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

Monthly Review

January 2024 Wrap-Up Post

February 4, 2024February 4, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

Ah, January, the new start to the year and the time when “new year, new me” expectations weigh heavily upon us. As much as I try to temper that feeling in January, this year it felt more like December 2.0 as I tried to wrap up the projects I had left from 2023 before diving into my main goals for 2024. Let’s get into it. Here were the goals I made for January:

Finish/edit “An Unexpected Question”
Format/upload/send out “An Unexpected Question”
Start brainstorming The Reanimator Mysteries #3 and doing research
Research selling books on my website/Etsy (and if I want to do it)
Start checking/proofing the audiobook of The Reanimator’s Soul as the chapters come in
Do Sarra Cannon’s 2-3 day class on long-term goal setting
Write more days than not (aka get into a better habit)
Read 8 books
Blog weekly
Send out my January newsletter with “An Unexpected Question”

Books

In January, my goal was to read 8 books, and I read 10.

Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail (#2) by Ashley Herring Blake- 4 stars, a stuffy interior designer who is also stuck in her life falls for a carpenter still mourning her last relationship but trying to start anew by fixing up her family’s B&B.
J. C. Leyendecker: American Imagist by Judy and Lawrence Cutler- 4 stars, a great coffee table book of artwork that has a lot of good info on Leyendecker as a person/queer artist.
Never Whistle at Night collected by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.- 4 stars, a fabulous collection of horror and dark tales by indigenous authors. I added so many new authors to my tbr pile.
This Lord’s Father (#3.5) by KJ Charles- 4 stars, a short epilogue to the Will Darling series.
Mislaid in Parts Half-Known (#9) by Seanen McGuire- 5 stars, I really love this series, but this one in particular hints at other books to come and takes care of some older threads.
Therapy Game (#1) by Meguru Hinohara- 4 stars, a serious veternary students belatedly realizes he’s queer after a bad break-up with his ex girlfriend and falls for a prickly photographer who works at the local drag club.
Therapy Game (#2) by Meguru Hinohara- 4 stars, see above.
Fence: Redemption (#6) by C. S. Pacat and Joanna the Mad, a fun volume where we get to see the MCs have a little date and the tension grows between two of their teammates.
Ivy, Angelica, Bay (#2) by C. L. Polk- 5 stars, I adored this historical-fantasy. It’s short but has so much crammed into it about family, community, and there’s also bees.
Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain- 4 stars, an interesting look at the culinary world, and with Anthony Bourdain narrating the audiobook, his voice as a writer truly shines.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

Attended Sarra Cannon’s “Your Path Forward” class, did all the lessons and such for that
Approved the first chapter of the audiobook for The Reanimator’s Soul (coming in late spring as long as all goes well)
Researched selling books on my website and such (not doing anything with this yet)
Finished writing “An Unexpected Question” (TRM #2.5), #1.5 is here
Edited and proofed “An Unexpected Question” (TRM #2.5)
Formatted, uploaded, and sent out “An Unexpected Question” to my newsletter subscribers
Was interviewed by Chaos Gays and Teatrays
Started teaching my spring classes
Paid Q4 2023 taxes (barf)

Blogs

Writing

Writing went pretty well this month. I didn’t finish “An Unexpected Question” as quickly as I would have liked, but that’s all right. Truthfully, I was dealing with a lot of anxiety in the latter half of the month due to work starting again and some random Twitter bullshit (hence why I’m on Twitter less now), but I got my shit together and edited the story. Of course, the day after I sent it out, I found a typo and a word that magically unitalicized itself. It’s not the worst hiccups I’ve had with a release, so I’ll take it. I am super excited that some of you are already reading the #2.5 story. It means a lot to me to know that you all are enjoying it. It was a blast to write. I don’t often get to write a story that’s basically just my characters having fun, so it was a refreshing change of pace. In February, I’m going to turn my focus fully to book 3, and within the next few months, preorders should go up.

