Tag: Romance

I never knew me a better time and I guess I never will.

Sara Mazariegos

This year’s been challenging. Without going into too much detail, because it’s personal, this has been a difficult year so far. I’ve been feeling my usual unreality about a lot of things, like how we’re going to Disney World and Universal in October but so much of it has already been booked, I’m just sitting on my hands now. It doesn’t feel like it’s really going to happen. There are also some reasons for me to feel that way that are about more than not having things to plan. Having our ducks in a row is actually the more enjoyable aspect of it. Many other things are up in the air right now… But enough of my vague posting about things I can’t really post about. I’m ready for things to calm down and be more certain.

Mother’s Day delay. My parents are out of town for my grandma’s memorial service, so we’re delaying our Mother’s Day festivities for when they come back. Luis and I went to their house last weekend to visit their cats and spend time with my sister who lives nearby. We met her new puppy! That was some impromptu fun. We spent time with his family on Mother’s Day and then saw The Sheep Detectives, which was also a pretty Mother’s Day-y movie. We weren’t planning to see it, but we wanted to go to the movies and it was playing at a good time. We don’t usually spontaneously see things. I’m glad it worked out well this time.

Saturday Night Live feeling more classic. Matt Damon was the host on SNL last Saturday. Since we recently saw The Martian, my brain kept thinking he was hosting to promote that, but he’s actually in the new Christopher Nolan version of The Odyssey! I had no idea. I only knew “Spider-Man” was in it.

It was a great episode. I feel kind of hit-or-miss with the current cast, and each episode depends on the host more than it did with other casts, but this was a good one. Luis and I (and a lot of people online) particularly liked this auctioneers sketch. The writing and concept make it feel like a classic. I could easily imagine Gilda Radner or even Julia Louis-Dreyfus in this sketch (but Sarah Sherman is great, too.) Many times, SNL wants to be current with what’s popular and in style, but it’s nice for them to relax every once in a while with a more ‘anytime’ sketch like this one. A sketch that doesn’t rely on the audience knowing about x. As long as you know what auctioneers are like, you’ll get it.

Noticing writing mistakes in other novels. When I read books in the genre that I’m writing (romance) I find myself reading more closely than when I’m reading other books. I think about the writing more, and the choices made. People on Threads agreed with me that it’s a sign of a writer to be more observant about the way the story is being told. In the novel I’m currently reading, which I really like, I’ve noticed a few things I’d change, like overly telling sometimes or using the same word or phrase too much. It can be a little distracting from the story, but it’s not too much for me to still enjoy reading it. Reading this closely is another way that reading helps one become a better writer.

I know that many, many authors have noticed mistakes or things they’d change once their novel has been published and printed. No one is expecting perfection, because it’s nigh impossible. Novels that have been published and printed have been read by so many pairs of eyes, and mistakes still happen. So there’s no offense meant when I say I’ve noticed things. It’s likely the author has noticed as well.

Writing my “spare parts” draft. My writing is more laid back now that I’m not thinking about anyone reading it. Maybe that’s the secret to better writing. 🤔 I’m allowing myself to enjoy the words and have fun with things. I keep reminding myself that I won’t worry about editing this draft either, if I’m mainly writing it as a completionist at this point. It may end up being a “spare parts” draft, where I’ll use bits of it for a story but not all of it. There are good bits in this story. I wonder if, reading it back, it will feel like night-and-day from when I was writing it with the intention of querying it someday. I was still having fun with it, but I was harsher with my word choices and scene work. And then, a little over halfway through, I got more relaxed.

I wonder if I should try to write my next story’s first draft in this looser way and then sharpen it in later drafts. I have a tendency to want to get things right the first time, but I’m finding it’s not really the way things turn out. Revisions will always come into play, even with a draft I completely love. (Does such a thing exist in real life?)

It’s 8:15, and that’s the time that it’s always been.

Sara Mazariegos

Our personal Super Mario connection. Both Luis and I grew up with the Super Mario Bros. games. Him more than me, but I have early memories of playing Super Mario on the NES with my sister. She always made me play Mario so she could be Luigi, because she preferred green. This resulted in a lot of Mario falling off the very first ledge and then Luigi getting his turn. We also had and played Super Mario Bros. 3, a game that is still my favorite of the Mario games. Hey, I’m a sucker for nostalgia.

