Author: 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
new blog post: 10 books I'm excited for in 2026 10 Books I’m Excited for in 2026
Book Reviews

10 Books I’m Excited for in 2026

Kara JorgensenLeave a comment

I know this is a few months late, so some of these books will have already come out. But there are a ton of books that I am excited about that are coming out this year. I’m thinking this will be a part 1 that focuses on the first half of the year. Also, this list will probably be trad pub heavy because indies don’t tend to announce their releases too far in advance. Without further ado, here are ten books I am excited about that are coming out in 2026 that you should add to your TBR pile.

  1. The Wolf and His King by Finn Longman- (Jan 27th) A Bisclavret retelling where an exiled noble becomes entangled with the new king who falls for his knew knight only to lose him once more. I love a queer retelling of courtly love stories.
  2. Get Over It, April Evans by Ashley Herring Blake- (Feb 3rd) I love Blake’s sapphic books so much, and in this one, we have a struggling artist who ends up cabin-mates with the woman her ex left her for. Meanwhile, the poor woman has no idea why she hates her. During camp, they compete for a gig in London, but soon realize they may be better together than by themselves.
  3. Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian- (Mar 3rd) Two actors on a long-running show are forced to play nicely after years of finding the other horrifically annoying as they go on a road trip to promote the show. The more they’re together, the more they realize how well the other knows them and how well they are getting along. As with all Cat Sebastian books, I’m sure this will be deliciously emotionally devastating and intimate.
  4. Metropolis Down by Vesper Doom- (Mar 3rd) Two ex lovers must join forces in order to save a city ship that has been sending distress signals, but the distress signals are more than they appear. The two men hear haunting songs from their pasts, and the ghosts have followed them home only to sow chaos.
  5. Blood and Sand by Jordan L. Hawk- (Mar 13th) An assassin is targeting bootleggers, so a hexman and a fellow bootlegger have to leave the speakeasy behind in order to figure out how to work a hex dredged up from Ancient Egypt that might be the key to solving everything or bring more bloodshed to their world.
  6. The Lost Lovelies by Vanora Lawless- (Mar 23rd) A journalist must team up with a mage to find his missing brother and sister-in-law. The mage harbors secrets: he loved the journalist years ago and he comes from a line of blood mages, which are forbidden.
  7. How to Fake it in Society by KJ Charles (Apr 28th)- Nico is on the run from French ex-nobles who want him dead, and he has set his sights on English society to help him return to his former position (through scams, of course), but the suddenly wealthy man he has set his sights on may be falling for him and the feeling is, unfortunately, mutual.
  8. Platform Decay by Martha Wells- (May 5th) I love Murderbot so much. If you want an autistic robot who would rather be watching their shows than doing their job, Murderbot is for you. In this episode, Murderbot must go on a rescue mission and deal with more humans they don’t know, including children. The horror.
  9. A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo- (May 5th) In this entry, we get to see Cleric Chih at the beginning of their journey to become a cleric at Singing Hills when they become stranded in a town where refugees from across the sea appear. Chih is meant to record stories, and the stories they are told are brutal enough to make them question everything.
  10. We Could Be Anyone by Anna-Marie McLemore- (May 26th) McLemore is an auto-buy author for me (as are many of these authors). This story appears to be about the golden age of Hollywood with two siblings who scam rich people out of their money by playing ghost and spiritualist only to find they have gotten in over their heads.
new blog post: february wrap-up post February 2026 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

February 2026 Wrap-Up Post

Kara JorgensenLeave a comment

CWs: pet loss, pet injury, blood, grief

February has been the worst month of my life, and I don’t say that lightly. It was seriously awful. This month’s wrap-up is probably going to be a bit depressing, but I think it’s important to not gloss over the times when things go horribly wrong and nothing gets done. That’s just how life is sometimes. Let’s get a refresher of what I had hoped to accomplish in February:

  • Outline “An Unexpected Christmas” (TRM #4.5)
  • Write most, if not all, of “An Unexpected Christmas” (TRM #4.5)
  • Reread Flowers and Flourishing
  • Take notes on Flower and Flourishing for the rewrite
  • Read 8 books
  • Send out newsletter
  • Blog weekly
  • Keep up with grading
  • Manage my stress

Books

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

  1. The Influencers by Anna-Marie McLemore- 4 stars, an influencer’s husband is murdered and her daughters become the prime suspects. As with all of McLemore’s books, it is slightly unsettling in the best way as we unravel the mystery along with her daughters.
  2. The Last Will and Testament of Wilhelmina Bruttenholm (#1) by Vivian Moira Valentine- 4 stars, a trans woman is called to a small town to be part of a will reading only to become entangled in magic and murders. Oh, and there’s a cute tarantula named Samantha.
  3. Ne’er Duke Well (#1) by Alexandra Vasti- 4 stars, a duke realizes he needs a wife to help him seem more appealing as he tries to adopt his illegitimate half-siblings only to fall for the woman who is supposed to be finding him a wife.
  4. An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States- 4 stars, I have mixed feelings about this one, but take all of this with a grain of salt since I’m white. I felt like it was really about Black history and key figures with the Indigenous bits tacked on, like a 70/30 split, and I wanted more on Indigenous scholars and figures.
  5. Painter of the Night (#1) by Byeonduck- 4 stars, an erotic painter is brought into the home of a rough, hedonist noble, so he can paint whatever he desires. The young painter quickly realizes he is in way over his head in regards to political maneuvering and the lengths to which the noble will go to get what he wants. This is dark romance, so keep that in mind.
  6. Painter of the Night (#2) by Byeonduck- 4 stars, see above
  7. Earl Crush (#2) by Alexandra Vasti- 4 stars, a woman goes to Scotland to propose to her penpal only to find out he isn’t what he seems. Instead, she bands together with his brother to find him and bring him to justice. There are also zebras, pretending to be married, and much more.
  8. Making Space by R. F. Kuang- 4 stars, a short story about a young boy found in the woods, the woman who cares for him, and the problem of outgrowing the world around you and the hope to find a new one.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Dealt with the issue regarding Kobo and TRF/my books
  • Took a writing break to preserve my mental health
  • Had to put Finn to sleep at 17/18 years old very suddenly and grieved him
  • Less than a week later I had to rush Edgar to the emergency vet (he’s okay)
  • Ruined my mental health and ability to function while waiting for biopsy results for Edgar
  • Found out Edgar’s mass wasn’t cancerous (yay)
  • Kept up with work stuff
  • Ran an audiobook sale on Chirp
  • Blogged weekly
  • Sent out my newsletter
  • Outlined part of “An Unexpected Christmas” (TRM #4.5)
  • Celebrated my partner’s birthday as best we could with *gestures to dog chaos and grief*

Blogs

Writing

I wrote approximately 500 words this month. At first, I took a break after the release of The Reanimator’s Fate because I was working until the last minute to get it out, and my brain felt cooked. I had just started getting back into it when Finn had a medical emergency and had to be put to sleep. Losing my oldest dog and then immediately dealing with a second dog emergency (and waiting on biopsy results) completely tanked my ability to cope with anything, especially as I was missing Finn and worrying I would lose Edgar too. I didn’t really read, I didn’t do crafts, I didn’t write. I just stewed in anxiety. I posted a bit about Edgar’s vet trip on Bluesky, but it was a bit traumatic. That combined with worrying he had cancer (thankfully he doesn’t) wrecked me. Could I have pushed myself to get words on the page? Perhaps. We’ll never know because I chose to sit it out. I needed to just care for Edgar and Katie and deal with my anxiety and grief as best I could. I cannot thank my partner enough for her unwavering support during this incredibly rough time. She is my rock, and I love her more than she could know. Without her, I’m pretty sure I would have subsisted on granola bars and coffee. The plan is to get back on track in March now that everything is at least a bit better.