Hopes for February

Put together the elliptical and use it
Do the bulk of the historical research for The Reanimator Mysteries #3
Start actually writing The Reanimator Mysteries #3
Proof any audiobook chapters that come in
Stay on top of grading
Blog weekly
Send out monthly newsletter
Read 8 books

Personal Life

On Not Being Palatable

January 28, 2024January 19, 2024 Kara Jorgensen4 Comments

I’m starting to think the path of least resistance and the road to hell are the same thing. With what is going on in Palestine and my own country’s various issues, the vast majority of which stem from white supremacist ideology, I’m happily putting a stake through the heart of my palatability.

I’ve never been a people pleaser. To be a people pleaser, you have to actually please people, and when you were born weird and slightly arrogant, that doesn’t come easily. Typically, people pleasers will blend in with whomever they’re around, letting go of their edges and corners until they’re palatable. At this point in my life, I’ve decided to grow out my points.

At 32, I’m tired of making myself smaller to make other people comfortable. I got a taste of this in college as the student who always raised their hand and received dirty looks and snide remarks from my classmates. Frankly, I didn’t care. The eye-rollers were assholes, so I ignored them. Unfortunately, going to a very neurotypical-staffed grad program and then an abysmal job market eroded my “I don’t give a shit about other people’s opinions of me” attitude. Pretending I was normal (or masking, as we say in the neurodivergent world) sucks. It’s soul-sucking and wrong to the point that I burnt myself out playing normal. When I finally gave up and told my students that I’m autistic and queer and acted more myself, I ended up having a much better relationship with them. A weight had been lifted, and there was no going back if I could help it.

On the writing front, I’ve been far less willing to blend. I saw a post back in October where a new author was worrying that their audience might not align with their political views, so they decided to just not say anything. The knee-jerk reaction I had to the cowardice dripping from the post made me set my phone down. My first thought was, “Oof, I guess you’re white, cis, straight, and Christian.” Only someone whose identity aligns with the political “norm” would have such a shitty take. I used to be upset when I received homophobic reviews on my first few books. At this point, I smear so much queerness and neurodivergence across my books and online posts that someone would have to purposely ignore it to not see it. If you’re conservative and reading my books, you’re probably hate-reading, and I still have your money in my pocket, so *shrug* go ahead and leave a review that lures in queer readers.

Art is political. What we do or don’t include, who we do or don’t portray and how all gives a glimpse into our politics. If you want to sanitize your work to make it palatable for everyone, there is no chance that you’re creating anything worthwhile. Is it worth it to hack off your edges to make a few more bucks?

While I may not be immediately clocked as queer or nonbinary in the wild, I still stick out as a mask-wearer. I’m immunosuppressed, but even if I wasn’t, the science says we should avoid the plague at all costs if we want to maintain our and our loved one’s health. Masking is community care, and if you’re someone who feels strongly about racial equality or disability justice, you should be masking. You can’t be an ally to communities of color and not mask when they are more likely to have worse outcomes than white people. I don’t care if it’s weird or people think it’s over the top. It’s no skin off my nose to put a mask on when I’m at work or the store. It’s the least I can do.

I’d like it if everyone could take a look at themselves and figure out what parts of themselves they’ve been sanding off to make themselves more palatable and why. Obviously, if you’re in an unsafe situation, you should do what you have to in order to preserve your life/sanity, but for those of us able to step out of line or march to our own beat, we should stop trying to be palatable.

Being palatable is blending in, being palatable means not making waves, being palatable allows genocides to unfold, whether they be of queer people, Palestinian people, disabled people, and I’m not about that life.

“An Unexpected Question” is Coming!

January 21, 2024January 21, 2024 Kara Jorgensen2 Comments

If you follow me on social media or have read past blogs, you may have seen me talking about “An Unexpected Question.” Well, this short story/novella is coming to my newsletter subscribers this month!

It is set about three months after the events of The Reanimator’s Soul, so you should read that book (and book one) before reading “An Unexpected Question” to avoid spoilers. It is the story of Oliver and Felipe’s first vacation together, and of course, things don’t quite go as planned.

