Tag: Romance

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.

“He’s making violent love to me, Mother!”

Sara Mazariegos

It feels as though a million things are happening right around our travels. Isn’t that always the way? I have a bunch of stressful things to do at work, meanwhile we have to get our bathroom renovated (again.) The guys who fixed our shower two years ago didn’t really fix the problem; they caused new ones instead. So we’ve got a nice, new plumber who’s going to work on fixing our shower stall and flooring so things don’t leak.

What a concept.

For Valentine’s Day, since it’s our dating anniversary, we’re going to stay at the hotel where we got married. 😊 We got a lakeview room, and reservations at a fancy nearby restaurant. We’re also going to explore the shops around and see Captain America: Brave New World. It’s going to be a nice weekend.

And then, the following weekend, we fly off to California. We spent time with friends last weekend, one of whom is a pilot, so he told us what went wrong with the helicopter and the plane near the Potomac River. He also assured us that flying is safe, especially from Dulles Airport rather than National. That was comforting. Of course, I already knew that there are way more car accidents than airplane crashes. It’s still a rare thing, even if the news has a lot of them lately…

I’ve already read one of my comp books (comparable to my story, for those wondering what “comp” means) but I still bought an e-reader version so I could reread it and reference it for influence. That’s one thing that’s difficult about not owning comps; if I need to check something, I have to get them back from the library. My story that I’m currently outlining is very different from the other novels I’ve written thus far, so I want to make sure I’m plotting things in a way that makes sense. There are rules for time travel.

Luis read through my outline and gave me some good advice that’s made me even more excited by this new idea. Taking a break from writing and letting myself think about things has been very good for me so far. At the beginning of March, when I start writing, I’ll hopefully have an easier time getting going. My last story benefited tremendously from having a solid outline, so I feel optimistic.

Escaping into novels has been the perfect thing for my otherwise anxious brain.

Every night’s another reason why I left it all.

Sara Mazariegos

I started having my computer read my It’s A Wonderful Life-inspired novel out loud, so I can hear how it sounds and find typos/repetition/things like that. It’s exciting to hear my story come to life, even if the voice sounds like a computer lady, because it is.

I’m trying not to make changes at the moment, though I did go in and fix the typos/repetition that I found, because those are easy fixes that don’t need to pass into the next draft. I want the next draft to be ready for the bigger changes. Hopefully I won’t have too many, since this isn’t the first time I’ve written this story. 😅

Meanwhile, ideas for my next story keep falling into my brain. I got one idea for a plot and it just sort of snowballed from there. I have an outline file to store everything for now, since I’m focusing on polishing the other story first.

Just when I’d started to wonder if I’d ever have another idea for a story…

This one is about shyness and past selves. It’s inspired by going through all of my old emails, and some of the nearly-but-not-wholly-forgotten heartaches that lurked within. I won’t say more than that for now, since I’m only at the beginning of thinking about it. Just reading the old emails has been A Lot.

On a lighter note: Luis made fun of me for laughing at something I’d written in my novel. I didn’t remember it, and the computer lady voice made it extra amusing. Imagine Jimmy Stewart’s words coming out of a female robot.

“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.

Bark at the moon.

Sara Mazariegos

Am I the only one surprised that Halloween hasn’t happened yet?

It’s not that I’m in a rush. I’m excited about our party this weekend, and I’ve even considered wearing my costume to work this year (a slightly toned-down version to not be distracting.) But October has been dragging its feet. I say that as someone who’s had a hectic month.

We watched the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions last weekend, with a break to see Saturday Night. It was great to see Peter Frampton finally get honored. He and Ozzy Osbourne could commiserate about their muscular ailments; it’s sad to see inclusion body myositis and Parkinson’s disease affecting such energetic, youthful rock stars. I know they’re getting up there now, but still! I wish them both well. Combined with the fact one of the other inductees (Phife Dawg from A Tribe Called Quest) died of diabetes complications and another (Jimmy Buffett) died of cancer, I kept thinking “I wish we could find cures for all of these things.”

