Why We Write Cozy Fantasy: The Story Behind Positopian Publishing

We need to tell you something: we didn’t set out to become cozy fantasy authors.

We’re M and J, the husband-and-wife team behind M.J. Gillbright and Positopian Publishing. J has spent over a decade as a theme park designer, creating the kinds of immersive worlds that millions of people visit every year. We know a thing or two about building places people want to escape into.

But writing cozy fantasy? That wasn’t on our radar until one unforgettable weekend in 2025. Specifically, J’s slightly chaotic trip to a convention where he spent too much money and had a life-altering epiphany. As one does.

The ComicCon Moment

It happened at San Diego ComicCon in the summer of 2025. J was browsing the exhibitor hall, surrounded by the usual spectacle of superhero merch and giant publisher booths, when he stumbled onto something different. A small table. Handmade signs. Stacks of books with covers featuring cottages, cats, and cozy interiors.

“What’s cozy fantasy?” J asked the author behind the table.

Twenty minutes later, J walked away with an armful of books and rushed home to tell M about it. It became a completely new direction for our creative lives. (This is how all the best bad financial decisions start, incidentally.)

The author explained the genre: low-stakes fantasy centered on kindness, community, and comfort. Stories where the climax might be a successful grand opening rather than a final battle. Where the hero’s greatest strength is empathy rather than a magic sword. Where found family isn’t a subplot; it’s the whole point.

When J got home and described it all to M, they looked at each other and said, almost simultaneously, “This is what we’ve been trying to write.”

What Does “Positopian” Mean?

When we started thinking about publishing, we knew we needed a word for what we believed in. “Utopian” wasn’t right. Utopias are perfect, and perfection is boring (and frankly suspicious). “Dystopian” was definitely out. We’d had enough of bleak futures and morally bankrupt worlds.

So we coined our own term: Positopian.

Positopian means hopeful without being naive. It means acknowledging that the world has problems while choosing to write stories about people who make things better. Not through violence or domination, but through connection, creativity, and stubborn, unapologetic kindness.

It’s not about pretending everything is fine. It’s about believing things can get better and showing characters who prove it. (While eating chocolate. The chocolate part is non-negotiable.)

That philosophy became the foundation of everything we do at Positopian Publishing. Every story we tell, every character we create, every world we build, it all comes back to one question: “Does this make the reader’s world a little brighter?”

From Theme Parks to Writing

Our years in theme park design have taught us something invaluable: the power of world-building that prioritizes the guest experience. In that world, every detail exists to serve the person walking through the space. The sight lines, the music, the smells, the textures. It’s all designed to create an emotional response.

We bring that same philosophy to our writing. When we build a world, we’re not just thinking about geography and magic systems. We’re thinking about how the reader will feel. Can they smell the chocolate in the shop? Can they hear the dragon purring in the storeroom? Do they want to pull up a chair and stay awhile?

If the answer is yes, we’re doing our job. If the answer is “I want to live there permanently and also can I pet the dragon,” we’ve exceeded expectations.

Chews Joy: More Than a Motto

Our motto at Positopian Publishing is “Chews Joy.” Yes, it’s a pun. (We’re deeply committed to wordplay, and we have a chocolate-loving dragon, so it works on multiple levels. We’re not sorry. We will never be sorry.)

But it’s also a genuine philosophy. We believe joy is a choice. Not in the toxic positivity sense of “just think happy thoughts.” We mean it in the deliberate, sometimes defiant sense. Choosing to create stories that celebrate warmth and wonder. Choosing to write characters who are kind. Choosing to build a publishing house that values its readers’ emotional well-being.

In a media landscape saturated with cynicism, darkness, and shock value, choosing joy is almost a radical act. We’re here for it.

What We’re Building

Our debut novel, Chivalry & Chocolate, is the first release from Positopian Publishing. It’s set in a world where a chocolate shop becomes the unlikely heart of a community, where a dramatically opinionated, truffle-stealing dragon named Etchling steals every scene (and every bonbon), and where the greatest adventure is learning to trust the people who show up when you need them.

It’s the kind of book we wish we’d found years ago. The kind that makes you smile on the bus, that you press into a friend’s hands saying “you HAVE to read this,” that you finish and immediately want to start over because you’re not ready to leave.

That’s the goal. That’s always the goal.

Why Cozy Fantasy Matters

Some people dismiss cozy fantasy as lightweight or escapist. We respectfully disagree. (Well. Mostly respectfully. With a slight eye twitch.)

There is nothing lightweight about a story that makes someone feel less alone. There is nothing trivial about a book that reminds a reader what kindness looks like. In a world that can feel overwhelming, scary, and isolating, stories that celebrate human connection are not escapism. They’re essential.

We write cozy fantasy because we believe in the world it imagines. A world where people look out for each other. Where small acts of goodness ripple outward. Where dragons are friends, not foes, and where the best magic is the kind that brings people together.

Join Us

If any of this resonates with you, welcome. You’ve found your people. (We have chocolate.)

Positopian Publishing is just getting started, and we’d love for you to be part of the journey. Follow along as we share behind-the-scenes stories, cozy fantasy recommendations, and updates on Chivalry & Chocolate and everything that comes next.

Because the world needs more stories that chews joy. And we’re just getting started.

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