Tag: Novels

It’s symbolic, of course.

Sara Mazariegos

There are currently three major news stories in the U.S.: the Epstein client list, the Coldplay cheater cam, and Colbert losing his show because CBS is spineless. I’m so angry on Stephen Colbert’s behalf, as many other people are. Legions of people have come out in support of him, which is nice to see. I hope he finds a better avenue for his show, but it sucks too because a lot of his staff are going to lose their jobs. It’ll be easier for him than for them.

A fourth major news story happened yesterday while I was getting ready to leave work. Ozzy Osbourne died, only a few weeks after his big farewell concert with Black Sabbath. 😢 I wasn’t a huge fan or anything, but I still shed a few tears. Especially when Puddles Pity Party did a tribute when he opened at the concert yesterday. He sang a slow ballad version of “Crazy Train” with a photo of young Ozzy on the screen behind him, and my face was wet.

Puddles Pity Party was otherwise funny, and unique. He opened for Weird Al. We saw Weird Al for the second time! The last time we saw him was 9 years ago. We were so close this time! Center Row F, so maybe 10 rows from the stage. I didn’t need to watch him on the screen this time, which is always awesome. The show was different, but it had many of the same songs and video clips from last time. It’d be difficult not to; as Luis pointed out, it’s not like he’s been in a hundred new TV shows and movies since 2016. He did a big medley of all the classic songs. His costume changes and use of media are impressive. When he did “White & Nerdy” I briefly worried he might Segway off the stage, but he didn’t. He’s a professional.

I went to bed an hour late last night because of Weird Al. I’m groggy, but it was worth it.

On Saturday, Luis and I got food poisoning. Typical me, I then spent the next two days being paranoid about it, but I got over it within 24 hours. We’re going to avoid the place that made us sick, though, just to be safe. The worst thing about it, at least in my case, was that it came out of nowhere. I was fine one minute and then–. Bodies can be the worst sometimes. Then again, bodies are like that in order to keep us alive…

Speaking of being sick*, we saw Eddington, the new movie starring Pedro Pascal, Joaquin Phoenix, and Emma Stone (she’s not in it that much.) It’s… certainly a movie. It’s a very long, confusing movie. I’m not sure what Ari Aster’s message was supposed to be. It felt oddly timed. I prefer Midsommar and Hereditary. The acting and cinematography were good, but the writing was ehh. Disappointing. I thought the promotional campaign with the Tiktok-esque stuff was more interesting.

I’ve read quite a few articles and social media posts about Gen Z not liking sex scenes in novels and movies. It’s a turn-off for them, pun intended. In my opinion, sex scenes are necessary and expected in romance novels, at least the ones that are widely popular. That’s not to say they have to be heavily graphic or anything, but sex is one way of becoming intimately close with a partner, so it’s a way for the romantic leads to bond. It shouldn’t be the only way they bond, but it’s realistic and natural. If done well, sex scenes can even be cute.

I err on the side of cute. I do my best to always make them cute. There are no “throbbing members” to be found in my novels, I promise. And the scenes move the plot forward and matter to the characters, they’re not just in there because romance = sex. That’s such a shallow way of viewing both romance and sex.

Sorry. Rant over. Until next week.

* It makes sense if you see it, but I’ll also just tell you: there’s a lot of Covid stuff in it.

It’s confusing these days.

Sara Mazariegos

Last weekend was really fun. The party for Luis’s mom was great, and he made an awesome video with a bunch of his family members wishing his mom a happy birthday. Then he made a speech and it was so cute. I may be biased, but my husband is amazing. 🥰  Then the next day, we went to the Air & Space Museum and spent a few hours looking at the updated exhibits. I had a margarita in a can! I did not expect anything like that to be available in their cafe. Next month, more new exhibits are opening, including one that features Amelia Earhart. Just more reasons to go back again. We still need to visit the one in Virginia, too. That’s where they’re keeping Enola Gay these days.

Luis bought me a copy of the library book I was reading, so for a brief period I had two nearly identical copies of The Ex Talk. I’m reading my own copy now. My used copy is a retired library book, so I went from reading one library book to another. This one’s cover is laminated! I love owning old library books. They tell stories of their own.

He also got me a copy of Ashley Poston’s new novel, Sounds Like Love. I love her covers. Whoever designs them deserves extra points. I’m planning to read her other gorgeous novel, A Novel Love Story next.

We’re getting together with my family on the 4th of July. We always go see them and have food and watch the DC fireworks celebration, and then we set off a few small fireworks in the street outside the house. It’s always been about spending time with family for me, more than patriotism, really. It’s especially like that now.

I’m just grateful for a day off.

My writing is progressing well. I’m writing a little over a chapter a week, so I can really feel it coming along. I’ve also started thinking ahead and putting fun ideas in my outline, so I remember to actually use them. I’ve definitely thought of things to do and then forgotten about them, in the past. The first time I wrote this story, back in 2020, I didn’t even have an outline. It’s come a long way.