Anyway, it was this shared enjoyment of Mario and the various characters and themes within the games that inspired Luis’s and my wedding’s theme. It was a loose theme, because we didn’t want to give off kids’ birthday party vibes. Our decor was cute! Luis’s sister made paper lanterns with Boo’s face on them. We still have two of them, hanging in our living room.

All of this to say, heck yes we like the Mario movies! We saw Super Mario Bros. Galaxy last weekend, and as we were leaving we were already planning to see it again this weekend. Unfortunately, the cue I was given to go to the bathroom was at a pretty bad moment, actually, so we snuck into another showing afterwards in order for me to see the introduction of an important character! I’m very much looking forward to the next movie, too.

Watching The Studio is saddening. We started watching The Studio the other week, because of all the awards it won and everything. It’s very sad to watch now, though, because Catherine O’Hara’s role on it is so big and integral to the plot. It’s nice to see her, but I’m still so sad she’s no longer with us. It feels cruel. It is cruel. Seth Rogan clearly was so excited to be working with people he admired, and she’s one of the people he looked up to… So it’s quite sad to watch even though it is a very funny and well-made show. It’s beautifully shot, and I love the “oner” way of filming it. It reminds me of Birdman. It’s kind of stressful at times to watch a style like that, but so far I’m enjoying it. It’s hard for me to imagine how season 2 is going to be.

Taskmaster is back! My favorite grumpy/sunshine pairing came back last week. As usual, I love the group of comedians and actors that are “competing” on Taskmaster. My favorite is not Kumail Nanjiani, but of course I’m still excited to see him on it! He’s so far aligning with the trend of South Asian contestants performing badly. 😅 The worm task really wasn’t fair, though.

I don’t want to spoil it, so I won’t say any more. I highly recommend that show. It’s available wherever YouTube is sold!

Story ideas coming unbidden. As previously mentioned, I’ve started getting ideas for my next story while working on my current novel. This always happens, and usually when I’m midway through writing a story. This time it started with me thinking I could rework an outline and turn it into something different but still a similar concept, but now it’s gotten bigger and more detailed, so I’ve been writing down the ideas in the outline for now so I can work on it more once the story I’m currently writing has a complete draft.

I think it’s a good idea to let ideas simmer a bit, especially if I’m already working on something. The last thing I want to do is fall into the trap of pausing the story I was focusing on to write something new before the story is finished! It’s never a good idea to pause before ‘The End.’ Even if the draft needs a lot of revisions. Keep writing until ‘The End’ and then you can write something else. That’s the way my brain works anyway. I can’t write two stories at the same time. One of them always takes precedence or nothing gets finished.

Writing update. My novel rewrite is going well. I’m nearing 50,000 words which is just past the halfway point. Instead of being the ‘sagging middle’ that a lot of writers talk about, there’s a bunch of drama happening in my story, which is keeping things moving along nicely. It won’t be much longer until this revision is complete! And then I can take a break before writing something new.

I said what I said, brain!

There’s so little time for us to try to rhyme.

Sara Mazariegos

Making good use of time. I get an hour for lunch at my job, so I usually spend about half of it writing. It doesn’t take me a whole hour to eat a bowl of lo mien or a burrito. I’ve found I can write 500 words in about half an hour, if I focus, so it’s been working out well. Then I go home and write 500 more at some point in the evening. It’s harder to carve out the time in the evenings, because of wanting to spend time with Luis, having dinner, and doing chores. But I’ve been finding a balance so it works out.

I definitely don’t miss cramming 2,000 words into each day and making myself write on weekends. There’s no reason to overwork myself when I’m not under an actual deadline. I’m already pretty schedule-oriented, so there’s no danger of my not writing every day. (I fear it would be bad if I stopped writing every day. It’s easy to stop and so hard to get started up again. If you’ve ever opened up an old abandoned project with the intention of working on it again, you know what I mean.)

