As usual, I’m getting into a TV show that’s several years old. Luis and I recently started watching Hacks, and it’s so clever. I admit, I initially wanted to watch it because Hannah Einbinder is Laraine Newman’s daughter. Before checking it out, I watched some of her standup, and she’s funny. I love her voices. It’s fun to see her and Jean Smart together.
Aside from Hacks, we’ve been watching another Hollywood-focused show called Death by Fame. It’s mostly about famous people or “famous” people losing their minds and killing people. Sometimes they get killed themselves, but I’ve noticed it’s mostly the “famous” people who snap. Some of the episodes are a stretch. Others are really good, because they introduce me to actors or whatever I may never have noticed before. I had no idea Drew Carey once had a fiancée who was murdered. ☹️
I’m looking forward to our trip to L.A. this month. I’m a little nervous, too, because of the airplane stuff that’s been happening, and the fires. Thankfully, it looks like the fires have been contained. This year already feels so strange, and it’s only the beginning of February.
For all of February, I’m taking a break from writing, to give my brain a break. I’ve been reading The Book Swap by Tessa Bickers. It’s really cute so far. There’s a deceased character in it, and it’s really creative how she writes about her. She’s not quite a ghost, but she’s ghost-esque. You know I love ghosts.
This weekend, we’re going to play board games with one of Luis’s old friends. She was in our wedding, and we haven’t seen her in far too long. And then on Sunday, we’re going to the movies and other things to avoid the big football game. We do not partake. 😝
Went to bed last night with the news of the airplane/military helicopter crash at one of our local airports. It’s shocking and bizarre, and I both hope it was just an accident and also have to ask HOW did such a horrible accident happen?
I already kind of hate this year. ☹️
I started out this blog post draft with a writing prompt answer. The mood was a bit different then…
Daily writing prompt
Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.
I still haven’t visited Frederick, MD even though I’ve heard good things about it and I know some people who live there. It looks pretty, from photos I’ve seen. We’re going there for a friend’s wedding this spring! I’m looking forward to finally experiencing it. The wedding just so happens to be on a weekend with a 14th, so Luis and I can celebrate that a little, too. ☺️
I’m currently reading a book I think will be a good comp for my next novel, but I asked my favorite literary agent from TSNOTYAW if it’s okay for an American author to use U.K. authors as comps. The lived experiences of the characters are somewhat different, but the feelings and themes are still there.
It’s nice to have reassurance sometimes.
On the revising front, I’m getting near the end of my second read-through round of edits. Then I’m going to take February off to give myself a break from thinking about it (as much as I can.) In March, Luis will be my alpha reader. Because he’s helpful.
I hope you’re doing okay in these scary times. I’ve found reading to be much more solace than social media these days. It always has been, but now it’s even more obvious that social media is not good for you.
I joined the Dear Hank and John Patreon livestream on Wednesday and they announced that tickets were on sale for John Green’s new book tour, for Everything is Tuberculosis! As soon as I got home, Luis and I got tickets. I’m so excited! It feels a little odd to be excited since I’m sure it’s going to also be sad and frustrating to learn about, but I’m still excited to see him again and hear his latest work. We haven’t seen John in person since 2017, when he gave us a lime green Kitchenaid mixer as a wedding present. Something like that’s not going to happen again, but it will still be a great show.
John and Hank Green led to Luis and me meeting, so I couldn’t pass up the chance to see John again. Hopefully Hank will come to D.C. again someday, too.
Many places in Los Angeles have been burned in wildfires, which is scary and sad, and nerve-wracking because we’re going to be there in a little over a month. I’ve donated to redcross.org to help. Los Angeles has been on my mind a lot over the past week.
And then there’s this whole thing with Neil Gaiman. *Deep Sigh*
In writing news, I finished listening to my novel (as read by a phone app!) Luis listened along with me, and he told me he really likes it, though he’s a bit biased. 😏 Now the goal is to read it through and make edits. Thankfully, I didn’t find anything glaring that needs to change, plotwise, so that’s a relief. Restructuring and rewriting really did the trick.
I’m currently reading How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang and I really like it. I’ve noticed that she repeats the descriptor “Victorian” all the time, which is amusing because it escaped edits and read-throughs for her. It makes me think about what words or phrases I might’ve overused. I’ll focus on fixing things like that this first go-around of editing.
