Audra here.

As we continue filling in for Ruthy on hiatus, I chose this legacy post from June 8, 2017 on writing a Cozy Mystery. I hope you enjoy my choice and leave comments on Ruthy's views!!

THE BEST OF RUTHY presents:

8 Clues About Writing a Cozy Mystery

   

Ruthy here!

I am so excited to see this wonderful series hit the shelves of Guideposts.com!

"Love's a Mystery" is a great new concept for Guideposts, a wonderful coupling of TWO novellas in one book... a historical romantic mystery and a contemporary romantic mystery, written by two separate authors.

WE HAD SO MUCH FUN WORKING ON THESE STORIES! 

Gabrielle Meyer did the historical on this one... I did the contemporary, and it was wonderful to spend a couple of days in Sleepy Hollow (formerly North Tarrytown, renamed after a huge manufacturing shutdown by General Motors left the town reeling and virtually unemployed).

But the town hit the Reset button, changed its name to reflect Washington Irving's amazingly successful story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and now the town is a tourist mecca of history, great sites, wonderful foods, bakeries, kitchens, great churches, and black-and-orange street signs. :) 

And now the book is out... A wonderful romance that sizzles in the midst of an autumn mystery and no one in Sleepy Hollow has time to mess around in October! :) 

From Guideposts, Inc.: 

When a strange man claiming to be the brother of Ichabod Crane accuses Brom Van Brundt of murdering Ichabod, his daughter Hannie begins a desperate search for the truth. Was the local folklore true? Was Brom the headless horsemen who scared Ichabod out of Sleepy Hollow? Or did something more sinister happen? The handsome new schoolmaster, Gideon, offers to help Hannie, but how long can they hide their growing feelings for one another?

Then turn the page and travel 200 years to the present where Tess has returned to Sleepy Hollow to help run her Gran’s soup shop. But all is not well. Gran has been scammed out of thousands of dollars by a bogus animal charity. She hires Riley O’Toole, Tess’s high school crush, to help. As Riley and Tess investigate, sparks soon fly. Is Gran secretly playing matchmaker?

#fun

#amazing

#flyingsparksrock

THEN...  in two months I am blessed to have a second novella in this series:

"Love's a Mystery in Cut and Shoot, Texas", a pair of Christmas stories set in an iconic Texas town named... you guessed it... Cut and Shoot!

Throughout all the crazies and over-reactions of the past two years, the Guideposts team has stayed at the top of their game with all of their work on inspirational writings, devotionals, self-help books and a deep-dive into more fiction and rebranded fiction. This new series goes along with the republishing of the Summerside Press books that hit the charts years ago, an original Love Finds You series including my "Love Finds You in the City at Christmas", an award winning novella "Red Kettle Christmas" which will be loved, loved, loved by fans of "Call the Midwife".

SO BLESSED! 

So they're republishing my historical "Red Kettle Christmas" in "Love Finds You in the City at Christmas", a wonderful step back into 1947 Manhattan and these two new novellas.

Yes, it's been a busy year!

Yes, I'm so blessed to be part of this.

And yes, I'm looking forward to more mysteries with Guideposts! 

So celebrate with me today... Leave a comment and one person will win a copy of "Love's a Mystery in Sleepy Hollow, NY"! 

Award-winning, bestselling inspirational author Ruth Logan Herne is living her dream of writing great stories, running a farm, being a nice person most of the time and taking care of really cute grandkids as needed! Author of over 70 novels and novellas, Ruthy loves giving voice to ordinary people with extraordinary results as they become the unforgettable characters readers love. Visit Ruthy's website email Ruthy at loganherne@gmail.com and friend her on Facebook where she shares love, life and her amazing faith in God. 

 This is a great topic for authors and readers.

This is like saying "What's the difference between a romance and a mainstream novel with romantic elements?"

