The Cozy Contract—What Readers Expect and Why Authors Can't Break It

There is an unspoken agreement between every cozy mystery author and her readers. Nobody signs it, but every cozy lover knows exactly what it says and can feel it the moment something goes wrong. In this episode, the Tech Guy and I break down all six clauses of the cozy contract, from justice served at every ending to beloved characters kept safe, from the setting that must always feel like home to the formula that is not a limitation but the whole point. Where did these rules come from? Agatha Christie had something to say about that. Settle in, Darlings. It's time to get legal.

🎉 Join me on Patreon for bonus content.

Website
Instagram
YouTube
TikTok
Etsy
Bookbub
Facebook

Transcript

Welcome And Husband Reveal

Ellie Alexander 0:05

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Reality Writes. I am author Ellie Alexander. This is the podcast where we talk about all things bookish, writer-ish. We try to give you a deep dive into what it means to publish multiple books and series and be readers and writers and creatives out in the world. And I am here with the Tech Guy.

Tech Guy 0:28

Hello, hello. Uh, just doing some creating today.

Ellie Alexander 0:32

Just doing some creating today, as you do. I do always like to clarify for any new darlings who might be listening in for the first time, that you are my husband.

Tech Guy 0:44

Yes, yes. Uh, I think it's probably a good idea to refresh everyone's memory or at least state that fact every season of Reality Writes, because darlings, we've gotten some crazy comments before. Um, rightfully so. Like if you're jumping into the middle of this podcast and you don't know, because we're in different rooms, uh, Ellie is actually just to my left um through the wall here. But we have our own spaces, and um it sometimes it gets a little flirty, apparently, because uh what you got one comment. Um this was last year, uh, and I'll let you tell it. But it it is it was gold, it was absolute gold.

Ellie Alexander 1:30

Gold. A reader was very worried because they knew that I was married, and they were quite upset that I was flirting with the tech guy. Like, that's because he is my husband, but okay.

Tech Guy 1:44

She was so kind and polite, though. She was, it was, it was actually, it was genuinely heartfelt. Like she was truly worried for you. Um, and and that that that made it all the much uh all the all the better. Um, yes, we are married. Uh, we have been married for 28 years now.

Ellie Alexander 2:06

So yeah, yeah.

Tech Guy 2:07

So it's a long time.

Ellie Alexander 2:09

Very good. Oh, very good. I had to bring it up again because I just did an online book event last week with a group of darlings who have been listening to the podcast, and they also did not know that you were my husband. So I was like, oh, okay, probably this is a good time to revisit that topic.

Tech Guy 2:27

That's funny. Yeah. Uh yes, I am uh contractually obligated to do all the creative things that I do for Ellie.

Ellie Alexander 2:36

So and I write murder, which was what we're gonna talk about today. So you're really contractually obligated and wait a weave in the topic for today because that's what we're gonna talk about. We're gonna talk about the cozy contract today.

Tech Guy 2:52

Oh, you say it like I did that on accident. Of course. That was that was intentional. It was a pun. Yeah.

Ellie Alexander 2:57

Uh-huh. I'm impressed.

Tech Guy 3:00

The cozy contract. Let's get into it. What

Defining The Cozy Contract

Tech Guy 3:04

is the cozy contract?

Ellie Alexander 3:07

We've talked about this a little bit in the past in terms of just sort of what the cozy is and everything. But I think as an author, and so this is a great episode for any of you darlings who might be new writers or aspiring writers, but I hope also as readers that you will appreciate what goes into making sure that as a writer writing cozy mysteries, that I fulfill my end of the contract. And there are some non-negotiables that are unique to this genre. And we're just talking about a cozy contract today. If you're writing or reading sci-fi or romance, the rules are totally different.

Tech Guy 3:46

The contract has a different lawyer managing that.

Ellie Alexander 3:50

Exactly. Yeah. Or team of lawyers, depending on the other.

Tech Guy 3:54

Yeah, there's always more than one. Yes.