Felipe has spent weeks planning a vacation to whisk Oliver away from the Paranormal Society for a few days. The problem is he still needs to convince Oliver to go.
Notoriously vacation- and change-averse, Oliver is dubious about spending a few days in Coney Island, but when Felipe’s plans start to fall apart, Oliver refuses to let Felipe’s hard work go to waste, even if it means a less than romantic trip.
There is one surprise Oliver doesn’t know about, the true reason Felipe wants to have him all to himself. Can Felipe pull it off or will all his scheming be for nought?

“An Unexpected Question” is a 20k novella that comes three months after the events of The Reanimator’s Soul (TRM #2). Please read book 2 before reading this story to avoid spoilers and confusion.

CWs: Brief allusion to past sexual trauma, on page sexual intimacy, depictions of anxiety, mentions of the ocean

Once again, this will be a freebie for my newsletter subscribers and will go out with January’s newsletter next week (probably on Friday). I’m really excited for you all to read it as I think it’s a lot of fun.

If you want to read “An Unexpected Question” for free, you can join my newsletter by clicking the link in the top menu that says “newsletter” or by clicking here.

Add “An Unexpected Question” on Goodreads

Join my newsletter

Personal Life · Writing

My 2024 Goals

January 14, 2024December 31, 2023 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

Some of you may know that I do quarterly goals and use the HB90 system, but this year, I also wanted to make a goal list for my year overall. I’m not a fan of making wild or grandiose goals that assume you are magically a new person when the new year starts, so I try to keep my goals realistic or at least doable. I’ve broken these goals down into writing goals, publishing goals, personal goals, and other.

Writing Goals

Write more consistently- I have been struggling to get into a writing routine this past year, so in 2024, I want to be better about writing more days than not and doing more sprints than I am currently doing
Finish, edit, and send out “An Unexpected Question” (The Reanimator Mysteries #2.5) to my newsletter subscribers in January
Write and edit The Reanimator Mysteries #3
Write The Reanimator Mysteries #3.5 short story
Start brainstorming The Reanimator Mysteries #4

Publishing Goals

Publish The Reanimator Mysteries #3 in October
Have a good launch/preorder period for book #3
Make REDACTED in sales overall (about 15% more than I did in 2023)
Proof and publish the audiobook for The Reanimator’s Soul
Look into selling books directly on my website/Etsy
Publish 1-2 books

Personal Goals

Assemble and use the elliptical I bought months ago (oops)
Stay out of other people’s chaos
Be more mindful of my mental health and do more to support myself before it gets bad
Work more on my office renovation (that has been basically shelved since last summer)
Be better about refilling my creative well with things like crafts, movies I enjoy, reading, art, etc.
Take a trip to HMart with my partner

Other Goals

Read 100 books (which is my usual goal and includes graphic novels, manga, short stories, etc.)
Play extensively/finish 2 video games
Have 5 2,000+ word writing days
Have 2 5,000+ word writing days (I’d really like to work my way up to having large writing days. Out of all my goals, these two are probably the least attainable, but I can try)
Keep crafting and/or learn a new craft skill
Continue to blog weekly and send out monthly newsletters
Commission more art of my characters, as a treat

I’m sure for some people this looks like a lot while for other authors, this is nothing compared to how many book they publish. At this point, I think I can only publish 1-2 books a year, and while I’d like to be able to write more or get ahead of my publication schedule, I am trying to be conservative and/or realistic with my goals. Nothing makes me feel worse than dreaming wildly and completely missing the mark. Overall though, I think this is very doable.

My hope for all of us is that 2024 will bring a very boring, peaceful time. I hope for Palestine to be free, for people to take public health seriously, for all of us to have more public safety nets and prosperity that isn’t at the expense of others.

Monthly Review

December 2023 Wrap-Up Post

January 7, 2024January 4, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

This month is going to be sort of a weird one for updates and wrap-ups because I tried to take it easy. Between the holidays and the end of the semester, I worried I would become very fried, so my December was spent mostly void-staring and trying not to fall into a pit of despair over Palestine (self-explanatory) and covid (if you’re immunosuppressed, you feel very left behind and left for dead at this point). Basically, I could feel the specter of depression looming at the end of November and tried to chill this month to avoid a total mental meltdown. Let’s review what my goals were for December before we get into it:

Finish the semester/my grading
Finish writing “An Unexpected Question”
Start editing “An Unexpected Question”
Finish all remaining Christmas stuff/prep
Prep for Q1 and get my new goals together
RELAX with my partner
Read 8 books
Blog weekly
Send out my December Newsletter

Books

My goal this month was to read 8 books, and I read 10 in December.

