30 Responses to “Write to Life: Cozy Dos and Don’ts”

1. Diana, I think you’ve nailed the definition for the genre. I’d like to add one comment and to pose a question for cozy lovers.

   Comment: often the protagonist has a best friend/business partner who is frequently a more colorful character than the protagonist, and who provides a sounding board or an alternate viewpoint as the protagonist works her way toward solving the crime.

   Question: to what extent is it possible to incorporate a theme or concept into a cozy? I’m not saying that the protagonist has to be a rape counselor or a civil rights activist, but can or should there be a subliminal theme, as long as the writer doesn’t push it too hard? Or is that asking too much of the genre?

   by Sheila Connolly on March 12th, 2008 at 8:27 am
   
   

2. Diana, I love your lists . I cannot tell you how often I have found a book at the book store or library with an interesting cover only to get it home and find out that the book is so full of foul language or excessive /detailed sex scenes until it is unreadable. Also I like protagonists that have ethnic diverse friends because it brings flavor to the whole story line. To me, a good protagonist is human with human faults and flaws that makes the whole story line worth following.

   by Rosalind on March 12th, 2008 at 9:34 am
   
   

3. What a great list!!! Thank you!!!

   Don’ts - I think I’ve managed to avoid all these issues in the 1920s murder mystery. Whew!

   Do’s - I need to work on #4 and #9. *sigh*

   by Tori Lennox on March 12th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
   
   

4. Uh-oh. No one told me about Rule 5 on the don’ts list. My protagonist and her sister have been known to kill a bottle of wine. It was fine with my editor. And so far no one who’s read the ARC has mentioned it.

   Rats. I’d better go down a martini and think about this.

   by Lorna Barrett on March 12th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
   
   

5. Well, when I was trying to sell my original mystery, I always told people it wasn’t a cozy, but everyone kept saying “amateur sleuth mysteries told in the first person are always cozies.” I wish I’d had your list then so I could show them I didn’t fit!

   My second series is, I suppose, cozier. My characters do drink (not to excess, but they like the occasional Cosmo or margarita), and I do like slightly darker themes, though they tend to play out very much “off screen.” On the “do’s”, #3 and #4 are the hard ones for me.

   An interesting list. I’m much more a “traditional mystery” gal than a “cozy” one, I’m afraid! But I knew that. I read about it at http://www.womenofmystery.net/2008/03/cozy-by-any-other-name.html .

   by Laura on March 12th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
   
   

6. One of the things I appreciate most about the cozy genre is that they are generally “clean reads.” I recently read a book which had labelled itself as a cozy on its cover, but when I began reading it, it really didn’t fit what I had come to expect in the genre. This book had broken #2, #4, and #7 on your don’t list and had fallen short on many of your “dos”.

   One observation though. Sometimes I get tired of series and want a stand-alone. I just wish that I could find good stand-alone novels which are “clean reads”. I personally think the publishers just don’t give them a try. They realize that series translate into sales, but I think that they could find good authors who have the talent for developing characters and plots (and doing a lot of background research) who could pull off a book a year without being tied to the same locations and characters. I know that I used to read Phyllis Whitney’s novels (which were “romantic suspense”). Each of those had different characters and settings. They were interesting reads with a little mystery and a little romance.

   Too often, we let the series mystery author get tired of their own characters. By that time, the public is tired of them too. As a librarian I read a lot of reviews, and one trend I notice is that after awhile, people are commenting that the book isn’t as good as the others in the series. The next year, the reviews are even worse, and so on. Name recognition is selling them for awhile, but after awhile, people begin avoiding them. I can tell you that there are certain authors who used to check out well who no longer do from usage statistics on our fiction titles. Many times the author could still write well, but the author is tired of the characters and the author has done as much as possible with them. The publishers need to let the authors develop a different series or something to get out of the rut!

   by Lori on March 12th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
   
   

7. Shelia, this is a great question, and yes, I think you can incorporate a certain relevant social theme in your cozy mystery. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the modern cozy should strive when possible for this very thing. It’s not a requirement, but I think the cozy is too easily dismissed as fluff — and it needn’t be.

