Plot With Us Creating Your Protagonist's Supernatural Abilities in Paranormal Cozies
Watch The Video
Download today's Workbook https://lisasiefert.myflodesk.com/r7os99hfg4
Join us for the Cozy Club Getaway Writing Retreat in San Diego - Watch the Info Session https://youtube.com/live/iZopCek9Hbc
Listen Now [Audio Only]
Read the Transcript
Plot With Us Creating Your Protagonist's Supernatural Abilities in Paranormal Cozies
Plot With Us - Cozy Mystery Outlining Secrets + Story Elements
Jan 15, 2024
This transcript was generated automatically by Spotify. Its accuracy may vary.
0:01
Hi everyone.Hi.We are so excited.One, it's Friday, which is always a happy day.And two, today we're talking about paranormal cozy mystery characters and how to make them work supernaturally paranormal.
0:18
Yes, we're supernatural abilities.Yeah.So if you missed it, we also have our replay up on this channel and also in the Facebook group where we are going over all of our New Year's goals and how we think we're going to write more, which really isn't that hard of an accomplishment because we wrote nothing last year.
0:39
So the bar is set.Really low.That was dumpsters fire year.We're moving on.We got our goals.It's going to be great.Yeah, so even if I wrote one sentence this weekend, it will be more than last year.Right, right.Progress.Yeah, yeah.So if you're here to say hi, we're going to go ahead and just jump right into it because it's Friday and you probably have a place to go.
1:01
People see things to do.Exactly.And we're usually on Mondays.So anyway, yeah, I I did have an opening screen on here about the retreat, so just be sure and and search on Lisa's channel here about the info session for the Cozy Club getaway.
1:20
But going right into our topic, it's about your protagonist's supernatural abilities.And I'll just say, like, my history is always writing supernatural books.So I started back in Oh my goodness I I started as a teenager writing supernatural stuff and so it's just always kind of been in me and I did the whole young adult paranormal romance stuff and then I jumped into cozy mysteries in 2011 Twelve and I have never turned back.
1:53
Cozy mysteries paranormal have been so much fun.So anybody in here?I don't know if you write those two or this is your first time really thinking about writing for your series, but we're going to dive into your character's supernatural abilities.You.
2:10
Can just tell me when you want me to?Chase you.Oh go ahead, thank you.So the sky really is the limit with paranormal cozy characters.You could have anything from like an Angel and a demon to a a witch and a a pet whisperer, but these are the top cozy mystery characters they are when it comes to paranormal stuff, of course.
2:35
So you have witches that are like the most popular.They're everywhere in paranormal cozy mysteries, and people are still interested in them.There's people who see ghosts and there's also pet whisperers.So those three things, and these are actually examples of covers I have for my own books.
2:55
So you'll see that I have different names here, and I'm going to combine everything under Molly Burton this year.That's my goal, US writing more.So yeah, we got witchy, ghostly and pet whisperer stuff.
3:10
Whisperer stuff.So next could go too.So when you're thinking about what your character is going to have for their supernatural abilities, using a witch as an example, how can they benefit solving a mystery?
3:32
How can this make them a better sleuth?So always think of that when you're picking out what your character is going to be.Now witch comes with plenty of benefits and perhaps that's why it's also so popular, right?So they could unlock or open something forbidden like just simple like locks on doors or get into a safe or whatever is forbidden.
3:56
They could do simple spells, right?That's what a lot of witches do in Cozy Mysteries.They do more simple spells you could also get into, like having baked goods that are prepped with spells so they could give, for instance, A suspect a truth serum, which I did in The Cat in the Witch Hat.
4:17
So one of the suspects just wasn't forthcoming, she felt.So she came to his house, brought him a treat, had some truth serum and he started talking about his whole background in his life, right?But it did give some tips into is he the killer or not.
4:37
So that's always fun.And another ability that a witch comes with is that they could their their magic usually starts small, but it grows throughout the series so they can become a better sleuth and it also helps their character development.
4:55
So where they might start with a lot of clumsy spells, they might make mistakes and it could be hilarious too.As the series progressive progresses, they could start honing in their abilities so much better and benefit the plot as well for the series arc.
5:13
So we could go to the next one and we'll talk about those who see ghosts.So this is to cover from one of my books, a ghostly dare.And in this they do see one of the victims as a spirit at the piano.
5:30
And it gives them an opportunity to be like, hey, you know, tell us, tell us some stuff, tell us.And you know spirits aren't always forthcoming like you would expect, like they just divulged the whole plot, right?So that would kind of ruin the mystery.
5:47
They also have kind of rules, usually with the afterlife, with not being allowed to divulge everything anyway.So but they could get clues from the ghosts.They could start pointing them in the right directions.There could even be one particular ghost for your protagonist to have as like their personal guide.