Ennead Vol 1 by Mojito- 4 stars, an interesting twist on Ancient Egyptian mythology that is apparently queer (not in volume one, so we’ll see).
Greywaren (#3) by Maggie Stiefvater- 4 stars, the epic conclusion to the Dreamer Trilogy. For a while, I was very confused and concerned as to how this series would wrap up, but it was quite satisfying and we even get a little cameo of some old favorites from the first series.
My Pancreas Broke But My Life Got Better (#6) by Nagata Kabi- 4 stars, Nagata Kabi is back and talking about her health issues during the pandemic, her sobriety, relapses, and more.
My Wandering Warrior Eating Disorder (#5.5) by Nagata Kabi- 4 stars, while Kabi usually talks about her alcoholism, this mini volume talking about her eating disorders was very humanizing and illuminating.
Best Supporting Actor (#3) by Joanna Chambers and Sally Malcolm- 4 stars, a hate-to-love romance between an established actor and a rising star who get cast as the leads in a new play. There’s some great discussion of crappy relationships, anxiety, nepotism, and much more.
Saga Vol 11 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples- 4 stars, I love Saga so much. This was a significantly less traumatizing volume compared to the previous one.
The Ancient Magus’s Bride Vol 19 by Kore Yamazaki- 4 stars, we finally finished the school arc, and I am looking forward to seeing where it goes next.
On the Fox Roads by Nghi Vo- 4 stars, if Nghi Vo writes it, I will read it. This time, we have glamorous Asian bank robbers, a trans MC, and magic.
The Garden (#1) by Tomi Adeyemi- 2 stars, this was my least favorite novella in the Into the Shadow series. It was too loosey-goosey in terms of prose and plot for my taste.
Heartstopper Vol 5 by Alice Oseman- 4 stars, sacchrine but enjoyable. I thought this was the final volume, but there’s one more.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

The Reanimator’s Heart won third place in BBNYA 2023! Third place out of 252 entries is just mind blowing to me.
The Reanimator’s Heart and The Reanimator’s Soul were nominated for several categories in the Indie Ink Awards.
The Reanimator’s Heart was an Amazon sale item (picked by them) for a day.
Finished all of my grading for my fall classes in a timely manner.
Dissociated and did very little from Christmas Eve to New Years Eve- I needed this desperately. I was feeling very fried and a bit depressed by the time NYE rolled around, and this fills my goal of relaxing during December.
Made the syllabi and Blackboard accounts for my classes in the spring (this is an annoying bit of prep that I used for procrastination when I should have been writing, lol).
Setup all of my author/writer spreadsheets for 2024 (social media, sales, sales by book, etc.)
Made my Q1 2024 goals.
Set up my 2024 bullet journal spreads (various yearly ones and my Q1 weekly spreads).

Blogs

Writing

In December, I wrote about 10k words, which made me quite happy. It wasn’t as much as I intended or wanted to write, but I had to keep reminding myself that December was supposed to be a month where I could rest and recover from the end of the fall semester along with the holidays. I’m really enjoying writing “An Unexpected Question,” even if it has been a research-intensive story, despite being only ~20k words long. I’ve been neck-deep in learning about Coney Island in the 1890s, Steeplechase Park, hot dogs, and street vendors. For some reason, historical food research always ends up being a highlight for me. I’m really looking forward to diving into the third book in the Reanimator Mysteries series, but that will have to wait for January and February, though I have been jotting down some ideas for where Oliver, Felipe, and Gwen are going.