Magic Duel! We went to a magic show with Luis’s parents last weekend. The set-up is that it’s a host magician and a guest magician trying to win “Best Magician in the D.C. Area” and there’s a trophy with a fairy wand attached to it with, like, tape. It’s very silly, and they tell lots of cheesy dad jokes while doing magic tricks. His guest when we saw the show was a bubble magician. At first I thought, ehh, that’s not really magic, but it was cool and the regular magician guy was kind of annoying, so I voted for her to win. And she did.

They did a cool card trick together that involved two people from the audience. One guest picks a card and then sits on it and the other guest ‘reads his mind’ to guess the correct card. They used a plunger attached to rope on both their heads for added effect, and the plunger kept getting stuck to one of the guys’ heads, which made it extra funny and memorable. I don’t know how they did that trick so well, but Luis has a theory that they subtly nudge when asking confirmation on the color and number/suit so they guide the guesser to the right answer. Magic is nerdy cool.

Wonder Man and “superhero fatigue.” We finished watching Ironheart, which had its moments but was kind of ho-hum and overact-y, so I was hesitant to watch another Marvel series. A lot of people talk about the burnout that’s happening with so many superhero shows and movies. There’s too much and it’s hard to know where to start or what the timelines all are. Almost like bringing this massive genre of books to life in movies and TV shows is a daunting task. We’ve mostly kept up with it, but it certainly doesn’t mean we’ve liked or seen all of it. For example, we haven’t seen Aquaman or The Flash, and don’t plan on it. We’re mostly sucked into the Marvel blackhole, but some of it has still been kind of ehh.

I’m looking at you, Moon Knight and The Marvels.

However, we checked out Wonder Man because the concept of an actor vying to portray a superhero when he actually, unbeknownst to him, is a superhero is compelling stuff. Plus Sir Ben Kingsley’s on it as Trevor Slattery again. And you don’t have to know what other Marvel thing Trevor Slattery is from, though it helps. I really like it thus far. The cast is nice and small, too, which is a breath of fresh air. So many of these shows and movies have too many characters to keep track of, which I think can be another deterrent for people trying to check these things out.

Writing update. I sent Luis an excerpt of my novel the other day and he asked me which book it was from. That felt vindicating. 😊 I’ve been enjoying rewriting my story, and I remind myself, if I’m feeling stuck, that there are other drafts I can pull from. It’s not like the other drafts are badly-written, they just didn’t come together the way I wanted. They still have value.

Writing this story feels easier now, which makes sense but it’s still a relief. I’m better able to parse out the parts to keep in and let the other random stuff go. When I first wrote this novel, it didn’t really have any story structure. Things were happening, and they were cute and passionate, but there were no obstacles to keep readers wondering. I really have been chiseling the story out over these years. The plot’s become clearer and brighter ever since. And I’ve finally found a conflict that’s both relatable and strong instead of the wishy-washy ones I’ve tried in the past.

These characters are going to have to have moments where they’re not getting along or they’re avoiding each other. It’s not fun to think about, but it’s one of the rules of a romance novel.

I picked a genre with rules. That was my first mistake. 😝

Choose your last words, this is the last time.

Sara Mazariegos

Anniversary times. Luis and I had a great “staycation” trip for our 14th anniversary last weekend. We stayed in a lovely suite near the Metro station where we first met all those years ago. We explored the area and had a lot of nice food. We went to a romance bookstore called Friends to Lovers and he bought me a book. Our hotel also had a hot tub and a pool, so we spent some time there, which was a good way to get out of the cold and rain.

The places we went when we first met have changed, but we’ve also changed. It’s nice to go back and reminisce and also be reminded of how long we’ve been together.

Project For Awesome. I was fortunate enough to be able to watch the first hour of the livestream during my lunch break last Friday. I watched the first charity video (about APOPO, the bomb-sniffing rats who also help detect tuberculosis, which is a non-profit organization my company works with) and I got misty-eyed because I love rats. That was only the beginning.

During our nice anniversary weekend, Luis and I also spent some time in the livestream (mostly watching John and/or Hank, because we’re biased.) During the P4A, we all came together and raised over 4 million dollars for charities! ✨ I love Nerdfighteria and I love getting to still be a part of it. It is, after all, how Luis and I met, so it was a pretty perfect thing for us to do during our mini trip.

