The Untapped Mine of Fan Fiction

I shared very similar thoughts on my personal blog a few weeks ago.

What is Fan Fiction?

It is a fascinating genre that sometimes receives an undeservedly rough reputation. The term 'fan fiction' may suggest to you a bunch of obsessed and wacky novices pouring out stories that ooze with gratuitous detail. This shortsighted assumption may blind us to a myriad of polished and famous examples which have been enjoyed by discerning readers for decades and even centuries. 

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines it as 'stories involving popular fictional characters that are written by fans and often posted on the internet.' It is sometimes abbreviated to 'fanfic.'

I'd define it as a wealth of stories derived from other celebrated or well-known sources. When another author's work is used as a springboard for something new and original, that's fan fiction.

Why Do People Write Fan Fiction?

a) I'll start with the reason which may first spring to the minds of many. It is easier in some ways, to craft our writing to fit a worldview we're already familiar with, rather than creating a totally fresh world with brand new characters. When we and our potential readers already know and love a cast of familiar faces and their setting, we are free to dive straight into the action, because there is already a fan base.

Some fan fiction authors simply love the characters in pre-existing fictional worlds, feel they can't get enough of them and wish to add even more beyond the canon. Howard Pyle's 'The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood' fits this category. The legends of the heroic outlaw and his loyal band had been circulating since the Middle Ages when he decided to compile his own omnibus of stories in the late nineteenth century.

b) Sometimes authors feel triggered by an original canon. When source material seems sadly shortsighted or lacking, they may decide it needs to be threshed out, or even totally redressed. If something in a story presses our buttons, taking steps to set it right in our own way may be a pro-active move, or skillful literary protest. This may be by re-telling the tale from the point of view of another character.

A famous example is Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys' answer to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Rhys explores Edward Rochester's doomed first marriage from the point of view of Bertha, aka the mad wife in the attic. This fan fiction, now a classic itself, brings out Bertha's vulnerability, her powerlessness and lack of advocates to stand up for her.

Another revealing example is Longbourn by Jo Baker, who decided to re-tell the story of Pride & Prejudice from the servants' perspective. When events made famous by Jane Austen play out against the lives of the Bennet family's hired help, we readers get a chance to see familiar characters in a way we've never considered before.

A very recent example is Adventures of Mary Jane by Hope Jahren. This author is a great Mark Twain fan, yet the gullibility and passivity of the appealing character Mary Jane in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn galled her. Jahren explains in her introduction how she decided, 'We can fix this!' In her mind, Twain's version left much to be desired, which she deftly expanded upon without changing his canon. This includes making Mary Jane more intrepid by giving her a set of her own adventures.

c) Sometimes we may simply wish to draw from source material as a creative way of making some new social commentary or observation. Barbara Kingsolver's award-winning Demon Copperhead mirrors Charles Dickens' David Copperfield from start to finish. Using the framework of a famous Victorian classic to tell her own contemporary story about the deplorable foster care system and horrific opioid crisis in the Appalachian region of America is Kingsolver's ingenious way of suggesting that human nature hasn't changed.

Barbara Kingsolver certainly isn't the first author to have had the brainwave of adopting a well-established older story to mold her own take on it. The popular Broadway musical West Side Story is a mid-twentieth century re-telling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, focusing on New York city's rival gangs. And speaking of Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew became Pygmalion which morphed into the musical, My Fair Lady, starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. And not all that long ago, American author Anne Tyler did her own take on it in Vinegar Girl.

One of the most ambitious examples of all may be C.S. Lewis' re-telling of the Christian gospels as fantasy in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, with his majestic lion Aslan taking on the role of our Lord and Savior.

d) A fourth reason authors may decide to write fan fiction is to bring out more nuances or finer points from the original material which fellow fans may relish. Sometimes inspiration about book friends we all love and admire seem too good to keep to ourselves. This is the main reason why I decided to have a go.

I hope I've succeeded in showing that other important reasons for writing fan fiction exist than simple self-indulgence in prolonging our attachments to our favorite characters (although isn't the fun of that enough?) And I've hopefully proven that some quality, highly acclaimed examples may even fly under the radar of being fan fictions, although that is certainly what they are.

Introducing my own attempts.

I've worked hard since February on a fiction project totally different from anything I've ever worked on before. It really ignited my imagination and took off, and I've now completed it.  