Hopes for January

Finish/edit “An Unexpected Question”
Format/upload/send out “An Unexpected Question”
Start brainstorming The Reanimator Mysteries #3 and doing research
Research selling books on my website/Etsy (and if I want to do it)
Start checking/proofing the audiobook of The Reanimator’s Soul as the chapters come in
Do Sarra Cannon’s 2-3 day class on long-term goal setting
Write more days than not (aka get into a better habit)
Read 8 books
Blog weekly
Send out my January newsletter with “An Unexpected Question”

Personal Life · Writing

My End of 2023 Reflection

December 31, 2023 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

I’m not going to lie, I have been putting off writing a yearly review of 2023. By and large, this year has been awesome. My book won awards, I had a record number of preorders on The Reanimator’s Soul, I wrote a whole book, things have gone well– more than well. On the other hand, there were things that happened that upset me and have continued to grate on me all year. My fear is that this reflection will come off as unnecessarily bitter, which I don’t want for you (my readers) or for myself. I don’t want someone else’s assholery to poison my soul and that is something I will be working on as we move into 2024, especially since so many great things happened this year. Without further ado, let’s get into it.

Things That Went Really Well

This year has been awesome, and I want to thank my readers for that. Without you all, I wouldn’t have had nearly as good a year. You all were so enthusiastic about The Reanimator’s Soul‘s release in October, and you all put up The Reanimator’s Heart for a bunch of awards/categories. As someone who is a bit self-deprecating when it comes to awards, I was shocked to see my books repeatedly put up. Seriously, thank you all. The Reanimator’s Heart won third place in BBNYA 2023 (Book Blogger’s Novel of the Year Awards 2023) out of over 250 entries. My books are also up for the Indie Ink Awards in several categories, and The Reanimator’s Heart won “best historical fiction” in the Queer Indie Awards.

The Reanimator’s Heart was also Meet Cute Bookshop’s LGBT romance read for September. Hell, MY BOOK WAS IN A PHYSICAL STORE! That alone just blew my mind. I was also interviewed by Geeks Out about my books/writing. More importantly, my books got more fan art! I love artwork so much, and every time I find out that someone was moved to create something based around my characters I am just over the moon. Few things make me happier than fan art. I also commissioned art from OblivionsDream and really want to do that again in 2024.

I don’t want to go into sales numbers and all the nitty gritty of that, but I had a good year in that regard. I’ve been trying to build on the momentum of The Reanimator’s Heart‘s release with book two, and I think I achieved that. I had the most preorders I have ever had, which I did not expect at all. My sales overall have been strong (for me), and I’m hoping I can keep that up in 2024 as well. I’m also hoping that the various awards and such will sort of keep stoking that fire.

Things That Didn’t Go As Great

I need to get better at writing consistently. It’s something I have struggled with this year. Overall, I wrote quite a bit, but I often feel like my attention is all over the place. Stretching my attention muscles is something I really do want to work on going forward as well as getting into a more consistent writing routine. This year had some chaos that I know messed specifically with this. If I’m mentally doing not great, my writing suffers first, and when my writing isn’t going well, I can’t get mentally balanced. It is a vicious cycle.

When I was called for jury duty in July, my OCD kicked up. This was compounded by some assholerly caused by another author who repeatedly made my life miserable by being a bully to me and others I know. The first instance of this didn’t cause me that much angst back in February because, while angry about how they treated someone else, I muted/blocked them, deleted my reviews of their books, and said good riddance. Unfortunately, several months later (when my OCD was already acting up) they reappeared when they got in a beef with someone else I know. The bullying person somehow got access to conversations where several of us talked about our shared experiences of them being weirdly passive aggressive or being a straight-up bully, and they made our lives miserable. I ended up having to lock my Twitter for a bit because I was getting cryptic replies and ghost rts, despite having the other person blocked everywhere. It was stress I neither needed nor wanted.

Going forward, I need to move on. I know I have been stewing on this because this person hasn’t been negatively impacted at all, despite bullying ND people several times this year that I know of, because they sick their followers on anyone who even mentions they have behaved poorly. If you follow me on social media, you may have heard me mention that my hair fell out from stress; this was why. My brain doesn’t want to leave it alone, but it isn’t healthy to dwell and frankly, calling them out on it will only backfire on me. I have to accept that and focus on maintaining my mental health in 2024 and working on my stress levels. Taking care of my brain is something I need to get better about. My plan in 2024 is to forget they exist and wait til karma catches up with them or they pick a fight with the wrong person.