Wuthering Heights and longer travel times. The Metro getting work done and forcing us to use shuttle buses for two stops to and from our anniversary destination wasn’t that big of a deal. It just added to the adventure. I told Luis, and it’s true, that I wouldn’t have done it by myself, but with him it was kind of fun. It helps that the stop over to get a bus was at a mall, so we could go in and use the bathroom and have a snack. We’re pros at the whole travel thing at this point.

When we came back toward home on Monday, we got Indian food and saw Wuthering Heights. I have to make a confession here: although I was an English major and I greatly respect the Brontë sisters, I really do not like the novel of Wuthering Heights. I went into the movie with low expectations, kind of expecting not to like it, and I ended up enjoying it a lot. It’s an artistic interpretation based on how it made the director feel when she read it, which makes sense. I remembered the moments and I appreciated seeing them in the movie. I feel like it’s the story for people who don’t want to read it. Because all the stuff that matters in the story is there. The part later with the kids (not spoiling…) you don’t need it. It’s superfluous.

I made versions of the characters in The Sims 4 after watching the BBC version from the 60s that inspired Kate Bush to write her song. It’s not as if I hate the story. I just prefer it being told well in a movie or miniseries. Not all books are good as books. It’s surprising when it happens, but it does happen. We don’t know why Emily Brontë chose to have the narrator be some guy who heard the story from a lady who was there, but that was her choice as an author.

Writing update. Speaking of authors and their choices, I’ve started rewriting my Nerdfighters-inspired novel after taking time last week to read and edit the first two chapters from an earlier draft. The first two chapters work for me, it’s the rest I want to make better. I’m working on shaping it into more of a romance arc with foreshadowing and side characters that add to the plot instead of being scene dressing. So far, it’s going well. I’ve gotten better at getting to the point, which means there’s less time wasted on little scenes that don’t matter.

When Luis took me to Friends to Lovers last weekend, I felt at home because all of the books were romance. And I found a book to read soon that would be a good comp for mine. My story definitely has a place there on the romance shelves, I just need to tell it correctly.

The seasons changed, times are strange.

Sara Mazariegos

Bloody Weather. I know I’ve been complaining about this a lot, but the ice/snow is STILL HERE. Thankfully it’s melted a little, bit the massive piles at bus stops and around sidewalks are sticking around. I told Luis he will probably be waking up with me and helping me get onto the bus for at least the rest of this week. Hopefully by this coming weekend, the warmer temperatures will finish the job and things can go back to normal.

I do love having some extra time with him in the mornings, though. I will miss that. It’s my personal Extra Magic Hours*. My coworkers were singing his praises when I told them he’s been helping me. It’s always my goal to get people to join the Luis fan club, because he’s great.

Stuperbowl (I’m original.) You know what I don’t like? American football. Fortunately for me, Luis is not a fan either. He much prefers soccer/futball, and I’ve become a fan as well. So we didn’t watch any of the Superbowl last weekend, except for maybe ten minutes before the Bad Bunny Halftime Show.

The performance was so fun and I loved that it told a story about Puerto Rico and Latin American culture. He even threw in a mention of Canada! He included all of North America. It was pretty cool. I know at least one person who got teary-eyed watching the beautiful representation of Latin culture, especially in this crazy time we’re currently living in. Maybe, just maybe, this will get people talking about issues in a more nuanced way.

Podcasts but as videos. Like the general populous, I enjoy listening to podcasts. The trouble is, I have a difficult time paying full attention to them, because I am usually working or writing when I listen to them. So when a bunch of the popular ones (Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend, Good Hang with Amy Poehler, etc.) started releasing video versions of them, I was ecstatic. I much prefer consuming YouTube videos. So I’ve been watching the podcast videos during my lunch breaks at work. One thing that’s nice about them is that, if I have to look away for any reason, it’s totally fine because they’re meant to be listed to! What a concept. They’re also long enough that I can watch one episode over the whole week’s worth of lunch breaks.

I’m truly an exciting person. Eh, I’ll go outside for my lunch breaks when it stops being arctic outside. Maybe. Didn’t do it last spring/summer, but maybe this year.

14th on the 14th! I’m so excited about our dating anniversary plans. Last week, I looked at the calendar to see the latest updates—Luis made dining reservations—and, in a combination of excitement and sleepiness, I forgot I’d looked ahead on the calendar and thought it was already next weekend. This made me briefly panic because the Project For Awesome starts on Friday, and I thought I’d missed it!