The answer is: No one knows for the second one. Oh, there are scads of opinions!!! But it's up to the individual editor. My wonderful editor at Amazon's Waterfall Publishing (They bought the initial Wishing Bridge books before the line closed. NOT MY FAULT!!!! Although it was the THIRD time it happened, but still... I maintain my innocence!)  :) Anyway, she listed Wishing Bridge as "women's fiction" and "contemporary romance" because it was focused on the woman's story... but it also had a romance.

Anyway, another editor looked at one of the Wishing Bridge stories and said no way was this women's fiction, and it was boring and no way did she even care about what happened to this woman. So the lines are not clearly drawn, right? And that's okay. (By the way, the book is anything but boring.) :) 

It's different for the mystery/suspense/thriller categories. More obvious.

A cozy mystery (think Agatha Christie, Guideposts) may have murder and mayhem, but it minimizes the element of fear. The protagonists aren't in constant danger, although they may be targeted to throw them off or scare them away. It can be funny, poignant and generally is "G" or "PG" rated.  My newest one "Merciful Secrecy" is set in Charleston, SC.... a city of old bleeding into new... and a hospital filled with hard-working people, some of whom have BIG EGOS. :) 

"When a lovely young E.R. nurse is being stalked, Anne, Shirley, Joy and Evelyn combine forces to figure out who's doing what... and why. But someone doesn't want them interfering. Someone has a lot more at stake than they bargained for... but the ladies aren't about to back down until they're sure that Katie can go back to her life as a hospital nurse without looking over her very pretty shoulder. Unless it's to glimpse the to-die-for head of security that thinks keeping Katie safe ranks pretty high on his list."

Now, Romantic Suspense is different.

That heroine can be kick-butt (Becket in "Castle") but she will be in danger... she will have some sort of awesome hero at her side, often reluctantly on both parts, but his job is to keep her safe EVEN if he thinks she's guilty. Heroine may be a suspect in a major crime/felony or she can be a target who's being hidden because she may know too much... Stakes are raised with babies or children being involved and/or threatened. Cabins in woods are a popular setting... but NYC basements (or any big city) paint a scary picture all on their own. Romantic suspense novels are a great read, and extremely popular right now. I love romantic suspense, but I can't write them and still sleep at night. My mind can't "unsee" things and it's not worth the nightmares.... Ditto for thrillers. :) I've learned to stay in my mental health comfort zone. 

Thrillers are in a class of their own. They are not horror stories.... 

Think Jason Bourne. Jack Reacher. John Grisham stories. 

The idea behind a thriller is often a conspiracy. Conspiracies allow the writer to make the heroes and heroines multi-targeted so you never know where the next shot/poison/car accident or plane crash is coming from. Execution-style killings are common. Violence is bedrock most of the time, but that would be different with psychological thrillers.... that's different, and we're sticking with standard "kill everyone attached to hero to see if he falls apart" type. 

Yes, I'm grinning, but it is mostly true and you know it!!!! 

There is a spectrum within each genre... Some cozies have murders and targeting. Some thrillers are psychological, not targeted at hero/heroine. Some romantic suspense play out over a series of books, not one. But whatever you write, aim it at one genre and then play the aspects of how you envision the finished product. That will help you (and the reader) be satisfied with the completed work.

And I have a copy of Merciful Secrecy to send out to one commenter today....

Leave a comment below, my friends! I'll enter your name into the freshly cleaned cat dish!

Multi-published bestselling author Ruth Logan Herne loves God, her family, her country, dogs, chocolate, coffee and Diet Mt Dew and she loves writing stories. Friend her on Facebook, email Ruthy at loganherne@gmail.com and stop by her website ruthloganherne.com. She'd love to hear from you! 

Do you read cozy mysteries?
If so, who are some of your fave authors? What do you like most about this genre?
If you haven't read one yet, what intrigues you about this genre?

~*~*~*~*~

 

That’s good advice. When we’re just breaking into publishing there is very little that is more important than building a relationship of trust between you and your readers. Establishing your “brand” and sticking to it is key to acquiring a loyal readership.


