I have just finished reading and am getting ready to review two very different romance novels. It occurred to me as I was planning the review of one of them that there is a lot of what I would call “spillover” among different kinds of novels–be they mystery, romance, cozy, thriller, horror, historical, whatever.

In fact, maybe we should create a category called “whatever” for people like me who find lots of horror in some historical tales, a thrill-a-minute in some novels identified as cozies, and many mysteries that defy categorization.

Cozies and a useful coincidence

The other day, I was at my computer musing on the above, when what to my wondering eye should appear but a link to Nancy Curteman’s “Global Mysteries” post titled “10 Characteristics of a Cozy Mystery.” I read the post and now am much more informed about cozies. Purely by coincidence. You can find this blog here: http://nancycurteman.wordpress.com/

It’s often said, in writing classes or books, that one should go easy on coincidence in novels–it’s sometimes considered taking the easy way out and readers often see through it–but coincidence is alive and well in my life. Often, something I’m been fretting about or wondering about turns up in a book, a conversation with a friend or fellow writer or blogger, or as in this case, through the Internet. Coincidence is all around us if we’re paying attention to what’s all around us.

Cozies suit my reflective mood sometimes

I’m not going to try to tell you how to write a cozy mystery; Nancy Curteman has done that with her post on the subject and I hope you read it. But for complete disclosure, I state clearly here that I have never written a cozy, but I have always enjoyed them, especially if I’m in a reflective mood, or it’s close to bedtime and I want to avoid blood and gore or violence. Then what attracts me is an easy-going, ladylike or Poirot-type murder. You know, murder and nastiness among the gentility and innocence of a small town, or a nice neighborhood in an urban area. Or about somebody with a cat. A very clever cat.

I have read enough cozies and romances, since I’ve been reviewing books for my blogs, to have a much better understanding of what makes a novel fit each of those categories. And, as always, I know what I like and what I don’t. And what I put in my reviews always reflects that.

Stay tuned. Reviews will soon be posted here.