Two side characters from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women series have become main characters in a spin-off which I've shared on Archive of Our Own, an extensive site devoted to fan fiction. I always thought my two young men (for I now consider them mine) had huge potential, but Alcott was burned out by the time she wrote their incidents in Jo's Boys. She'd written just enough to capture my imagination, so this year I indulged my passion and developed their storylines into an all consuming project I named Longing For Home.

The first of these is Jo March's nephew, Emil, who follows his dream of going off to sea, but gets caught in a shipwreck. I've extended his couple of chapters from Jo's Boys to include a supporting cast of new characters, and a longer, slower burn of his romance with the captain's daughter. The other character is a destitute former foundling who the family send overseas to study music. Nat is a talented violinist who battles anxiety and an inferiority complex from his impoverished background.

Giving these two young men voices of their own has been an extremely satisfying writing project, especially since I set out to stick within the parameters of canon. I resolved to weave in as much from Alcott's original source material as I could without ever deviating outside of the lines. I like to think Louisa May Alcott might have been happy with my result, because it's my tribute to her writing.

If I've stimulated your curiosity, please check out Longing for Home. You don't need to be familiar with Alcott's work to enjoy it. Archive of Our Own (AO3) is full of gifts such as this. Having spent time reading stories by many others before I ever dreamed of having a try, I now regard fan fiction authors as an extremely generous bunch of people who I'm happy to count myself among. For writing free novels and stories for fans to enjoy is surely a painstaking random act of kindness and labor of love.

And if you don't choose to commit to something so long at the moment, you might like to start with this shorter fan fiction I wrote. It's the perfect size to have with a cup of tea and slice of cake. And it features somebody we surely all know well.

Keep your eye out for my further upcoming posts about fan fiction. I will soon share some of my initial experiences about the fan fiction site, where I initially feared to tread but am now so glad that I did. It is a venue full of pseudonyms, and the one I've chosen (Ada Sage) is combination of my grandmother's given name plus the embodiment of wisdom, which also happens to rhyme with her maiden name, which was Ada Gage.

Paula Vince is a South Australian author of award-winning fiction with themes of faith, family, and inspiration. Formerly from the Adelaide Hills, she now lives along the beautiful coast of Adelaide with her family. Paula loves to use her local environment as settings for her stories. She also enjoys the challenge of making readers care for abrasive and unlikeable characters despite themselves. 

Walking a path through loss

 

Some of my favourite stories involve characters facing major losses in life – one that springs to mind is The Hawk and the Dove by Penelope Wilcock. In it we see the agonising losses experienced by a gifted monk, Brother ‘Peregrine’ as he is called for his hawk-like appearance and manner. Grievous and unjust losses tame the hawk, ultimately leading him to a more dove-like character. No one wants to travel this path, but Wilcock shows us that by determination and humility, Peregrine becomes a man greater than his celebrated intellect, and more compassionate towards others who suffer.

We all experience losses. Some are merely inconvenient or frustrating. Others are devastating and we wonder if we can possibly survive them. We need to grieve them so that we can regain hope and purpose. If we don’t work through them, they shape us in unhelpful ways; bitterness, resentment, cynicism, and resignation can grow from them. These don’t lead to the healthy relationships and abundant life that God intends for us.

Perhaps your hero is someone who has overcome huge obstacles of loss: injury, illness, loss of loved ones, financial ruin, loss of reputation, loss of belief in their own worth or competence. What you admire them for is the way they haven’t allowed the loss to derail their lives. It’s not that loss hasn’t changed them. It has. But we lap up stories of people who make the hard choices, day after day, to direct the change in themselves towards something better so that loss doesn’t have the final word.

I have finally begun to recognise the truth of this in my own life. I fall so easily into despair, wanting to lower my expectations as my sense of competence plunges. But here’s the thing: loss can be approached as a gateway to something new and good. It’s much easier to be aware of what you have lost than to know what you will gain in the end. Like all pathways, the journey through loss turns corners you can’t see around until you get there.

I have known some big losses in life – the death of a brother, both of my parents to dementia (you can read about this in my newly-released book, Unravelling: loving my parents through dementia) and some ongoing health challenges. But as we work towards moving out of the home we have lived in for 25 years, in a community where I have spent three quarters of my life, I am struggling with the approaching loss. This is a loss that draws closer each day, quite different from the unexpected losses of accident. Changing house and maybe having to move to a different community are not the worst of losses (though they rate right up near the top of those charts of stressful life events). Somehow, though, the slow approach is uncomfortably like exam day – it looms larger the more you think about it.

