Tag: Authors

I needed to possess you – I hated you – I loved you, too.

Sara Mazariegos

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.

Looking for a spark.

Sara Mazariegos


Whoo boy, have I made some changes.

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. 😉

That’s just the way it is.

Sara Mazariegos
Daily writing prompt
Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?
View all responses

I give myself permission to suck.


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.

Wish I knew what you were looking for.

Sara Mazariegos


My goal this week has been to take it easy. I’ve created a novel outline; I’ve thought of things to include in this new draft. I’m not letting myself start writing it until Monday.

Meanwhile, I’ve been reading The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn. It’s so good. I need to read everything she’s ever written. Her writing style matches mine and my preferences in novels I like to read. I’m still obsessed with Georgie, All Along.

This go-around, I’m not going to worry so much about the publishing side of things. I want to focus on my writing and enjoy it. I figure the more “business” side can come later, once I’m sure I’ve got a manuscript worthy of the effort.

Short post this time. I said everything I wanted to say in the video above. Plus, I said it through burned lips.

That’s not a figure of speech.

Vladimir collects ceramic unicorns.

Sara Mazariegos


I both won and lost my personal book game for my birthday. I got so many new books. Ah, loopholes. If I was really serious about not getting any books for a while, I wouldn’t ask for them for my birthday. 😇

You can see my excitement about one of them in the video above. I will take it to Disney World and Guatemala, not that I foresee having much extra time to read it while on vacation. Perhaps during the flights, while I’m awake. One of my flights will land at 4 something in the morning!

I’m already feeling grateful for taking a recovery day after our trip. I’m mostly going to use it for sleeping.

As I’ve mentioned, I’m going to jump right into reading the draft of my other novel as soon as I’m back and conscious. I have so many ideas, but I’m pacing myself and being organized about them this go-around. Because “Write all the things!” leads to a mess and/or burnout.

See? I’m learning!

This trip may just fill me with further inspiration. Isn’t that always the way, for authors? Inspiration can be found everywhere.

Until next time,

You got it down when you appear to be in pain.

Sara Mazariegos


This week has been so topsy-turvy.

First, it has been so snowy that I’ve worked from home two days and I’ll possibly have to do so tomorrow as well. Have I mentioned that I hate this time of year? I’ve never liked the cold, and snow makes everything so much harder. I say this as someone from Montana. I moved away from there when I was three, and I’m glad! 😛

Another big change this week is that the company I work for decided to move my desk from a little office in a corner everyone ignored to the main reception desk on our floor. I’m not a receptionist and social interaction is not my friend, so let’s just say my Bluetooth headphones are really going to come in handy.

They don’t expect me to be a receptionist. They just wanted to move someone into my office and this desk was empty. Fuuuuuun.

Anyway, my blog’s not meant for work woes.

I’ve been rewriting my novel and it’s going okay so far. I’m feeling the usual “Is this good? Do I write like a 4th grader?” feelings, but I’m noticing it’s a trend among writers to feel that way. Kate Clayborn posted on Threads that she felt similar about writing her latest novel. I love Kate Clayborn’s writing! So that made me feel much better.

One bit of exciting revision/developmental news: I finally figured out my romance novel’s hook! It took me far too long, but it was staring me in the face the whole time. I’m skewing the story in a different, but somehow also the same, direction and I’m excited! It’s going to be so cute (if I do say so myself.)

My husband has been THE BIGGEST help. Full credit to him for not only helping me when he doesn’t need to but also listening to me endlessly blather on about writing, my plot, and my ideas. He gives me suggestions to make things better rather than just saying “Yes, dear” and going back to playing Zelda, which he would be fully within his rights to do. He’s my quiet co-writer for a lot of it. ❤️

Hope you’re staying warm out there!

Put the book back on the shelf.

Sara Mazariegos


I received so many books for Christmas AND a new bookshelf to place them on. I’m serious about only reading books I own this year. I’m probably going to also try to enact a policy of giving away books I’ve finished reading and don’t necessarily want to keep anymore.

The first book I put in the Little Free Library this year was Dune. I only read the first half; it’s not for me.

The three books I’m currently reading — Don Quixote, In Cold Blood, and The Haunting of Hill House — are decidedly not in the genre I write, so it’s been a nice change of pace for my brain while I’m taking a short break from writing/revising. Many of the new books I got for Christmas are romance, so I won’t be taking a break from it for too long. 😉

I leaned hard into the comp books last year, so I have a stack of 2023 romance novels to get through this year. ‘2023’ means the year, not the amount! Thankfully, I’m not that bad… Then again, I’ve never counted up all my books.

It’s probably closer to 1,000 books.

I’m excited/nervous to read through my novel and take notes for the next revision. I have all kinds of ideas, but who knows if they’ll actually be useful?

John Green has said he deletes a lot of what he writes. I wonder how many versions of The Fault in Our Stars existed before he was satisfied. I’m willing to guess more than five, so I shouldn’t be too hard on myself.

May 2024 be a successful year!

I’m Going Slightly Mad.

Sara Mazariegos

Now that our trip is over and I’m back to being able to think about writing, I’m finding it’s all I can think about.

I’m planning to complete my recommended writing pause and start writing something brand new on November 1st, for NaNoWriMo. I must take a week off to go to a family wedding, but no sweat because I’m planning to write through December to get to at least 80,000 words anyway. NaNoWri2Mo?

I wish I hadn’t written out a detailed outline already, because now I’m just sitting around like, “What do I doooo??” I’ve become inspired by Christine Riccio’s writing journey. I started paying attention to it because I started reading the book she was working on — Again, But Better. It’s pretty fun to watch her progress on the story I’ve come to know well.

There were some moments yesterday when I felt pretty low and self-doubty. I want to publish the novel I worked so hard on for 3+ years, but I have to be realistic and move on to the next project… at least for now.

Who knows? Maybe writing my next novel will help me improve the last one in the next edit/rewrite stage!

I’m trying to channel Christine’s positive energy. We’ll see if it works when I’m allowed to write again.

Pizzamas.

Sara Mazariegos

I’m a Nerdfighter, and therefore I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that it’s the middle of Pizzamas! It’s a yearly tradition wherein John Green (and this year, his brother Hank) grows a ridiculous mustache and they make videos every day for two weeks (not including weekends.) They also have a shop, which I linked above but also again in this sentence, where you can purchase cool shirts (with Pizza John on them), blankets, sweaters, Chia Pets?!, etc. All of the money goes to charity, and once the two weeks are over, you can’t purchase the items again.

This year, the proceeds go to charities that stop tuberculosis.

I bought a shirt the first day. 🙂

DFTBA*.

*Don’t Forget To Be Awesome

Going for the “no.”

Sara Mazariegos

Jessica Faust from BookEnds recommends going for the “no” when submitting query letters, because it helps narrow down the list of potential agents and helps gauge if something needs to change — either the query itself or the novel’s concept.

I admit, I sent out my first thirteen queries without considering this. The nos depressed me, especially the first one. But, eventually, I realized getting a no is better than not getting any kind of response and it takes a lot of nos before eventually getting a “yes.”

I’ve since stopped sending query letters so I can rewrite my novel according to beta feedback and my notes. I’m reshaping things to better fit what actually fits into the market, while still holding true to my novel and what I have to say.

Hopefully, I’ll be much closer to a “yes” when I send my next batch of queries with my fresh manuscript draft.