Free Zone.

Pass Icy. Chains Required.

Small-Craft Advisory. Sustained Winds of 17-33 Knots.

Mind the Gap.

Want a beach book? Buy yourself some Bridget Jones.

Want to get off? Your local video store has a wide array of suitable titles. Or try the Internet.

If you want something simple, you’re in the wrong place. This is about revealing secrets, not tits and ass.

Well, not just tits and ass.

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God.

Danger: Riptides and Undertow. Swim at Your Own Risk.

HAUNTED FOREST, WITCHES CASTLE, 1 MILE. I’D TURN BACK IF I WERE YOU!

Do Not Leave Child Unattended.

Say it aloud: Screw fairy tales and chick lit and all forms of lying.

Gentles, do not reprehend.

If you pardon, we will mend.

Ah, just jump in. We dare ya.

People have asked me if I’m offended by some of the tag lines in this book. “This is a Chick Lit free zone.” “If you want a beach book, go buy Bridget Jones.” etc.

Nope. And let me tell you why. Because there ARE books out there that aren’t chick lit, aren’t beach books, shouldn’t be, weren’t meant to be, and that’s that. There was a time, a year or two ago, when all kinds of books were being shoved into the chick lit format and they didn’t belong there. (I remember buying a book with a pink cover and a sexy chick smiling thinking it was a story about a girl who had to come home and live with her parents. turns out it was a girl dealing with the suicidal tendencies of said parents and her own self-destructive nature after watching her sister commit suicide through anorexia. Not a beach read either, but why had they packaged it as such?)

The Bitch Posse is a book that isn’t chick lit, and doesn’t want to you to think that it is. So what if it’s about women. So what if it’s got pink on the cover? I think there is room for all kind of books, and Martha saying that her book isn’t chick lit isn’t denigrating the good books that are. I say my book’s not romance. Still love romance.

The fate of chick lit is big conversation in the writing world these days. I’m always seeing writers try to re-market their chick lits as “humorous women’s fiction” as if that will somehow bridge the gap. If it’s still the same old story about 20-something in the city working for Mr. Evil Publishing Boss and falling for Mr. Wrong until they realize that Mr. Right is right under their nose, plus racking up enormous debt in deisgner clothes… if it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck… not calling it “chick lit” is only going to help you if your book does transcend the genre. A few years ago, they were classifying Lisa Tucker’s Shout Down the Moon as chick lit because they were trying to shoehorn every story about a young, single woman into the Devil Wears Prada mold. Now, Shout Down the Moon would still sell, but they’d recognize it for the more literary women’s fiction it is. Would The Devil Wears Prada clones?

But what if you’re in between? Not the same old same old plot, but still funny, snarky novel about a young woman finding herself? There’s the rub. You would have easily fit into the chick lit genre a few years ago, so where do you fit during the chick lit backlash? You’re not writing a Bridget Jones clone, you swear! But I don’t have an answer for that. I don’t know. Wait and see?

What I do know from my recent bookstore visits and conversations with bookstore managers is that bookstores are selling as much or nearly as much “chick lit” as they ever did. The difference now is that they are selling 100 books by 100 authors, instead of 100 books by five or ten authors.

So the answer is, wait and see. And if you, like others, need a bit of a palate cleansing from the lighter side of the lit world, try The Bitch Posse. And if you need something light after that, my book’s out, too. I love a world where each can exist.