I write a great deal of cozy speculative fiction. Most is original, plus the occasional fanwork. My fans often prompt for it and sponsor it. If anyone else wants to join the fun, next up will be a Poetry Fishbowl on Tuesday, June 3 with a theme of "Gentleness Is Strength," which is a great matchy for cozy SFF. Prompting is free, so you can ask for and get a prompter copy of more fluffy goodness.
This series is almost entirely about community building, among people who don't have the best social skills but are determined to try anyway. The level of onscreen violence is low, although it's set after a major war.
An Army of One: The Autistic Secession in Space Once upon a time, there will be two galactic powers. One controls the Carina-Sagittarius Arm, and the other controls the Orion-Cygnus Arm. They have a war. Then they have an armistice. Then they have a peace. So they decide to decommission their secret surveillance stations and send home all their collected specialists with odd traits and useful skills. But the specialists do not want to go home, and instead construct a new society to meet their own needs.
"Homekeeping" Specialist Miles Cernan and the OCS-397 learn to make a home together.
I made this open-source fandom to evoke sense of wonder, because I was tired of how bleak commercial science fiction had gotten. It's a little about saving the world and a lot about the relationships of the crew.
Daughters of the Apocalypse This is post-apocalyptic hopepunk that takes place after natural disasters and warfare have cut the human population to a fraction of its former size. What remains is a world primarily populated by women, people of color, and queerfolk.
"Laundry, Liturgy, and Women's Work" Story Date: Cold Moon 29, 15 A.E. Summary: Maggot doesn't really fit in with the Clearwater Caravan. Characters: Alma Mohamad, An Woodward, Catcher, Cleaner, Dibble, Digger, Doc Holly, Fan Woodward, Forager, Hunter, Maggot, Mother Mary Clara, Stitcher, Strawflower, Tevin Woodward, Travis Woodward, Trey Woodward, Wheeler
This is my biggest and most popular fanseries. It relies heavily on cozy family vibes to counter a pretty grim canon.
Love Is For Children (The Avengers) In The Avengers, Natasha Romanova says "Love is for children." It's an expression of life as she knows it, and fits the harsh background most of the Avengers have experienced. Trouble is, people don't do very well without love. In particular it's impossible to form a good team if the members don't care about each other. So Phil Coulson comes up with a teambuilding exercise to resolve that problem. If love is for children ... then he'll arrange that experience for them. The result is an exploration of nonsexual ageplay to allow a group of very powerful, very broken people to patch up some of the gaps in their lives.
"Love Is for Children" Phil Coulson is SHIELD's best handler for a reason: he can deal with the broken people that nobody else can manage but desperately need anyway. So he comes up with an unusual teambuilding idea to shore up the Avengers.
This is mostly cozy fantasy romance with a few platonic entries and the occasional more edgy one.
Eloquent Souls This series is fantasy romance about soulmates, soulmarks, and soulbonds. These features don't solve everything, but they do make life more interesting.
"Let It Grow" Story Date: Saturday, February 15, 2014 Summary: Bryony meets someone new at a plant party. Characters: Bryony Lane, Heath Clifford
This is a solidly domestic series of fairy tale fantasy.
Fiorenza the Wisewoman This series began with "Can She Bake a Scary Pie?" in the October 5, 2010 Poetry Fishbowl, although "A Knot of Thyme" is chronologically earlier. Fiorenza is a young woman living in a village not far from Fermo in Italy, around 1600 CE. She is skilled in herbalism, gardening, and baking ... and dealing with paranormal problems, such as vampires. Most of the villagers look up to her most of the time, but sometimes authority figures get testy about her level of influence. But even Don Candido the priest knows that they need her!
"Winter Apples" Fiorenza joins her relatives working in the orchard.
My readers describe this one as gothic fluff: classic horror motifs written in a much more positive light.
Frankenstein's Family Here is the tale of an unconventional family. Victor Frankenstein, originally named Victoria, identifies as a man despite having a female body. His assistant Igor has a deformed back. They decide to make a family together, because women just aren't interested in either of them, although both of them are heterosexual. So they wind up in a queerplatonic relationship. They use their knowledge of science to create a son, Adam.