Saturday Night was delightful. It left me wanting more, which is a good thing. We came home and I just had to watch the very first episode of Saturday Night Live, so I could see the moments referenced in the movie. I’ve been a fan since the early nineties when Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman were on. Some of the movie felt a bit like a play, which works since it’s all about live performance, and some of it felt a bit like parody. Some of the impressions were better than others. For example, I liked the Jim Henson guy as Jim Henson, but his Andy Kaufman was a little off, not least of all because he’s even ganglier than Kaufman. It’s a shame Benny Safdie had to drop out. I bet he would’ve been good.

On the writing front, I’m clawing my way to the finish line with my magical cat transformation romance story. One thing I’ll need to work on with it is tightening that description. 😅 Then, almost immediately after finishing that one, I have my It’s A Wonderful Life-inspired romance to rewrite. That will be nice during the holidays.

I’m going to use the NaNoWriMo method of writing around the same amount each day, although skipping Thanksgiving because I do have a life. Honest. I’m avoiding the actual NaNoWriMo site this year, though. I don’t support what they’re doing lately. Since my novel is longer, the draft will be “finished” in mid-December. And then I can breathe again before the edits! Weee!

Before you ask (why would you ask?) I’m planning to take a mental break from the cat story until sometime next year. It’s messy. I always knew it would be. Don’t all novels start out a bit messy?

Trying to find something between a strict writing schedule and a looser one that still doesn’t let me just, you know, stop writing. It’s dangerous to become too lax.

I like the word “lax.”

Why are you shaking like a leaf?

Sara Mazariegos

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.

I’m a little bit wrong and you’re a little bit right.

Sara Mazariegos

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 be the 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.

Okay, now back to the writing board!

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.

It’s just the power to charm.

Sara Mazariegos

First of all, hello to all of my new followers! I didn’t expect my last post to get so much kind attention. I’m happy to have you with me. 😊

I recently bought a copy of Natalie Sue’s I Hope This Finds You Well, and I’ve been enjoying it so much that I almost don’t want to read too much of it at once. Because then it will be over. Does that happen to you when you read? I want to prolong it.

My local library also gave me two books, so I’m suddenly swimming in a wonderful mini pile of new-to-me novels. One is The White Rose, a poetic young adult novel about Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans. I’m reading it as research for my latest story idea. When I used to work at the US Holocaust Museum, I remember often stopping by the wall that told their story. It gave me pause that such young people dared to take a stand, even though it certainly meant death.

The other novel I got from the library is The Dead Romantics. It’s a romance novel (not surprising, right?) involving a ghost, so it appeals to a few of my interests.

When not reading other people’s novels, I’ve been reading my own as I begin revising. My new benchmark will be to submit it to The Shit No One Tells You About Writing again. I feel much more confident now that I’ve revised and rewritten it about three times. 😅 It’s very different from the story it used to be.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could just read and write all day?

I can have a dark side if you want me to.

Sara Mazariegos


Luis* and I are going to see Tim Minchin in August! I’ve been a fan of him** since 2011 when I saw him on Conan. I’m so excited. I wonder if we’ll get to meet him afterward…

We’re going to see Inside Out 2 this weekend. I told Luis that Fear and Anxiety should be in a relationship because they go hand-in-hand. They’re the two emotions I feel the most. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’re probably SHOCKED to read that. 😉

In Writing Update news, things have been going well. It’s starting to be summertime, so my thoughts are more distracted by sunshine and fun places we could go, but I’ve been good about writing my daily word total each day. I’m following Pacemaker’s recommendations so I’m not writing my brain ragged. I write about 1,766 words per day, which is nearly the NaNoWriMo amount.

I’m 72% of the way through this draft. And there’s still a lot of good bits I’ll be writing in it. It’s not winding down yet. I think I’ve tried to wind down too early in the past, making the end kind of… fizzley. I can’t stress the Save The Cat outline strategy enough.

Aside from writing, I’m beta/arc reading for two other authors. And reading probably too many books at the same time.

How’s your early-almost-summer going?

*My husband
**Tim, not my husband. I’ve been a fan of my husband since January 28, 2012.