Cover for An Abundance of Wizards. A wizard's hat sits on the corner of a grimoire..

Sometimes you stumble into a genre, almost out of necessity. We’ve had so much rancor over politics. I’ve unfollowed writers who take more of an interest in snide lecturing about politics than writing, or everyday life. I’ve also struggled to find anthology calls. The majority of them seem to be on political topics, which I have zero interest writing. I don’t find them entertaining, and I can’t see anyone but activists reading the stories. Heck, a year from now, whatever trendy political thing it was will be the wayside and, if I did write something, it would be an instant retirement of the story.

Another trend has been dark stories. I can’t really do those, at least not to the level the editors want. When I returned back from Desert Storm, I was in a very dark place. It was just something six months of war did to me and I didn’t really understand. My writing was very dark–and I didn’t even freaking know it. Not until another writer pointed it out. Then I had to make a conscious effort to steer away. If I got an idea, I had to assess if it lent itself towards dark. Once I got away from the dark, I’m loathe to return to it.

Enter my accidental genre: Cozy Fantasy.

I’m planning on doing some “go with the flow” marketing that would help promote my Beckett Caine story. Amazon algorithms (who knew that would one day be an everyday word?) like a new release about once a month. That’s caused many writers to either write novellas–some quite superficial–and novels and release them each month. A novel’s a big thing to write once a month, especially with a day job. But I have many short stories, and I worked through the inventory, I discovered six were cozy fantasy.

Cozy is trending in 2026, in answer to all the things going on now. It’s about the people and the relationships, everyone generally gets along, and the stories are just fun. So my first story, An Abundance of Wizards is up from preorder with a March 4 release date:

On tap for the next few months:

Teddy Bear Man

A warm, magical tale about a couple, a haunted Victorian house, and the family ghosts who refuse to stay quiet.

Magic of Her Heart

A coastal fantasy about a seashell witch, her devoted husband, and the magic that binds a community together.

Scritches and Witches

A whimsical familiar‑POV adventure where two dogs and a cat must protect their witch from a dangerous rival.