I finished writing my novel’s second draft on Monday! 🎉 It was much easier to write this time, largely because I retooled my outline and gave myself enough time to really think it through before writing it all out. We watched It’s A Wonderful Life again on the 14th, and it inspired my final push to the end. My novel is very different, but it’s influenced by that movie, sort of like how Planes, Trains, and All The Feels by Livy Hart is clearly inspired by Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. It gave me the initial “Hey! I want to do that!” inspiration.
I can’t remember if I’ve shared this story here, but my parents have watched It’s A Wonderful Life every Christmas Eve my entire life. It’s as much a Christmas tradition for me as putting up a decorated tree or opening presents. I still watch it every holiday season, though not on Christmas Eve since that’s become the evening we spend with Luis’s family.
When I was around seven years old, I noticed I couldn’t hear in my right ear. I remember being on the phone with my grandpa and I couldn’t hear him if I switched which ear the phone was up against. I remember thinking, “Huh, that’s weird. I wonder if everyone’s ears are like that.” (I was young.)
I voiced my concern a few years later, because my friends were playing Telephone at a party — another telephone! — and I couldn’t hear the messages being whispered into my right ear. In moments of panic, I just made things up and passed those messages along instead. My friends kept being like, “Where did the message get messed up??” and looking at me. Now, I was a strange and silly child, but in this instance I wasn’t trying to deviate! I was embarrassed about not being able to hear. Looking back, I know I could’ve just turned my head and insisted on using the ear that hears, but at the time it felt like it would break the rules…
When I told my family, they thought I was pretending to be George Bailey because I’d seen that movie every year and I had a penchant for pretending to be my favorite characters.
Now, that’s one thing, but when I was in school, for the hearing test they used to give us with the headphones and the hand raising if you hear the tone on one side or the other, I used to wait until there was a pause and the tester was looking at me expectantly, and then I’d dutifully raise my right hand. “Oh yeah, I definitely heard that…” [Not.]
It wasn’t until I was fifteen that I finally stopped faking and honestly took that test. My parents were told I should go see an ear, nose, and throat doctor. I did more hearing tests. My right cochlea doesn’t work. Records were checked. Apparently, I’ve been deaf in that ear since I was two years old, after a bad fever and ear infection.
So I love George Bailey because I identify with him. Sure, I didn’t save anyone from a frozen lake, but I have the same hearing loss! One thing I noticed this year is that George situates himself at the table with his father on his bad side. I’d never do that! I always make sure the people I’m most trying to hear are on my “good side.” That’s to say nothing of the balance issues he probably should display, etc.
Maybe that’s why he trips at the dance.
Anyway, I finished my writing draft. This is the nifty chart. I’m going to take a break from it for at least two weeks. How handy that the holidays are at the same time. 😄
I hope you have happy holidays and a happy, joyous New Year! Try not to stress too much about the future. That’s probably my resolution.
P.S. The “George Bailey” character in my novel doesn’t have hearing loss. That would be too similar to the original. I gave him something else of mine: he has car anxiety.
Caring for pets is expensive, but worth it in the long run. Boo had her first follow-up appointment on Monday, and it was funny because it was speedy and she was sedated, so she was so calm and sleepy. Her incisions are healing nicely, and she can get her stitches out next Monday.
We probably should’ve been sedating her for appointments the whole time. 😅
Her biopsy results are inconclusive, so we’re going to monitor her for changes and see what happens. We don’t want/need to put her through any unnecessary surgeries if she’s just got inflammation from allergies. She’s already been through a lot. We don’t want to make her miserable. The good news is that the vet didn’t sound concerned. They didn’t find anything bad.
I bit the bullet and ordered a copy of House of Leaves from Bookshop.org so I don’t have to keep returning it to the library, waiting for my hold to come in, and getting it again. It’s too complex of a story. Even if I don’t lose my place, I have to go back and read what was happening to know what was going on where I left off. Luis always recommends these smarty-pants books to me*. I’m excited to own it, so I can stare at the pages for hours like a mega nerd.
If you’re unfamiliar, and you probably are because it’s a very strange book, House of Leaves is written in a very all-over-the-place way. There are footnotes that lead in all kinds of directions, including going back pages instead of forward. Sometimes, they’re vertical, too. It’s easy to get lost in. This is why a slow reader like me can’t just get it from the library and have any hope of reading it in three weeks! I really like it, though. It’s inventive.
