A Cozy Proposition
Throwback post
This article was originally published at The Mad Genius Club on October 8, 2022.
As fall comes to the part of the world I live in, I’m beginning to think of soups and warm blankets and curling up by the fire. Things that make you feel safe, secure, and insulated from the harshness of the world outdoors. Perhaps it’s this, combined with my drawing prompt earlier this week, that got me thinking of the topic I’m touching on today.
Everyday stories in extraordinary circumstances. The reality that life goes on, even while dramatic adventures are happening. Children need love and security and dreams, mothers will be tired and worried and nurturing of the child and their fathers. It’s all part of the human psyche, along with wild-goose chases that might wind up with a crisp roast on the table, and might wind up with a lonely bed and questions unanswered.
The fun thing about the art prompts is that you can take them in so many different directions. I knew, as soon as I looked at the ‘space quilt’ where I was going with it. I wanted to create an image of a mother and daughter curled up in a quilt, with a book, on a wide window seat. The window to the stars, with a planet, and from there? Who knows. It’s the ultimate in hostile environments out there, but the love and warmth inside is just as real as it is for anyone who is making their cocoa here and now.
Cozy science fiction is a fun idea, and I like it. I’ve done some stories that were not necessarily intended to be ‘cozy’ but more on the small story end of the spectrum. You know the scale I mean - at one end, Our Hero is saving the universe(s in the series sequel when one is no longer grand enough) and at the other, we have the smallest of stakes. Perhaps a kitten needs to be rescued from a tree. I find myself drawn to the smaller end of that, to the idea of people who do the best they can with whatever they are handed. It might not be much, but they will make do.
One thing about fiction, it gives us a map for what we could accomplish. Not that we will, but that would can at least try for it. Perhaps my imagination yearning for peace and comfort says more about me… but I also want to see the reality of science fiction. To see my descendants moving among the stars. With quilts made lovingly from the remnants of fabric used for more heroic, bold causes, perhaps. During my Friday livestream, while I was talking about this, one of the listeners pointed out he’d imagined a quilt made of mission patches when he’d seen the prompt.
Now, there’s a mental image for you. Little babe in arms, wrapped in Daddy’s mission patches made into her baby blanket, her eyes reflecting the towering pillar of smoke and fire as he takes flight once more…
