(sometimes) sadness

The cozy fantasy anthology that I'm part of is out now! You'll be able to read my story, Dollshops & Deathmages, and four others which all have the theme of forced proximity. You can get the anthology for free here. It's free because it's a reader magnet (so in exchange for getting the book, you'll be signing up for the author newsletters of the authors featured in the anthology, but you can unsubscribe later if you want to.)

Dollshops & Deathmages is about Melna, who crafts dolls and prefers them to people, and Clariel, a deathmage who is isolated because of his profession. They get trapped together in Melna's giant dollhouse, which could be disastrous given they're both (involuntary) habitual loners. But Melna is surprised that Clariel doesn't think dolls are frivolities like other men she's known, and Clariel is surprised that Melna doesn't think he's lame for wanting a doll of his own. And both of them are surprised that sometimes someone specific is nice company, even if you are stuck together.

I got the anthology onto my Kobo and started reading it at once, and of course, found two typos in my own story that I didn't catch before despite my previous editing and proofreading. It's some comfort to me that after the anthology has run its course, I can re-release my story separately, on its own. I'll take the chance to correct these then. If they niggle me in the back of my mind meanwhile, I'll have to live with that :/

I'm especially excited to read Thea Hawthorne's contribution to the anthology, because I've read some of her other work which was atmospherically cozy-spooky and had deep yet unobtrusive worldbuilding. I'm looking forward to the other stories to discover some new-to-me authors, too. Most of the fiction I read these days leans cozy, my nervous system right now prefers it. So I'd like to find more cozy authors. On that note, let me know your cozy fantasy recommendations! I've read the classics like Legends & Lattes, and I have my favourite authors whose backlist I peruse, like Celia Lake and Stephanie Burgis. I'd also love cozy recs without fantasy; I recently read D. E. Stevenson's Miss Buncle's Book and enjoyed that a lot.