Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Cozy Fantasy

When I say Cozy Fantasy, what comes to mind? Do images of Agatha Christie surrounded by flittering fairies zoom across your vision? Or maybe, you see favorite scenes from a beloved movie like Shrek or the Wizard of Oz. Thinking more contemporary? What about Once Upon a Time? A current hit on US television?
 
To me, a cozy fantasy allows the characters to take center stage. The plot is tight and little or no gratuitous death occurs. Sure they are non-human creatures, and magic is a part of their reality, but the ugly need to describe in titillating detail each and every wound is simply missing. Cozy fantasy focuses on the protagonist and her journey to change. One last element is humor, appropriate to the character and setting.

I read a lot of fantasy, and I'm worried that the cozy fantasy is fading away, a relict of the past, but it can't be.
 
When I read, I want to enter the head of the characters, feel what they feel, laugh when the laugh, and cry when they cry. That's the way I write. I don't know any other way.

Comment below if you agree with me. I'm feeling like a dinosaur in an ugly world.
 
"There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."
Alfred Hitchcock

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