Where the hell did August go?? This managed to be the shortest month ever for me, though I think that has to do with prepping for the new semester while trying to get my shit together with book 3 of the The Reanimator Mysteries. Let’s take a look at our goals for August:
- Write 25,000 words
- Start edits
- Prepare for my classes
- Make the online parts of my classes (bleck)
- Continue to try to maintain my tenuous grip on my mental health
- Blog weekly
- Send out my newsletter
- Read 8 books
Books
The goal was to read 8 books, and that is exactly how many I read.
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo- 4 stars, a nonfiction book that looks at why white people react so poorly to being told they are (or might be) racist. A good primer but not super in-depth.
- Shiver (#1) by Maggie Stiefvater- 4 stars, a girl is attacked by wolves as a child only to fall in love with the werewolf who saved her. This is very much a YA romance, but I loved every second of it. Sometimes we need angst teen romances.
- Cheese by Andrew Dalby- 4 stars, a nonfiction book about the history of cheese. Interesting, but part of me wishes it was more in-depth.
- Mushroom by Cynthia D. Bertlesen- 4 stars, from the same series as the book on cheese, this book looks at the history and science of mushrooms. The look at mushroom philic v. phobic countries was quite interesting.
- Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth- 4 stars, a dystopian, futuristic reimagining of Antigone. Very interesting set-up, and I like how the focus on reproductive writes and memory were handled in this version.
- When Among Crows by Veronica Roth- 5 stars, a fantastic fantasy book set in a monster-filled modern Chicago with an Eastern European flare. I absolutely loved the characters and the world. You know a novella is good when you wish it was longer or that there was a sequel.
- The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P.Djèlí Clark- 5 stars, another fantastic short book. We have an undead assassin working for a goddess, a case that goes very wrong, wibbly wobbly time, and a really rich world.
- Broodmother by Vesper Doom- 4 stars, a folk horror short story featuring some incredibly scary and gross cicadas. No offense to the cicadas, but they were quite horrifying.
Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff
- Prepped all my class stuff (except the content for my new class, oops)
- Prepared for the Naratess Indie Sale
- Advertised my butt off for the Naratess Indie Sale
- Edited over half of The Reanimator’s Remains
- Continued to write The Reanimator’s Remains (nearly done, had to fix some stuff)
- Barely maintained my grip on my sanity, but I did it
- Listened to my body and did more creative/fun things to keep from McLosingIt
- Joined the Plants and Petrichor Stitch-a-long, hosted by FineFrogStitching, and have been keeping up with it
- Had a good first week of teaching my classes
- Had to put a new battery in my car on the first day of classes because it died in the driveway .-. (it’s been a week, peeps)
- Brainstormed how I might add to the Paranormal Society Romance series in the future
- Blogged weekly
- Sent out my newsletter
Blogs
- July 2024 Wrap-Up Post
- Trusting Your Writing Intuition
- 10 Reasons to Read The Reanimator’s Remains
- Get 2 Books for $2
- August Newsletter
Writing
I forgot to chart my writing progress this month because I’ve been writing as much as I can. Truthfully, there were weeks where I felt my brain starting to spark, so I had to slow down for a few days. I’m trying to be better about listening to my body and not running myself into the ground. This is a constant struggle for me as I will self-flagellate about not doing enough. Luckily, editing the first 60% of the book helped to get me back on track and figure out where I needed to go with the last chunk. That’s something I usually have to do during the writing process, even though I resist it every friggin time. I’m actually really proud of this book. It’s definitely different than books 1 and 2. It’s quieter and a bit more internal, even though there’s a lot going on in terms of the mystery and learning more about Oliver’s background. That’s also why I’ve been feeling a bit self-conscious about it. I worry readers won’t necessarily enjoy it as much because it isn’t as swashbuckly at the other two. Maybe it is and I’m just hung up on something that’s a non-issue. Either way, I guess I’ll find out when it comes out in October or when my ARC readers get their hands on it.
Hopes for September
- Finish The Reanimator’s Remains completely
- Edit the rest of The Reanimator’s Remains
- Proofread The Reanimator’s Remains
- Prep ARCs to go out
- Format the paperback
- Keep up with my class prep/grading
- Send out my monthly newsletter
- Blog weekly
- Read 8 books
Kara Jorgensen 
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