Ellie Alexander 3:56

There's always they come in packs. Sorry. Okay. Yeah. So because this is a contract, I'm gonna break this down into clauses because we're very legal here, obviously. I know my legalese.

Tech Guy 4:11

That that is appropriate. I like it. All right. So what is clause number one of the COSI contract?

Clause One Justice Is Guaranteed

Ellie Alexander 4:19

Clause number one is that justice will be served.

Tech Guy 4:24

Yeah, that uh that checks for sure. So whoever commits the crime, they're gonna do the time.

Ellie Alexander 4:34

Whoever commits the crime is gonna do the crime. Yeah, so that at the beginning of the book, we're going to have some sort of crime. In the cozy, it's a body. You do need a body. There are some cozy that break that rule, but as a general point, you need a body. There's going to be a crime. By the end of the book, the culprit will be behind bars, there will be justice, everything will be right in the world again. And that is a really critical element and reason that readers, darlings, keep coming back to this genre. We don't have a lot of instances in the real world where everything is wrapped up neat and tidy with a bow at the end. And that happens in these books.

Tech Guy 5:20

That is something that I have particularly liked about getting to know the cozy mystery genre over the years of being married to you and having you having you write in this genre is just always knowing that whoever commits the crime is is going to see justice in the end. So you're going to feel like justice has been served, and you're going to feel good about what the resolution of whatever the action is that takes place.

Ellie Alexander 5:57

Yeah. And there's something so rewarding and satisfying as a reader to come along from this starting point where something really horrible happens. And then at the end, you're going to have closure, and the guilty party has been taken away by the local police or, you know, whatever it is. And as a writer, you can't break that clause in this contract. You can't at the end leave all of these things dangling. There has to be justice. You must close the case.

Tech Guy 6:26

I imagine that is something that is the first thing that readers look for in a cozy mystery is ensuring that justice is going to be served. I can see that being something that would upset readers if the killer gets away with it in the end.

Ellie Alexander 6:41

Yeah, it breaks every moral code in the contract to let the killer be running free through the streets. That just cannot happen in a cozy.

Tech Guy 6:50

Okay, so that is clause one. Is this the I'm assuming there are more than one clause in uh in this contract, correct?

Ellie Alexander 7:00

I think this contract could have a lot of clauses. We'll try to keep it, you know, semi-shine and sweet for today's episode because my goal in this is to really give you, darlings, a sense of what you expect in a COSI and what our job as writers are when we are writing a COSI. So, yes, there there are there are a few, but not too many.

Tech Guy 7:21

Okay. Can I ask one question and just back up for a second? Who wrote the contract? And is this something that, like, if it's broken, people can seek damages for?

Ellie Alexander 7:33

Yes, yes, from you, from the tech guy. You will be responsible for that. The contract, I think, really started in the golden age of mysteries with Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, and a lot of like the OG mystery writers when this genre really started taking root. And um, there's actually a pack that's out there by Agatha and a few other golden age mystery writers that you can look up that um they swore an oath at a conference, and um, you know, that's really held true for all these years. You can play around with these rules, but if you're calling it a cozy, you have to stick to these clauses.

Tech Guy 8:11

Okay, all right, that makes sense. Was it a blood oath? Like, is there a dark side to cozy mysteries? I'm not that I don't know about. I'm kidding. I kid. I kid that no. Right, yeah. Okay, moving on. What is clause two?

Ellie Alexander 8:27

Clause

Clause Two Beloved Characters Stay Safe

Ellie Alexander 8:28

two, and this is a real doozy, and um, I think darlings will understand it right away when I bring it up, and that is that the people I love are safe.

Tech Guy 8:38

Oh, yeah. This one's super important. I've learned over the years, this is really important.

Ellie Alexander 8:45

Yeah. So the main character, if we're if we use my bake shop mysteries as an example, Jules, who is our pastry chef and um is always on the case solving the crime with the police, right? Um, beloved characters do not die. Now, they should be put in peril. They should be put in danger. We need to raise tension and stakes throughout the book, but none of the secondary cast, the characters that you love, are going to meet an untimely faith, fate. They are all off limits as far as murder goes. You're never gonna see Lance or even Richard Lord, like any of the major cast of characters are safe.

