There’s a new cat in town – and he’s wearing Doc Martens.
The real issue with the Doc Martens was my lack of opposable thumbs... Ethan Miller’s family has always had a talking cat, and as long as the Puss has boots on his feet, good luck is guaranteed. When it’s Ethan’s turn to buy the boots, he gets Puss something special: a pair of Doc Martens. But how is a cat supposed to get a pair of lace-up boots on his feet? And what is that going to mean for Ethan’s good fortune?
A short story of what happens when you rely a little too much on your luck – and think that luck is dependent on your cat’s boots.
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Life, the Universe, and Puss in Docs! A new short story for you to enjoy.
(I’m reposting/resending this because the first time WordPress dropped the text when it sent out the email. Sorry about that!)
“No, darling,” Marina said, “that’s just a reflection.” But it wasn’t, Arlo was sure of it. It had moved. Under the water. Like something alive. Something not a fish. Some of his thoughts must have shown on his face, because Marina put on that really annoying voice she had when she was “explaining” something. “See, darling,” (why was she always calling him “darling”? She seemed to think that would make him feel more like she was his mom. It didn’t.) “all this is is light bouncing off the surface of the water, and it creates wave lengths that bounce off each other, making it look like there is something there. But there isn’t, see?” She gave a tinkling laugh, as if to say, Only a silly child like you would think there was. Maybe he was a silly child, so be it. But he had seen it. There was the creamy brown sand, the blue of the water – a bluer blue that he had ever seen in the water, blue like the little cream jug in the cupboard at his granny’s house, the one that granny used to serve him hot chocolate in when he was small. Hot chocolate with whipped cream on top. Creamy brown sand, the cream jug blue of the water rippling over it – and between them, it. A white-pink streak like a cloud darting across his vision, from left to right. Streaking, undulating. And as it flashed by, it had turned its – its head? And it looked at Arlo. He knew it had looked at him. And it liked him.
This morning I completed and uploaded the new cover for “Lavender’s Blue”, the Septimus short story 2.1, and with that, the makeover of the Septimus Series is finished!
All the books have nice new covers, and I looked over the contents and fixed what needed fixing. In most cases, that was very little; Seventh Son was the only book that got an actual re-write (same story, better writing). Cat and Mouse got some edits, too, but the others pretty much just had a sentence fixed here or there.
I’ve had people ask why I changed the covers. The reason is that while I love the covers that Steven Novak did for me ten years ago, they don’t reflect the genre of the books as well as I’d like. Just to be clear, that’s nothing against Steven, he does great work and I still highly recommend him. It’s just that graphic designers can’t/don’t want to read every book they work on, so they go with what you tell them. And I didn’t know then what I do now, so the old covers look darker and more edgy than the stories really are; the “cozy” of Cozy Fantasy doesn’t show.
But I want readers to see at a glance what they’re in for! So, after all these years, it was time for an update, and now I have the skills to do it myself. (Yes, those covers are 100% human-made, without the aid of AI. Digital tools, yes, Generative AI, no.)
Putting borders of botanicals on your book cover is the trendy thing in Cozy Fantasy, so I thought that for once I’d go with the flow. The herbs that were the models for each book’s border came from my garden. I tried to make them match the story, i.e. have them mentioned in the book or at least fit the season it’s set in, but it wasn’t as easy as you’d think. With Star Bright, I wanted woodruff, which Uncle puts in the drink at the May Day Dance, but I don’t have any in my garden.
So Seventh Son has mint (because of mintbrew, of course), Cat and Mouse black walnut (which Cat and Nikor the librarian make ink from), Checkmate‘s is calendula or pot marigold (which flowers in summer, when the story takes place, and makes a good skin ointment), and Star Bright ended up having sage on it, because, alas, no woodruff (and we know that Cat doses her children with sagebrew when they get a sore throat). As for “Lavender’s Blue”, it was obvious!
