Tag: Traveling

“Have you ever talked to a corpse? It’s boring!”

Sara Mazariegos

Happy John John Sean Day to all who celebrate! Today is the birthday of John Lennon, John Entwistle, and Sean Lennon, in that order.

Our trip to Tacoma went well. The ceremony was brief and not as overwhelming as I thought it might be. We also went to the zoo and spent time with my cousins and my cousin’s son, so that was nice. I’m realizing now that it’ll be slight whiplash going from that trip (which involved long flights) to going on our next trip this weekend (shorter flight, but literally this Saturday so not a lot of time between.) At least I didn’t experience much jet lag.

Being back at work has been a drag thus far, though.

I wrote a decent amount on Monday, largely because I took a sick day to recuperate. I highly recommend giving yourself a day after your vacation to rest. Better chance of mentally preparing.

Yesterday, I was so slammed with work that I couldn’t write very much, which made me feel bad but I don’t write well when I’m already feeling burnt out, so I let it slide. I’ve reached 60,000 words though! I’m within the last 20% of my story. The path forward is clear. And then… my reward is more writing because I want to rewrite my holiday story in November-December.

Am I crazy? Yeah, maybe.

I just got an email from the library. I have to return House of Leaves way before I’ve finished it. I’m not surprised. I’ll just put it on hold again. 😅 It’ll give me time to finish the other two books I’m reading. I definitely overdid the library books last time.

Maybe I should just buy it. It’s such a slippery slope.

Werewolf Seduction, spooky, scary.

Sara Mazariegos

I have a good problem to have. We’re flying this week, and I have three library books. I’m planning on taking the one I’m currently reading that’s a manageable size (House of Leaves is massive so that one can stay home.) I also have another book, A Werewolf’s Guide to Seducing a Vampire, that I’m really looking forward to reading but I’m trying to finish one of the others first. As a slow reader, I didn’t mean to have three books at once! But I’m juggling them as best I can.

So I can’t decide if I should bring the smaller book I’m reading (Bride by Ali Hazelwood) or the werewolf/vampire book. I shouldn’t bring both, because of limited bag space.

As I said, it’s a good problem to have.

The other night, we watched Cat People, which is a spooky movie featuring the song by David Bowie. It was good, not as cheesy as I expected, and it stars a bunch of actors I like. It’s my first real exposure to Annette O’Toole (not like that! Though she is topless in a scene…) There are three actors with connections to Catherine O’Hara in it — Annette O’Toole is married to Michael McKean who’s her frequent co-star in Christopher Guest movies; Ed Begley Jr. is frequently in movies with her as well; and John Heard is her husband in Home Alone. Interesting coincidence.


In writing news, I’m plugging along. I’ve been doing more making it up as I go along than usual, but it’s been enjoyable to write.

The other day, I thought of a good opening line for a different story. It would be nice if my brain could focus on the story at hand, but I’ll write it down for the future.

Speaking of the future, we’re going to Washington State this week for my grandfather’s celebration of life. I bought a black dress for the occasion, but I’ve since been informed that people should wear brighter colors because it’s going to be more like a party than a funeral. I have no idea what to expect; I just hope my family will be nice.

Then I work a week before Luis and I head to Cleveland for our anniversary!

But more on that next week. 😉

“Though it be not written down, yet forget not that I am an ass.”

Sara Mazariegos

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was as good as an unnecessary sequel could be. I enjoyed it, though it’s not as good as the original. We saw it with someone who said he liked it more than the first one. He’s a crazy person.

We finally finished the third season of Stranger Things. I started watching the show again after seeing Inside Out and wanting to see more of Maya Hawke. 🫣 I don’t really care about the others; I’m watching it for Robin and Steve.

I started reading House of Leaves at Luis’s recommendation. It’s over 700 pages and due in two weeks. We’ll see if I can finish it or if I’ll have to put it on hold again. It looks like a textbook! But it reads more like a spooky story. I have no idea what to expect.

Writingwise, things aren’t too shabby. I’m at 32K words now, but planning to reach 34K by the end of the day. I hit a big plot point with only a little blushing. This story is fun, even if I’m not sure how well it would do in the literary market.