Tech Guy 9:25

Oh, even Richard Lord?

Ellie Alexander 9:27

Even Richard Lorde.

Tech Guy 9:29

Oh right now, there are darlings out there that are like, no.

unknown 9:35

Ah.

Ellie Alexander 9:36

I have thought that um, although then the darlings would kill me, and I would be breaking this clause in the contract, so you could sue me for damages. That at the end, when I eventually end the series completely, that it could be that Richard Lord is a serial killer spelled with a C as in serial that you eat, and he's been doing it the whole time.

Tech Guy 9:57

But that would break free rule.

Ellie Alexander 10:00

I can't do it. No. Um, but the characters that you love are safe. So you're reading these as an escape. You are going to feel like Jules, you should not go down that dark alley, or please don't go talk to that person alone at night. She's gonna do it, and maybe, you know, somebody bumps her or she gets hit in the head or breaks a fingernail, but or ruins her souffle. But the characters that you love are off-limits for murder. They are all gonna be okay at the end, which again goes back to this idea of that is why darlings are picking up this particular genre. You also want to feel safe.

Tech Guy 10:39

And they know those characters, those same characters, are going to be in peril at some point in the book or or may be in peril. Uh, they just know that that peril is not going to result in them being offed in in a particular book.

Ellie Alexander 10:54

Right, exactly. Yes.

Tech Guy 10:56

Yeah. So I don't want to get into detail about it because I would I know I would be giving massive spoilers to people, but there is a TV show that I think can be classified as a cozy um TV mystery.

Ellie Alexander 11:10

It's a it's a British TV mystery.

Tech Guy 11:14

And they broke this rule in the biggest and most shocking way imaginable.

Ellie Alexander 11:21

Yes.

Tech Guy 11:22

Several years ago, by killing off the main character, literally killed them in an episode. And I remember, I still remember watching that episode, and you and I were both like, what just happened?

Ellie Alexander 11:37

I know, and then is it gonna be a dream? Is this character gonna come back? We were we were tongues on the floor, just mortified, could not believe it.

Tech Guy 11:46

Yeah, and then we the next or later in that episode, a new protagonist was introduced, and we were just just stunned uh after that episode ended, and looked it up, and it all had to do with the actor that played the protagonist, the original protagonist was done with the show, didn't like being away from his family, and so on and so forth. And so it it they had to write him off, but it was shocking, and that was definitely that was definitely a violation of clause two.

Ellie Alexander 12:23

Violation of clause two, do not do it, do not do it. And to any darlings out there who might be working on your first cozy, if you decide to um get rid of any of your main characters or even your supporting and secondary characters, find a different way to do it. Do not kill them. No, that's off limits.

Tech Guy 12:43

There are plenty of ways that they you're plenty of reasons that they may leave and just use one that doesn't involve violence.

Ellie Alexander 12:50

Exactly.

Tech Guy 12:52

Yes, all right. Moving on, clause three.

Ellie Alexander 12:57

Okay,

Clause Three Violence Stays Off Page

Ellie Alexander 12:58

this clause is important, and this talking about violence. The violence stays off the page. And I talk about this all the time that it's like off stage, off-screen. This is the opposite of CSI. So the whole focus of a cozy is that our sleuth is an amateur. Your protagonist is a pastry chef or a brewer or a bookstore owner. And the whole focus is piecing together the puzzle of the crime. We're not going deep into forensics. There's not going to be a crime scene. We are going to see the body. It's like I said at the beginning, one of the clauses is that you do need a murder because we have to solve something. And we are going to start from that point. And your sleuth is going to be running around town, asking questions, digging, researching whatever it is, but they are not analyzing a crime scene. We're not going to see a lot of gruesome details, gore, or violence.