Things I’m Thankful For

Let’s clear the air of negativity by ending with talking about the people and things I am very thankful for this year.

All of you. Seriously, every one of my readers who have read my books, suggested them to others, left reviews, made art, replied kindly to my posts, you all have made my life so much brighter this year. I wish nothing but the best for you in 2024, whether that’s success, prosperity, peace, healing, I hope you get it.

My partner. My partner has been going on a journey of their own with their gender, mental health, neurodivergence, etc. This year has been tough for both of us, but my partner has been nothing but supportive, kind, and loving, even when dealing with their own stuff. I love them immensely and cannot wait for another year with them.

My author friends who are my social network, my moral support system, and vast wells of knowledge. I couldn’t ask for better peeps to hang with than all of you. I plan to keep cheering you all on in the coming year.

And of course, my students, who make my daily life so much brighter, richer, and sillier.

Overall, this was a really fantastic year, and I just wanted to thank all of you [again] for making it one.

I’ll be posting a goals for 2024 post soon, so stay tuned for more on that in the coming weeks. I hope you all have a safe and happy new year!

Book Reviews

My 10 Top Reads of 2023

December 24, 2023December 17, 2023 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

I have a love-hate relationship with so many end of year wrap-up posts, but I do want to give a shout out to some books that I really enjoyed this year. I decided to cut it off at ten books to avoid completely overloading the post, but I hope you will find some new books or authors to add to your to-be-read pile. The books mentioned below are not in any particular order.

Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse- a Western novel set in a post-apocalyptic-ish setting where angels rule over humans and two sisters much work together to survive and solve a murder.
Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire- I love a Wayward Children book, but I especially loved this one. It takes place outside the school and follows a young woman who is forced to grow too fast due to the adults in her life. There’s also a magical store, ala the House of Many Ways.
Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom- a nonfiction book about the history of books bound in human skin. If you like Caitlin Doughty’s books or books about death that are socially conscious without being salacious, this one is for you.
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone- this was probably the hot book of the year, but I really loved it. Sapphic enemies to lovers between two time agents of opposite sides of a time war changing history and leaving each other puzzle sounds weird, but it was phenomenal.
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw- a horror story with a mute, terrifying mermaid who teams up with a nonbinary plague doctor to survive and save a village of children from monsters with human faces. It’s very much a medical horror story, and I loved it.
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang- if you have been on writing Twitter long enough, a lot of what goes on in this book should be familiar to you. A white woman writer steals a dead Asian author’s book, descends into madness, and commits other atrocities along the way. *chef kiss*
Luke and Billy Finally Get a Clue by Cat Sebastian- two professional baseball players realize they’re more than teammates or bench buddies when one gets injured an the other gets feelings. Very cozy and comforting.
Over My Dead Body by Greg Melville- another nonfiction book about the dead, but this time it’s about how cemeteries influence society and how society influences cemeteries. I really loved how much Melville goes into how people of color, the poor, indigenous people, and other marginalized groups are affected even in death.
Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir- I never thought I’d be raving about the himbo-ification of a princess, but here we are. Muir turns the princess in a tower trope on its head with a princess who takes matters into her own hands. Perfect for fans of The Princess Bride.
She Loves to Cook & She Loves to Eat by Sakaomi Yuzaki- this is a sapphic manga series about two neighbors who bond over their love of cooking and eating. The series is a sweet slow burn as these two navigate friendship and perhaps more. In more recent volumes, we also get more friends and neighbors to add greater depth to the story.

Writing

My Books are in the Indie Ink Awards!

December 17, 2023December 17, 2023 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

This is a semi unscheduled/unplanned post because I just found out that my books The Reanimator’s Heart and The Reanimator’s Soul are both in the Indie Ink Awards and voting has officially opened!