RIP Finn 2009-2026

picture of a black dog with a grey muzzle. His tongue is out and his eyes are a little asymmetrical as the right one is cloudy and a little smaller than the left eye

Hopes for March

  • Write the entirety of “An Unexpected Christmas”
  • Edit “An Unexpected Christmas”
  • Send “An Unexpected Christmas” out to newsletter subscribers
  • Manage my mental health as best I can
  • Juggle a bunch of doctors’ appointments
  • Keep on top of work stuff
  • Send out newsletter
  • Blog weekly
  • Read 8 books
new blog post:: 6 More Things New Authors Should Know 6 More Things New Authors Should Know
Writing

6 More Things New Authors Should Know

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

In a post last year, I wrote about 8 things new authors should know. This year, I want to expand that list and talk about some more things that might be useful to a newbie author (or someone new to indie publishing), especially after some of the wild things I have witnessed this year.

  1. Don’t reinvent the wheel– plenty of people have come before you as an author. Whatever you want to do, there’s probably an author who has done it who can tell you whether it’s a good idea or not and what the best practices are. If the vast majority of indies don’t suggest you do something (like ordering books wholesale), there’s probably a reason for it, so don’t assume you are super special or that you found a weird loophole or something. More than likely, people don’t do it that way because it’s clunky, illegal, or causes problems with taxes. Best practices are best practices for a reason, and established authors know how to streamline to process of administrative work or back-end author stuff.
  2. Keep your pen name consistent across all sales platforms and on your covers– It sounds self-explanatory, but if you want to use a middle name or only initials, make sure you use it across all platforms and on the covers of your book. Because so many authors have very similar names, platforms like Kobo or Amazon treat each variation like a new author, so you will end up having issues linking your books to your page or you might have one book of a series not hook up with the other books in your series if the name varies from book to book. This is a pain in the butt for trans authors, but more than likely if you want to completely change your name on your books, you will have to either a) unpublish them and republish with the new name info/cover and then contact the distributors customer service and see if they will combine the old and new pages to move the reviews over b) contact customer service after you upload new covers to have them change the name on their end (they can’t always do this). This is why it’s best to have the name up front because fixing it after is a pain.
  3. Be wary of people trying to sell you something– There are plenty of unscrupulous authors who just want to send you products or courses to make a buck off you. They often aren’t giving you something that can’t be gleaned from the internet for free. If there is a course that you have your eye on, ask around to see what others say about it. Writers are very vocal about things being a scam. A good litmus test is if the author with the course has a backlist of books (with plenty of reviews) to back up their success. If they are cagey about their pen names or they don’t appear to actually sell books, RUN. They are a scam.
  4. In the same vein, if someone says this way is the only way, they are selling you something– There are a lot of author groups that will tell you their way to success is the only path to success or that you have to release 5 books a year or you’ll never make money. None of these things are true. Often, groups like this will end up being more focused on group-think or sucking up to a handful of “successful” people. There are infinite ways to make money in publishing, and the path to success depends on your definition of success and your values. If a group is very insistent their way is the only way or they boot anyone who doesn’t agree with them or questions them, leave. Writing success doesn’t look like a pyramid scheme.
  5. Be a person on social media– something I’m thinking about writing about soon is self-mythologizing. We see this a lot on social media where people lead with a story about themselves rather than focusing on their product when making marketing posts. Marketing your book or trying to sell yourself is great and all and it has it’s place, BUT no one wants to interact with someone who is only a brand. You don’t need to tell people all of your business, but it’s far less off-putting to post on social media like a person than like a corporate social media account. At the same time, post knowing that other people are watching, so don’t be an asshole. By and large, people would much prefer to follow an author who sometimes posts about their pets and hobbies than someone who hawks themselves and their books in every post.
  6. Learn online author etiquette– It might be tempting to reply to people with a link to your book at every opportunity, but unless they are asking for recommendations, don’t do it. It’s very rude, and people will block you for it. There’s a time and place for talking about your book, and if you treat social media like a place to talk to people, you tend to step on less toes. Treat others how you would like to be treated, and if you do misstep, apologize and don’t make the same mistake again. More than likely, the other person won’t remember your faux pas a week later.