Tech Guy 13:56

Yeah, you know, the uh the DNA testing machine there in the tort kitchen that they use all the time in the series, right? No.

Ellie Alexander 14:05

Right.

Tech Guy 14:06

Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's uh it's funny that that you mentioned this as clause three, because this is the first thing, the first example that I use every time when somebody asks me about you. Oh, your wife's an author. What does she write? And I explain cozy mysteries. And a lot of the time people are like, Oh, I love cozy mysteries. But there are times where people are like, What's a cozy mystery? And that's the first thing I say is that it's a murder mystery, but the the deed takes place off the page. So there's no, you somebody may get stabbed, but you don't see them get stabbed. They just they're discovered after the fact. You might see a little bit of blood, but there's not going to be gore everywhere on the floor that you know people are slipping in and everything. So um that is the number one way that I describe them. And and people are generally like, oh, and usually they're like, like murder she wrote. And I'm like, yes, like murder she wrote.

Ellie Alexander 15:05

That's right.

unknown 15:06

Yeah.

Ellie Alexander 15:06

And the crimes themselves, I mean, you know, again, you have to like separate some things out because yes, a body has still been found. Like somebody has died. And your sleuth needs an emotional reaction to that. That's one thing that I find new writers struggle with a lot, especially when I'm coaching and teaching mystery writers, because it's like, oh, uh, they found a dead body and now they're off doing this thing. I'm like, okay, wait, we need to take a beat for a minute and have your sleuth sit with the reality and also have that be part of the motivation why they might want to insert themselves into this crime. But we're also not talking about, you know, the really violent kids don't die. There aren't, it's not serial killer. There's just the the tension is much lower because it is about the puzzle and why we do the things and what's the psychology behind the reason why somebody might have been driven to make this decision. All of those things are front of the page, everything else is off page.

Tech Guy 16:07

Yeah, kids and animals. Uh you touch the animals, I'm coming for you.

Ellie Alexander 16:12

Yeah, that's right.

Tech Guy 16:13

All the adults are fair game, like that's totally fine. Um except for our main characters, except for main characters and the and the sub characters. That's true. That's true. Um, this is interesting too, because you you said something that that uh resonated with me, which is you know that sleuths are amateurs, so are the killers, right? There's no like there's no professional hit people, there's no serial killer, there's you know, it's even with a C. Um, there's just there's the so the crimes themselves are puzzles because they're they're usually committed in haste, or um, you know, the the uh um method is something that they've they've planned out, but they're that they don't do this for a living. So there's you know, there there are things that that that need to be figured out that you I guess wouldn't necessarily think of right away because they've probably just thought of it in the minute and and you know, or in the moment, and and really just kind of it it was emotionally triggered or whatever. So um that's that's interesting though. Yeah.

Ellie Alexander 17:23

Yeah. And I think again, this is a fine line that you have to walk. And it's it's harder than you might think, darlings. And it's something that I've spent a lot of time working on with every book and continue to do because you want the stakes high enough that there is, like you mentioned, you know, like Jules is gonna stumble upon somebody with a stab wound, or you know, maybe somebody's been poisoned with a cup of tea to and go back to Agatha Christie. So you need that. You don't want something that's so tame, but then, you know, you can quickly go really dark. And the expectation for readers then is like, wait, I I'm not here for the blood and guts. I am here for the setting, the food, the vibes, the feeling of security, knowing that people are safe. So that is a real critical point and a clause you cannot break.

Tech Guy 18:16

And blood and guts would break the break the clause for sure.

Ellie Alexander 18:19

So absolutely. Yep.

Tech Guy 18:22

All right. What does that bring us to you? Clause four?

Ellie Alexander 18:26

Yeah, I think so.

Tech Guy 18:27

All right. What's clause four of the contract?

