Somehow August was simultaneously the longest and shortest month. This was probably due to teaching a summer class that went at a breakneck pace while trying to finish up my book launch prep.
- Stay on top of my summer class stuff (that runs from the beginning to the middle of August)
- Set up the Blackboards for my fall classes (*quiet sobbing because I hate doing it*)
- Edit the majority of The Reanimator’s Heart
- Continue working on the newsletter freebie story
- More graphics for TRH
- Set up Google form for ARC copies of TRH
- Read 8 books
Books
My goal was to read 8 books in August, and I read 10 books.
- Cafe con Lychee by Emery Lee- 4 stars, two teens who don’t get along band together to save their parents’ businesses
- Her Unexpected Roommate (#5) by Jackie Lau- 4 stars, absolutely loved these two, high anxiety MC meets human golden retriever MC is always a good combo
- Empty Smiles (#4) by Katherine Arden- 4 stars, a decent wrap up of this MG horror series
- The City of Brass (#1) by S. A. Chakraborty- 5 stars, I finished reading it and sat back like wtf and immediately looked for the sequel on my shelf
- Second Spear (#2) by Kerstin Hall- 4 stars, such good world-building in this book. A creepy world with a maze and a Cheshire Cat grin, yes please
- Fence: Rise (#5) by C.S. Pacat and Joanna the Mad- 4 stars, another bridge volume but I liked seeing the two MCs getting closer (though this is the slowest of burns ever)
- The Governess Affair (#0.5) by Courtney Milan- 4 stars, a vengeful accountant/”fixer” bringing down a duke because he hurt the woman he’s falling for is chef kiss
- The Duchess War (#1) by Courtney Milan- 4 stars, a historical romance between a duke trying to level the playing field for society by destroying the upper class from the inside out
- Saga (#7) by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples- 5 stars, reading in preparation for volume 10 coming out in October
- A Kiss for Midwinter (#1.5) by Courtney Milan- 4 stars, the ending sort of saved this book for me as I found the dynamic of the two MCs grating at times
Admin/Behind-the-scenes Author Stuff
- Did round 1 of edits on The Reanimator’s Heart
- Did round 2 of [micro] edits on The Reanimator’s Heart
- Sent out ARCs of The Reanimator’s Heart to reviewers and peers
- Incorporated beta reader feedback
- Proof-read The Reanimator’s Heart and did all those edits (*laugh sob* should have done that BEFORE sending ARCs out)
- Asked a few people to potentially blurb The Reanimator’s Heart
- Formatted the paperback and ordered a proof copy, which looks awesome
- Formatted the Kindle/Epub editions of the book (final, hopefully)
- Set up all my pre-fall semester stuff for my classes (syllabi and Blackboard accounts- also realized I could clone Blackboards from previous semester, so yay time savings)
- Taught my 3 week summer class and survived, lol
- Made multiple book graphics
Blogs Posted
- July 2022 Wrap-Up Post
- A Preview of The Reanimator’s Heart
- Indie Book Covers on a Budget
- How Being Nonbinary Helped My Dysphoria
- The Fear of Success
- August Newsletter (check this out to see if you might interested in joining Morbid Tidbits)
Writing
So there isn’t much to talk about here since I finished The Reanimator’s Heart in July. What I did do is plot part of my newsletter freebie “Flowers and Flourishing,” which I hope will not grow into a giant novel. *whispers* Please stay a novella or smaller; I am begging you.
This will follow characters you’ll meet in The Reanimator’s Heart but follows the format of Kinship and Kindness by being a queer romance featuring a shifter and a trans character, so it’s a sort of bridge between both series as they both involve the NYC Paranormal Society. In this case, it’s F/F romance with a lesbian jaguar shifter and a bi trans woman. The former is in a lavender marriage with one of the main characters in The Reanimator’s Heart.
PS- you can preorder The Reanimator’s Heart here.
Hopes for September
- Maintain my mental health and a decent work-life balance while grading/teaching
- Make my goals for quarter 4
- Writing goal of 10k/12k/14k of “Flowers and Flourishing”
- Deal with any last minute book BS that comes up for The Reanimator’s Heart
- Blog weekly and put out my monthly newsletter
- Maybe make another book trailer/Tiktok for The Reanimator’s Heart
- Read 8 books
Kara Jorgensen 
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