Happy Cozy Fantasy Day, !

Today (only) is the Cozy the Day Away s@le! Last I heard, there were over 100 books, featuring everything from cozy romantasy to cozy-adjacent steampunk. Most books are marked down to 99c, and there's also special pricing for paperbacks and audiobooks. Be sure to check it out!

Cozy the Day Away

Available Friday, May 8th

Not only can you load up your e-reader (and bookshelves) for cozy summer reading and find new-to-you authors and books you otherwise wouldn't have heard about. This is one of my favorite events of the year as a reader! I'm totally a mood reader, but I stock up on books to come back to whenever I need an escape.

What is cozy fantasy? "Cozy" means that:

• everything comes out right in the end
• there's an awareness of sensory details, especially food and beverage
• often themes around found family and acceptance of differences
• not explicit violence, sexy times, or language

One common misconception is that cozy=low stakes/slice of life.

Personally, I write medium-to-high stakes cozy fantasy, because that's what I like to read. As a reader, my real-life is always total chaos and my to-do list is always threatening to topple over and suffocate me. On the one hand, I have serious worries for my kids and the state of the world, and I want a fictional world where I know everything is going to be okay. On the other hand, if there's nothing at stake, the pace is slow, and I'm not intellectually engaged, my book loses out to my to-do list. Every time.

So those are the books I endeavor to write for you. 🥰

Interview with Professor Malin:

PM: Which books do you have in the sale?

I have my three "start here" books marked down to 99 cents:

The Horned Women — start here to meet Maura and her family, and the castle in Kilkenny where they escape after her ex-husband abandons their family.

The Squire & His Magical Library — start here to journey back to 3rd-century Ireland and the land of myth and magic.... and also to meet the tender-hearted young warrior, Rian of Kilkirk.

The Boat on the Lake of Regret — start here for a tender-hearted fairy tale romance, where the men are green flag heroes and the women don't just wait around to be rescued.

At the last minute, my start here trilogy was accepted for a Mothers Day sale, so I dropped the price on The Horned Women & Other Stories — this includes my first three novellas in one volume. The paperback for this one and The Boat are also marked down, although I was only able to do that on Am*zon.

PM: Should I wait to fetch a better price?

So, I know it's a popular ad technique to do this "sorry to everyone who bought this at full price" but I personally hate that kind of thing. I try to be as honest as possible with you guys.

I will only put discounts on my "start here" books, and I will only offer my freebies for free (as a newsletter subscriber, you have access to all of them). I'm also not going to offer a sudden discount on my new releases, because that makes it not feel worth pre-ordering.

In fact, once my prequel "The Leprechaun in the Castle" comes out, I probably won't be offering this discount on my Romantic Fairy Tales again. So if you're considering The Boat on the Lake of Regret, now is the time to get it!

PM: So this is the best price your books are going to be?

Yup.

PM: I could just herd them all together and buy the whole set to binge whenever I want?

I have many readers who do just that!

PM: I have now herded all the pricing ducks into a row. Let's get personal... which is your favorite book?

I have to confess that I don't usually read my books after they're published. I'm bound to find something that I wish I had done differently, and it drives me bananas-bonkers.

But if I had to choose....

Possibly my "best" book is The Boat on the Lake of Regret. I think the story came together really cleanly, it's a nice length (a short novel and a fast read), I feel like the main characters came together really well, and I had a ball with how the secondary characters developed over the course of the story. I'm not the only one who thinks so — my editor and a couple of my top fans have said this is their absolute favorite.

But for a sleeper hit? I really love The Knight of Terrible Valley & Aiden of Florida. I feel like Aiden's external fairy-tale adventure and his internal finding-himself adventure are woven nicely together. The emotions go deep with this one, and they are real to the world that I know. Besides, the more I write Aiden the more I really just enjoy being with him!

PM: Interesting. So, who is your favorite dog?

What? No, wait. I'm not telling.

PM: Aha! So you have one?

No! I love all of you.

PM: You mean it's me.

No favorite dogs.

PM: I'm pretty sure it's me.

I'm not having this discussion.

Inish, from the far side of the room: It's not meEEEEeeee. She gives all of you better pets. She gives all of you better treats. I'm always the left out one!

((sounds of fluffy arguments and writer running across the room to separate dogs))

Thank you, this interview is now concluded!

Prof. Malin engaged in researching Irish fairy tales

Don't worry, they all get puppy treats and feel much better when they run around in the yard for a while. It's the perfect season for running outside in the sunshine.

And now, I'd better get back to writing! Enjoy the Cozy the Day Away books!

Happy reading (and playing in the sun),

Christy & the Shelties

Inish, Mr Suspicious, oversees the writing process

(this is my son's hand, given that it is hard to photograph one's own self at this angle)

Adare just wants to say hi