Luis and I are planning to go to California/Disneyland next February. I’ve only been there once, so I’m very excited. It’s also exciting to explore such a different area with him. I wonder if we’ll see any celebrities this time. (Last time, I saw Alan Cumming eating lunch, Eric McCormack out with his kids at Universal, and Arsenio*… he appeared kind of out of nowhere and was excited to be recognized.)

We’re mainly going to “tourist” places this time, so we might only see fellow tourists. I shan’t hold my breath about running into any famous people.

This weekend, we’re going to our second Spirit Halloween (hopefully.) Finding open stores isn’t easy, but it’s early yet. I’m so excited for Halloween season! I’m always on a quest for more Haunted Mansion stuff.


*”WOO WOO WOO!” I think that’s how to spell it.

We’re doing it, we can’t have it all.

Sara Mazariegos
Daily writing prompt
What are you most excited about for the future?
View all responses

That depends on how you define “future.” This year, I’m most excited about our anniversary trip to Cleveland, to visit the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame together. I’ve been there at least once (I think I’ve been there twice) but Luis hasn’t been there yet. Now that Alice Cooper’s been inducted, he needs to go see it! Even if it is in Ohio. 😉

Thinking about the future beyond that is kind of scary and stressful. I try to think of things in more “lily pad” terms. I jump from one upcoming event to the next, enjoying the moment as much as I can.

That’s my theory, anyway. I worry about the future an awful lot, so it’s better for me to try and rein it in and only think about the things at hand.

This break from writing is going better than last time. Granted, this blog is still writing, but it’s not fiction so it’s allowed. I’ve come up with a few ideas I want to put into my novel once I’m free to edit it. Certain things in the story have come more into focus now that I’m not trying to hash it out and get to the appropriate word count.

I’m planning to mostly work on this novel this year, and then switch over to revising my more holiday-themed novel at NaNoWriMo time.

I’m looking forward to when the temperatures are well below 90 degrees again.

Who shot the hole in my sombrero?

Sara Mazariegos

I don’t have to tell YOU folks about scuba diving. So that’ll save some time.

-Emo Philips

To say my vacation didn’t entirely go as planned would be putting it mildly. I didn’t make a video this week because there’s a lot to try to parce down into a short video and I also feel too blah to want to appear on camera.

Disney World was great! The Grand Floridian spoiled us and I want to stay there again someday. (Darn it, Disney.) We rode the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean three times, then dined with princesses in the castle as the fireworks went off right by our window seat. The Magic Kingdom day was certainly magical.

The rest of it was also great. Mid-April is a good time to go, because the crowds aren’t as big and the temperatures aren’t as hot.

Universal was also fun, though it really does pale in comparison with Disney. My favorite part was The Simpsons, and they’re probably going to replace it soon with Nintendo stuff. I like Nintendo, but… I wish they could just have both. Or Disney would literally take the Simpsons stuff over to Hollywood Studios.

Anyway. Enough theme park stuff.

My husband caught something by the time we were in Guatemala for the wedding. Then I caught it from him literally the evening of the wedding reception. I fell asleep at nine and slept TWELVE HOURS. At first, I thought it was just my body trying to catch up on lost sleep over the past few days, but then my stomach started feeling sick.

The wedding was so nice and it was great to see everyone in Luis’s family there, but it was a bit of a blur because we were both so sick. I think now, today, I’m finally starting to be better. *fingers crossed*

I had a Grand Plan to work on rereading and plotting a novel this week, but that’s out the window. I’ve barely gotten any of my day job work done, between taking a sick day on Tuesday and working (slightly) from home today. But next week! I have faith in next week.

Don’t let this make you think I don’t still love Disney, though. If anything, I blame Universal for getting us sick. 😉

I’m already lightly planning our next trip to a Disney park.

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,

“I’m thirty-seven.” “What?”

Sara Mazariegos


“Well, I can’t just call you ‘Man.'” “You could say ‘Dennis.'” “I didn’t know you were called Dennis!” “You didn’t bother to find out, did you?”


It’s my birthday! 🥳 Today, my husband and I are going to our favorite Italian restaurant and then we’re going to watch Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs. (It came out in 1937. That’s my theme this year.)