The Reanimator’s Heart was nominated for

Best audio narration
Best friendship
Best setting
Wittiest character
Writing the Future We Need: LGBTQ+ Representation
Writing the Future We Need: Neurodivergent Representation by a Neurodivergent author

The Reanimator’s Soul was nominated for

Best friendship
Best use of tropes
Writing the Future We Need: LGBTQ+ Representation
Writing the Future We Need: Mental Health Representation
Writing the Future We Need: Neurodivergent Representation by a Neurodivergent author

I am so grateful for everyone who nominated my books. If you’re willing, I would greatly appreciate it if you could visit the site and vote for my books, especially The Reanimator’s Heart in the “Neurodivergent Rep by a Neurodivergent Author” category as the autism rep in my books is very important to me.

To vote, you need to make an account on their site (this is done to avoid cheating/multiple votes or vote spamming). Then you would click into the categories, click the book cover, then scroll to the bottom and hit save. If you don’t hit save, the vote won’t count.

Once again, thank you all so much for nominating my books, and I hope you will vote for The Reanimator’s Heart, especially in the ND category and The Reanimator’s Soul in the mental health rep category! Voting is only open until the end of December

Vote for the reanimator’s Heart in the Indie Ink awards

Uncategorized

10 Books on my Wishlist in 2024

December 10, 2023November 22, 2023 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

As we head ever closer to the end of the year, I thought I might make a very non-exhaustive list of books that I am dying to get my hands on when they come out next year. To be clear, this is definitely not every book I have been eyeing, and if it was, you probably wouldn’t want to sit through that lengthy blog post. I’m also confining this list to the first half of 2024 for simplicity’s sake and because you never know if things will get pushed back or cancelled. Without further ado, here are 10 of the books I am looking forward to in early 2024 in the order of their release date:

The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton (2/6)- Sapphic, fae, and with the decadence of late 1800s Paris, what more could you ask for? The cover is also gorgeously art noveau, and I am sucker for the beauty of the book as I am for Jamie’s work.
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden (2/13)- If you haven’t read The Bear and the Nightingale yet, you need to. Arden’s books are so atmospheric and dreamy while still being grounded in the horrors of reality. While this book is set during WWI, I know she’ll do the horrors and tragedy of war justice.
Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares (2/20)- As soon as I saw genderbent Zorro with magic, I was sold. It sounds amazing, and I will take any and all Zorro reimaginings.
A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal (2/20)- A secret tearoom catering to vampires, a dangerous heist, and a ragtag group of outcasts who may or not be on the heroine’s side sounds like the perfect book for someone who loves Gail Carriger’s works and We Hunt the Flame.
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark (3/24)- I adore P. Djèlí Clark’s books. He creates so much texture and characterization in few words, and whether it’s djinn or assassins, I’m here for it.
Wake Me Most Wickedly by Felicia Grossman (4/9)- A historical romance set in mid-1800s London, featuring Jewish characters is good enough on its own, but once you add in nods to Snow White, I am thoroughly sold, especially knowing we get to see characters introduced in Marry Me By Midnight.
The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo (5/7)- If Nghi Vo writes it, I will buy it. This story follows Cleric Chih as they escort a bride to her new home, which is haunted by the ghosts of past wives, a mad son, and far more dangerous monsters. East Asian Gothic is a genre I need more of in my life.
You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian (5/7)- A baseball player and a reporter come together for an article but find there might be more between them than just an article. From the description, it sounds like they will deal with grief, secrets, being out, and knowing Cat’s work, it’ll be like a warm hug.
Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse (6/4)- This is the final book in the Between Earth & Sky series, where we return to an alternate version of Indigenous Central America, complete with magic, gods, and creatures. This series has me in a death grip, and while I’m not one for morally grey/bad characters, Serapio has me in a death grip.
The Sitcom Star by Jackie Lau (???)- I backed Jackie’s Kickstarter last month, so I’ll be getting this book and the sequel in January, but I’m not sure when it’s coming to other retailers. It’s about a star looking to get away for a while who accidentally runs into her childhood friend, literally, he spills boba tea on her. Jackie’s romances are always so carefully and lovingly written and jive with my ND brain that she is on my autobuy list.