I was reading The Ex Talk last night and bits of it were aligning well with my story’s themes. I thought, “Yes! This really is a perfect comp.” It’s relatable to my life, too. I found this book just by searching for romance novels with workplace conflicts. I’m so glad I found it.

We talk about this whole stupid world and still come out laughing (Ha!)

Sara Mazariegos

The 14th is this Saturday. Luis and I always do something a little special since we first started dating—and got married—on a 14th. I wanted to come to D.C. this time and explore the redesigned Air & Space Museum. But the Mall is going to be full of people and all kinds of militaristic stuff I don’t want to be around. 😞 So we’ll save that for another time (possibly another 14th) and go get pizza and books instead.

We went with his family to another fun escape room in D.C. last weekend. My main mode when I do those things is finding all of the useful parts and giving them to others to actually solve, haha. When a room is open, I look all around for puzzle pieces, flashlights, etc that will aid in getting out of the room. I’m pretty good at doing it quickly. The other day, I opened a combination on a door flap. That felt special.

Luis and I are working on designing a Haunted Mansion escape room in our house. I’m so excited, because—as you know by now, I’m sure—The Haunted Mansion is my favorite Disney anything. He’s been asking for my input and we’ve been using a lot of our stuff to create a fun story. Last year’s Batman escape room was a real hit, so hopefully this one will be, too. Luis even creates videos for them! One of our friends asked who made the Batman one and was amazed that he did. We could start a small business, performing home escape rooms, but it would be complicated because we’d have to go to people’s houses, like birthday clowns or magicians or something. I wonder if that’s already a thing.

Since I’m working on retooling my Nerdfighter novel, I’ve been paying more attention to similar books again. One tough thing in the whole query-writing saga is finding good comp titles. They’re supposed to not be too old or too famous, and they don’t have to be extremely similar to your plot or your characters. They’re mainly meant to have some similar themes or even just evoke similar feelings when you read them, so they give literary agents some good examples of how your book would do in the market.

I read the other day that a comp title can be older than five years as long as the author is still releasing books. I think I’m going to hold the internet to that, because I found a great comp that’s from 2021 and the author has released several books since then. The story in this one just happens to fit my novel the best.

Luis and I will be looking at books on Saturday, though, so who knows? I may come home with a brand new perfect comp title instead.

I had never seen a set of eyes more hazelerer.

Sara Mazariegos

I was going to write about not giving up on story even when it starts to bore me or when I’d rather write something else. But then I got bit by the inspiration bug and spent the whole weekend awash in plotting and outlining my ideas for my retooling of my Nerdfighters-inspired novel. So my other novel is going on the back-burner. It helps that it has a strong outline. I won’t forget to finish it.

Luis is meanwhile enjoying coming up with great ideas for our next escape room at our house this Halloween. I told him I wanted to do a Haunted Mansion one, and he’s been on a roll. I’m so excited to see what he creates. We help each other with our different, but similar, creative projects. I love it. 💖

On Sunday, I sent in my It’s A Wonderful Life novel’s query letter for The Shit No One Tells You About Writing to critique. We’ll see if it catches their attention. If they don’t select it for their podcast, maybe that means it’s already good enough. I’m trying to be positive. I’m not going to rush out the queries like I did in the past. Especially because I’m still having a few beta readers look it over.

So far, a beta reader is enjoying my novel. She said it’s polished. I hope it doesn’t nosedive as she gets further into it. I feel better about that story. I think taking time with it has served me well. Hopefully I can keep bringing that energy and that attitude to my novels going forward.

I can feel the improvement, which is a reward in and of itself.

In other news, I’m still impressed by season two of The Rehearsal. I told my dad to check it out, since he’s an airplane enthusiast. He told me he watched Nathan Fielder on Jimmy Kimmel’s show, and I thought, “Nooo!” 🤣 Because it was pretty spoilery. I was surprised by how much. Anyway, that season is really good. I liked it more than the first season, and I liked the first season quite a bit too.

Until next time,

I read your books and talked for hours.

Sara Mazariegos

Today we’re going to see John Green talk about tuberculosis. Last time we saw John Green, he talked about obsessive compulsive disorder and gave us a lime green mixer from our wedding registry. The time before that, we saw him at the National Book Festival and he signed my beloved former New York Public Library copy of Paper Towns. And the time before that, I saw him by myself at his tour stop in Bethesda for The Fault in Our Stars – and that’s when I first discovered my local Nerdfighter group, which eventually led me to Luis.

John Green matters very much to me.


I got a copy yesterday, but I haven’t started reading yet because I wanted to be in the right headspace. We’re each getting a copy at the reading today, too, because the book comes with each ticket. So I’m going to be swimming in copies of this book. 😅

Aside from going to the show, it’s also nice to have a day off from work. Something about this year has made being at the office five days a week downright exhausting. But, at the same time, things feel like they’re running more smoothly this year, possibly because I’ve gotten better at my job, but also there’s a new person helping me in my role, which is fantastic. I hope things keep going well. And that’s enough thinking about work on my day off.

