Humorous cozies and book awards

 

 Dean L. Hovey's BWL Author Page - Details and Purchase Links

 With Whistling Bake Off being released on May 1, I felt it was a good time to talk about writing cozies and the experiences I've had with them.

My first cozy, Whistling Pines, was unintended. I'd published several hard-boiled mysteries. My friend Brian suggested that I include his hometown in a future book. Pointing out that his hometown wasn't within the geography of my Pine County mystery series didn't deter him. So, while awaiting the return of editorial input on an upcoming book, I tapped into our experiences with aging parents in a variety of care centers. I wrote two humorous chapters, set in Brian's hometown of Two Harbors. I thought I was done.

He took the chapters and returned the next day with stacks of notecards outlining plots, characters, and locations. "You've got a good start. Use these to guide you onward." Thus began the journey into cozies. 

It hasn't been a totally positive experience. The fans of my hard-boiled Pine County mysteries weren't universally excited about the nearly bloodless cozies. But I discovered an entirely new audience. Brian's wife initially couldn't believe that the Whistling Pines books were being written by the same person who was writing the bloody, intense Pine County books and suggested that I was using a ghost writer. I assured him that a car accident resulting in a concussion has allowed me to slip between genre.

One reader likened cozies to watching a Hallmark movie. As she put it, "I can read these in the evening and the plots don't keep me awake." Unlike my first Pine County mystery which my mother reported, "has kept me awake two nights checking the windows and doors."

A now defunct publisher submitted Whistling Pines to an awards competition. It didn't win, but two of the judges took me aside to tell me that they'd laughed all the way through the book and loved the characters. The winning book was a "tear-jerker", not a humorous cozy. The judges apparently preferred crying to laughter.

Inspired by the request for submissions to the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award, which requests nominations for books representing the lifestyle and culture of a northeastern Minnesota location, Whistling Pirates has been submitted for the 2022 NEMBA award, winners to be announced in October. 

Whistling Pirates investigates the death of a recreational sailor of the eve of Two Harbors' First Annual Buccaneer Days Festival. It brings in the deep Scandinavian roots of the area, including the two Lutheran churches across the street from each other; One established by Swedish immigrants. The other by Norwegians, Each celebrating services in their native tongue into the 1950s. The Sons of Norway move their annual lutefisk feed to the festival weekend and host a lutefisk throwing contest. And there's lots of discussion about the seasonal weather, regional tourism, and local tourist attractions.

There's a sailing regatta, a discussion of Lake Superior fishing, and a brief discussion of Great Lakes piracy. Yes, there were pirates on the Great Lakes. Not Captain Kidd, but small opportunists who took advantage of disabled vessels, or who built fires on the shore to lure sailors onto the rocky shoreline.

There's also a "naturist" cruise. The senior citizen residents of Whistling Pines sign up: Half anticipating a bird watching cruise. The other half expecting nudity. Discussion ensues about the idiocy of a nudist cruise on Lake Superior where the deep water rarely exceeds two degrees above the freezing point.

Come October we'll see if the NEMBA judges like the Whistling Pirates take on the lifestyle and culture of Two Harbors. In the meanwhile, check out Whistling up a Ghost and Whistling Pirates at the BWL Publishing website in preparation for the release of Whistling Bake Off:

www.bookswelove.net/hovey-dean/