I hope these little bits of advice help you out as you begin your author journey. If you have anything you would like me to cover in the future, leave it in my comments!

new blog post: The Reanimator Mysteries Audiobook Sale The Reanimator Mysteries Audiobook Sale
The Reanimator's Heart · the reanimator's soul · The Reanimator's Remains

The Reanimator Mysteries Audiobook Sale

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment
the ad from Chirp.com showing The Reanimator Mystery books 1-3 by Kara Jorgensen as being $8.97 all together for a limited time. Above the 3 audiobook covers, it says, "When necromancer Oliver brings murdered Felipe back from the dead, it kicks off this darkly comedic series full of magic, mayhem, and undead romance!"

Right now on Chirp, you can grab the first three books of The Reanimator Mysteries series in audiobook for $2.99 each or $8.97 for all three. Chirp is like Audible in that it has an app or can be listened to on your browser. Personally, I like it better than Audible in terms of controls within the app.

All three books are narrated by Jack R. R. Evans with book 4 coming out in audiobook in late spring or early summer, so now is the perfect time to catch up if you have been meaning to grab the series in audiobook or if you have a friend who prefers to listen to their books. The Reanimator Mysteries is perfect for fans of Pushing Daisies or Sleepy Hollow who love queer romance, especially those with autistic MCs.

The sale runs from now until February 24th, so grab them while you can!

new blog post: AI writers think you're a mark AI Writers Think You’re a Mark
Writing

AI Writers Think You’re a Mark

Kara Jorgensen2 Comments

I shutter to call anyone who uses AI to cobble together something vaguely book-shaped writers, but with a title, one must get to the point. On Sunday, an article dropped from the New York Times that talks about a woman who is churning out AI written romance novels. The article expounds upon the fact that she makes six figures and has published hundreds of novels this year under a bunch of pen names. As you get farther along in the article, the real point appears: she is selling a course to teach people how to make money from making AI books, and she’s also selling some sort of proprietary AI for hundreds of dollars a month to write said book. With all other AI shills, it is a giant grift. She’s stealing from published authors in numerous ways, she wants to sell the dream of fame and fortune with a grift that looks suspiciously like a multilevel marketing scheme, and most egregiously, she obviously thinks readers are fools.

There’s a reason this woman picked romance as the genre to set up slop, I mean, shop. The article poses it as romance being the most fast-paced, voracious genre, but let’s be real, this woman (like many other writers) thinks romance readers are indiscriminate, mindless fools who will read anything as long as it meets a checklist of tropes, fits in a subgenre, and has a HEA. She, like all other AI writers, disrespects her audience. AI writers assume that their audience can’t tell the difference between something a machine cobbled together against something a human wrote. It’s quantity over quality because readers will just keep eating the slop if they put it in front of their faces. This mindset is probably what angers me most about AI writers.

On a fundamental level, authors owe their readers respect and trust. Writing becomes a business when you start selling your stories online, and once you exchange money, trust is established. Readers pay for your book assuming that you have done your best to put out a product that they will enjoy that will be as error free as possible. There’s also the implicit promise that you actually wrote it. If you’ve been part of the book community for any length of time, you know that readers and authors take plagiarism very seriously. So why are AI writers fine with using the plagiarism slot machine to vomit out something resembling a book that is made of millions of books that have been chopped up against the authors’ will and reused to create these works? Because they assume their readers will be too foolish to notice or that they are do indiscriminate that they won’t care.

Romance readers don’t care as long as it’s spicy.

They’ll read anything as long as it’s in Kindle Unlimited.

It doesn’t matter if they don’t like it because they already read it, and I got paid.