This weekend, we’re going to celebrate with friends and see the new Ghostbusters movie and do an escape room. It’s going to be a lot of fun. And then next weekend, we’re heading to Disney World!

I’m spoiled.

Currently, I’m listening to Carly Watters talking about how to get started in the publishing industry. That’s right, I know how to party.

Luis finished alpha reading my manuscript, so I have a few more tweaks to make, and then I can send it out to a few more beta readers. Then I can enter the query trenches again.

When we come back from our trip, I’m going to switch gears and work on rewriting my other novel. It’ll be a nice change of pace. I’m excited to play with those characters again and use what I’ve learned to make the story better.

I’m feeling optimistic. ✨

A humiliating kick in the crotch.

Sara Mazariegos

Writing query letters is tough, especially when you’re not sure where to find good people to critique it. Friends and family rave about it, but a random person can shut it down and make me feel like no one would want to read my novel. It would be nice to find somewhere in between those two extremes. I know it needs work, but that doesn’t mean my novel isn’t good or deserving of being published.

I’m not giving up on it.

Meanwhile, I’ve rewritten an outline for my other novel’s rewrite. Luis (husband) recommends that I write a query letter at this early stage, too, to help guide the novel. So I’m going to be having fun with that as well.

In slightly over two weeks, we’re going on our fun Disney/Guatemala trip, so it’ll be another opportunity to take a break. I just feel as though I’ve been taking a break for a while now. I’m ready to write more! But it’s good to pace myself and not stack my days with too much writing, especially when I know I won’t have enough time to write a new draft until after the beginning weeks of April.

Are all writers like this?

Sweet parody.

Sara Mazariegos


The daily prompt asks what my parents did when they were my age. They already had two kids. 😬

Another asks what the title of my biography would be. That would be telling.

I’ve gotten into Schmigadoon! recently. I just started season 2, and I love it so much because it’s parodying the musicals I enjoy (Chicago, Cabaret, Sweet Charity… a lot of Cs.)

The Project For Awesome officially starts on Friday! I’ve already donated $30 because of the perks John & Hank Green announced yesterday. We’ll see if I can’t stop myself from donating more…

On the writing front, I’ve reached 54K words! 🎉 I can take today “off” from writing since I’m ahead of my word count goal already, but I will probably still write a little today because I can’t stop myself from that either.

Today is Luis’s and my twelfth dating anniversary! We’ve been together as long as our cat Boo has been alive. We will celebrate this evening by ordering some Fancy French Door Dash and listening to Parisian cafe music, like the sophisticated people we are. The last time we did that, we ended up planning a trip to Paris.

🥖,

Cinderelly, Cinderelly.

Sara Mazariegos


There’s a lot to look forward to in Saraland™ in the next few months – one of which is actually happening tomorrow! I’m going to Richmond with Luis (husband) to see Poe’s cats and learn some history. I love cats and history.

The other morning, we got up so, so early to get reservations at Cinderella’s Royal Table in Disney World when we’re there in April. We succeeded! It’ll be lunch instead of dinner, but I’m so excited anyway! By the look of things, lunch might be calmer than dinner, which is perhaps better for our purposes.

I say “like” so much when I’m excited. I didn’t realize until I watched my video back while editing.

In writing progress news, I’ve reached the wonderful 40K (halfway) point! 🎉 I’ve incorporated some of my older draft’s scenes because they’re relevant and not in need of big changes. That’s one nice thing about revising: you can go in and take the things you still want.

Since I’ve made a lot of drastic plot changes to my novel — I even changed the title! (That’ll happen more times, I bet.) — I went back into my query draft and updated it as well, to correspond with my updated plot.

My novel is definitely more focused on the romance plot now. I still think “women’s fiction” applies, too. Many contemporary romances involve women’s fiction angles, don’t they? The female lead’s point in life is very tied to everything she does. I’m drawn to novels where the female lead has some growing to do. I doubt I’m the only one.

I also feel, in my heart, that there’s a space on bookshelves for a romance inspired by Nerdfighters. I hope to provide a novel for that space.