So there you have it – one book series makeover. The new versions are all uploaded and live now; I’m waiting for the print copies of books 2-4 in the mail so I can sell you signed copies.
“Lavender’s Blue” is still free to download though! Just click here and get yourself a nice pdf.
And that’s Life, the Universe, and the updated Septimus Series! Books like having makeovers, too.
What is Cozy Fantasy, you ask? (Well, you probably don’t, if you’ve been around here for a while… But I’ll tell you anyway.) I describe it as Gentle Fantasy – nary a sword and no sorcery. In fact, off the top of my head I can’t think of even one sword in any of my books (so far). So, there’s magic, but it’s gentle and subtle. The term “cozy” comes from the Cozy Mystery genre (prime example, Agatha Christie), which is defined by stories that are centred on people and relationships and don’t focus on or describe disturbing blood and gore.
So Cozy Fantasy books tend to be low on scary critters, and there’s generally no battles and evil monsters etc. If there are critters or non-humans, they are often friendly – one of the books that kicked off the popularity of the genre, Travis Baldree’s Legends and Lattes, is about an orc who gets tired of slaying people and goes to open a coffee shop in a nice village. Coffee shops or friendly inns are a popular staple of the genre, as is – my personal favourite – Found Family.
The funny thing about Cozy Fantasy, for me, is that I thought I invented the term myself when I first published Seventh Son. And then a few years ago the genre suddenly took off! Now it’s even a keyword category on Amazon.
So if you like stories that are fun, often funny, gentle, but magical – this is the genre for you. Hie thee to the Cozy the Day Away sale page (you have til midnight tonight) and pick up some lovely reads.
My friend-and-editor, E.L. Bates, is part of the sale as well, with her Whitney and Davies series – the first book is on for 99¢, the others for $1.99. Highly recommend!
However. If May 8th is over (ahem, I might be a bit late on sending out this mail – I’m sorry), here’s some Cozy Fantasy books/authors I enjoyed that you might want to check out (of the library, perhaps). Just some examples off the top of my head, there’s lots of others!
–Victoria Goddard: She’s a Canadian writer whose work I discovered last year, and I burned through her whole collection in the course of a few months. I recommend starting with the Greenwing & Dart series (lighter, more YA style), or else The Lays of the Hearth Fire (very long books, almost epic, but oh-so-satisfying). A lot of the books are interconnected, so you’ll find yourself meeting old friends from one book as side characters in another. Goddard is amazing – gentle, funny, entertaining, but so well written, so profound, and so moving.
–Heather Fawcett’sEmily Wilde series, or her new Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter (haven’t read it yet, but I treated myself to a hardcover copy that’s sitting next to me as I write this). Hmm, another Canadian author – coincidence, I wonder?
–Sarah Beth Durst, The Spellshop and The Enchanted Greenhouse.The Spellshop features a sentient spider plant named Caz. I mean, sentient spider plant! So I had to have one too. He lives in a takeout cup and I intend to take him camping. (The one in the book is a lot more lush than mine. But then mine fits in a cup holder in the car, so there.)
There are many others, of course, but those are a few to start with. It’s not necessarily high literature (although Goddard comes close – some of her work is more literary fiction than commercial), but they’re all throughly enjoyable.
I was thrilled to find that I’m not the only one who wants stories with gentle magic that are also about people and kindness and family and caring about one another. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with epic battles and what-not, but frankly, I find battles and high adventure really boring. Crash, bang, slash, boom, and so on and so forth – just tell me who wins already and get on with the story! Which, for me, is all about people. The best part of Lord of the Rings is the Shire, as far as I’m concerned. Cozy Fantasy is all Shire, no Mordor.
So if you’re one of those (quiet & weird) people who prefer hobbit feasts to epic battles, come on over to the inn, pull up a chair to the fire, put a tankard of cider or a mug of hot tea at your elbow, and get lost in a cozy fantasy world with me.
That’s Life, the Universe, and Cozy Fantasy. There’s lots to choose from!