This is the mindset of AI writers. They’ve targeted romance because they think it’s formulaic enough that the plagiarism machine can’t go too off the rails and that the readers are women who are too busy being hot and bothered to care if the book absolutely sucks or doesn’t make any sense or is soulless. What they don’t understand is that romance is about human connection, and interpersonal relationships aren’t something a machine has the brains to figure out. Hell, a good chunk of human authors can’t write a satisfying romance because they can’t get the relationship dynamic right. Romance is a genre that spans all genders and sexualities, but the misogyny behind looking down upon romance readers remains. Take note in the article that while this author is proud to use AI, she still hides that she does and switches and retires pen names repeatedly. I can only assume this is because romance readers are discriminate and do dump authors who write slop that isn’t up to snuff, and she hides that she uses AI because people don’t want to read it. Am I surprised? No.

While the author states that she makes six figures off her AI drivel, I’m willing to bet that the six figures are before she subtracts the money spent on ads. This is a common tactic in author grifter circles, and if you’ve been around long enough, you know the type. She’s selling a lifestyle. If you use AI, you can also be a six figure author with a beautiful life who barely works or writes or even knows what they publish. A hands-off side hustle. Sound familiar? If you’re into anti-MLM/pyramid scheme content, this is the usual M.O. The people higher up the pyramid sell a lifestyle that involves making someone or something else do the work for you while you rake in the money and barely lift a finger. All you have to do is divest yourself of your integrity, self-respect, and creativity in favor of the machine. AI is the ultimate tool of group-think. It’s a homogeneity machine that spits out the most expected answer whether it’s correct or not. There is no innovation to be had with AI. It’s literally impossible. But much like MLMs, there is profit to be had from selling courses and supposedly proprietary AI. AI writers are trying to profit off the desperation of other authors. They post about their luxurious lives of leisure while selling you the course that will make you a bestseller or the program that will write a book for you in 48 hours. These people hope you are foolish enough and desperate enough to fall for their schemes because that is how they truly make money, not through books but through courses and selling a dream.

What I think gets lost in the sauce with AI evangelists is that they aren’t doing it because it’s suddenly made their lives truly better. It’s because they can sell you all something. They can sell readers subpar books while selling desperate authors programs and courses while lying about how they make the bulk of their money. AI is a ponzi scheme that is about to crash in on itself, and anyone telling you its the way of the future stands to profit from it.

new blog post: January 2026 wrap-up post January 2026 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

January 2026 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

January is always the most chaotic month, but this month felt particularly chaotic. The murders of two people by ICE in Minnesota certainly didn’t help that feeling. Most of the chaos came from finishing up The Reanimator’s Fate and starting the semester again. Let’s remember what my goals for January were:

  • Finish writing/editing TRF
  • Format TRF
  • Publish TRF (1/29)
  • Start working on the #4.5 story
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my newsletter
  • Set up my stuff for the semester

Books

My goal was to read 8 books, and I read 12 books.