Some of the ways I am learning to work through loss and the fear of loss are:

• ·       acknowledging it. Pushing it out of my conscious mind doesn’t remove the feelings, it just ignores them.
• ·       appreciating what I have now. It’s a conscious act of gratitude and appreciation, dwelling on the good things I have enjoyed in this place.
• ·       accepting that a sense of loss can exist in the same place as hope. I don’t have to feel only the sadness; I can, at the same time, feel excitement about future possibilities.
• ·       allowing loss to be part of a process that results in gain – new home, new community, new shops, new places to walk. It’s easier to live with pain when you expect it to be temporary (or at least to become less intense).

When we like something, we don’t want it to change. But nothing in life stays the same. Some of the people in our lives come and go, and those who remain change with experience. Trees die and new plants take their place. Our perspectives change as we live through different seasons of life. Even buildings and roads age and need to be modified. Change means loss and gain. Living through loss is a skill we have to learn and practice all our lives. 

Do you have strategies for dealing with the pain of loss and change? I'd love to learn from your experience with what helps you 😊.

Better Together: Omega Writers Cross Post

 by Jen Richards

How Australia’s Christian writers are better when we’re together!

 Some conversations you can only have with other writers. You know the ones. Conversations where you talk about your characters as though they are real people. Thoughtful chats about how to breathe life into your memoir. Heart-to-hearts about the creative life, its dreams and disappointments. And then there are other conversations you can only have with Christian writers. Ones about how you mesh faith and creativity in your work. Ones about how you find your writing community.

‘On the same page as other writers’

The Omega Writers Conference in Sydney at the end of September was choc-full of these sorts of conversations! It was a creative time of fun and fellowship and a testimony to how God can work when we gather together.

 

Attendees at the 2024 Omega Writer's Conference. Source: Omega Writers

Here’s what attendees said they loved about meeting together:

●      “I'm very glad I came. I came away very encouraged and ideas were going round in my head all week. It was also great to mix with people all 'on the same page' so to speak with regards to genre and faith.” (Karen K)

●      “You gave each of us a beautiful, safe space to connect and equip ourselves in our writing. I had many a chat with newbies and as overwhelmed as they were with all the information, God was at work giving clarity.” (Raewyn E)

●      “You can learn so much from the experience and wisdom of others who have gone before. And having a cohort of likeminded new friends is so special.” (Anonymous)

●      “The Omega Writers' Conference is a weekend of learning, inspiration and fun. With a Christian focus, it's a valuable opportunity for connection with like-minded writers and professionals. I've attended at least five onsite Omega conferences and have always come away energised and better equipped.” (Jean S)

Let us not give up meeting together!

There’s just nothing like the energy and encouragement Christian writers can give and get when they meet together. But it doesn’t have to be at a big conference. Here are some other ways to meet with other Christian writers for encouragement and inspiration.

1. Find a writing buddy: Sometimes you just need to connect with one other writer to gain the encouragement you need to keep going. They don’t need to write the same genre as you for you to be able to encourage each other.
2. Find a writing group: Omega Writers has chapter groups across the country who meet regularly to encourage one another. Not one near you? We are working on resources to help you start one.
3. Pray: Easy to do alone and powerful to do in a group. Omega Writers runs regular (every six weeks) prayer meetings via Zoom. Connect with our Facebook group for details.

Omega Writers welcomes new president

Omega Writers welcomed a new president at the recent Annual General Meeting. Carolyn Tonkin was joyfully voted in with the support of the membership present. Carolyn is a writer, teacher and the leader of the Melbourne chapter group. Read her vision for the organisation.

 

For more information about Omega Writer’s, Australia’s Christian Writers Network, go to: https://omegawriters.com.au/

Writing goals when you’re nearly 80

by Barbara McKay

My story

Since my husband died from metastatic cancer in 2014, learning to write creatively has been therapeutic.


‘Don’t you think I’m too old to be writing?’ I was speaking with a lovely author, Anne Hamilton at a Writer’s weekend in Brisbane early this year. She answered me ‘No’ she said,

‘You are showing cognitive plasticity’. I could have jumped for joy at those words, but I couldn’t because I’d broken my leg


My creative writing journey began when I saw an ad ‘Write your Memoir’ course by Cecily Anne Patterson. In 2018, I was 73, and a widow coping with grief and loss. I contacted
Cecily, and slowly worked through every session. Lots of new terminology, and eventually, I wrote my first chapter, getting to about 80,000 words.