As we publish more stories, we can start broadening our brand. Many authors are able to wiggle to the right a bit or wiggle to the left and publish books that are almost like the stories their readers expect. They’re staying true to their brand, though. A Ruthy book is still a Ruthy book. A Mary Connealy book is still a Mary Connealy book. Erica’s new regency romance series is still all Erica.

We love that, don’t we? We know what to expect from our favorite authors. It’s like going to our stand-by restaurant and ordering something we’ve never tried before. We can do that because we trust the source. We’re pretty sure we’ll enjoy something new from them.


But what if an author wants to completely change genres?

Let’s explore this a bit.

All but two of the twelve books (soon to be thirteen) that I’ve published have been in the genre niche of Amish Historical Romance.

One of the two exceptions was “A Home for His Family,” but it didn’t wiggle too far away from my original niche – it was still Historical Romance. I call that a one-degree difference.

This book is available here!

In the novella that was published in a collection by Bethany House in 2019, “An Amish Christmas Recipe Box,” I went one degree in a different direction, to Contemporary Amish Romance.

This story is available here!

 
My readers followed me to those side-steps, but Amish story fans are a little different than other fans in that their loyalty tends to follow the genre rather than the author. So if I try to go very far afield, I risk losing them.

For example, what if I tried a story with a two-degree difference? Instead of Amish Historical Romance, I wrote Contemporary Western Romance? Do you see the two degrees?

If I did that, I would need to market my new story heavily because I’m not sure all my readers would follow me. Some would. After all, I would still be writing for the Christian market, and I would still be writing Romance.

But what if I took a completely different track?

Right now, I’m working on a Cozy Mystery aimed at the secular market.

What??? No Amish! No Romance! No Historical!

Doing something like that takes a LOT of deep thought and planning, and even more prayer.


I had to ask myself a big question: How committed am I to this change?

When the idea first hit me a couple years ago, it sounded like fun. I’m a true Agatha Christie fan, both in print and on video. Some of my favorite authors are Dorothy Sayers and Arthur Conan Doyle. My favorite television shows include Murdoch Mysteries, Monk, and Midsomer Murders. I love picking up a new cozy mystery and curling up with it for an evening or two. Maybe I could try writing one!

That fun idea turned into an obsession. I’ve researched how to write mysteries, and cozies in particular. I’ve read every new title I could get my hands on. I even started planning my own cozy mystery series.

That’s when I knew I was hooked. Somehow, some-when, I would write this story.

But was I committed to starting my career over from scratch? That’s a scary proposition.



Then I realized I wasn’t going to start MY career over. Jan Drexler would still write Amish Romances. Someone else was going to be the cozy mystery writer…I would need to adopt a pen name for this new genre.

Do you see how I skirted the problem of trying to take my readers with me from one genre to the next? My Amish romance readers will still be happy with my installments of Amish stories, either contemporary or historical. (I love those readers and don’t want to risk losing them!)

And this other person – I haven’t settled on a pen name yet – will be my alter-ego, happily murdering people in light-hearted stories.

By the way, that is the very weird thing about cozy mysteries – they are light-hearted stories with murder on the side.



So, how do I market this new author?

First, I need a pen name (still in progress.)

Then a new website, Facebook page, Goodreads page, Amazon page, Bookbub… you’ve got it. All the marketing tools need to be re-done for this new author name.

Finally, a new marketing strategy. Breaking into the secular market is different than the homey world of Inspirational publishing I’ve enjoyed for the past nine years. I’ll have to learn the ropes in this sometimes cold, sometimes friendly world of secular publishing.


But before all that can even start, I must finish writing the first book.

And no, I’m not going to tell you who-done-it.



So, I have to ask myself the big question again – how committed am I to taking on a new genre?

I knew I was going to follow the first story to the end when a plotting tangle kept me awake one night.

I was even more convinced I was sticking with it when I started writing the story and realized I was hiding details from my sleuth that I already knew – like the murderer’s name, method, and motivation – and thinking she would never guess.