  1. The Sunforge (#2) by Sascha Stronach- 4 stars, this was one of those books where I was continually confused and had no idea where it was going, but I was into it. I like that we got new points of view and explored new worlds. At the same time, I do feel like there’s a lack of cohesion from book to book in this series. Still really good and an interesting series.
  2. Do You Really Want Only a Meal? (#1) by Yasu Tadano- 4 stars, a busy office worker decides to hire a young chef to help him make his meals for the week only to have chemistry with him and the feeling is mutual. I really liked how between the two volumes, the two MCs get much closer, spend time together, and even meet the other’s family.
  3. Do You Really Want Only a Meal? (#2) by Yasu Tadano- 4 stars, see above
  4. The Titan’s Bride (#1) by ITKZ- 4 stars, I did not realize this was more erotica-focused than romance, but it’s an isekai where a young man is summoned as the bride for a giant king only to be tossed into court intrigue, a magical realm, and a suddenly very gay relationship with a relative stranger. A friend recommended it, and while I enjoyed it, I’m not as invested as I am in a similar isekai like The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter. The giant MC seems like a sweety, but this book is definitely someone’s size fetish in book form (not a bad thing necessarily, it just is what it is).
  5. Me and My Beast Boss (#1) by Shiroinu- 4 stars, in a world where beast-human hybrids are the majority, a human secretary goes from being a discriminated against employee to being the right-hand of the full-beast boss who tends to scare everyone by accident. It has beauty and the beast undertones, but I think it would be great for Ace Attorney fans as it’s similar but office flavored. The romance is also a very slow burn, which is very cute.
  6. Me and My Beast Boss (#2) by Shiroinu- 4 stars, see above.
  7. Me and My Beast Boss (#3) by Shiroinu- 4 stars, see above.
  8. The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter (#6) by Kazuki Irodori- 4 stars, a favorite manga of mine. An office worker is isekai-ed into a magical world and decides to fix the books of his new magical world. In the meantime, he gets magical sickness that can only be cured through very close physical contact with an overprotective knight. In this one, we have some near misses, church intrigue, and a little romantic tension.
  9. Through Gates of Garnet and Gold (#11) by Seanan McGuire- 4 stars, we get Nancy again! The underworld is under attack from hungry ghosts who are tearing apart the living, and only Nancy and her friends can save them. I don’t want to give anything away, but I really liked how this was set up. I almost wish it was longer, so we could get more dynamics between the rulers of the dead.
  10. In Which Margo Halifax Earnes Her Shocking Reputation (#1) by Alexandra Vasti- 4 stars, a rather scandalous woman teams up with her brother’s lawyer friend to catch up with her sister on her way to Scotland only to fall for the stuffed shirt young man. All of these novellas as fun, quick reads to case the chaos of the world away.
  11. In Which Matilda Halifax Learns the Value of Restraint (#2) by Alexandra Vasti- 4 stars, the errant sister from book 1 is actually on her way to become the art teacher for a young woman in Scotland, but she has also fallen for her grouchy brother, especially since he is a dom and she’s into that sort of thing.
  12. In Which Winnie Halifax is Utterly Ruined (#3) by Alexandra Vasti, 4 stars, a woman decides to take her life into her own hands by pretending she has a husband in order to buy a sheep farm only to accidentally fake-marry a real man. Once he finds out, he confronts her only to fall in love with her.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Finished writing TRF
  • Finished editing TRF
  • Finished proofing TRF
  • Formatted the ebook of TRF
  • Formatted the paperback of TRF
  • Had Kobo bork the preorder/release of TRF (see blog post in next section)
  • Contacted by narrator about the audiobook for TRF (coming late spring/early summer)
  • Contacted my cover artist about recovering Kinship and Kindness
  • Brainstormed “An Unexpected Christmas” (TRM #4.5)
  • Ran a sale on Chirp for the audiobooks of TRM 1-3
  • Paid quarterly taxes
  • Edited the syllabi for my classes
  • Set up the Blackboards for my classes
  • Shoveled so much friggin snow
  • Finished setting up my bullet journal

Blogs

Writing

The first half of the month was devoted to simultaneously writing and editing The Reanimator’s Fate. I had finished most of TRF by January, but I ended up leaving a bit to dangle while I finished editing in order to make sure I made the best ending possible and that everything tied to together cohesively. I try not to write and do final edits at the same time, but sometimes, it happens. While I don’t like to cut it so close to my deadlines, it couldn’t be helped. Luckily, it all worked out, and I was only stressed out right at the end. I’m very envious of authors who are done with their books weeks or months ahead of their release. I am definitely not that person, though I would like to be. Given any length of time, I will fill it like a liquid, lol. Apart from Kobo having technical difficulties that are beyond my control, my release went well. Hopefully, that will be sorted soon, but I’m pleased that my readers seem to be enjoying TRF. That’s all I could have asked for.