In 2022, Vanessa Vankcom said ‘Why don’t you send 10,000 words into Omega Writers for the CALEB Unpublished Adult Nonfiction section? I did. I received an email to say ‘You are a finalist’. I cried all day. What was God saying to me?


I was 77. I faced my fears, and decided to go to the conference at Kingscliff. I met Cecily, and many other amazing authors. They weren’t scary, but normal human beings, fun and developing their writing to bless others.


After that weekend, Nola Passmore, the encourager who specialises in nagging us to write, invited me to join the Toowoomba Omega Writers – again, a scary experience but exciting. I told the group ‘I’m in Year 3 doing a subject titled ‘Creative Writing’. Some of them told me off. ‘No, you cannot say that. You are on a creative learning curve, just like all of us.’ Mazzy even said that with my life’s experience, I’d have plenty to write about from a mature perspective.’ She’s a great encourager.

Some Writing Tips

Tips for organising your writing goals when you’re nearly 80, when you feel you’ve left it too late. Why did I ask that question?


Firstly, the ageing process does bring deficits with chronic illness, hospitalization, loneliness, and discouragement. Those of you who have older members in your families see their decline.

Secondly, our lives do have an expiry date. I do feel a sense of urgency with my writing because none of us know when that time will come. What creative work is a priority? What do I leave undone? What stories do I tell? I am in the final season of my life. I’m in my 80th year – unbelievable. To think that I’m learning at this age is surely a gift from my loving Heavenly Father. I do lose heart and that’s why I love it when the apostle Paul says ‘Do not lose heart. Though outwardly, we are wasting away, yet inwardly, we are being renewed day by day.’ 2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV

Thirdly, the gift of encouragement. Why is it that many of us become discouraged and long for words of affirmation? How do I finish my life with few regrets?

What makes me a feisty nearly 80-year-old who feasts on life?  Many of your comments bring the sparks that light up my life.

1. Meredith said ‘my mother finished her memoirs at the end of last year. She was 85. She passed away four months after she finished writing them. ‘What a wonderful story, and no doubt Meredith gave her loads of encouragement. We need to get a rough draft down, even if it isn’t published.

2. Nola mentioned a lady who died at the age of 96. ‘She was writing a monthly column into her 90’s. She turned in her last column on the day she died.’

3. Sue Jeffrey is the one who said ‘you inspire me’ and called me ‘feisty’

4. Christine O’Malley said ‘build yourself a group of praying supporters who will laugh with you, cry with you…and keep on asking how the writing is going to make sure you don’t give up.’ Let’s do it. That’s not easy for some of us who live in rural places, but it is do-able. We have ‘zoom’ and a ‘mobile’.

5. One young author, Stephanie said ‘I want to keep on encouraging others. The gift of encouragement is such a kind, generous gift.

6. Anusha mentioned ‘I make writing goals each year’.

7. Recently, I read a letter from my aunt, Hilda North. She was writing to me to give instructions on organising her 90 th birthday’. God nudged me. ‘Look at that aunty of yours – cognitively, as sharp as a tack. She lived until she was 101.

8. I have learnt not to compare myself with others. The more I learn about creative writing, the more I realise there is so much that I do not understand. People have said to me ‘you have to start somewhere’.

Finally 

This year, I suffered, I broke my left leg badly – hospitalised for 77 days, moon boot for 11 weeks, and transition care for 12 weeks. ‘What was God trying to tell me?' 

Again, God placed wonderful people on my radar, surprising me with heavenly hugs. I wrote two stories about my suffering, and I’m pleased they are being published in Stories of Life - His love to me during the tough times.


Now I want to hear from you, stories about those who persevere when tempted to give up – stories from those who are in their 70’s and 80’s. What legacy are you leaving?

Brought to you by Barbara McKay 

So many questions - Jo-Anne Berthelsen

 

In my years as a writer, I have been asked some interesting questions. At first, some of these used to annoy me – or even offend. But more recently, I have learnt to laugh instead or at least smile inwardly. At this stage, I have realised it is silly to expect that everyone will understand how the whole writing process works and how books are produced. After all, I know nothing about so many fields of endeavour I have never had the opportunity to explore.

I can laugh now at some interesting questions put to me once while meeting someone new:

‘Have you two met before? Mary, this is Jo-Anne – she’s a writer.’

‘Oh, so what do you write, Jo-Anne?

‘I’ve written several novels and some non-fiction too.’

‘So … should I know you? Er, I mean … are you famous?’