This series is suburban fantasy, mostly fluff, focused on a family that includes human and nonhuman members.
Monster House This series began as a criticism of the housing crisis in 2008, when many people faced foreclosure and eviction. In the first poem, not only was a human resident put on the street, but so were various paranormal residents. Eventually, they found a new home, a Victorian fixer-upper ... along with a new human housemate, who came with some "special" roommates of her own. From there, the family and adventures have grown.
"Restoration" Old houses need a lot of work and a lot of love.
I got tired of how 99% of superhero content is crimefighting and people punching each other in the face. There's got to be more stories to tell then just committing and solving crimes -- all the ways that superpowers can change society. We've been completely fascinated to discover how many of the things that make this setting awesome do not actually require superpowers after all. It's my biggest and most popular original series with lots of subthreads.
Polychrome Heroics Terramagne is my superhero setting. The first poems focused on Damask. Since then, fans have prompted for many other superheroes and side poems about their world in general.
Practical Magics Jenina was introduced in the July 5, 2011 Poetry Fishbowl with its "low fantasy" theme. She founded the Brown Tower of Practical Magics. Other wizards focus on magical theory and sophisticated spells. Jenina creates spells for everyday needs, and has customers from every class of society.
"Wipeout" Jenina wanted to invent spells that everyone could use.
This series is fantasy set in a world where people generally solve problems with less violence than here, and which is a lot saner than average fantasy worlds.
Quixotic Ideas Quixotic Ideas is a fantasy series in a world with fully integrated magic and a generally upbeat approach. Many problems that complicate other fantasy settings have been solved here, or at least buffered somewhat. This world is Quorth (aka quixotic-Earth, or Q-Earth) roughly similar to local-Earth in geography. It ranges from historic through modern times. Canon-typical violence is on the low side of average for fantasy, as people here tend to have better problem-solving methods.
"Affuage" n 1753 -1847 right to cut wood in a forest for family fire
Cozy SFF from My Work
This series is almost entirely about community building, among people who don't have the best social skills but are determined to try anyway. The level of onscreen violence is low, although it's set after a major war.
An Army of One: The Autistic Secession in Space
Once upon a time, there will be two galactic powers. One controls the Carina-Sagittarius Arm, and the other controls the Orion-Cygnus Arm.
They have a war. Then they have an armistice. Then they have a peace. So they decide to decommission their secret surveillance stations and send home all their collected specialists with odd traits and useful skills. But the specialists do not want to go home, and instead construct a new society to meet their own needs.
"Homekeeping"
Specialist Miles Cernan and the OCS-397 learn to make a home together.
I made this open-source fandom to evoke sense of wonder, because I was tired of how bleak commercial science fiction had gotten. It's a little about saving the world and a lot about the relationships of the crew.
The Blueshift Troupers">
"Slowly exploring space, humanity discovered remnants of an alien civilization: jump gates that opened the galaxy to colonists. Today hundreds of planets hold human settlers, some adapted to fit their new homes. When one of those worlds calls out for help, we are the ones who come. I am the Core of the hiveship Omphalos. These are the members of my crew. Together we are the Blueshift Troupers."
While the context is dark, the entries in this series typically describe how people survive by working together. It's one where domestic workers appear in multiple entries.
Daughters of the Apocalypse
This is post-apocalyptic hopepunk that takes place after natural disasters and warfare have cut the human population to a fraction of its former size. What remains is a world primarily populated by women, people of color, and queerfolk.
"Laundry, Liturgy, and Women's Work"
Story Date: Cold Moon 29, 15 A.E.
Summary: Maggot doesn't really fit in with the Clearwater Caravan.
Characters: Alma Mohamad, An Woodward, Catcher, Cleaner, Dibble, Digger, Doc Holly, Fan Woodward, Forager, Hunter, Maggot, Mother Mary Clara, Stitcher, Strawflower, Tevin Woodward, Travis Woodward, Trey Woodward, Wheeler
This is my biggest and most popular fanseries. It relies heavily on cozy family vibes to counter a pretty grim canon.
Love Is For Children (The Avengers)
In The Avengers, Natasha Romanova says "Love is for children." It's an expression of life as she knows it, and fits the harsh background most of the Avengers have experienced. Trouble is, people don't do very well without love. In particular it's impossible to form a good team if the members don't care about each other.