   I tried consciously to thematically focus CORPSE POSE, the first book in the new series — much more so than I ever tried with the Poetic Death books. There’s a very definite theme running through the book — which I can’t say too much about because it ties in closely with the murder.

   by Diana on March 13th, 2008 at 12:43 am
   
   

8. Rosalind, the cozy has its limitations, but I strongly feel that there are things writers can do to keep their work from being dismissed as gimmicky nonsense — and as you say, ethnically diverse characters are one of the ways. Disabled characters, characters of different faiths, different sexualities — while I feel that preaching is always a mistake in fiction, a smart writer can get her point across. A smart writer HAS a point.

   by Diana on March 13th, 2008 at 12:46 am
   
   

9. Hey, Tori, how’s the book coming, by the way????

   by Diana on March 13th, 2008 at 12:47 am
   
   

10. Hey, Lorna, Grace and Peter in the Poetic Death series drank like fishes! Remember: guidelines not rules.

    In the Mantra for Murder series A.J. Alexander’s mother is a recovering alcoholic, so the drinking vibe is a little different in these books.

    by Diana on March 13th, 2008 at 12:50 am
    
    

11. Hey, Laura, the “traditional mystery” tag is a very flexible one. Over the years the definition of cozy has grown more and more narrow, but I’m not sure if that’s because the genre in itself became more rigid or because of the dismissive way certain critics view it. The original cozies were a wonderful blend of contrasts: violence versus coziness — it’s beautifully effective when handled correctly.

    The idea that a cozy must have a pet or a craft is nonsense — and it’s that kind of thinking that resulted in cozies getting such a rep for being fluffy bunny crime stories. But again, the number of houses handling straight cozy is severely reduced, and it’s possible that these remaining venues are corrupting the original definition.

    by Diana on March 13th, 2008 at 1:01 am
    
    

12. Lori, this is a wonderful observation, and one I wholeheartedly agree with. It’s a great shame that cozy standalones are almost unheard of. The cozy lends itself ideally to the standalone because it’s really so unlikely that an amateur sleuth would be involved in more than one crime in a lifetime.

    by Diana on March 13th, 2008 at 1:04 am
    
    

13. This is fantastic, Diana! Any writer seeking to pen a cozy now knows precisely what to do. Brava!

    by JB on March 13th, 2008 at 7:21 am
    
    

14. Diana,
    I read the list, and you know what? That list also applies to most of the noncozy books, both mysteries and otherwise, that I read. Good lists.

    by caryn on March 13th, 2008 at 11:45 am
    
    

15. I like the cozy for the ‘feel good’ aspect of it. The same reason I love Debbie Macomber.

    But I can’t always go for the feel good. My head would explode.

    I’m writing a book about a werewolf married to the Army, trust me, I couldn’t have painted it clean with Clorox and a high pressured hose.

    But, with the do’s and don’ts, I’ve got a general one that I’ve found many writers who don’t do clean forget about. Don’t do any scene without a purpose. I’ve picked up too many books where sex and violence were put in to fill pages, not to further the plot or to enrich a character. It was put in there just because. Any violence I write, I have a reason for it. (Granted, there’s only one violent scene in this story, but still.)

    I couldn’t have a cozy all the time, but I think that other books could be made better by following this example.

    by Marissa on March 13th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
    
    

16. *side note*

    Killing pets is something I’ve sent angry emails over. Leave the pets alone! Same reason I can’t stand it when an author kills off a child in a story. That sort of thing just… ugh.

    by Marissa on March 13th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
    
    

17. It’s coming way more slowly than I’d like. I’m working on filling in the holes (some are big enough to drive a fleet of trucks through…). Then I’ll print it out and see how it reads.

    by Tori Lennox on March 13th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
    
    

