The Loud Asian Chick Talks About Chick Lit

Camy Tang is a loud Asian chick who writes loud Asian chick-lit. She grew up in Hawaii, but now lives in San Jose, California, with her engineer husband and rambunctious poi-dog. In a previous life she was a biologist researcher, but these days she is surgically attached to her computer, writing full-time. In her spare time, she is a staff worker for her church youth group, and leads one of the worship teams for Sunday service. On her blog, she gives away Christian novels every Monday and Thursday, and ponders frivolous things like dumb dogs (namely, hers), coffee-geek husbands (no resemblance to her own...), the writing journey, Asiana, and anything else that comes to mind.


Chick Lit is a relatively new genre for Christian publishing. It’s only been around since Theodora’s Diary by Penny Culliford was published in the UK, followed quickly by What a Girl Wants by Kristin Billerbeck in the US.

What exactly is it? It’s humorous women’s fiction, basically. But it’s also more than that—there’s a definite atmosphere and voice to a chick lit novel that sets it apart from other women’s fiction novels, from other romances.

Most chick lit is in first person, and often in present tense rather than past tense, but that feature isn’t really what makes a novel chick lit. What sets chick lit apart is the contemporary feel of the language, the sassy personality of the main character, the funny-yet-frighteningly-realistic situations. Chick lit is the story of every contemporary woman—exaggerated.

Chick lit is often about single women, but it can also be about married women with kids (Mom Lit) and older women (Lady Lit). There’s also Lad Lit, which is guy chick lit, but that hasn’t quite taken off in either mainstream or Christian publishing.

A chick lit novel is All About the Girl. It’s the character’s spiritual arc throughout the story. Sometimes it has romantic elements—sometimes it doesn’t. Chick lit is NOT an offshoot of the traditional Christian romance genre, so romance is not always a key factor in the story.

Chick lit differs from women’s fiction in that it can have a slightly irreverent take on life and issues. It doesn’t mean chick lit doesn’t tackle the hard topics—but it often has a unique approach.

The humor in chick lit enables readers to both enjoy the story and commiserate with the character. We can relate to Sally Single Girl and her attempts to get the Love of Her Life to notice she exists. We can relate to Susie Mom who’s trying to reconcile her crazy home life taking care of three kids and her deep desire to do Big Things For God. We can relate to Sissy Golden Girl who’s trying to make her adult children realize she’s not senile yet and she can see through their manipulations.

At the end of the day, chick lit is a satisfying read. It is good, clean entertainment.

We close the book and feel empowered by the heroine’s strengths, touched by her spiritual journey, and relieved that her problems are ten times worse than our own.







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