My writing is going well. I’m currently resting at a little over 37,000 words – I will write more tonight. I wrote less last night because the vet called. I’m still feeling much better about this draft. I’m getting the story out and then I can go back in and polish it instead of having to rewrite it extensively. I feel like I’ve improved, which is a great feeling. ☺️
I got us tickets to see Wicked this weekend. I’ve never read the book or seen/heard the musical, so I’m excited to see what it’s all about. I’ve seen/heard two of the songs, so that’s the knowledge I have going in. I own the book but it’s on my massive shelf of to-be-read books. Apparently, the book is very different from the musical and a lot of people don’t like it. It’s curious how that happens… How a disliked/controversial book begets an adaptation people love. Gregory Maguire seems happy with it.
I’m sure he’s happy to have found an audience.
* He got me to read Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick, and more Alan Moore than just Watchmen.
The timing of this post turned out to be more prescient than I thought it would be. Good lord. I planned to write about how I feel less pressured/guilty when writing without NaNoWriMo or any other progress tracker looming over me. I’ve been keeping track of my word count each day simply by putting it into my calendar, and I gave myself a loose end goal of 2 weeks before NaNoWriMo+ starts…
Now I suppose I should feel even less concerned about using the official NaNoWriMo site. They’re apparently allowing their users’ writing to train AI and other such nonsense. 😲 I’ll stick to Pacemaker, thanks. I still plan to write/revise a novel in November through mid-December, but I won’t use NaNoWriMo’s website to help motivate me. It’s unfortunate for all the young writers who look forward to it each year. I hope a lot of users leave it and stop donating.
My current novel is easy to write, somehow. It helps that I carefully outlined it and I’m playing with some quirky fantasy ideas. It feels like there are fewer rules with magical romance. As long as there’s a happily ever after. (Of course there is!) Some people think it’s unnecessary for a romance to end happily, but they’re wrong.
Speaking of the rules of romance novels, I’ve noticed for at least the second time that the book I’m currently reading — this time it’s The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston — has such negative reviews on Goodreads that I keep thinking “Did we read the same book?”
I know different people have different tastes, but people can be so heated and mean on there. I happen to LOVE this book, if it’s not obvious. It’s a spooky love story with ghosts, gallows humor, and even a few Haunted Mansion references! What’s not for Sara to like?? I got a copy from my local library but I have since put it onto my gift wishlist because I feel I must own a copy.
Nine out of ten times, I want to own the book I’m reading.
Speaking of spooky stuff, we’re seeing Beetlejuice Beetlejuice this weekend! It got better reviews than I expected. I’m relieved. I still doubt it’s better than the first one. It’s hard to be better than Tim Burton’s best movie.
Luis and I saw It Ends With Us last weekend. I keep accidentally calling it The Last of Us, but that’s not fair to The Last of Us. If you’re not aware of It Ends With Us, it’s a romantic drama starring Blake Lively, based on the Colleen Hoover novel by the same name. It’s controversial in how it deals with domestic violence. It’s also apparently controversial because Blake Lively and the director had different visions. My vision is perhaps this movie didn’t need to get made.
It’s funny because, initially, I thought it wasn’t as bad as I first imagined. It got pretty bad reviews, but romance movies are often harshly judged. But then I had more time to think about it when I wasn’t watching it anymore. And yeah, there is a lot that’s messed up about it. (I still love Jenny Slate, though. She’s in it as the best friend who kind of shows up in the story to bethe best friend.)
Anyway, it’s a good lesson in how not to write things… Then again, Colleen Hoover is very successful, so it’s working for her. It definitely made me think. I don’t think I’ll read the book.
Speaking of books, I’m getting close to the end of The Good Part — that sounds sad — and I love it so much. It’s not what I thought it would be. It’s way more heartwarming. I also recently started reading The Dead Romantics. Both of these books should round out my reading challenge to read 15 books this year. I’m not going to stop reading, of course. It’s only August! 😅
The Dead Romantics is in past tense, which is throwing me a little now that I’ve read a few present tense novels. I know I once wrote that I don’t like present tense, and I still prefer past tense, but present has grown on me. It makes it feel as though you’re a part of the story, instead of watching it unfold. I think it works for certain stories more than others.