I highly doubt I’d be able to miss it. I follow too many helpful accounts, and I have it all on my calendar. Just have to remember what day it currently is. 😅

The Metro is getting work done this weekend, and traveling on the Metro is part of our celebration (we met at a stop, after all) so we’re going to brave the long travel in order to enjoy the experience as planned. Then we’re going to explore the place we met; we haven’t been there for longer than a few hours in at least a decade. I love the story of how we met. Which leads me to…

Writing update. I’m starting to feel the familiar feeling that I don’t need to rewrite my Nerdfighter story. Instead of starting completely over, I just need to tweak it. I’ve been working on a big rewrite, and it was a massive overhaul. The characters were different, much of the plot was different… and I started wondering if it’s really better or if the earlier version I had was totally fine, it just needed some big edits. What I’d been working on started to feel a lot more cynical than intended. I wish I could have an unbiased reader read the first chapter of each version and tell me which one’s better. I’m too biased. But I feel like, in this case, writing what I know helps the story and makes it more unique.

I can’t help it that our true love story is already pretty perfect. It doesn’t need revision. It just needs some higher stakes, and I’ve found them.

* This might be a sign I go to Disney too often… Nah.

No time for revolving doors.

Sara Mazariegos

Commuting in DC. I love living in the DC area and being able to take reliable buses and Metro trains everywhere. Luis and I don’t own a car (I can’t even drive, and he dislikes driving) and we don’t need to. We save so much money by not having a car, and the time spent waiting for buses or trains is comparable to the time spent sitting in traffic for drivers.

That being said, having to stand for all or nearly all of the commute is exhausting and I always get bummed because it means I can’t read while I ride. (First World Problem, I know, but still.) The other morning, the train was full of people and slow because of single-tracking and I had to stand the whole time. I briefly felt a panic attack coming on, but luckily I was able to get a seat before it got bad. I felt hot and like I might faint or be sick. That doesn’t usually happen to me. Thankfully, it’s not usually so packed I have to stand in the morning.

“It’s gonna snow again.” We heard for at least a week that it was going to snow from Saturday night through Monday morning. I went from thinking, “Oh man, I might have to work from home” to “I’m definitely going to have to work from home” to “I might have to take it as a snow day if the power goes out.” It also ramped up to include so many other states that several of my coworkers also had to work from home in their respective office locations. What does it say about me that I was more concerned about having to possibly take a day off (not as vacation, but as emergency) than I was about having enough non-perishable food in case we’re stuck in our house with no power for a while?

Luis ordered groceries and we planned meals in case we can’t use our stove or microwave. We might be living on canned beans and potato chips for a few days. I have faith that things will be okay, though.

SNOW UPDATE: I was allowed to work from home on Monday and Tuesday. We got about six inches of snow plus ice and sleet on Sunday, and the D.C. government closed because of the weather. The bus and Metro would be a nightmare when there’s that much snow and ice, even if they sometimes like to pretend otherwise. The Metro had problems with their track the other day, after all, and that was without snow.

Luis helped me get on the bus from the terribly icy/snowy bus stop this morning. Maryland left a huge frozen hill at the bus stop and we had to climb over it to get safely on the bus. Fortunately, the driver knew to wait to let us on. We weren’t going to wait 30 minutes for another bus. Luis even rode to the Metro with me, to make sure I got onto the train safely as well. I can’t speak highly enough about him. 🥲 Today’s the anniversary of the day we met!

He’s probably going to need to help me the rest of this week, until the snow is actually gone enough for it to not still be a minor hazard. Conversely, the Metro? Totally fine. It came right on time and there were no issues. I hope it stays that way.

The Color Purple novel. I’ve just started reading The Color Purple, and I’m really enjoying it. It feels like a well-timed departure from the depressing books I’ve read recently. It’s not all sunshine and giggles, of course, but the tone is brighter and the characters (at least several of the main ones) are more lovable. Especially Celie. We saw the musical movie when it was in theaters, so I was excited when I found the novel in a Little Free Library. It is a delight to read the way the strong women in the story fight back against the oppressive men, even if it’s sometimes just with a shared look. I keep catching myself grinning while I read it on the Metro. I used to think it would be very heavy, like Beloved, but it’s got humor to it. I hope it’s not bad to say I find it lighthearted and hopeful.