Clause Four The Setting Must Endure

Ellie Alexander 18:31

Clause four is that the setting endures, the setting is a character, and I talk about this so much, and I'm sure, darlings, you get tired of hearing me talk about it. But the setting gets to stay the same. It is always gonna be cozy. Every time you come to Juliet's version of Ashland, her sweet little Hamlet, you're gonna walk through the streets, you're gonna see the sun kissing the top of Grizzly Peak, you're gonna pop into tort and get a cardamom latte and a morning bun. You might have a run-in with Richard Lorde. You're gonna walk through Lithia Park, all of those setting details, like our main characters, they're off limits. You can't create this magical world that readers want to come back to again and again, and then in book two, three, or four change it and make it totally different, make it darker, make it gruesome. You can add and enhance the setting, but the setting itself is a character and needs to be treated as such.

Tech Guy 19:32

So just like the main characters, the setting is safe. It can it can grow and expand, but it can't be burned to the ground, uh, which almost happened in real life to the real life setting Ashland, Oregon, for the Bake Shop Mysteries series. Um, you know, there was a wildfire several years ago that unfortunately burned many, many buildings and homes in nearby Talent and Phoenix, which are just north of Ashland. And had the wind been blown the other way, the setting for the Bake Shop Mysteries would have burned to the ground. And had that happened, what would you have done for the Bake Shop series? Knowing that clause four exists, what what would you have done?

Ellie Alexander 20:19

Do you know Ashland would have just continued, probably. I mean, I I would have created that world and kept it the same because it is a fictional version of Asheland anyway. And I think I think COVID is a good example of this. Oh, yeah. Because, you know, uh, we I COVID happened. I wrote this series all through COVID. There's never a mention of it in the books. We just sort of pretend like that didn't happen, even though these are set in modern times. And if you look at the timeline, you know, it would have stretched all through that because this is fiction. These are books meant to be an escape, as I keep saying. And so you don't want to be in a world where then you're suddenly flooded with memories of a time that was really challenging and a struggle for so many of us. So I think the same would be true. Over the years, I've had readers say, Oh, you should use the fire in a story. Like that's off limits for me too, because it really happened. And so if you're writing about a real place, I do think you need to be sensitive about real events that could have happened. Um, just because you want this to feel like a world that is sunshine and roses and unicorns, and everyone in town loves each other, and the whole village is gonna come together to solve this crime together and make sure to go back to clause number one that justice is served and all is right with the world at the end of the book.

Tech Guy 21:44

Yeah, and COVID is a great example because there were real life casualties to Ashland as the setting because of the pandemic. There were beloved businesses that are no longer there because it, you know, it. Because life happened. So the setting endures regardless of real life. Uh, and I guess you know, uh, we get comments sometimes from readers of like, oh Ellie, but what about this? What about that? You brought up one about the fire and everything, but but the thing is, like, while Ashland is a real place and the and the bake shop mysteries are set there, these are also fictional books. There's a pastry chef that's solving crimes. And I'll I'm the first one to tell you right now, Ashland is a town of under 25,000 people. There have not been 22 murders there in the last several years, right? So it it's so you know, you can't apply your thinking or a rule to one aspect of it, but not all aspects. So I think I feel like this is a good one because I feel like when people do keep coming back to the series, they want Ashlin to be there and to be the same place that they were introduced to in book one. Um, you know, if not not book seven, for those of you who might be there, what about if I pick it up in the middle? If you go back and listen to a previous episode, we talked about that. You cannot read a series out of order.

Ellie Alexander 23:07

No, no. We've just we've established it. We're not we're not reopening that case. Uh, I would also say that, and this is something that I have learned over the years too. There have been a few books where Jules and Crew have gone on location somewhere else, like to Costa Rica, to a coffee farm, or up to Lake of the Woods for a winter getaway. And inevitably, I will hear from darlings, I will hear from readers. I I enjoyed that book, but I really I need her back in Ashland. Is she going back to Ashland for the next book? And I think there's really something valuable and important in that. Now, of course, for me, I want to make sure that the series changes and grows because it's been going for so long. I want to find ways to keep it fresh. But the setting is such a character and such a part of the experience of reading a series that it's important that, especially for somebody who might be working on a new book, that you really establish that before then you're sending your sleuth other places. Um, and you think about like, oh, how am I going to make sure that the setting is a touch point? Like even when I'm sending Jules off, which doesn't happen very often. So don't panic, darlings. But if she's off on some sort of adventure somewhere else, the book always starts and ends in Ashland because that is our home base, our grounding point, our center point. It's important.

