Ask Daphne! What's Witty?

A querier asks:

In your submission statement, you mention being interested in 'witty' women's fiction. Am I correct in assuming you are looking strictly for what was once considered 'chic lit', now revamped into 'upscale commercial fiction' - or are you open to other forms of women's fiction that may occasionally contain a 'witty' moment or character?

To be brutally honest, I see no problem in the term "chic lit," or "chick lit," or whatever else they choose to call it. Young women's fiction, if you will. Pink covers, pictures of shoes, female protagonists having existential crises over glasses of chardonnay. But some have decided that description is deader than last season's flats, so we come up with synonyms. "Witty women's fiction" is one. "Upscale commercial fiction" works just as well.

In general, I like my fiction smart and funny. It doesn't need to fall strictly in the confines of what some would term chick lit -- one of the best novels I read last year was Lisa Lutz's The Spellman Files, and that fits no one's idea of chick lit. It's less about sticking my interests in a single category than being interested in original stories with intriguing characters, for a relatively young, commercial audience.

If that's you, super!

Cheers,
Daphne Unfeasible