This month has been wild. I knew I would be busy grading a bunch of papers since April is the busiest month of the spring semester, but this month threw me some curve balls I wasn’t expecting. Let’s look back at what I had intended to get done before we get into it.
- Write 20k words of The Reanimator’s Remains (TRM #3)
- Proof audiobook chapters of The Reanimator’s Soul (TRM #2)
- Keep up with the Fungi and Frogs stitch-a-long I’ve joined
- Maintain my mental health better (aka refill the well and use your elliptical)
- Send out monthly newsletter
- Read 8 books
- Blog weekly
Books
- Wake Me Most Wickedly (#2) by Felicia Grossman- 4 stars, a Snow White retelling set in 1800s British-Jewish society featuring a disgraced pawnshop owner and a young man trying desperately to make his brother proud. I loved the gender swap in this story as well as how the villain was represented.
- Sunflowers by Keezy Young- 4 stars, a short autobiographical comic about bipolar I disorder. Beautiful art and an interesting look into a stigmatized mental illness.
- Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture by Sherronda J. Brown- 5 stars, an absolutely fantastic nonfiction work on how asexuality is tied up into white supremacy, the patriarchy, anti-Blackness, and more.
- Bells are Ringing (#1.5) by Cat Sebastian- 5 stars, an epilogue that follows Nick and Andy several months after the events of We Could Be So Good. I absolutely loved seeing them grow as a couple.
- The Vermilion Emporium by Jamie Pacton- 4 stars, a magical girl and a boy who hears starlight are brought together by a magical store and find they are far more special than they ever thought.
- Threads of Life by Clare Hunter- 4 stars, a nonfiction book about the social, historical, political, and cultural significance of embroidery and sewing. This book was fascinating and gave me plot bunnies galore.
- The Shabti by Megaera C. Lorenz- 5 stars, a reformed fake medium and an awkward academic/Egyptologist team up to solve the very real haunting of the university’s Egyptology exhibit/artifacts. I loved these two together as well as all the side characters.
- The Potion Gardener (#8) by Arden Powell- 4 stars, a potion maker wakes up to find a young person sleeping off a rough party in their shed only to find that they are more than they appear. This story has transitioning magic, which I thought was really awesome and not often seen in historical-fantasy.
Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff
- Proofed all the files for the audiobook of The Reanimator’s Soul (TRM #2)
- Paid for and approved the files for the audiobook on ACX (coming to Audible and Amazon soon)
- Uploaded them to Findaway Voices and kicked them through for distribution
- Ran a sale on The Reanimator’s Heart
- Paid Q1 2024 taxes
- Picked up the literary magazine copies for my class (they came out great!)
- Kept up with the Femurs and Fungi Stitch-a-long thus far (pics are on IG if you’re interested)
- Sent a bajillion emails to my students, random admins/faculty members
- Finished the majority of my grading
- Finally was able to speak out about being harassed online for the past however many months (see Freydis blog post and that assorted chaos), so I have processed/dealt with more emotions than I would care to admit since April 20th. It sort of sucked the life out of me, but I’ll talk about that more in the writing section.
Blogs
- The New Book Blues
- The Narratess Indie Sale!
- A Vent: The Freydis Fiasco
- On Gender
- April Newsletter
Writing
Looking back, when I made the word count for April, I was being unrealistic. I somehow forgot that April is the busiest month in the spring semester when it comes to grading. I did not come close to meeting that goal. This was initially due to grading and being a bit fried, but ultimately, what did me in was everything about Freydis Moon/Taylor Barton coming to light. You can read more in my blog post about my experience being harassed by Freydis/Taylor, and if you want more on how this came to light, just google Freydis Moon drama as there are plenty of videos that sum it up. Being able to finally tell people what was going on and being believed was an immense relief, but it was also a punch to the psyche and body. I ended up having a post-strong-emotions autoimmune flare a week after, and that made doing anything difficult. I greatly appreciate Em/Elle Porter bringing everything to light and for my friends/readers who have been very supportive.
On a brighter note, I was stuck on The Reanimator’s Remains, but I finally figured out what needs to be changed to make everything fall into place. I also got a rather unhinged idea for something toward the end. I’m not 100% sure I’ll use it, but it has inspired me. As the semester wraps up, I feel my creativity returning finally. May will be for fanning the flames of that creativity back to a roar.
Hopes for May
- Writing goals are as follows:
- minimum 15k words
- standard 20k words
- stretch 25k words
- Finish outlining the next chunk
- Finish grading finals
- Do more creative stuff to avoid burnout
- Read 8 books
- Blog weekly
- Send out my May newsletter
- Keep up with my stitch-a-long
Kara Jorgensen 