Monthly Review

November 2023 Wrap-Up Post

December 3, 2023December 2, 2023 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

This month I decided to be kind to myself and take it easy. November tends to be a month I struggle mentally due to the time change and the amount of grading I get in throughout the month. I also don’t do so well seeing everyone’s astronomical NaNoWriMo numbers. For once, I focused on grading and said f-it to writing. It helped as I have entered December feeling more refreshed than I have felt in a while. Before we get into what I did this month, let’s get a little refresher on November’s goals.

Less chaos overall (not quite within my control, but one can hope)
Write most, if not all, of The Reanimator Mysteries #2.5 short story
Start brainstorming more of The Reanimator Mysteries #3
Maintain my mental health during November to avoid No-Words-November
Grade all the papers I receive in a timely manner (I have been bad about this lately)
Read 8 books
Blog weekly
Send out my November newsletter

Books

My goal was to read 8 books, and I read 9.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Joanna Chambers- 4 stars, a slightly oblivious computer programmer has a bad day but realizes perhaps he overlooked his officemate
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram H. Kendi- 5 stars, an introduction to how racism colors numerous aspects of life and how to challenge our biases to continually work on being antiracist
A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel (#2) by KJ Charles- 4 stars, a newly inherited nobleman deals with his horrid extended family and teams up with a local secretary who has plenty of secrets of his own
Medicinal Cannibalism by Louise Noble- 4 stars, an academic book on medicinal cannibalism in culture and literature from the Early Modern period on
Over My Dead Body by Greg Melville- 5 stars, a fascinating read about how cemeteries reflect societal values (and problems/prejudices) and how they have influenced amusement parks and suburban planning
Under the Smokestrewn Sky (#4) by A. Deborah Baker- 4 stars, the conclusion of a Wizard of Oz-like series featuring two children who enter an elemental world, meet some friends and enemies on their way home
“A Heart Between Teeth” (#2.5) by Kerstin Hall- 4 stars, a side story for a series set in a world where people go after death filled with gods, demons, monsters, and humans struggling to survive their second deaths
Sky Breaker (#2) by Addie Thorley- 3 stars, a YA fantasy that didn’t work too well for me due to the world-building and the way the characters were aged down to make it YA
Monstress (#8) by Majorie Liu and Sana Takeda- 4 stars, a fantastic volume where we find our characters transported to a strange new world they have to fight their way back from

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

Finished plotting The Reanimator Mysteries #2.5 short story, “An Unexpected Question” (coming in January, probably, December if I’m very lucky)
Did more brainstorming on TRM #3
Was interviewed by Geeks Out
Finished buying and wrapping Christmas presents for my family
Hit my yearly reading goal of finishing 100 books/stories/graphic novels
Got my car back from the mechanic (finally) and got it inspected
Got my car inspected AGAIN because, apparently, you can’t go directly from the mechanic to the inspection station if they pulled the battery
Graded so many papers… so many ;—;
Contacted my reps repeatedly to demand a ceasefire and to end US funding of Israel’s genocide against Palestine

Blogs Posted

Writing

As I mentioned in the opening of this blog, I decided that I would write what I could, when I could and that I would try not to sweat it. I don’t know whether it’s the early darkness or people constantly posting their large daily word counts during NaNoWriMo, but I never write much during November. This month was no different. I wrote about 3k of “An Unexpected Question,” the Reanimator Mysteries #2.5 story that will go out to newsletter subscribers as a freebie. I am hoping to write the rest of it in December and get it out by January (or December, though I’m not counting on that happening). Instead of writing, I managed to plan out the major beats of the story and am guestimating that it will end up about 20,000 words, which is pretty beefy for a freebie story. I’m really enjoying writing this story and hope my readers will as well. You can sign up for my newsletter ahead of the release or check out the Pinterest board for the story.

Hopes for December

Finish the semester/my grading
Finish writing “An Unexpected Question”
Start editing “An Unexpected Question”
Finish all remaining Christmas stuff/prep
Prep for Q1 and get my new goals together
RELAX with my partner
Read 8 books
Blog weekly
Send out my December Newsletter