relics - ebook cover high resolutionThroughout the last year, I have struggled somewhat to assign genres and writing styles to my series, Modern Magics. Yes, it’s definitely genre-bending, but that’s not much help, is it? It’s Urban Fantasy meets Paranormal Mystery meets Sci Fi, so any one of those will fit the three books, Relics, Portals and Magics. The four prequel novelettes are firmly Paranormal Mystery, so they are easy.

But there has also been much discussion with my friends as to my style of writing in this series. Some have said it can go Young Adult, even though the main characters are far too old to qualify for that once the books start. And yes, the writing style is mostly family friendly, although there are some dark scenes.

But I finally have a description that perfectly fits this series! I was chatting with my friend Danielle DeVor this morning, discussing the different levels of dark – whether it be Paranormal, Mystery, Horror, Thriller. I’d mentioned to her how I thought some of Anne Rice’s work was dark, but Danielle explained my idea of dark was rather – well, let’s say not very dark.

Here’s the snippet from our chat:

Danielle:  There was this movement in the 1980’s and early 1990’s called splatterpunk. It was very much extreme violence and gore. Ron Dee is one of the main writers of splatterpunk.

Maer:  Oh yeah…probably not my thing. lol

Danielle:  No, definitely not.

Maer:  I prefer cozy dark. :p

Danielle:  You totally have to start using that.

And she’s right! Because this is the description I’ve been looking to use. Modern Magics has many dark scenes, but they aren’t edgy dark. Nope, they are cozy dark. And there are elements of humor throughout most of the series. So, now I have an answer when people ask me what I write. Although I will still need to use the genre-bending descriptors, now I have something that fits my style.

Who else writes cozy dark novels? I’m sure there must be others.

 

Relics will be releasing with a new edition in the near future!

 

 

 

About the Author

Maer Wilson ()

Website: http://maerwilson.com

5 Replies to “Cozy Dark – Modern Magics”

  1. Cozydark? Would that include a series that is Murder, mystery,romance, science fiction, action, paranormal, adventure, medical, suspense, conspiracy, technothriller, history, technothriller and apocalyptic with a touch of humor? If so my wife and I write cozydark.

    1. I would say so, John. I don’t consider it genre-specific as much as it is a writing style. It seems that a book written for adults these days includes a lot of graphic violence and sex. And when a book does not contain this, folks want to put it into Young Adult…whether it was written for them or not. So I’ve been resisting the YA label, even though my books are certainly okay for teens to read. We already have Cozy Mysteries, but my books are darker than those usually are. And of course, the mystery element takes a backseat to the fantasy/sci fi element. Hence, the Cozy Dark label. 🙂 Nice to know I have company in the style.

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