Monthly Review

August 2026 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen

Every year I find August to be a mixed bag. It’s the last lazy throws of summer but also the lead-up to the semester and brings chaos with it. I feel like I didn’t get as much done as I hoped, but I’m still trying to be kind to myself after all that happened this year. Let’s recap what my goals for August were:

  • Start working on Flowers & Flourishing in earnest
  • Finish proofing the audiobook for The Reanimator’s Fate (TRM #4)
  • Release the audiobook for TRF
  • Set up syllabi and work stuff
  • Maintain my mental health
  • Finish craft projects
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out monthly newsletter
  • Read 8 books

Books

My goal was to read 8 books, and I read exactly 8.

  1. The Ancient Magus’ Bride Vol. 22 by Kore Yamazaki- 4 stars, an interesting glimpse at the dragons and gorgons and a new part of the world we haven’t seen before. My only quibble is that I hate how the cast is so expansive that I have no idea who is who anymore. We need a recap at the beginning.
  2. The Woman Who Fell Through Space by Amara Star- 4 stars, the first in a new series where a trans woman grieving her wife is accidentally sent into a space-age future where she needs to figure out what she wants her new life to look like.
  3. Autistic Menopause by Julie Gamble-Turner and Rachel Moseley- 4 stars, a friend recommended it since I’m in my mid-30s and bodies are annoying. It was quite interesting, at the same time, I wish there was more info about studies or other places for further reading.
  4. The City of Dusk by Tara Sim- 3 stars, this rating is partly a me problem. I’m finding I don’t love fantasies with very large, multi-POV casts. The heads of opposing houses team up to summon the gods and free their world only to have things go catastrophically wrong.
  5. Radio Silence by Chace Verity- 5 stars, two radio/movie stars reunite after five years apart after WWII. I read this as an ARC and loved it immensely. There’s a lot of good tension between the two MCs and dark overtones that are off-set by the sunshine side characters. Overall, very hopeful despite the time period for gay characters.
  6. Revenge of the Sunshine by Jackie Lau- 4 stars, a whimsical woman discovers her boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend and does the obvious thing: asks his brother to help her get revenge. In this whimsical x stuffed shirt romance, we get a satisfying romance that grows deliciously. Oh, and there’s a cute cat.
  7. What Did You Eat Yesterday? Vol. 4 by Fumi Yoshinaga- 4 stars, a gay couple in their 30s/40s in 2000s Japan navigate life together. There is a ton of food as always, and it’s fun to watch the one MC untangle his internalized homophobia/deal with Japanese society’s expectations.
  8. What Did You Eat Yesterday? Vol. 5 by Fumi Yoshinaga- 4 stars, see above.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Proofed the audiobook of The Reanimator’s Fate (TRM #4)
  • Sent the narrator the edits for the audiobook of TRF
  • Paid for, approved, and published the audiobook of TRF
  • Worked on mapping out the rewrite and expansion of Flowers & Flourishing
  • Started writing the rewrite of F&F
  • Put a deposit down for the cover of F&F and a re-cover of K&K
  • Ran a book bundle/sale for Katie’s next oncology visit
  • Was part of a queer, historical book bundle
  • Helped my partner with name change paperwork
  • Got the name change approved (yay)
  • Turned in more paperwork for the name change (so many post office trips)
  • Dealt with a broken sump pump/wet basement
  • Beta read/historical spot-checked for a friend
  • Started editing a past student’s book
  • Took Edgar to the vet (he’s fine now)
  • Worked on my craft project
  • Set up my syllabi and online stuff for my classes
  • Only McLostIt a little

Blogs

Writing

Truthfully, I wish I wrote more this month, but I’m glad that I spent the majority of my writing brain on figuring out how I wanted to change Flowers & Flourishing during the rewrite. I had initially assumed that the rewrite would just be me beefing up scenes with more detail and expanding Felipe’s role in the story. Once I started writing it, things rapidly changed as it became apparent that the story was going to expand quite a bit, like one scene went from 1.5 pages to 6 pages. That’s to be expected when fiddling with the opening and establishing things, but I didn’t quite expect the expansion to be that big. Rather than opening the two docs side by side and revising, I’m basically rewriting the whole book from scratch with the original draft as a scaffold. I’m mildly annoyed at myself as it will take longer than I had anticipated. At the same time, I think it will be a much better book, and Agatha and Louisa deserve a solid story for their romance.

Hopes for September

  • Write 20,000 words of Flowers and Flourishing for the rewrite
  • Collaborate with my cover artist on the covers for F&F and K&K
  • Deal with multiple doctor/vet appointments without McLosingIt
  • Run an audiobook sale on Chirp (if they approve it)
  • Finish feedback on a past student’s book (it’s quite good!)
  • Keep up with my grading and class stuff
  • Finish the craft kit I’m working on
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out monthly newsletter
  • Read 8 books

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Published by Kara Jorgensen

Kara Jorgensen (they/them) is a queer, nonbinary oddball with a penchant for all things antiquated, morbid, or just plain strange. While in college, they realized they no longer wanted to be Victor Frankenstein but instead wanted to write like Mary Shelley and thus abandoned their future career in science for writing. They meld their passions through their books and received an MFA in Creative and Professional Writing in 2016. When not writing, they can be found hanging out with their dogs watching period dramas or trying to convince their students to cite their sources. To find out more about her books go to https://karajorgensen.com Sign-up for her newsletter and get a free short story: eepurl.com/bfJTW9

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