Emotional Fireworks in ‘Cozies’

By Linda Lovely

Fireworks are the inspiration for this month’s Romancing the Genre blog theme. But rather than talk about the kind that explode in the sky, I’m going to discuss two types of emotional fireworks—sexual attraction and anger/rage. Both fireworks categories can make a book sizzle and keep readers rapidly turning pages to see the emotional spectacular’s finale.

But what if the book is a humorous “cozy”— mystery or romance. The “cozy” genre label is generally reserved for novels that omit graphic violence, obscenities, and explicit sexual scenes. How can an author circumnavigate around these conventions and still convey the intensity of sexual attraction and/or rage?

It’s easier than you might imagine. And “imagine” is the key word here. The author’s descriptions need to let readers fill in the blanks with intense mental pictures.

Let’s start with sexual attraction. On the first page of Janet Evanovich’s One for the Money, her heroine Stephanie Plum describes Joe Morelli. “He’d grown up big and bad, with eyes like black fire one minute and melt-in-your-mouth chocolate the next. He had an eagle tattooed on his chest, a tight-assed, narrow hipped swagger, and a reputation for having fast hands and clever fingers.”

In this passage, Evanovich has given us a vivid description that lets us picture the hunk, even though we don’t know how tall he is or the size of any part of his anatomy. But we clearly KNOW that Plum has the hots for Morelli, and, if they get together, there’s bound to be fireworks.

But what about anger/rage? How can an author communicate a person’s violent personality without allowing the villain to curse? Does this constraint force an author to resort to dialogue that would seem ridiculous if spoken by a drug dealer, prostitute or psychopath?

The answer is no. Would you be surprised to learn that Lee Child (while definitely not a “cozy” author) includes no profanity in his books? It’s true. He also eschews using “milder” curses that might make the reader notice what’s missing. Instead Child relies heavily on describing the bad guys’ demeanor.  

My new Brie Hooker Mystery series published by Henery Press is “cozy.” However, I worked hard to build fireworks into Bones To Pick, the first book in the series, set to release Oct. 24. One focus was on creating scenes that showed the heroine’s sexual attraction to two main characters. The second focus was depicting villains through descriptions and dialogue (minus swear words) that telegraph these people are capable of inflicting pain and killing people without actually describing any torture or dwelling on the grisly details of a murder scene. I have my fingers crossed that it works.

Authors, what secrets do you employ to create emotional fireworks while following the cozy genre strictures? Readers, do you notice, care if the books you read include graphic violence, obscenities or explicit sexual scenes?

Wendy Tyson’s Likable Heroines, Solid Mysteries

I love this quote from author Wendy Tyson’s website: “Fiction is a bridge, a way for people to connect and share the human experience and I feel blessed to be part of that world.”

And fans of mystery are blessed that Wendy pens not one but two cozy series, The Allison Campbell Mysteries, and Greenhouse Mysteries.

Both series excel at allowing us to share her characters’ experiences and connect with them like old friends we care about. Her heroines are likeable, resilient, and intelligent. While most of us won’t come face to face with murder in our lives, we do encounter many of the same frustrations, setbacks, and rewards that her protagonists experience in their daily lives. That makes it easy to identify and root for them whether they’re fighting bureaucrats, taking the first steps toward romance, coping with difficult relatives, or trying to unmask a killer. 

Megan Sawyer, a lawyer who leaves a big-city practice to return to her rural hometown in A Muddied Murder, the first Greenhouse Mystery, is an excellent example of how Wendy has created a likeable heroine. While Megan, a young widow who lost her husband to the war in Afghanistan, occasionally succumbs to sadness, she’s a determined survivor who finds joy in the simple things in life and has the grace to love and forgive members of her family despite their flaws.

Wendy says the strong women in her life—mother, grandmothers, aunts, cousins and later, her husband's spirited grandmother—provided inspiration for her female characters. (They also offered support for Wendy’s own decision to go to law school.)  