How would you answer that? I think I explained that the sort of books I write will probably never be best sellers, so there was no reason this person should feel bad that she had never heard of me! Then again, perhaps it could depend on our definition of ‘famous’ – or on the circles in which we move?

On another occasion, I found myself trying to explain to someone how I write fiction and non-fiction, including a weekly blog, and how I also get to talk quite often on writing and other topics. At that point, this lady looked at me blankly and blurted out in an almost scathing, accusatory tone, ‘But … but what would you write about – or speak about?’

Her question may seem innocuous – after all, she may well have been thinking how she herself would hate to do such things. Yet I found myself rather gobsmacked at how incredulous she sounded. ‘Surely this woman must be exaggerating?’ her tone clearly said.

Then there is the obvious, natural question I have been asked many times: ‘Who’s your publisher?’ As it happens, I have had three different publishers and have also self-published two books. Usually, the person asking has never heard of any of my publishers, so my answers do not help. Instead, they want to hear the name of some large, well-known, secular publishing house so they can nod wisely in response.

Such interesting questions – and others – can still easily cause me to begin questioning myself, something I suspect writers in general are quite experienced at anyway! Is my writing really any good? Will anyone want to publish it? Will anyone ever even read it? Will it make a difference in this world? On it goes.

These days, my personal response to such self-doubting questions has become more and more grounded in why I write and how God views me. I believe God created me with the ability to write and called me to do so. I believe God has also given me things to say and all those opportunities too to share them wherever I speak. In God’s strength, knowing who I am in God, I can therefore face those curly questions with peace in my heart – and I hope and pray you can too.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27

Jo-Anne Berthelsen is a Sydney-based author of seven novels and three non-fiction works. She holds degrees in Arts and Theology and has worked in teaching, editing and local church ministry. Jo-Anne loves encouraging others through both the written and spoken word and is a keen blogger.

www.jo-anneberthelsen.com

www.joanneberthelsen.wordpress.com

Spring Highlights 2024

 This year has been a busy one full of events and achievements. Here are some higlights. 

Omega Writers Conference

The Biennial Omega Writers Conference was held at Newport, Sydney on 20-22 September with a special worshop with the keynote speaker, Susan May Warren on the Monday 23rd. 

The conference fully booked out the hotel & the program was packed with presentations, workshops and panels. The Key Note speaker, Susan May Warren, prolific author of romantic suspense and other genres, was an electrifying story teller and inspiratonal coach. Her hairraising stories of her adventures in Russia keep us on the edge of our seats.  Other presenttions included writing craft, writer's life, publishing, promotion and marketing. Best of all was reconnecting with other writers and meeting new friends. 

Spec Fic writers at the Omega Writers Conference

On the Saturday night, many of us rose to the challenge of dressing in tune with our genres and after we'd enjoyed a delicious dinner as the highlight of the night, the CALEB awards were presented to their deservining recipients. 

Well done to all the finalists and Congratulations to CALEB WINNERS

Early Reader

Riz Chester – The Counterfeit Bust by R A Stephens

Middle Grade

Xavier in the Meantime by Kate Gordon

Young Adult Fiction

Flying Blind by Rosanne Hawke

Adult Fiction

Heart in the Clouds by Jennifer Mistmorgan

Non-fiction

The Gender Revolution by Patricia Weerakoon; Robert Smith; Kamal Weerakoon

Next year's CALEB awards will be for unpublished manuscripts.

Story of Life 

The contributors to the Story of Life anthology have been announced with many CWD members included in the anthology.

Congratulations all, especially to our CWD members, Amy George, Barbara McKay, Claire Bell, Helen Bishop, Jenny Woolsey, Julia Archer, Julie Willersdorf, Kylie Gardiner, Liisa Grace, Nola Lorraine, R. J. Rodda, Teri Kempe, Valerie Volk 

The full list of contributors:

Amy George The Picture of a Man

Arlene Dodson The Stranger

Barbara McKay The Person in the Patient and Looking Through My Bedroom Window

Caitlin Pywell Beyond Borders: Unchartered Faith

Chantel Birkin The Deepest Scarring Will Heal

Claire Bell Lifeline

Clarisse Lim Yellow

Chris Lee Sovereign Embrace

Diana Davison He Always Listens

Esther Cremona Peak Hour

Grace Yee A Perfect Failure

Helen Bishop The Truth and the Life

Helena Stretton Barzillai – a man for all generations

Jenny Woolsey Almond-shaped Eyes

Joanne Prenzler Smith Lost in Warsaw

Julia Archer The Tractor

Julie Willersdorf Weeds and a Widow

Kerry Osborne Defiant Joy and Just Look at the Trees

Kylie Gardiner Little Dove

Lesley Beth Manuel Blues

Liisa Grace My Earthly Angel

Lynda Wake Coming to my Senses

Lynda Worrell Emus, Dogs and Distractions

Margot Leggett Patting a Calf and Picnic by a Creek

N. K. Hatendi Commemoration of a Martyr

Nola Lorraine Face to Face

Phillipa Selby Uncoupling

R. J. Rodda Then I Saw Her

Rochelle Sharpe Our Dog, Rosie

Ross McIlwraith Chase the Chickens off the Runway

S. L. Wade The White Vase and Daughter

Steph Penny Heaven Scent

Teri Kempe Am I My Brother’s Keeper

Val Russell The Mouse and the Eagle

Valda Schmacker Talking Trees

Valerie Volk Any Sparrow that Falls

Vicki Smith Thank You

This collection of true stories of faith will be launched on Thursday evening, 14 November 2024, at Tabor College, Adelaide. At the launch, prize winners in the Open and Short category will also be announced. The event will be live-streamed on Facebook.

Brisbane Training Day for Writers.

 And a Reminder - the Brisbane Training Day for Writers is fast approaching on Sautrday 12 October.  

                              Here's the info.



 You have heard how 'easy' it is - so - onto the next step - the doing.

                                     Now into the nitty-gritty.

12^th October 

8:30 am to 4:30pm

Coopers Colonial Motel, 1260 Beaudesert Road, Acacia Ridge.

We will host three workshops of 2 hours each.

Workshop 1  Editing Audio Files

presented by our Brilliant Beck Robinson

Making and editing audio files for podcasts, reels or YouTube uploads.

Workshop 2  Draft to Digital

Presented by our amazing Jenny O'Hagan

Learn how to upload your manuscript into an eBook.

Workshop 3 Adding Pizzaz for That Extra Oomph 

Presented by our Awesome Annie Hamilton

Learn how to use CANVA to make pictures for social media and brochures.

Cost is $62. This includes Morning and afternoon teas and lunch.

try booking and detains -  https://www.trybooking.com/CTPQJ

 Cost for the day is $62.

If you'd just like to come for part of the day, let us know). It will be $30 at the door - there's no option to pay this online, but we need numbers - and dietary needs for ordering your lunch and morning teas, so let Judy Rogers at lindwallbears@hotmail.com. 

Remember you'll need your computers and cables. 

You're all welcome - (families too) to join us for dinner at your own expense in the restaurant afterwards.

What events and achievements are you celebrating this Spring?

A Hope is only a Dream until written down - by Jo Wanmer

 A Hope is only a dream until written down...and then it becomes a goal. It obtains substance. As the good book says, 'Faith is the substance of things hoped for.' Faith activated makes things happen.

 

Many years ago I attended a business conference with my husband. The speaker challenged us to set a goal for two years time. She taught us how to set goals every week for fifty weeks to make sure it happened. What was my goal? What did I want to be doing in two years time. Not having a business, I set a goal to preach. It was my calling, but I had little opportunity to exercise my gift.

I put pen to paper and wrote down the dream -  to preach ten times in the next two years. It became a goal. I made a simple chart and marked off every five weeks.The task was to prepare one sermon in each time frame. I added the task to my calender and largely forgot the idea. When the reminders popped up, I'd outline a sermon in my journal using revelation the Lord had given me. 

The strangest thing happened. About five months before the two year mark, I had preached one sermon, maybe two. I wasn't paying close attention. Then our pastor resigned suddenly. The leadership asked me to preach and organise other speakers. And yes, by the time the fifty weeks was up I'd preached ten times or more. How did that happen?

We must move our hopes and dreams, even our callings from God, into definite written goals. 

In my last blog here on 30th May, I wrote about Goals and Deadlines. I shared the steps I was creating to achieve publication. The timeline for my efforts was the Omega conference in Sydney. I'd booked. I was determined to use it to learn enough and make the connections to be published.

Life intervened, as life always does. A wedding was scheduled for the same weekend leaving me with a difficult choice. I cancelled the conference and left my goals floundering without a time line. However I pushed on, fulfillng tasks, editing, determined to get at least one book published.