My new novel I’m working on is in present tense, so I don’t want to be a hypocrite. I’m trying something new! It’s a little intimidating, but I’m enjoying it so far. It’s bridging the gap between the last novel I wrote and the one I’m planning for November.
A lot of my blog post titles are Kate Bush lyrics. I always end up listening to her when I’m writing these entries.
Wuthering Heights as a novel didn’t do much for me, mainly because it’s a story told from a random perspective. And then there’s the character I can’t understand at all. But somehow, the story still stays with me. The spooky ghost stuff always gets me in the end.
It feels like a lot has happened, but it’s mostly just a lot of hopeful ideas and planning that’s been going on. I thought of another novel idea, so I’ve been working on it as a sort of “summer fling” before NaNoWriMo in November. I thought of the idea when I was half awake on Saturday. If Paul McCartney has taught me anything, great ideas can strike when one is semi-conscious*!
It’s a romance novel inspired by my cat.
Bookwise, I’ve finished reading the book about Sophie Scholl (with much sadness for her and her brother and compatriots.) I’ll work on plotting out the novel based loosely on her at some point in the future. I’ve hit my limit with story ideas now. I can only think about so much. 😅
I’ve started reading The Good Part by Sophie Cousens and it’s been a warm reminder that I adore Sophie Cousens novels. It’s also nearly made me burst into tears a few times. It’s delightful. A lot of toddler grossness, but in a cute way? It might be my favorite of her books (so far.)
Tomorrow is Luis’s birthday. I’m taking the day off and taking him out to a fancy seafood dinner. He’s been working so hard with a big transition at his job, so I hope to help him have a great weekend.
I hope you have a great weekend too.
*He claims to have written both “Yesterday” and “Yellow Submarine” while in this dreamlike state.
Remember when I said I was working on my holiday-themed story? I was hit by a creativity spark while reading my beta reader’s feedback on my other novel, so I’m planning to finish the holiday novel’s rewrites in November now (for NaNoWriMo+) and I’m working on rewriting the first story again.
I got a burst of inspiration last Friday as I looked through my notes for a romantasy story I was slowly starting to piece together. It clicked! I could combine elements of that story with my first story. My first story is so personal and matters so much to me. Like they discussed in today’s episode of The Shit No One Tells You About Writing, taking the time to really focus and hone the story I want to publish is important.
I don’t want to give up on it and leave it in a closet to die.
Since Friday, I’ve completely retooled the plot outline, making it follow the Save The Cat beat sheet. It has a real flow now, and the themes jump out much more than they used to. The conflict is much clearer. I’m so excited to work on this draft! I only wish I’d discovered STC sooner, so I wouldn’t have been such a strugglesaurus these past few years. But I know, thanks to WriterThreads, that I’m not alone.
I changed the title of the novel for the fourth time, too. Ha. It fits the story better, though it could’ve worked with the older drafts as well. That’s part of how I know it’s a good one. Titles change a bunch of times, though. I’m not getting attached to any of the ones I come up with.
Thanks to Carly Watters, I have another genre I can add to my pitch paperwork, too: autofiction.
Don’t be afraid to work on something else if you’re feeling stuck on something. Even if that something else is the thing you’ve already “finished” twice. 😉
Full disclosure: I discovered Maureen Johnson through her short stint as John Green’s stand-in during his first paternity leave from his YouTube channel (Vlogbrothers.) As a writer, the video above is so valuable. I think about it every time I’m in the midst of a writing sprint. It’s so important to allow yourself to power through when things aren’t clicking the way you thought they would in your mind. No one’s first, second, third, eighth* draft is as good as they want it to be. You just gotta keep going, keep writing, and eventually the kinks will be ironed out and it will become the story you were going for.
Why am I posting this today?
I started rewriting my second novel (the one from last November/Christmastime.) It’s been… a challenge. This time of year is busy. But I’ve started it! I’m about 5,000 words in. My goal is to be kind to myself this time. I don’t have to write 2,000 words a day if I really can’t. I’ll still do my best, but some days are just not great and that’s okay!
My goal is to be finished with this second draft by the end of June. That’s plenty of time! I found my groove yesterday, so I’m past the blank-first-page mental hurdle.
How’s your writing going? I assume you’re also a writer. You might actually be a welder. That’s cool, too. What’s that like?
Until next time,
*not necessarily hyperbole. Some novels take a lot of drafts before they’re finished. It really does take time.
Sara Mazariegos 