So Phil Coulson comes up with a teambuilding exercise to resolve that problem. If love is for children ... then he'll arrange that experience for them. The result is an exploration of nonsexual ageplay to allow a group of very powerful, very broken people to patch up some of the gaps in their lives.
"Love Is for Children"
Phil Coulson is SHIELD's best handler for a reason: he can deal with the broken people that nobody else can manage but desperately need anyway. So he comes up with an unusual teambuilding idea to shore up the Avengers.
This is mostly cozy fantasy romance with a few platonic entries and the occasional more edgy one.
Eloquent Souls
This series is fantasy romance about soulmates, soulmarks, and soulbonds. These features don't solve everything, but they do make life more interesting.
"Let It Grow"
Story Date: Saturday, February 15, 2014
Summary: Bryony meets someone new at a plant party.
Characters: Bryony Lane, Heath Clifford
This is a solidly domestic series of fairy tale fantasy.
Fiorenza the Wisewoman
This series began with "Can She Bake a Scary Pie?" in the October 5, 2010 Poetry Fishbowl, although "A Knot of Thyme" is chronologically earlier. Fiorenza is a young woman living in a village not far from Fermo in Italy, around 1600 CE. She is skilled in herbalism, gardening, and baking ... and dealing with paranormal problems, such as vampires. Most of the villagers look up to her most of the time, but sometimes authority figures get testy about her level of influence. But even Don Candido the priest knows that they need her!
"Winter Apples"
Fiorenza joins her relatives working in the orchard.
My readers describe this one as gothic fluff: classic horror motifs written in a much more positive light.
Frankenstein's Family
Here is the tale of an unconventional family. Victor Frankenstein, originally named Victoria, identifies as a man despite having a female body. His assistant Igor has a deformed back. They decide to make a family together, because women just aren't interested in either of them, although both of them are heterosexual. So they wind up in a queerplatonic relationship. They use their knowledge of science to create a son, Adam.
"The Proper Thermodynamics of a Warm and Happy Home"
Victor and Igor test the complicated woodstove in the kitchen.
This series is suburban fantasy, mostly fluff, focused on a family that includes human and nonhuman members.
Monster House
This series began as a criticism of the housing crisis in 2008, when many people faced foreclosure and eviction. In the first poem, not only was a human resident put on the street, but so were various paranormal residents. Eventually, they found a new home, a Victorian fixer-upper ... along with a new human housemate, who came with some "special" roommates of her own. From there, the family and adventures have grown.
"Restoration"
Old houses need a lot of work and a lot of love.
I got tired of how 99% of superhero content is crimefighting and people punching each other in the face. There's got to be more stories to tell then just committing and solving crimes -- all the ways that superpowers can change society. We've been completely fascinated to discover how many of the things that make this setting awesome do not actually require superpowers after all. It's my biggest and most popular original series with lots of subthreads.
Polychrome Heroics
Terramagne is my superhero setting. The first poems focused on Damask. Since then, fans have prompted for many other superheroes and side poems about their world in general.
"To Feel Safe and Warm"
This series is all about domestic fantasy.
Practical Magics
Jenina was introduced in the July 5, 2011 Poetry Fishbowl with its
"low fantasy" theme. She founded the Brown Tower of Practical
Magics. Other wizards focus on magical theory and sophisticated
spells. Jenina creates spells for everyday needs, and has customers from every class of society.
"Wipeout"
Jenina wanted to invent spells that everyone could use.
This series is fantasy set in a world where people generally solve problems with less violence than here, and which is a lot saner than average fantasy worlds.
Quixotic Ideas
Quixotic Ideas is a fantasy series in a world with fully integrated magic and a generally upbeat approach. Many problems that complicate other fantasy settings have been solved here, or at least buffered somewhat. This world is Quorth (aka quixotic-Earth, or Q-Earth) roughly similar to local-Earth in geography. It ranges from historic through modern times. Canon-typical violence is on the low side of average for fantasy, as people here tend to have better problem-solving methods.
"Affuage"
n 1753 -1847 right to cut wood in a forest for family fire