Wendy’s legal background and her passion for organic gardening are life experiences that definitely have contributed to her creation of both a credible heroine and a small-town farm setting that readers can see, smell and hear. Her descriptions are rich and spot on. As many of this blog’s readers are fans of romance, I should also mention that Megan has a love interest, a veterinarian, who makes us want to root for a long, deepening relationship. Of course, he’s a hunk. He’s also sensitive, intelligent, and speaks with an engaging brogue.

So, if you’re looking for a summer read with a solid plot that will also make you feel good about at least some of your fellow humans, hurry out and buy one of Wendy Tyson’s books. You won’t be sorry.  

To learn more, www.watyson.com  

Undeniable Clues You Can't Stop Writing

By Linda Lovely

(Note: Since this is  Romancing the Genre's 6th Blog-o-versary. I decided to
update the very first blog I posted here in 2011, and, in the process, show
how I've mixed and crossed genres over the years. This weekend I'm celebrating
my great-niece's high school graduation with family so it may be a couple of
days before I'm able to respond to any comments. But I will!)

First Clue You Write Mysteries/Suspense. While visiting with your two Ph.D. nieces, you spend lots of time questioning them about exotic toxins and pathogens and how a smart killer might employ them to get away with murder—or at least give it a good try.

First Clue You Write ROMANTIC Suspense: One of said nieces, a Beta reader for my manuscripts, fans herself after reading a love scene. “Oh, my God, how did you come up with that?” she asks. Then, she crawfishes. “Nope. Sorry. Not sure I want to know.”

First Clue You Write HUMOROUS Mysteries: Your research includes visits to a moonshine store where you sample various flavors of white lighting, and you sign up for a goat yoga session at a nearby goat dairy.

My name is Linda Lovely. The fact that my very smart (and funny) nieces have earned doctorates probably gives you a hint that I’m not in my twenties. Okay, I waved goodbye to 50 quite a while back. Yep, I’m a baby boomer. Like many other authors in my age range, I’m finally at a point in my life/career where I have time to write what I want. In my case, that’s currently mysteries with lots of humor and a side of romance.  My first humorous Brie Hooker Mystery, BONES TO PICK, is set for release in October from Henery Press.  It features Brie, a vegan chef, who’s cajoled (by circumstances) into living and working with her Aunt Eva, a cantankerous, dedicated carnivore, on her aunt's goat dairy farm.

BONES TO PICK will be my sixth published novel and the start of my third series.  I’ve had loads of fun researching and writing all six books. My Marley Clark Mysteries feature an athletic, smart, funny, sexy over-50 heroine. Her adventures start in DEAR KILLER when she finds a naked corpse stewing in a hot tub and teams up with a 40-year-old deputy eager to trade strip searches. Hey, why should young heroines have all the fun?

My Smart Women, Dumb Luck romantic thrillers catalog the adventures of three women who become friends through a college mentoring program but pursue very different career paths—a forensic accountant, a director of security at a university, a biology and genetics researcher.  When danger looms, they have one another’s backs. DEAD LINE is the first in this series.

I wrote my standalone historical suspense, LIES: SECRETS CAN KILL, in honor of my mother, who told me so many intriguing stories about the trials and tribulations of independent-minded women in the late 1930s. 

My approach to writing fiction hasn't been very clever from a marketing point of view. I probably could have sold more books and done a much better job of establishing a "brand" had I focused on one geographic area and one series. However, after waiting this long to concentrate on fiction, I wanted to write the stories that spoke to me and had personal meaning. For instance, I may never write another historical suspense or another book set in my hometown, Keokuk, Iowa, but LIES was a book I felt compelled to write. 

My manuscripts may not fit neatly into strict genre categories. But then neither do people—or characters. My novels are all mysteries or suspense stories at heart with varying degrees of laughter and romance. We all need laughter and romance in our lives, so I have to believe my protagonists do, too—even when they’re suspected of murder.