So, I’ve been doing more research reading recently (Day Job and otherwise), and reading some of the Japanese and Korean, well, cozy urban fantasy isn’t exactly right, but that sort of thing.

One of the non-fiction books I’ve been working through has two indices. One is for the main chapters. One is only for the bibliography. This is a summary history/archaeology book, with a huge bibliography, in multiple languages, with annotations (“excellent overview article … good overall guide to …”). When you go to the e-book index, the end has a sub-index for the bibliography. Each chapter has a link, so you can quickly find, oh, “Roman Contact” or “Arts and Culture” or “Religion and Philosophy” instantly and look at the sources. Is it useful for fiction? Probably not. Is it a great idea for semi-academic non-fiction? Oh yes, because it makes readers happy. If Cedar, say, or other illustrators and their publishers were to have an image index, or other writers have a map index for fiction (or hotlink the maps in their fiction) it would make things easier for readers. Happy readers buy books.

The regional Barnes & Noble has been stocking more and more Japanese and Korean … cozy magical realism? Cozy urban fantasy? I’m not entirely certain how to describe it, because it lacks the political aspect that is the hallmark of magical realism. Anyway, the books are set in the everyday world, but there is something different, a library that only opens one night a year, or a statue of a hippo in a park that grants a wish to people who sit on it, or a sweet shop open nights that caters to the restless dead, and so on. People come in with small problems, and find the perfect book, or gain the key to moving ahead in their lives, or a cat comes into their home and is the catalyst (pun fully intended) for positive change. The wish might not be fulfilled the way the person hopes or expects, but the change is always for the better.

Is this something to incorporate into my fiction? I’m not certain. Am I getting ideas from the books? Absolutely, and reading something different and fresh helps me out of mental ruts. I’m also thinking about what works with the stories, and if those elements can translate into a Western setting. Maaaaayyyybe? People are people, after all, and not all personal problems are best solved by the application of force (or high explosives). “Cozy” doesn’t have to mean small stakes for the character, after all. Getting a new career, breaking out of a relationship that has gone awry, leaving home for a new city, those are all big things in the MC’s life. A world is ending, even if it is a small-from-outside world.

In fact, Sunday night, I had an idea drift up. Vienna has a famous market called the Naschmarkt, “snack market” where people bought fresh food and produce, as well as snacks, which eventually gained more market space. Today it is a snack, produce, fish and sausage, bread, and other things market, still mostly open air, with some “stalls,” buildings from the 1800s and early 1900s. So, what about a Nachtmarkt, a night market, that appears in Vienna on foggy, full-moon nights? It is always in the Old City, but not always in the same place. People who find it can buy exactly what they need, but how that purchase helps them … isn’t always what they expect. And the market is old. So very old …