by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Years ago I was stumped when I received an email from a middle school student. He was reading one of my books for a school assignment (this, in itself, was startling), and he was trying to figure out what the theme of the book was. I guess he decided to cut to the chase and just ask the author directly. Because surely the author would know.
But the book was simple crime fiction. Cozy crime fiction. Maybe this is why the student was having such trouble figuring it out. I hadn’t explored theme in the story other than the typical ‘good versus evil,’ or ‘the importance of justice’ of your typical mystery novel.
After that incident, I made more of a conscious effort to incorporate theme, very lightly, in my books. I didn’t want to hit the reader over the head with it and I still wanted to keep the lighter, comedic tone that I strive for in my cozies.Continue reading