Hopes for February

  • Outline “An Unexpected Christmas” (TRM #4.5)
  • Write most, if not all, of “An Unexpected Christmas” (TRM #4.5)
  • Reread Flowers and Flourishing
  • Take notes on Flower and Flourishing for the rewrite
  • Read 8 books
  • Send out newsletter
  • Blog weekly
  • Keep up with grading
  • Manage my stress
the reanimator's fate

Problem with Kobo

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

Dear readers,

I am aware there is an issue right now with Kobo. Those of you who preordered The Reanimator’s Fate through Kobo may have received an email saying it was cancelled. I did not cancel the preorder or make the book unavailable and was unaware of the issue until a few readers reached out.

After a little investigating, it turns out that there is an on-going issue with books put on Kobo by Draft2Digital, which is the distributor I use. I have reached out to them for info, but besides that the problem is being worked on behind the scenes, I have no further info, unfortunately.

I greatly appreciate your patience in regards to getting your copies of The Reanimator’s Fate. As soon as the problem is fixed, I will make a new post to let you all know (here and on my social media accounts). If you are tech savvy, you can buy a copy of The Reanimator’s Fate on Itchio and download it onto your Kobo.

I am very sorry that you are all having to deal with this issue, but I hope you will wait for The Reanimator’s Fate and enjoy it when it becomes available on Kobo again.

For non-Kobo readers, it is available on all other retailers without issue.

Thank you all for your patience and for reaching out to me to let me know about this issue,

Kara

new blog post: Three Days Until The Reanimator's Fate Three Days Until The Reanimator’s Fate
the reanimator's fate

Three Days Until The Reanimator’s Fate

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

As of when this post goes live, it is exactly 3 days until The Reanimator’s Fate (TRM #4) comes out!

The cover for The Reanimator's Fate (TRM #4) by Kara Jorgensen
Cover by Crowglass Designs

The Reanimator’s Fate is the fourth book in the Reanimator Mysteries series and follows Oliver, Felipe, and Gwen as they fight to save the Paranormal Society. Here is the blurb:

An autistic necromancer, his undead love, and a future in peril.

The Paranormal Society has been Oliver’s home for over a decade, yet he still isn’t sure where he fits. At Gwen’s suggestion, Oliver joins the mutual aid committee, but between misunderstandings, sabotage, and a life-changing proposition, Oliver once again fears he is out of his depth. At least there’s one thing he can count on: Felipe and the cases they solve together.

Felipe has always been the one everyone can depend on, but after years of bloodshed, fighting, and death, the cracks are beginning to show. The gruesome cases that once sustained him, now fill him with dread to the point that he questions how long he can keep going before he breaks. But if he isn’t a weapon, then what good is he to anyone?

A sinister plot against magical folks is unfolding, one that threatens to destroy the Paranormal Society from the inside. Can Oliver and Felipe grow into the men they were always meant to be, or will their doubt spell their doom?

The Reanimator’s Fate is the fourth book in the Reanimator Mysteries series and is my eleventh full-length book (twelfth if you count Flowers and Flourishing). It takes place in the same universe as my other books and is set in the New York Paranormal Society, which is mentioned in Kinship and Kindness. You can also grab several free in-between book short stories in the freebie section of my website. The content warnings for book 4 are listed below and are also in the book are well.

CWs: Murder, descriptions of corpses/autopsies, on page sexual content, ableism against autistic people, brief period-typical homophobia, suicidal ideation, violence, blood, gore, anxiety attack, medical peril, self-harm and ideation

The paperback of The Reanimator’s Fate is currently on Amazon and will move to other retailers in the coming weeks. You can still preorder the ebook at all major retailers or you can request it from your library system when it comes out January 29th, 2026. The audiobook is currently in the works and will be available late spring/early summer of 2026 if all goes according to plan.

