Why Cozy Mysteries?

You gotta love what you write!

When I started writing, it was only natural to begin with a cozy mystery. After all, cozy mysteries are what I enjoy reading the most. But there was always a nagging doubt: was I making the right decision?

Fourteen years ago, Cozy Mysteries were not as understood as they are today. I would constantly have to explain why they were called cozy mysteries. Today, thanks in part to the Hallmark channel and others like it, most readers know what a cozy mystery is.

Back then, romance novels grabbed readers' attention, and they still do. However, several other genres are catching up. Mysteries are only one, but I also see a lot of fantasy books out there.

But I don’t need to tell you what you can easily see for yourself. This is about my decision. Many big-name authors advise writing what you know. Well, I have never encountered a dead body or tried to solve a case before the police, but I have read a ton of mysteries.

I started reading Nancy Drew as a child, and once I had worked my way through those books (and The Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden, and others), I graduated to reading the works of one of the most prolific mystery writers, Agatha Christie. And I was hooked. Then I started reading Nora Roberts, and I knew I wanted to be a writer like her.

The problem was that I knew my dad also loved reading, and I just couldn’t bear the thought of him reading a hot, sexy scene between characters I had created. Nor could I bear the thought of my mom reading a hot, sexy scene between characters in my books. Oh, I know they both read books like that. Heck, they read the same books I did—we often swapped books. But there was just something about knowing they had read something sexy that I wrote…

Then I found cozies! They were perfect- no sex, little gore, and no swearing. But they still had a puzzle to solve and characters to fall in love with. Most were part of a series, so you could really get involved with the stories as they continued from book to book.

That was it; my path was choice, and I began writing my first series.

Along the way, I continued to read, and as I learned more about cozy mystery writers, I found a second path to pursue. Something sparked in me, and I began my second series: a Paranormal Cozy Mystery.

My imagination could really take off with this genre. The same rules applied: no sex, gore, or swearing. But the possibilities opened up with wild abandon. I could include magic, haunting, otherworldly power, and characters that you weren’t going to find at the corner donut shop. The only problem was that I had to be careful not to let my imagination take me too far from the believable, or I would be entering into different genres.

While other authors were also expanding, many with witches and such, I kept a tighter reign on my stories. A family ghost, a main character with a powerful connection to natural elements, and the ability to see into the future were the start for me. But I still wanted to do more. I decided to introduce legends into my paranormal cozies, legends that would lead my characters to the paranormal elements without taking over the mystery. The first was of a fairy queen the second of a mermaid. Now I was cooking!

I haven’t totally abandoned the paranormal realm; I still write contemporary cozy mysteries. Some of my series overlap, and others hint at the possibility of expanding into the worlds of other series.

But I’ve found my home in the cozy world. I can add elements from other genres as they fit my plot (a love interest or a deep secret so horrifying no one talks about it). I can add fictional or existing settings, and if I want, I can add real-life events and headlines. My stories go where I want (although I occasionally have a character who thinks they are in control), and I’m happy and cozy in my writing world.

If you’d like to read the first book in my mermaid series, click on the button. It’s my treat!