This weekend, we’re going to spend Saturday with my family and Sunday with Luis’s parents, celebrating my birthday early. On my birthday, we’re going to Medieval Times with friends so I can reenact The Cable Guy. 😅

In writing news, the 500 words a day plan is going swimmingly. It’s kind of hard to explain, but it helps me feel like I’m in the scene more than it does when I write 2,000 words a day. This is probably unsurprising, but I’ve been programmed to have maximum output, so to slow down and take my time is both a big shift and also… a relief. Things are given more time to develop, which I think will make stronger scenes. Also things will be easier for me to edit without feeling like I’m losing a ton of words in the process, because I imagine the scenes will require additions instead of subtractions.

I’m plantsing my way through this one. Can you tell?

When I walked to my bus yesterday, I thought about my Nerdfighter novel and things to change to make it better. Even when I’m not working on stories, I’m still thinking about them.

I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time.

Sara Mazariegos

Have you ever had such an intense dream/nightmare that you’ve woken up with a headache? That happened to me last week, and it was quite frightening. I’ve been thinking about it ever since; the funny thing is, I can’t remember much of the dream itself, just the intense emotion and headache.

In writing news, my systematic approach to editing is going well, if I do say so myself. I’m only reading three (or so) chapters a day; making changes and neatening things up as I go. Once again, I’m finding the editing and revising stage to be eye-opening and a fun challenge for myself. Am I a rare breed of writer who actually likes editing??

I also think I’ve matured as a writer as I’ve gained experience and listened to weekly* The Shit No One Tells You About Writing episodes. I have no idea how people with full-time jobs can attend conferences and writers retreats. I’m an eager listener/reader of their advice when they return with it, though! Surely that counts for something.

Once the story is in Luis’s hands — digitally, actually — I plan to start plotting out my new story idea and maybe even start writing it. I hope to be a little more chill when drafting this time. The NaNoWriMo style of writing (ie. making sure to write roughly 2k words a day) is handy for getting the novel done in a shorter amount of time, but there’s no reason to rush the writing process, especially because all of it takes time!

Luis will be happier if I’m not writing for hours and hours every day, too. I can’t write at 5 AM like certain authors, or late at night. I’m solidly an afternoon creative, and having a job makes that… a challenge. So my goal with my next novel is to be finished writing the first draft by December? That seems loose enough.


*Nearly weekly, anyway. I do have a life that sometimes gets in the way. 😉

Like a drunk, but not.

Sara Mazariegos

Wow, a lot has happened in the past week.

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.

Victorianly,

“I’m shaking the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I’m gonna see the world!”

Sara Mazariegos

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.

“Remember the night we broke the windows in this old house? This is what I wished for.”

Sara Mazariegos

When I was in seventh grade, at the start of middle school, I decided I wanted a nickname. The trouble was that I didn’t really have a nickname, so I tried to test one out by only telling one of my classes — Intro to Foreign Languages — to call me Shelly. I didn’t count on one of my classmates in that class being in one of my other classes… She approached me and said something like, “You told us to call you Shelly in one class, but you don’t go by that name in this class.”

So, Shelly never really caught on.

It’s funny how I don’t remember the girl’s name. I remember her as Spoilsport. 😝

Growing up, I always wanted a nickname. My name is so short that I don’t really need one. I invented all my own nicknames. Other ones are Sar Bear, Sar Bear Extraordinaire, SBE (all the same, and all used by a specific friend group but 100% invented by me.) I also got one friend to call me Pizza for like a year. And Luis just reminded me about the time when I was twelve and told a friend’s visiting friend (from England!) that my nickname was Gadget. I was big into Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers at the time. This friend’s friend went along with it because he’d just met me and had no reason to question me. My friend called me out on it right away. Curses! I still think it would be so awesome to be called Gadget.

But Sara, stop trying to make “Gadget” a thing. It’s not a thing.

Speaking of nostalgia, I finally started clearing out my emails in my main inbox. I had nearly a million (I know!) so it’s, uh, past time for this. I went all the way back to my oldest emails in 2009 and I’ve been working my way through, only keeping emails I want to keep for sentimental purposes. I’ll probably eventually still delete many of the literary roleplaying game ones, but for now, they can stay.

I found the Facebook notification from when Luis added me, back in January 2012. 🥲 And his messages on a dating site (after we met in person, at a Nerdfighter gathering!) Those will all definitely be kept in my virtual shoebox.

I don’t know why I’ve been so nostalgic lately. It might have something to do with the fact that the future is looking more scary…

Anyway, in writing news, I got to 74,000 words yesterday. It’s going so well, it’s almost boring to blog about, haha! Everything’s falling into place, unlike last time I attempted writing this novel. I’ve deviated slightly from my outline, but only because other ideas came to me that move the story forward in a better way. I’m looking forward to being done (tentatively on Monday!) And then I can read the thing, after a Christmas/New Years break.

Do you hang onto anything because of nostalgia? At least emails don’t take up space in my house, though I only have so much space in my inbox.

Nostalgically yours,

“Do you know how long it takes a working man to save five thousand dollars?”

Sara Mazariegos

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.