If you pick up a copy of The Reanimator’s Fate, I hope you will leave a review on Goodreads, StoryGraph, or your favorite retailer! They really help authors like me out in terms of visibility and credibility.

new blog post: Project Shop My Shelves: Q4 2025 Update Project Shop My Shelves: Q4 2025 Update
Project Shop My Shelves

Project Shop My Shelves: Q4 2025 Update

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

Back in March, I decided that I wanted to start Project Shop My Shelves (known as PSMS going forward). The goal of PSMS is to read twice as many books per month than I buy, but there are a few sub-goals that are equally important:

  • Don’t buy new books unless they are from marginalized authors (indie or trad)
  • A 2:1 ratio of old books to newly bought books every month (or more if possible)
  • Read through the older books to finally get them off the TBR pile
  • Be realistic about my enjoyment of an author and what medium I prefer to read them
  • Post quarterly about my progress with this project

I figured now was as good a time as any to update my progress with this self-imposed project. TL;DR: [INSERT]

Stats

October: I bought 8 ebooks, 0 ARCs, 8 physical books, 1 audiobooks. I read 11 books, 2 of which were preexisting, 17:11 bought to read ratio.

November: I bought 4 ebooks, 0 ARCs, 4 physical books, 0 audiobooks. I read 8 books, 5 of which were preexisting, 1:1 bought to read ratio.

December: I bought 1 ebooks, 0 ARCs, 5 physical books, 0 audiobooks. I read 8 books, 4 of which were preexisting, 3:4 bought to read ratio.

I am actually really happy that I managed to read more than I bought twice in one quarter. I’m still not able to reel in my buying or expand my reading enough to hit 1:2 bought to read, but I will happily take 1:1 for now. I will say that December looks especially good because I don’t count books I got for Christmas as part of the bought books.

Buying Books: A Breakdown

Part of the success I’ve had this month comes from the fact that Christmas was coming. You can see the hard cut-off in November when my buying dropped off significantly. I try very hard to buy less the last couple months of the year. This is further enabled by most writers not having preorders in December. A lot of the books I bought were the next volume in graphic novel/manga series I enjoy. The other major chunk of books I bought were friends’ books that were on sale. I am a sucker for picking up the whole series at once if I think I’ll enjoy it. In this case, it was A. K. Faulkner’s Jack of Thorns and Trudie Skies’ entire gaslamp series.

I feel like this was the first quarter where I was pointedly mindful about my book purchases. I end to impulse buy books, and I tried this quarter to take a second and be like, “Do I really want this? Will I get to it any time soon?” It’s harder when it’s an author of color or a queer author because I want to make sure they’re supported/their publisher knows people want their work. That’s where I tend to get stuck.

Reading Books: A Breakdown

Looking at the reading numbers, you can probably tell that I was a reading fiend in October. I was just blowing through books and loving life. Then, November hit, and I got caught in a reading rut. I think trying to finish the book and grading a shit ton of papers just made it really hard to focus and get through books in a timely manner. T. Kingfisher and Martha Wells are quickly becoming comfort authors to me, so when I am in a reading slump, I just read T. Kingfisher book after T. Kingfisher book. Thank god she has a giant backlist.

The downside to that is that my reads for Q4 are rather white (15/27 books were by white authors), but this was also counterbalanced by the manga and graphic novels I have been reading along with several other authors of color. I would like to mix it up a bit more. During a reading slump, it’s very hard for me to make myself read something else. The comfort authors just stick better, no matter how good the other authors are. It’s frustrating.

Q1 2026 Outlook/Goals

Once again, I am aiming for at least a 1:1 ratio between bought and read. I’m pretty sure I am going to fail that in January because I bought a bunch of manga after a few series I liked wrapped up last year. The reading slump continued into January, but I feel like it’s getting better now. I’m really hoping that I can read much more in Q1 and read much more widely than I did in Q4.

When it comes to purchases, I am going to try to be mindful about mindless buying. I don’t have many preorders for January and February, which will help to keep my purchasing to a minimum. I’m also hoping to focus on reading what I have already, especially books I preordered in 2025 that I never got to. On my phone, I have a list of preorders that I mark off and later delete when I read the book. One of my goals this year is to go through the books on that list from previous years and knock them out. I also need to utilize my TBR coffin because I forget it exists.