6:10
I could be anything from an ex-boyfriend to their dead great aunt, so on to the next one.Further more like for a pet whisperer, think about their supernatural abilities and how they benefit a cozy So Pets.
6:30
What I really like about Pets in Cozy Mysteries is that they could get into situations like secretive situations and in the shadows in in locations where people, the suspects, could be discussing things or doing something they shouldn't be doing, and the cat in the shadows, they can overhear it or they could see what's happening.
6:55
They could so they could get into small spaces.They could be around people's secrets and some of them could get up really high.Whether that means they could fly over and get like a bird's eye view of a situation or they could climb like I had a cat climb up to the top of a bell tower and get through a window where two suspects were fighting and she was able to be in the shadows there and and kind of hear what was going on next.
7:26
Whoops, there we go.So this slide is just introducing the next section of how did they get their ability?You want to have this nailed down for your series.It can make for some fun twists and turns or whatnot.
7:42
So let's go ahead and get into that.So this is not my book.Of course, this is Rosie's.She's a client and this is her first release in the cat cafe Magical mystery.So I got to design this cover for her, which was so fun.
7:59
I personally think it's really cute.But anyway, this character, according to Amazon, has always knew that she has always known that she is a witch.She just really constrained herself, didn't want to use her magic.
8:20
So for years it says an Amazon's reviewer quoted, or I'm quoting them saying she had decided years ago never to use magic.But how can you not when you inherit your grandmother's wand?So that's just like a turning point for this witch.
8:38
Like, OK, you'd never wanted to use magic for whatever reasons.Maybe you thought it was unethical.Maybe you had, you know, grandparents that got into trouble with it, but now you have a wand.So yeah, they always knew their ability could be one choice and we could go to the next.
8:59
The the next option is a major event Happens, right.They weren't born with it.So in Rosie's other series I also designed for murder at Magic Cakes Cafe, she had a major event spur her into being a witch.
9:15
So she was struck by lightning, which is why there's lightning on the cover, and so says from the blurb.When Evelyn Eldritch is struck by lightning, she gains more than just a shock to the system.She discovers she's a witch, so that's how she finds.
9:31
Out.Also, all of these things can help your cover designer make it more interesting and prettier.Yeah, it was.It was really cute to come up with having those lightning bolts in the setting of the cover, Yeah.Makes sense now.Very true.Now for this client, Jael Collins.
9:51
She has a couple different witchy mystery series out I I designed this one for her.So she finds out she's a witch through just like about of bad luck.She's having car trouble and then somehow I read her story and I love it by the way so you should you should check it out if you haven't heard of it.
10:11
Anyway, she's she's driving this this truck and it gets somehow in this lost area where she arrives inside of a place that's winter all the time and there's magic everywhere.
10:28
So the world she knew that wasn't magical at all.It's normal.Like us, she she now is inside a magical world where it's snowing all the time and there's other people that are also magical and they introduce her into who she is.
10:46
So she learns that way, and we could go ahead on to another idea.This is for my new series.The book is yet to be released by have a March release date.
11:01
So Twyla, she turns 40 and on her birthday, you know, she starts to hear pigs speaking, but not with oinks, you know, not with snorts.
11:17
It's like with actual people words.So, So she she starts to understand the pigs at her dad's pig pig farm and she ends up adopting one of the piglets here, Cindy Lou.
11:32
And this pig in particular is also magical, like as far as having an ability, it's a psychic pig.So this psychic pig kind of can foretell.Foresee can feel out some future events.
11:49
And Twila, as the pet Whisperer, gets to communicate with her like you, you are feeling this is not the actual suspect.After I got him arrested, there's somebody else like.So it's it's on her 40th birthday.
12:05
I decided to make it a midlife thing, but you could choose any birthday you want, obviously.Yeah, I like that.It's almost like PWF made it so 40 is like the new 20, right?Like it's cool to be 40 because all of a sudden now you get witch powers.Yeah, yeah, exactly.
12:21
And I was like, you know, it could have a cozy twist.Instead of the usual paranormal fiction twist, this one could be cozier.So she does meet a cute guy that works at a bar, bar, but nothing yet even happens in the first book.With him, it's more about solving the mystery with her pet pig at a pig pageant.
12:42
So yeah, OK, good.So the other idea you should think about is what's their kryptonite?So we all know about Superman, right?So we could go to the next slide and talk about him for one second.Now to be distracted for a moment.
13:01
This is Dean Cain.If you remember Lois and Clark.Did you ever watch that, Lisa?I think everyone watched it.There was nothing else on in the 80s.Plus, it was a good show.And he's cute.Yes, yes, he's my favorite Superman.I had such a crush on on Dean Cain, the best Superman.
