I was thinking about this after exchanging comments with alpha readers about the latest Groundskeeper story. I finished up with it, and posted it for paid subscribers to my Substack, but the first chapter is free if you’d like a sample. I have to say they have been really great about keeping me from making silly mistakes! One of the comments was that there isn’t a lot of action in this novella. There isn’t. And there likely won’t be in the Groundskeeper stories. I’m writing cozy fantasies, which are, sorta-kinda, an outgrowth of cozy mysteries. There may be bodies, but there probably aren’t combat scenes or shoot-em-up sequences, and chase scenes are likely to be low-speed high-drag with more than a little element of comedy.

The story I’ve just written has strong elements of friendship, finding one’s place in the world(s), coming into a realization of one’s purpose in life… and a lot of laughter. I wanted it to be a story that you could sink into, like a soft couch with just the right cushions and a warm thow blanket, while you sip hot cocoa (with marshmallows) and read. There can’t be so much sweetness you give your readers diabetes – make that drinking chocolate, with only the marshmallows to add sugar – and because the bitter moments in life add savor to the sweet ones. The plotting is a softer arc. The climactic moments don’t have to be high drama with the world’s future at stake.

Ultimately, this series is a study in contrasts. Chloe lives and works in a cemetery, where she encounters the dead and undead. She is also a gentle, kind person, who befriends the most unexpected people along the way. As Trunk, the former bridge troll, comments, “I’m a people!” My readers seem to really like this world, as low-key as the stories are. There’s no romantic tensions, there’s some danger in events, there is some existential angst but only a sprinkling for flavor. It is deliberately cozy. I keep wanting to write that as cosy.

In an uncertain world, there seems to be quite the demand for books like this – I would call it a light novel, but that is a specific sub-genre – among readers who want to escape for a little while. Fort up with a book and keep the reality of lives at bay for a couple of hours. I really enjoy writing this kind of story, so I’m happy to help them out!