Writers of the genre have come to its defense. Chick-lit author Jenny Colgan immediately fired back at Lessing and Bainbridge. Jennifer Weiner, author of numerous chick-lit novels, including "Good in Bed" (2001) and "In Her Shoes" (2002), has been a vocal defender of chick lit. On 22 May 2013, "Slate" published an article which Weiner wrote in response to a comment that novelist Claire Messud, author of "The Woman Upstairs" (2013), made about women's fiction and the likeability of protagonists. Weiner used this moment as an opportunity to question the bias that exists toward commercial fiction, particularly women's commercial fiction. Weiner has continued to challenge people's perceptions of chick lit, including writing "The Snobs and Me" for "The New York Times"; the article chronicles her personal struggle to believe in her own writing in a cultural climate that devalues it.