Beloved is also very good, of course. It is definitely sad, though. I need to read more Toni Morrison. I read Sula in college, and I need to read it again to enjoy it this time instead of using it for a term paper. You know?

February’s going to have a lot going on. There’s a week on my calendar with so much on it. It’s going to have Luis’s and my 14th dating anniversary mini-vacation (14th on the 14th!) the Winter Olympics coverage (I love ice skating/dancing,) and the Project For Awesome! All three of those will be on the same days, though of course the Olympics last longer. With the skating and the P4A livestreaming, we’re going to have plenty to watch in the hotel room after our fun anniversary activities each day. We’re going to museums and parks and shops near where we met fourteen years ago, and we hopefully won’t freeze our tails off.

I’m glad we did not get married on Valentine’s Day, but it is nice we started dating on that day. It makes it seem like everyone’s celebrating us with us.

Time to stand up and steal the show.

Sara Mazariegos

Days off. It’s funny how vacation is so needed and restful and fun, but then going back to work feels like this insurmountable burden. I guess “funny” isn’t the right word. But I’ve noticed every time there’s a holiday or a vacation from work, coming back feels like such a big deal. It doesn’t help that the system is currently down at my office and one of my monitors decided to die. That just adds to the feeling of needing a break from my break before I feel like I can work again. 😅

Elio and the loss of originality. During our long holiday weekend, Luis and I watched several movies. We watched Dreamworks’ Sinbad which was… all right. We also watched Get On Up starring Chadwick Boseman. That was quite good. And sad, since we lost him so young. He was really talented. But the main movie I wanted to write about here is Elio. I wanted to see Elio when it was in theaters, but our theater did not really give us a chance. It came out at a time when several other big movies came out, but still… Disney movies are usually out longer. I’m glad we finally saw it, and it got Luis and me thinking about how none of the action hero in space movies have been successful. Even Lightyear did poorly, and people love Buzz Lightyear.

For what it’s worth, I think Elio is very cute. The aliens are all designed uniquely, and it has little nods to other sci-fi movies like E.T. and Terminator 2. I don’t understand why people didn’t go see it, unless theaters everywhere didn’t show it for long enough. But it seems like original movies are falling by the wayside at Disney, and it’s so sad. I hope we can see Hoppers in theaters and it won’t suffer the same fate as Elio. Streaming is nice, but it’s not the same.

Limping to the end of Seeing Other People. This sounds more serious than it is. It’s taken me longer than anticipated but I’m slowly finishing up reading Seeing Other People by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I’m not really feeling this one. It’s got moments, but it’s been a slog. Do you ever read a book and the words start to just roll through your brain like you’re not actually retaining any of them? I feel like that’s been happening to me with this book. It’s not holding my attention, and the plot bums me out. In the relationship part, it seems like they suddenly liked each other and I missed something. I guess not every book is for me, unfortunately even the ghost ones with pun titles.

Feedback and getting back into the writing groove. I edited my It’s A Wonderful Life-inspired novel with my dad’s notes and I’m feeling pretty good about it. We had dinner with my parents on Saturday and Mom gave me some notes as well, so I’m going to be pondering some more. Nothing major though, which is awesome. Hopefully this can be the year I actually send out query letters for it, but we shall see.

I’m going to be starting up work on the major rewrite of my Nerdfighters-inspired novel soon. As it approaches, I’m getting nervous. I haven’t taken such a long break from writing in a while. I think it was a good refresh for my brain, but I hope I haven’t lost my groove. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, though, so it’s not as if I’ll be going in with no plan. Luis read my outline and said it was good, too, so I’m also not going into it with a lot of garbled ideas. (We’ve all done that before, right?)

And before you think, “But Sara, your stories are inspired by other stories. They don’t sound very original either,” I’ll remind you that they’re inspired by, they’re not the exact same stories of anything else. It’s not even the exact story of how Luis and I met anymore. That was at least six drafts ago. C’mon.

Until next time, stay safe out there.

Buy time, don’t lose it.