18. Hey, thanks JB! Of course most of this is not set in stone, but I think it’s a pretty good thumb nail sketch of the genre.

    by Diana on March 13th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
    
    

19. Now Caryn, that’s a very interesting comment. I take it you read mostly in the traditional mystery genre?

    by Diana on March 13th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
    
    

20. But, with the do’s and don’ts, I’ve got a general one that I’ve found many writers who don’t do clean forget about. Don’t do any scene without a purpose. I’ve picked up too many books where sex and violence were put in to fill pages, not to further the plot or to enrich a character. It was put in there just because. Any violence I write, I have a reason for it. (Granted, there’s only one violent scene in this story, but still.)

    Very good point, Marissa. And, in fact, no scene should exist without the purpose of advancing the plot forward. Too often we see scenes that are there for…building character or giving us backstory. No. We do not need scenes specific to this, although this kind of thing should occur in the scenes that otherwise advance the plot.

    Good thought!

    by Diana on March 13th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
    
    

21. Killing pets is something I’ve sent angry emails over. Leave the pets alone! Same reason I can’t stand it when an author kills off a child in a story. That sort of thing just… ugh.

    Yes, indeed. Cozy readers feel very strongly about this one. I admit I’m not crazy about dead pets — and I don’t children in mysteries, period.

    by Diana on March 13th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
    
    

22. Tori, just so you know, I’m looking forward to reading that book one of these days. You need to set a date and finish!

    by Diana on March 13th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
    
    

23. Diana, looks like you’ve covered them all! I have to admit, I break quite a few of the rules, though. I’m such a rebel.

    by Heather on March 14th, 2008 at 10:42 am
    
    

24. I’m such a rebel.

    You are! You’re our official rebel chick.

    by Diana on March 14th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
    
    

25. I was in Amazon.com searching for a good cozy mystery and somehow wound up here because I am a curious ‘clicker.” I am delighted to be in the company of so many cozy authors and fans.

    I am the moderator of a new forum and was trying to explain why I wanted a section for “cozy” novels. Now that I have found The Cozy Chicks, I don’t have to explain, I will just place the site link in the forum. Kudos to authors who write these novels.

    by Vannie on March 14th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
    
    

26. Well, thanks so much, Vannie! It’s nice to be appreciated. Is there a link to your forum?

    by Diana on March 16th, 2008 at 9:52 am
    
    

27. Hi Diana,

    Yes. The direct link to the book section is http://gatheringspot.freeforums.org/cozy-type-novels-t12.html#29 but the general link listed in my signature here. As I said, this is a new forum (3-9-08) be we are hoping it will catch on. Anyway you are most welcome, even encouraged to join and post, there is a place for signature lines, etc.

    In the past when I thought “cozy”, Agatha Christie came to mind with her wonderful English cottage mystery novels, which I love. I also enjoy traditional romance/mystery novels as well. I enjoy Nora Roberts traditionals, but there is nothing sweet or cozy about her J.D. Robb’s “In Death” series and I can’t wait to get my hands on the newest one. However, the last novel I read was Susannah’s Garden by debbie Macomber. There is even a kitty cat on the cover

    by Vannie on March 17th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
    
    

28. Have to admit that my heroine Kelly Flynn breaks several of those “rules.” She like her other 30-something friends is an athlete, enjoys kicking back with a beer or wine w/friends and enjoys a really good martini with boyfriend Steve at their fave jazz club. She–like her friends—also have been known to let a “damn” or “hell” pass their lips.

    But then—-I’ve never been one to follow the rules. I’m a 60’s Rebel, so it’s a Way of Life by now.

    by Maggie on March 17th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
    
    

29. Apparently I’m more depraved than I realized!

    I personally don’t count “hell” or “damn” as swearing, and I don’t count a drink or two (or half a bottle of wine) as drinking to excess. I’ve gotta take another look at my own criteria…

    by Diana on March 18th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
    
    

30. Thanks for the link, Vannie! I’ll definitely check it out.

    by Diana on March 18th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
    
    

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