Tag: Enthusiasm

Word Salad.

Sara Mazariegos

I attended the Gaithersburg Book Festival this past Saturday. It was inspiring to see so many book lovers and listen to authors detail their work routines (and their addictions to reading Goodreads reviews!) I left with three new books and several publishing companies’ bookmarks. A+ would do it again.

I’ve reached the point in revising my novel where I’ve tasked myself with making a significant change. I think it will really help the plot, but it’s still weighty to make a big change when the story has been one way for so long. All good authors make changes though! That’s what I keep telling myself.

Next month, I’m planning to attend an Ali Hazelwood event for her newest book (Love, Theoretically) — day job permitting. I find that what ignites me the most is reading/watching other authors discussing their writing. Enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm, at least for me.

What gets you excited about writing?

Authors Supporting Authors.

Sara Mazariegos

As I’m hoping to publish a novel, I’ve been reading all kinds of novels in the same genre/niche area. “Romance” is such a broad category, and I think it’s often judged based on the old-fashioned, Fabio covers of the past. Not to say that there’s anything wrong with, as my mom calls them, bodice-rippers, but romance novels come in many assorted styles and themes. That’s why it’s still such a popular genre.

My particular niche in the genre is commonly labeled as New Adult Contemporary, meaning the characters are recent college graduates and it takes place in current-ish times. Aside from writing my novel, reading these comparable books has been my favorite part of the getting-published process so far. It’s been a joy to read other works from contemporary romance authors such as Sophie Cousens, Abbi Waxman, and Allison Ashley. What a fantastic way to find inspiration, reassurance, and a sort of camaraderie, even if only through the written pages of others.

This is something I’ve been contemplating a lot recently: although my novel is a romantic story about two young adults finding love, it’s also a love letter to the Internet communities that grow and support each other both online and off. If it weren’t for the Internet, many of my generation and younger wouldn’t have met the people who matter the most in our lives.

There’s an upcoming book that I’m looking forward to reading called Planes, Trains, and All the Feels by Livy Hart. The title makes me so happy. To share my excitement at preordering a copy, I tweeted at her. I’ve never been great at containing my enthusiasm for things I enjoy.

She replied that my tweet made her day. And, in tweeting that to me, she made mine.