Hiya, lovely one,
Where to even begin…
I’d like to start with something that makes me very excited and happy in a reality that hasn’t offered much of that.
The lovely folks with the Orange County Public Library system invited me out to the west coast for a chat! On Friday, February 6, 2026 at 6 p.m. I’ll be at the Tustin Library to talk all things romance. But the most exciting part is my conversation partner, the one and only Tessa fucking Dare.
*screams forever with periodic breaks to giggle and kick my feet*
Okay so here’s the thing: Tessa Dare is a fundamental reason I am a romance writer. Her books were my gateway to romance. That’s right, the very first romance book my eyes devoured was a Tessa Dare regency romance, and my lil dopamine starved brain was never the same. I truly wish I could remember exactly which book it was, but as soon as I read one, I consumed the rest of her backlist in a sort of frantic fever-dream state, rinsed, repeated. I fell so deeply in love with the genre through her writing that it changed the trajectory of my reading, and, in a sort of butterfly effect, my life and career. It was through this voracious love of romance novels that I then started writing my own. So, to get to talk to the G.O.A.T. that opened up my world to all this spectacular genre has to offer, is truly an unbelievably exciting career high.
For all my SoCal friends, I hope to see you this Friday for what will surely be a night I embarrass myself with excitement!!
So, to pivot as subtly as a freight train: things are really bleak out there.
Things have been dark in America for awhile, and I’d be remiss not to point out that this didn’t happen over night. While there’s been a shiny veneer slopped over the concept of American exceptionalism, centuries of corruption and exploitation have led to this moment in history, and I think it’s crucial we acknowledge that.
We are witnessing people being gunned down in the streets, some for exercising their first amendment rights to protest, others for simply going about their business. Children are being kidnapped. There’s a measles outbreak in a modern concentration camp. It’s so overwhelming, it feels paralyzing.
And I know, I know, some of you are clicking the unsubscribe button. You aren’t here for “politics,” you’re here for romance books and happy endings and the “escape” fiction provides.
But that’s not the point of literature, is it?
Books aren’t written for you to turn off your brains. Genre romance wasn’t designed to pacify patriarchal systems. Art isn’t created for you to feel good.
While doomscrolling, I saw a post from an artist asking if art even matters right now, and it made me sit up in bed. What struck me is how much I’d been circling this question myself, toiling away at my keyboard as I try to meet two impending deadlines. With all the horror happening before us, does art matter?
After taking many steps back, the answer is an unapologetic yes.
If art didn’t matter, fascist wouldn’t condemn it. If art didn’t matter, books wouldn’t be burned and paintings wouldn’t be stolen and wannabe dictators wouldn’t slap their names on then shut down performance spaces if they weren’t afraid of the power of art to spark thought and conversation and resistance.
All of this to say: yes, art matters. But our use of that art matters just as much. Don’t turn your brain off, don’t ignore what’s happening. Be inspired by the art around you, and use it to fight. Call your representatives. Join a protest. Donate to mutual aid funds. Protect your neighbors. Have uncomfortable conversations with friends and family. Just don’t give up. This moment requires all of us if we’re going to meet it and overcome it.
All my love,
Mazey ❤️🧠🦷
Oh, and can’t forget this thing…
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