Sara Mazariegos

New Years. We had a fun New Years this (last?) year! Luis met me at my office and I showed him the holiday decor I put up. We took some snacks the building gave my office, then had a nice stroll to an English pub called Duke’s Grocery. It was decorated with gingerbread men and gumdrops. It was very cute. I had a delicious peppermint espresso martini. The first of a few fun drinks to celebrate the occasion. We also went to the movies after Duke’s Grocery, so we did end up doing something else fun instead of going straight home! Later that evening, I had a homemade espresso martini care of Luis’s sister, and a rummy egg nog around midnight, while watching Ryan Seacrest bemusedly pretend to care about a Tiktok rapper.

Then on New Years Day, we went to Outback Steakhouse and I had a gingerbread cookie martini and a wallaby darned. The gingerbread cookie martini comes with a little koala glass stem-hugger dressed like a Christmas elf, so he lives on my shelf now. Luis named him Cookie. I love Outback’s drinks. The one near us closed, but this one is still around and about the same distance as the one we used to go to. I’m so glad! They also have a blue cheese pecan salad I’m obsessed with. #NotAnAd

THEN, at nearly midnight on New Years Day (Night), who should show up on our porch camera but a raccoon? John Green manifested this for us. I called him Reginald. He checked out the water dish we leave out in the car port for any wayward critters, and then he skipped along into our backyard, where I hope he lives. What a great sign for the New Year. 😊

Marty Supreme and Hamnet and Taskmaster. On New Years Eve, we saw Marty Supreme. We enjoyed it! It features a cute dog, and Pamela Adlon’s daughter, Odessa A’zion, who sounds enough like Bobby Hill that we were smiling. She was in the movie more than I expected, and I liked her a lot. I wonder if it will win any Oscars. I think it was my favorite Timothy Chalamet performance that I’ve seen.

Last weekend, we saw Hamnet. I have a feeling it’s also going to be nominated for Oscars. Especially Jessie Buckley, who is amazing in it. It’s difficult to watch that movie with dry eyes. Luis pointed out that it’s about William Shakespeare and his family (but moreso about his wife Agnes/Anne) but they avoid saying his name until near the end for some reason. It’s not really a surprise, but I guess not everyone knows Shakespeare had a son named Hamnet who inspired Hamlet. That’s not a spoiler, though; it’s just a fact. Paul Mescal looked just like young William Shakespeare in it, and I’d never thought he looked like him before. He was also very good. It’s definitely a movie that engrossed me, making me feel like I was watching the actual people in the actual situations. It’s a more traditional Oscars nominee (they loooove Shakespeare content,) but that doesn’t mean it’s any less worthy.

We also watched the Taskmaster New Years Treat last weekend. Rose Ayling-Ellis is super cute. I was shocked at how anti-word-nerd Greg Davies was. I think it was more that Susie Dent reminded him of how annoying Alex Horne can be. 😂 I always wish there were more episodes, but I understand the people on these specials are available for a more limited engagement than during a regular series. I’m looking forward to seeing Kumail Nanjiani on Taskmaster! My lucky day! I was just writing about him, wasn’t I? I wonder if he’ll win or if he’ll be terrible at the tasks. Either way, I’m sure he’ll be fun!

Writing Goals & The Sims. My dad read the draft of my It’s A Wonderful Life-inspired novel (and skimmed it a second time, to write helpful notes for me!) It’s touching how quickly he read it and how much thought he put into helping me out. He doesn’t usually read books very quickly, but he focused on this one for me. His notes are really good, too. I’m relieved, because I can’t tell you how many times friends have given me only “this is good!” type notes instead of actually giving me some constructive feedback. It’s not that I want people to be mean to me, but it’s more helpful for me to be told what’s not working, what should be tweaked, etc. I appreciate that my friends like my writing, but I know it needs editing!

I’m still taking a break from writing, but I plan to start writing my next draft version of my Nerdfighters-inspired novel in February. I’ve worked on a new plot outline, keeping certain elements from previous drafts, and I’m excited to play around with some new ideas.

