Each of us have a comfort book–or even a comfort genre–that we turn to when we just want to relax or when times are tough.
I go for cozy mysteries. I like them because they tend to be witty, fun, romantic, and sometimes even a little sexy. Oh, yeah, and there’s mystery solving!
And generally there’s not a fantasy creature or a spaceship in sight. (Although I am currently reading Donna Andrews’ We’ll Always Have Parrots, which takes place at a fantasy convention.)
I find, that when I dedicatedly working on a story myself, I can’t read the genre that that story is. I know some authors that can’t read at all when they’re writing, which is a very sad state of affairs, so I will take my genre-block over that. If it’s high fantasy, then high fantasy is out. Same for urban fantasy and science fiction. (Luckily, urban and high fantasy are typically different enough that I can squeeze in a little bit of magic into my day.)
A lot of times, to play safe, though, I’ll just head for the cozies. Writing/editing/submitting/publication can certainly be stressful enough to warrant going for the comfort books.
It’s not that I necessarily think that I’ll be influenced by other books in my same genre (though that’s a realistic concern), but I actually feel a little repelled by the genre at that point in time. Maybe it’s because I’m already spending too much time thinking about it.
I was a bit surprised to find that this was true for the publication process, honestly, but I haven’t been able to touch a fantasy novel in over a month. So I’ve gone to the library and stocked up on my favorite cozy series, and hopefully they’ll see me through til launch.
What’s your go-to comfort genre, Squiders?