Sometimes fulfillment comes in unexpected ways. If your eye is firmly on the goal, it manifests even from a different direction. Now, two months after I publically declared my determination to see my books printed, I have an agreement with a publisher. A publisher who produces a polished, professional product. Maybe, just maybe, it will be out by the end of the year. 

As excited as I am about this, it has spurred me to greater goals. Two books published a year is the new goal. And I must keep on writing more, so I've decided to join NaNoWriMo in November. At the moment my brian is locked in editing mode, but I have a date to release the creative side of me. It is another positive goal.

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force. Matt 11:12

Our writings are a part of the growth of the Kingdom. Jesus looked for men and women of violence to take it by force. In some little way, I think our determination is helping this task.

What is your goal? Have you written it down? Put it on the wall where you see it often. 

My husband pinned a picture of a car on a corkboard. I took no notice. Then one day we decided to buy a new vehicle before the end of June. He was busy. Armed with his instructions I bought a Honda taking the only car they had available. When I drove it home, he pointed to the corkboard. It showed the exact same car, down to every detail - model, leather seats, sun roof and colour. There is such power in a written, activated goal.

Do you have similar stories? Please share them in the comments.

Jo Wanmer lives in Qld with Steve, her husband of 53 years. Her greatest achievement is 9 great grandchildren under five! She writes out of her passion to bring a dynamic faith and daily experience of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to her readers. God loves everyone of them and is waiting to embrace them, chat with them and laugh together.

Her first book, Though the Bud be Bruised, won a Caleb award in 2012. The next book is entitled El Shaddai, the book where God is a character. 

What is a Cozy Mystery?

 Nikita has her copy of Dead Ahead, Book 1 of the Ruthless-the-Killer Mysteries.

I recently attended a large writers' conference where a successful author of cozy mysteries took a session focusing on the characteristics of that genre. Having recently published my first-in-series cozy mystery, Dead Ahead, I wanted to know how close I’d got to the ideal.

Before I go further, this is an Australian blog and I should spell cozy, as cosy, right? I usually do. However, as the US spelling is used for much of the discussion of the genre online, I use 'cozy' when I'm talking about the genre. If someone is snuggling under a cosy blanket, I use the Australian/ English spelling. 

The speaker's definition of a cozy mystery

It was an interesting talk, but I was surprised at how adamant the speaker was about the characteristics of a cozy mystery. In her eyes, if a story didn't strictly follow these criteria, it wasn't a 'cozy':

• The main character (MC) must be an amateur sleuth. They can’t be a police officer or a private detective. 

• Serious issues (other than the murder) have no place in a cozy, other than backstory. The protagonist may have escaped from a bad marriage and be starting again, but we don’t see any serious issues on the page. Suicide can’t be mentioned.

• Absolutely no blood. Poisoning is good. Stabbing is bad.

• Absolutely no mention of sex or of intimate scenes of any kind. You can't even have the literary equivalent of the dimmer switch that causes the scene to ‘fade to black’. 

• Absolutely no swearing—ever.

• Not only should animals never be harmed, but they should also never come within a sniff of being harmed.

• Only nasty people die. You should amp up the nastiness. The victim shouldn’t have any redeeming characteristics. It can be cathartic to put the people who have hurt you into a story and kill them (you get into less trouble with the law that way).

• Cozy mysteries happen in closed communities. Small towns are excellent locations, as are any closed communities. Television shows like Only Murders in the Building use an inner-city building as their closed community.

The speaker is an extremely savvy businessperson who obviously writes down the middle of the genre—that’s probably why she sells a heap of books—but as she spoke, you could hear the murmur of but… but… but… all around the room :).

Not everyone agreed with her criteria for a cozy mystery

Before I wrote Dead Ahead, I read widely in the genre. I discovered that successful cozy mysteries—especially more recent ones—covered a wide gamut of storytelling.

While cozy protagonists are usually amateur sleuths, Zara Keane’s popular Movie Club Mysteries, set in Ireland, feature an ex-cop-turned-PI Maggie Doyle as the investigator. 

It's true that many cozy mysteries have minimal swearing, but that doesn't mean there's none. I'd say at least a third of the books I've read contain 'light swearing'. Australian based HY Hanna, author of the Oxford Tea Room Mysteries, uses the Aussie/ British exclamation ‘bloody hell’ several times in her stories. 

Hanna bills her books as clean reads, and they are lovely and funny and sweet, but by the conference speaker's definition they aren't cozy, which is crazy. When I asked about this during the session, she said Hanna's readers didn't seem to mind.

I actually think that's the key. Cozy mystery is a wide-reaching genre where there are lots of different kinds of books for different kinds of readers.

