Page 33

Step 3: Complementary Strengths and Weaknesses

List the strengths and weaknesses of both your protagonist and the romantic foil. How do their strengths support each other’s weaknesses? Develop scenarios or plot points where these complementary traits come into play, especially in moments of tension or conflict within the story.

Step 4: Conflicting Values or Goals

Identify at least one major area of conflict between your protagonist and the romantic foil. This could be a difference in values, life goals, or approaches to problem-solving. Plan how this conflict will initially create tension in their relationship and how they might work to resolve or come to terms with these differences over time.

Step 5: Growth and Change

Outline key moments in the series where the romantic foil and the protagonist individually experience growth or change. How do these moments affect their relationship? Consider both setbacks and breakthroughs that test and ultimately strengthen their bond.

Step 6: Romantic and Mystery Plot Interweaving

Develop plot points where the romantic subplot and the mystery plot intersect. How do the challenges of solving the mystery impact the romantic relationship? Conversely, how does their relationship provide new insights or solutions to the mystery?

Step 7: External Obstacles

Create external obstacles to the relationship that are beyond the control of either character. This could include family objections, societal pressures, or external threats related to the mystery plot. How do these obstacles challenge the relationship, and how are they addressed or overcome?

Step 8: Moments of Vulnerability

Craft scenes where the protagonist and the romantic foil show vulnerability to each other. These moments should deepen their connection and understanding, revealing new layers to their characters and relationship.

Step 9: The Role of Humor

Inject humor into their relationship through banter, inside jokes, or amusing situations. How does humor play a role in keeping their relationship dynamic and resilient through the ups and downs?

Step 10: Future Teasers

Finally, brainstorm ways to tease the future development of the relationship at the end of each book. These could be unresolved tensions, upcoming challenges, or hints at deeper commitments. How do you keep readers invested in their relationship throughout the series?

Completing this exercise will help you create a romantic foil who not only serves as a captivating love interest but also enriches your protagonist’s journey and the overall narrative. The evolving relationship should add depth to your cozy mysteries, providing readers with emotional investment and a compelling reason to follow the series.

6. Footprints Left in the Snow – Plot

– 6 –

Footprints Left in the Snow – Plot

You might bewondering why, when cozy mysteries are driven by plot, it’s taken us so long to get to this foundational building block.

Though it is true the cozy mystery is plot driven, the appeal of the cozy lies in the characters and world-building. You can have the best plots in the world, but if the cozy reader doesn’t cotton to your main characters or love the world you’ve created, they won’t be back for more.

While I’m not saying your plots can be generic, there are only so many plots in the world. The success of your series islargelygoing to lean on your characters and setting, not least because your plots will often ariseoutof your setting and characters.

For example, if you’ve set your series in the Deep South, several plots could easily and instantly arise from that rich and colorful past: haunted plantations, lost confederate gold, a long-missing famous jazz musician…

How about a story that taps into the rich tapestry of the Deep South, steering clear of the usual tropes and instead diving into a lesser-explored facet of its history—a mystery centered around the Prohibition era, speakeasies, and the birth of jazz, set in a small but lively town in Louisiana?

The next thing to understand is that a cozy mystery is—well, all mysteries, really—simply a series of interviews.

These interviews must be interesting. They can also be funny, thrilling, surprising, touching—but theymustbe interesting.

Also, they need not be formal “interviews.” Your protagonist cannot drag potential suspects down to their ice cream parlor to interrogate them. Every conversation your protagonist has with a potential witness or suspect is actually an interview—even if it is simply bumping into the murder victim’s widow at a coffee house.

Every interview must move the story forward—whether the protagonist initially realizes it or not.

Which means, in every single conversation, there will be at least one nugget of useful information, as well as lots of extra chatter that may amuse, confuse, or simply add to local color and our understanding of other characters.