Since Luis updated my Sims 4 for me, including all the packs and everything, I’ve been playing a lot during my free time. I took a long break from playing because my game files needed updates and I wanted the new stuff, so now I’ve got it all and I love it. I’m going somewhere with this, hear me out*. The first thing I did with my newly-updated and installed game was create the FMC and MMC from my Nerdfighters-inspired novel. It’s giving me some fun inspiration for my story as I think about the characters and how I want them to interact, work, and be as people. I love being able to “see” my characters by having computer-animated versions of them. I can put actual faces to the faces in my head, if that makes sense.

The new Romance skill in The Sims make the love story more of a challenge to play out, and their relationship feels more real because it takes effort and keeping up with. I love it! They currently are madly in love with each other, and they’re engaged. I’m not rushing their wedding, because I think it will be better with more time and experiences under their belts. They’re way ahead of the characters in my novel, considering that I haven’t started writing it yet. But who wants to play The Sims slowly?

I did make the couple have a baby, which is not something they will do in my novel. Because I also wanted to play with the new Infants pack. That’s also quite challenging, but the game is more fun if it’s at least a little challenging. Don’t get me started on those damn gnomes, though. I turned them off as soon as I learned how. Well, Luis helped me figure out how.

Here’s a picture of my cute Sims family. I plan to only play as them and expand the family, because that’s always fun. I wonder if they’ll be able to roleplay some of my novel’s plot eventually, too. Baby Charlie is dressed like a raccoon, yes.


This is a terribly nerdy post. But you already knew I was a nerd, didn’t you?


* Read me out?

Won’t you be in Nerdfighterlike with me?

Sara Mazariegos

My Nerdfighter story. Strap in. This is going to be a long one.

Continue reading “Won’t you be in Nerdfighterlike with me?” →

Do you wanna know, know that it doesn’t hurt me?

Sara Mazariegos

I had an idea for a new blogging format. Let me know what you think.

New knee pillow (am I old?) I’ve noticed my lower back and knees are often sore when I wake up in the morning, particularly when I sleep in on the weekends, so I ordered myself a pillow to put between my knees or at least legs. So far, it’s helping me sleep in a better position. I read that sleeping on your side can cause spine twisting so it’s better to separate your legs to realign your spine. But it’s awkward if I want to move, because I have to move this rectangular pillow along with me every time, and every time I get out of bed I have to move it away. It may end up on the floor one of these days. I guess I’m too old to be naturally comfortable when I sleep now.

Days getting so dark by the time I’m on my way home. I love autumn, but I hate the daylight going away so early every day. I commute home after 5:30 so it’s always completely dark while I’m traveling. It lowers my motivation, which is especially bad because then I get home and I should be able to enjoy being home, but all I want to do is sleep. I’m looking forward to the longer days again in spring. At least there are more months of daylight in the year than months with early sunsets.

Holidays on random days during the week. Veterans Day was on Tuesday this year. It’s nice to have a break soon after a work day, but it makes it difficult to plan anything too exciting. Luis and I went to Subway and saw Bugonia before having some cake with his parents for his stepdad’s birthday. So I guess it wasn’t nothing, but being off on Monday as well would’ve been extra special. At least I only have to work three more days! A short week is always nice.

Book reading/Novel reading progress. I got some good reading time into this weekend. I would’ve gotten more if I hadn’t played The Sims 4 for two hours on Sunday, but I felt inspired to play after a long time, so it’s fine. I really like The Love of My Afterlife. It’s going along the way I figured it would, but it’s cute and funny. I’ve noticed that English romance novels are quirkier than American ones. I think English writers have a fondness for bizarre side characters that are not as common in American novels. Think about Bridget Jones’s friends. It builds out the world of the main character a little more. I like that and want to do that more in my own writing. Obviously without making my novel too silly, but the citizens of Bedford Falls are quirky characters, so I should have some funny people in my version, too.

I successfully completed my first read-through of my novel last weekend. Now I’m back into it, reading it and making notes of things to change. I started out thinking I’d only make change notes for this draft and then make a new draft copy for the actual rewrites, but I’ve started just rewriting and making the changes directly in this draft. Why wait, right? I have a lot of notes from beta readers in this draft already, so I’m using them as a guide and making my own changes as well. Hopefully, by editing and rewriting now instead of waiting until after another full reread, I’ll be finished editing this story before February.

The story is good, I just need to make it as close to great as I possibly can.