In my reading, I also discovered that there are quite a few cozy mysteries, especially those with younger protagonists, that include sexual intimacy. This can range from the barest mention of attraction, to make out sessions that would make your toes curl. 

Yet the reviews still celebrate these stories as cozy mysteries. And these books sell well under that banner.

This is also true of books that sit at the edge of cozy. I’d call Margaret Lashley’s hilarious Val Fremden Midlife Mysteries cozy-adjacent, and Patricia McLinn’s, Caught Dead in Wyoming mysteries more small town ‘amateur sleuth’. But some people still call these books cozies. 

My conclusion is that the contemporary cozy mystery is evolving. The conference speaker was describing the classic cozy, but as tastes evolve and readers crave fresh reads, the genre is shifting.

The term cozy mystery now encompasses a diverse range of stories from Christian/ inspirational through cutesy, through to the more offbeat character-driven tales. As well as contemporary stories, cozies can be paranormal, light paranormal and historical mysteries. There are even millennial cozies pitched at readers in their twenties and thirties. 

This is one reason I like writing in this genre. While it does have rules, it also gives writers the freedom to be themselves.

My own cozy mystery books

I’ve recently released Dead Ahead, the first book in my Ruthless-the-Killer mystery series, and according to the conference speaker I've broken a few of the cozy rules.

Romantic elements: The series has romantic elements that really matter to the story. While these elements are closed door, I don't deny the existence of love and desire, even if I do frame it in a light, romantic comedy vibe. And even though the genre is still primarily a mystery, the romantic subplot is woven through the mystery and character growth arcs in each book. It's not a tacked-on optional extra.

I've had readers call this refreshing :).

Deeper Issues: I can’t help myself—my cozies will touch on deeper themes occasionally—but I'll use a light touch.

Bad guys and gals: While I love the sentiment that stories are a great place to the kill people who are awful to us in real life, I think that villains and victims in murder mysteries should have at lease some good qualities. Good writing is about more than catharsis. Complex characters are fun and in real life even the worst villains can be good to others. In Dead Ahead, the victim is hated by a lot of people, but not by everyone.

Animal adventures: I’m a former veterinarian, so animals will always run, jump, skitter, slide or crawl into my stories. But the animals in my books may occasionally face mortal danger, like my humans. However, while I’ll happily kill off any number of people, the animals will be okay in the end. I promise!

Vernacular: I’m Aussie and that means my natural vernacular is relaxed. I don’t like a lot of swearing in my cozies—you won’t get F-bombs—but you might find an occasional ‘crap’ or ‘hell’.

Every writer is different. I love a twisty murder mystery with lots of surprises. I’m also a self-confessed genre butterfly—or genre-rebel when I’m in an edgier mood—so I like some freedom. Cozy mysteries suit me because they allow me to be me, yet fit my work within a wider genre.

If you are an aspiring cozy mystery author and you have the type of personality where you enjoy writing in the exact middle of your genre, like the conference speaker suggests, you will probably do well to write classical cozies. It will give you widest access to the greatest number of readers and the potential to make the most income. Writing to the largest market is always a good idea.

But if you are more like me and want to explore the broader definitions of the genre, then I think there is scope to go for it. Niching down can also be a good strategy as long as you can find your readers. I'm just starting out, but there are a bunch of successful authors out there who are doing well writing cozies that don’t fit the classic form. 

Readers are discovering and enjoying these stories. 

Find authors who are like you and see what they do. Cozy mysteries are a fun sandbox to play in, and the breadth of the genre means there is something for everyone, whether you are a reader or a writer.

And if you'd like to read a deliciously twisty Aussie cozy mystery with a side of rom-com, you can find one right here :). 

Do you like writing cozy mysteries? Who are your favourite authors? I'd love you to let me know in the comments.

Susan J Bruce is a former veterinarian who writes mystery and suspense stories with heart. If you love tales where characters discover courage they didn’t know they had, you’ll like Susan’s books. If you like some romance and humour along the way, you’ll find her new Ruthless-the-Killer mystery series suitably binge-worthy. Susan is a self-confessed animal addict and creatures regularly run, jump, fly or crawl through her books. Susan’s writing group once challenged her to pen a story without mentioning any animals—she failed! 

Dead Ahead is Susan's second novel. Her first novel, Running Scared, won the 2018 Caleb Prize for an unpublished manuscript (YA). You can visit Susan at www.susanjbruce.com.