Tech Guy 24:28

And then Ashland as the character, it makes an appearance in every book.

Ellie Alexander 24:32

Yes, exactly. Right. Right. Just like you would want Jules or your main sleuth to make sure that they're in every book.

Tech Guy 24:38

Totally. Okay. Uh what is clause five?

Clause Five Love Arcs Need Movement

Ellie Alexander 24:43

This one is interesting because I think it is pretty unique to the cozy. It's a secondary trope that shows up in a lot of cozies, and that is a love arc. And I know darlings have strong feelings about whether these should be included, whether they shouldn't be included. That's up to you. That's completely up to the writer. If you are going to include some sort of love arc, triangle, et cetera, whatever it is, it needs to have movement or closure or it needs to grow or change with time. You can't just stretch that out forever without any sort of resolution because we don't want that as readers. Like that's so frustrating if you're following along for 22 books and nothing has progressed with a love arc. You're really breaking that clause. And I will say, this wasn't an Agatha's clause back in the day. This is a modern take because I think we see a lot more of a love triangle or a little subplot of a romance in the cozy in modern times than we used to back in the day.

Tech Guy 25:50

Yeah, it it is something that makes an appearance quite often. And it's also something that is controversial. I mean, I think we, you know, that is something that even in series like the Bake Shop Mysteries, very early on, Team Thomas, Team Carlos, there was there was there was big drama there. Um and it was funny though, because there were readers that even three books in were like, okay, Ellie, it's time to wrap it up. Jules just needs to pick, she just needs to pick a guy and and go forward. It's like, whoa, you know, that because this is a fictional world that you've made up, this could have been less than a year of time that's passed between those three books, you know, and and wanting it wrapped up that quickly was would would have been interesting, but but I can definitely see that it would be frustrating for a reader if that particular art was just stagnant and sitting there for book after book after book with no movement or resolution.

Ellie Alexander 26:48

Right. And you can do different things. That doesn't mean that they that your character has to end up with either of the people if you have a love triangle or, you know, if if it's just one person of interest, but there needs to be progress. You cannot just leave it out there dangling. And I would say this also goes for any kind of subplot. We talked about the fact that a lot of my books have secondary subplots like another murder or another crime to solve. You can't stretch that out for 20 books either. You need to have resolution for any of these arcs. And then you can come in and bring in a new idea and have your sleuth be working through a new emotional arc or a friendship or whatever it is. But um, yeah, you have to have movement and progress.

Tech Guy 27:32

I was just gonna ask that if you had a protagonist, let's say Jules, and Jules decides, yeah, neither of these guys are for me. Can you bring in two more guys and start all over again? Yeah.

Ellie Alexander 27:44

I mean, tell us, darlings, what do you think? I think you might get some feedback, but I think that's better than dragging something out that is clearly not working and you're gonna spend 12 books developing. But I think I think the idea again, if we sink into the idea that these are really modern day fairy tales, because everything's gonna be right in the world, we're in this beautiful setting, you have this community and village. That goes back to that idea that in the clause, the expectation is that there's some resolution for finding love or finding yourself or whatever that journey is that your sleuth is on. That's important because we're looking for that ourselves when we're reading. We're seeing ourselves in Jewel's worldview, or we're trying to seek those stories, maybe in a moment that's really hard and difficult. I think readers tend to come to cozy's during darker times in their lives and they're looking for something that's light. So they want closure and resolution on every level.

Tech Guy 28:45

Totally. They want a protagonist to bring a killer to justice and then walk down the street and start baking a batch of delicious pastries.

Ellie Alexander 28:53

Damn straight they do. And who doesn't? Like, I want that. Well, I don't want the first part, maybe, but yeah.