When the setting and side characters became real in my mind, I knew I was ready.

Yes, I’m committed to giving this a try.



What about you? Have you ever changed genres, or thought about it?

Or if you are pre-published, have you decided which genre your stories fit in?



And let’s have a bit of fun in the comments! Every commenter will have their name in the drawing for a copy of “Convenient Amish Proposal.”


If you include a suggestion for my new pen name in your comment, you’ll also be in the drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card. So suggest away!

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Most romance novels focus on the hero and heroine falling in love. However some women’s fiction and cozy mystery romance threads involve a love triangle. Since my current release, Cobblered to Death, is a clean cozy mystery with two love interests, I thought I’d share my do and don’t suggestions in writing a love triangle.

Do create attractive love interests. This covers more than looks. It includes personality, occupations, activities and general outlook on life. Give each love interest a personality trait that draws the protagonist to them. Example: One love interest shares the same love of classic movies as the protagonist. The other love interest and the protagonist volunteer on the same community betterment project.

Don’t make the love interests perfect. Give them flaws. Make them clumsy or overly helpful, stubborn in certain instances or generous to a fault.

Do keep the love interests different. Although some people have a certain ‘type’ of person they are attracted too, if your love interests twin each other in physical traits, speech patterns or occupations, it will confuse the reader. Use an opposite approach. One might be a home body while the other enjoys socialization. Example: A detective and a pastor bring vastly different world views to the relationship which could help or hinder the protagonist figuring out the whodunit part of your plot.

Don’t forget to have each love interest provide a different emotional support to the protagonist. One could be the voice of reason while the other points out possibility. Both should show concern for the protagonist’s safety and wellbeing.

Do keep the love interests civil to each other despite their jealous feelings. It’s okay to show their jealousy in words, tones or actions, but not to the point of an argument or fist fight. The love interests can’t torment or taunt the other about spending time with the protagonist. After all, you want your reader to cheer both of them on and wonder who the protagonist will choose by the end of the book or series.

Don’t have the protagonist pit the love interests against each other. The protagonist must be upfront with both love interests that they don’t have an exclusive relationship. This allows flexibility in each book to have the main character favor one love interest over the other to keep the reader guessing, and hopefully buying the next book if it is a series!

That’s my list. Do any of you have more do and don’t suggestions on love triangles? Do you like to read books where the main character has more than one love interest? If so, have you ever been disappointed in the characters choice?

I’ll be giving away one copy of Cobblered to Death to a U. S. resident (sorry…foreign postage costs more than the book). Leave a comment to enter the drawing!

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RosemarieRoss is a pseudonym of multi-published in multi-genres author, Rose Ross Zediker. Rose writes cozy mystery novels, contemporary and historical inspirational romance novels, and has hundreds of publishing credits in the Christian magazine genre for children and adults. Her titles have appeared on ECPA bestseller lists and been finalists for the RITA, National Reader’s Choice, Booksellers Best and Book Buyers Best award contests. 



Blurb: Courtney Archer is known for hosting the show Cooking with the Farmer’s Daughter … despite the fact that she’s actually a pediatrician’s daughter. Now she’s signed on for a role on The American Baking Battle. On this reality show, she can start developing a more authentic image for herself—and as a bonus, the usual backstabbing and manufactured drama isn’t part of the Baking Battle script. But genuine drama is heating up behind the scenes …

During a film shoot in the scenic Pocono Mountains, Courtney has to juggle career commitments like pots on a six-burner stove. Adding to the stress is Mick, a contestant who finds out about her fake farm-girl story. Determined to succeed at her new gig, she whips up a cherry cobbler in a cast-iron fry pan one evening and leaves it out to cool. But the next morning, it’s Mick’s body that’s cooling—right next to Courtney’s pan, now classified as a murder weapon …



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Entrance to the crypt for ancient Celtic pilgrim of faith, Cedd, in the village church at Lastingham, England

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