Welcome, cosy witches, to the Season of the Cosy Witch Podcast! This is the place for folks who love cosy books of all genres - fantasy, sci fi, romance, books specifically about cats in libraries... stories that make us feel like settling into a soft armchair, sipping a cup of tea and getting lost in another world.

In our second episode, we're talking about tropes. Tropes we love and tropes we hate!

We define tropes and how they’re used in cosy fiction, share our favourite and least favourite tropes, and discuss how tropes can be used effectively versus in a reductive way.

In This Episode we…

• Define trope and its relationship to genre

• Discuss the ‘There’s Only One Bed’ and ‘Sunny/Grumpy’ tropes

• Explore how tropes can be used effectively… and how they can be reductive

• Suggest cosy books to read based on tropes

  
  

This Episode’s Cosy Books Reading List

• The Emily Wilde series by Heather Fawcett

• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

• Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis

• God & the Gumiho by Sophie Kim

• Scattered All Over the Earth by Yoko Tawada

• Howls Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

  
  

We're twin sisters who love cosy books and since we're always talking about them with each other, we thought we'd share those conversations with other likeminded readers who want to understand why they love these kinds of stories, what they can teach us about our real world, how they can be catalysts for change, and how they are shaping the landscape of publishing and reading. Angie Spoto is a fantasy novelist based in Edinburgh, Scotland. She’s currently working on her third novel, a cosy romantasy inspired by Scottish folklore. Sarah Spoto is a podcaster and entrepreneur living in New England in the USA.

If this sounds like your cup of tea, join us every month for a new cosy conversation.

This episode was edited by Lila Woodbridge.

Season of the Cosy Witch has a Substack! Join us for deep-dives into the cosy genre, tropes, our favourite cosy books and fascinating topics.

Instagram: @seasonofthecosywitch

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