tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536122764434872338.post3075218399683999773..comments2024-03-26T22:25:29.910-04:00Comments on Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries and Meows: The Great Cozy Debate of 2013, by Kendel LynnMelissa, Mudpie and Angel Truffles (Mochas, Mysteries and Meows)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10018684568201043569noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536122764434872338.post-71902922561203767062013-05-26T14:11:19.183-04:002013-05-26T14:11:19.183-04:00Thank you, Susan! And now I'm off to check ou...Thank you, Susan! And now I'm off to check out your book. I like capable women MCs!Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08639732368395025578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536122764434872338.post-25408048809558530002013-05-24T08:25:01.642-04:002013-05-24T08:25:01.642-04:00I'm finding that lots of avid mystery readers ...I'm finding that lots of avid mystery readers don't really know the term. Reviewers have called my Imogene Duckworthy books cozies, which is fine with me, as long as they like them, but they're really not. The term is used differently by different people, I guess--and not at all by others. Hey, a good book is a good book, no matter where you shelve it.Kaye Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05596677617002735674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536122764434872338.post-13239114073488817472013-05-23T20:05:17.572-04:002013-05-23T20:05:17.572-04:00I confess I never heard the term "cozy" ...I confess I never heard the term "cozy" before. Shame on me. I just enjoy a book, in and of itself. Guess I skipped over Post-Modernity.<br /><br />Starting your book this weekend, regardless of cozy moniker. I'm 100% sure I'll love it too. <br /><br />Sophie.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536122764434872338.post-60904374817694800322013-05-23T09:57:40.682-04:002013-05-23T09:57:40.682-04:00I like LynDee's "Call it what you will. I...I like LynDee's "Call it what you will. I just hope you enjoy it!" And I think Lark hit it on the head by saying cozies "acknowledge but don't dwell on violence and evil."<br /><br />But I also think that readers are always going to define this term for themselves. And one person's cozy may be another person's "R" rated book. I fret over this a lot because many readers consider my debut novel, Lowcountry Boil, a cozy. But others will tell me straight up that it isn't. My protagonist is a very capable professional private investigator, not an amateur sleuth. She has a complicated love life.<br /><br />To be sure, there are cozy elements. My setting is a small town filled with quirky characters. None of the books in the series will dwell on violence or evil. The books are humorous, the voice light and peppy. As a reader, I would be more likely to call them Chick Lit than anything else. As a writer, I worry that a reader expecting a cozy will be upset by a love scene, or a non-cozy word that comes out of my character's mouth. Susan M. Boyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10549813433043863815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536122764434872338.post-31977947645520823342013-05-23T09:40:01.745-04:002013-05-23T09:40:01.745-04:00Thank you, thank you for addressing this! I spent ...Thank you, thank you for addressing this! I spent the first few days after Front Page Fatality came out waving my hands and hollering "it's not cozy, because it has some spicy language!" But readers and reviewers continued to classify it as such, and I felt a little silly protesting that. Once your book is out there, it becomes up to them to classify it, doesn't it? <br /><br />"Call it what you will, I just hope you enjoy it!" has become my mantra. <br /><br />As for the language, there's not much in Board Stiff, and it's only there when it would be silly for it not to be there. I had the same situation: I tried to go back and take the swearwords out of Front Page once, but everything I substituted sounded ridiculous. I've yet to meet a grown woman who would actually say "Well, shucks and gosh darnit!" if a gunman were chasing her. ;)<br /><br />I think Board Stiff fits most people's definition of the most important category for readers: a good book. And Anna's right: it's perfect for the beach!LynDeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14399945394854595567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536122764434872338.post-24641738051970051212013-05-21T17:00:33.006-04:002013-05-21T17:00:33.006-04:00There's a much earlier and somewhat broader de...There's a much earlier and somewhat broader definition of cozy mysteries that leaves out the "theme" aspect so common today. (I would call that earlier definition the "classic" one, myself!) Most of Agatha Christie's novels fall in that category, even the ones set in London; in fact, the term "cozy" was almost synonymous with Christie's mysteries for a long time. I've always thought of cozy mysteries as acknowledging but not dwelling on violence and evil. Christie certainly dealt with serial killers (<i>The ABC Murders</i>), but it's true that the sex happened offstage, and her characters, when they swore, were fairly mild by today's standards. As Anna said, there's nothing gratuitous in a cozy; that goes for sex, violence, and language. It can be there if it needs to be, but the author doesn't dwell on it. I would add that the reader should come away from a cozy feeling hopeful, comforted, even satisfied: justice has been done. <br /><br />So is Board Stiff a cozy? I haven't read it, but I don't see any reason why it couldn't be, given these parameters and what you've said about it. And I look forward to reading it!Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08639732368395025578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536122764434872338.post-90659082233336357412013-05-21T14:54:44.011-04:002013-05-21T14:54:44.011-04:00Kendel, I'm glad you addressed this. I think E...Kendel, I'm glad you addressed this. I think Elliott Lisbon falls under the cozy category. There is nothing gratuitous or even graphic. BOARD STIFF is page-turner and keeps the suspense going, but is also entertaining and fun for those who want a good mystery for the beach this summer. <br />~Anna L. Davis, Editorial Intern, Henery PressAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16884267076174932989noreply@blogger.com