13:20
And he actually, I think, debuted in 90210 as one of the guys in Paris that Brenda ran into when she was having a break with Luke Perry.Like Super Dean can Dean King fandom.Well, I'll just say, like, I didn't watch 90210 growing up, but as an adult they had, you know, on Netflix or Hulu or one of those.
13:40
So I kind of binged some of it.And then I saw him in there.I was like, Oh my gosh, he is so handsome.So he's my favorite Superman.But every Superman has Kryptonite and from Wikipedia, Wikipedia it says in its best known form it is a green crystalline material originating from Superman's homeworld of Krypton that emits a unique poisonous radiation that can weaken and even kill Kryptonians.
14:08
So we could go to the next slide and talk about this a little bit more.Since they have a supernatural ability, your main character, you got to think like you can't go over the top like with your witch.
14:24
If their magic was always perfect and they did everything right and it was as simple as like what we dream up with like a snap of a fingers and we have our room clean and like any our wildest dreams could come true, right?That would make for a boring mystery.
14:40
You have to have hiccups and things and one of the ways to create hiccups is to give kryptonite to your character.So for the cat in the Witch hat, I have Chloe, who is a black cat that finds out on her birthday that she actually was meant to come down as a witch, a a person, a female witch human.
15:12
And instead they sent her down as a black cat because none of her, you know, this kind of fate got messed up with her aunts and her mother and she wasn't able to be born like she was supposed to.All the relationships were getting screwed up.
15:30
So anyway, so I have her as her, kind of like her own familiar, so she does all her magic and she goes within herself and is able to have that relationship with herself as her own familiar.But anyway, her big weakness is catnip of course.And so that's kind of funny because catnip comes into play sometimes in the story and then you find out, like, yeah, that she loses her magic and becomes really weak when she's near near it.
15:57
And so that's kind of cute.So make sure you exploit those opportunities for weakness.And it doesn't have to be something literal like catnip or kryptonite.It could also just be like a major character flaw that gets in the way whenever they're trying to solve things.
16:14
So made me think of Sherlock Holmes and his drug issue he had, but cozy mystery characters don't tend to have those so.Well, Gump has the problem where and another person wrote a book series with the same exact problem where he just can't stop cleaning stuff and organizing things.
16:32
Oh yeah, that would be right, right.They can't, they can't get to the next part until they wipe that counter good enough.So the last thing I wanted to say is, you know, there aren't real like rules to this.
16:49
Just be super clear with your character's abilities, who they are, how they came into them and then the the world that surrounds them.Don't be.Don't have it too, too crazy.For instance, I did write a paranormal romance.
17:06
Like I said, I started with those for young adults where there was some, you know, werewolf love.And then I threw in a zombie suddenly and Oh my gosh, one of the reviewers is just like, I wasn't prepared for the zombies, like I was good with the werewolves.
17:24
So think about what characters mix and match well together in your world, right?Zombies you could keep for the apocalypse, I don't know.But next slide we could talk about a little bit more on this.So consider what appeals to you the most out of the different options.
17:42
What inspires your creativity?Are you an animal lover?So would a familiar be important to your character.And you can also mix and match, like I said, some abilities even within the protagonist themselves.So the protagonist, like I said mine is a cat shifter who also can cast spells and and so she can go back and forth between those two bodies and abilities and think about that too, whether it's also for like a psychic, those psychics they can or tell some things from the future.
18:19
Some of them can also maybe read minds of those close by or have a ghost possess their body like you know in the movie Ghost.So just some things to think about.Have fun and mix and match and do what?
18:37
Do what you have fun with.And then I have a workbook for you to download that is should be in the link under this so you could fill out some of these questions.Oh, go back.I'm sorry, OK.Oh, the next one.
18:54
Yeah, sorry.So, and I'm with cozycoverdesigns.com and Paranormal Cozy Mysteries were the first ones I really got into.My first clients had those as their plots.
19:09
So if you need somebody you can go run over there and check me out a little more.But yeah, so paranormal cozies are my thing.I love them.And hopefully this has got you thinking about how your next series or your current series could be elevated through these abilities of your main character.
19:31
I guess that's it.Awesome.All right, well, I think the only person that popped in to say hi was Jasmine.Hope you had a good holiday.I was sick of the flu so I am happy the holidays are over, but I think Molly had fun.
19:48
I had a pretty good holiday.Yeah, you were.You kept getting your sickness, rebounding.It was not going away.It's not relenting so.Look at that in the live stream, I look taller.Never happens in real life.
20:05
That's true.That's true.I I need a bigger chair.So we'll leave you back to a regular schedule.So we will be live next Monday again, which is not next week, but the week after.It'll be on Monday the 15th, which is actually a holiday.
20:25
It's Martin Luther King Day.So it's just that it so happens to fall that day.So, yeah.So we'll see you back then.See you bye.Bye.