Tech Guy 29:00

Well, you want you want the justice to be served, though. That was clause one.

Ellie Alexander 29:04

So yeah, I do.

Tech Guy 29:06

All right. There are likely more clauses to the contract, but for the sake of brevity here, let's we're gonna wrap it at five. Can you recap the five clauses that we covered for the the darlings out there?

Ellie Alexander 29:19

Can I give you one more bonus one?

Tech Guy 29:21

Oh, you've got a bonus clause? Perfect. Yeah, let's do it.

Ellie Alexander 29:25

Okay,

Bonus Clause Follow The Formula

Ellie Alexander 29:26

because I think this one is this is important, and this is especially important for any darlings who are writing. And this speaks to the idea of the formula. You have to follow the formula. The formula is the blueprint, it's the outline, it is what we all as readers of The Cozy expect. We need a body, we need suspects, we need progression, we need to have red herrings, and then we need closure at the end. What makes every series, every book, every story unique is your own spin that you put inside that formula. That's where all of the creativity falls in. But if you're breaking the formula, if you have 22 suspects, and so I would the we're struggling to just keep track of who everyone is, if the you know, anything that you do that breaks that formula is a massive, massive no in terms of this clause.

Tech Guy 30:26

I'm gonna tell all the writers out there, aspiring, professional, whatever, if you've got 22 suspects, you've broken every clause in every contract of all time, like forever throughout history. Like please, please don't have 22 suspects.

Ellie Alexander 30:44

No, and I think at some point we should do an entire podcast on formula because it is so important. And it's it is more unique, I would say, to the mystery genre. Every genre has its own style and formula, but there are certain things that are unique to the mystery and to the cozy that are critical and important. And sometimes there's this negative slant, then, because it's like, oh, you're following a formula when you write. Yeah, the formula is what drives plot. These are plot-driven books. And then that doesn't take away the fact that you get to pour all of your creative energy into the setting and the characters and how the crime is going to occur and how you're gonna piece those puzzles together. That's the fun and the creative part of it, but you have to follow a structure. If you're not following the structure, you're not writing a cozy.

Tech Guy 31:35

Yeah. Well, in a cozy genre is not the only one that follows a formula. So anybody, anybody who scoffs at these books having a formula to them isn't really paying close enough attention to the books they're reading. Because I'll tell you right now, one of my favorite series is Murderbot, uh, you know, Martha Wells series, those books are all formulaic. Like I know exactly what's gonna happen, and yet I wholeheartedly dive into every new book the first day it's released because I'm craving that formula. I know what's gonna happen, and yet I'm still surprised every time because of what she puts inside those guidelines. It's amazing.

Ellie Alexander 32:17

Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So embrace the formula.

Tech Guy 32:22

Embrace the formula. I like it. That that is a good one. Um, and if you break the formula, you're breaking this is special clause number six of the contract, right? Yeah, all right.

Ellie Alexander 32:34

It could be the most important in some ways, too.

Tech Guy 32:37

Oh, well, same as a lot of things. Sometimes they are, yeah.

Ellie Alexander 32:40

Don't break that one.

Tech Guy 32:42

Do you have any other surprise clauses for me?

Ellie Alexander 32:45

No, I think that's it for now. I mean, we we could continue because we got some more rules, but these are the big picture. I think that gives hopefully, darlings, you a vision of what my responsibility is as a writer and what you're going into a cozy expecting and hopefully receiving by the end.

Tech Guy 33:03

That's

What Readers Expect And Farewell

Tech Guy 33:04

really good. And so for the darlings out there, uh, we want to know what what is it that you expect when you pick up a cozy mystery? Are do these six clauses cover everything that you're looking for in a cozy? Or are there things that we haven't covered yet that that you expect from a writer every time you open the pages of a cozy mystery?

Ellie Alexander 33:22

That's right. Tell us, share here. We want to hear your thoughts.

Tech Guy 33:26

Definitely. All right. Well, until next time.

Ellie Alexander 33:30

Until next time, break out those clauses.