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

An Excerpt From The Reanimator’s Remains (TRM #3) Part 1

June 16, 2024June 16, 2024 Kara Jorgensen2 Comments

I’ve recently realized that I am sorely behind in doing promos for The Reanimator’s Remains (TRM #3). Well, technically, I have been, but only in my newsletter and on social media. The cover reveal for book 3 will hopefully be next month, but in the meantime, I hope you will enjoy this excerpt from the prologue of The Reanimator’s Remains, which comes out October 29th at all major retailers. You can preorder it now in ebook. Paperbacks will be available closer to release day.

Prologue

The Bargain

Clutching the baby to her chest, Joanna silently slid open the window and ran. Her breath rasped loudly in her ears, but it did little to block out the voices yelling out behind her in the house. Quick as a shade, she slipped between two buildings and sprinted for the cover of the churchyard. The old cemetery held its breath as the sun crept toward the horizon, though not a single soul gave her away as she picked between the crooked headstones and disappeared behind the old, abandoned church. The moment her back hit the blistered, whitewashed wood, a wave of pain ripped through her core. Clasping a clammy hand to her stomach, Joanna released a tremulous breath. She shouldn’t be running yet. If she was any of the mothers she tended to, she would have told them to get back in bed and rest as much as they can, but if she stopped moving, everything she and Stephen did would have been for naught.

Joanna bit her lip against the bitter burn of tears. Her husband was well and truly dead now, her mother beyond her reach, and the people she once thought might become her family hunted her. All she had left was the swaddled baby in her arms, and she wasn’t going to let anyone stand in the way of his safety. Peeling back the quilt just enough to see her baby boy’s face, she watched him puff out a sleepy breath. How he had managed to sleep through the chaos of their escape, she didn’t know, but she silently thanked the Lord for small miracles and sleepy newborns. If Joanna had her way, he would never know about any of this. He would grow up to live a normal, peaceful life.

He will grow up without you.

Her head snapped up at the rustle of leaves. Across the sea of graves, the forest beckoned in a hissing whisper. No breeze reached her in the old church’s shadow, yet the tallest black oaks stretched and swayed as if searching for her. The Dysterwood had thousands of eyes, thousands of roiling, susurrus servants eager to tell their master of the goings on of mortals. Joanna pulled the blanket close enough to obscure the baby’s face and tightened her grip. The wood didn’t know him yet, and it never would.

Peering around the edge of the church, Joanna confirmed no one had followed her to the graveyard before making a break for the cluster of mausoleums. All around her the ground hummed with the slumbering dead. If she paid attention, she could tell who they were and roughly how long they had been gone, but she didn’t have time to talk to them now. Her heart clenched as she passed the clustered rows of tiny headstones, some with nothing more than a surname and single date. If she had done nothing else during her time in Aldorhaven, she had tried her best to keep their number from growing. Hiding behind the second grandest mausoleum in the cemetery, Joanna bit back a whimper of pain at another yanking cramp. As if sensing her discomfort, the baby stirred. She patted his back and whispered sweet nothings into his ear until he quieted. Can he sense the dead too? she wondered.

Part of her had hoped he might have an easier life and grow up to be a plantmancer like his father, but she knew from the second she saw him that he took after her. Shutting her eyes, she inhaled the milky scent of his skin, and for a moment, she could pretend she had merely taken him for a walk to settle him and that one day she might stroll with him hand-in-hand through the graveyard and explain how their powers could be used to do good, no matter what anyone said. She pictured him grown with dark hair like hers and his father’s gentle, warm smile. He would be kind and smart and helpful. Her mother would make sure of it, even if she couldn’t.

Joanna flinched at the sudden shatter of glass followed by a cry of fire. Smoke rose over the far side of the hill as Stephen’s final trick destroyed their home and bought her precious time, yet she didn’t dare look back. The house and furniture the fire consumed were only things, things that could trace back to her life before Aldorhaven, she reminded herself, ignoring the lingering pain beneath her heart. From her high perch behind the tomb, Joanna could see the Allen’s cottage at the edge of town. She watched as the tall, stalwart figure of Jacob Allen ran out of his house and mounted his horse a moment after the fire bells sounded. Just as she hoped.

Gathering the remainder of her strength, Joanna sprinted past the empty tombs of the town’s founding family, away from the cavernous mouth of the Dysterwood, and through a loose bar in the ironwork fence. Half-sliding down the hill, she made for the shelter of the trees leading to the Allen’s home. In the normal thickets of the Pine Barrens surrounding the edge of the town, the creatures of the Dysterwood held no sway, though Joanna knew the eyes of the forest still trailed her as she reached the field behind the house. The knot in her chest loosened upon seeing Mercy’s chestnut Morgan standing in the field beyond. The horse’s ears stood erect and his eyes wide as he listened to the distant clang of bells.

The moment he spotted Joanna, the brown stallion ambled over from the pasture, eager to check her pockets for treats. For the first time all day, a genuine smile crossed Joanna’s lips as she patted Rasmus’s nose and rubbed the white streak between his eyes. The horse butted his head against her neck, and she hugged him tightly with one arm, wishing this didn’t have to be goodbye. Pulling back, Rasmus snorted and nosed the bundle in her arms curiously.

“Gentle,” she coaxed as she carefully pulled back the blanket to reveal the baby. The horse looked puzzled as he sniffed him, but when the infant briefly opened his eyes to stare up at the gentle beast, Rasmus lipped and snorted on him for good measure. Joanna laughed, but the sound was cut short by voices and smoke carrying on the wind. “Where’s Mercy, boy?”

“Over here. I’ll be right with you, Joanna.”

Joanna turned, her heart lurching at the sixteen year old’s sudden appearance at the barn’s entrance. No matter how many times she did that, Joanna never grew accustomed to it. Mercy’s dark blonde hair clung to her face in the summer heat as she set the pitchfork against the wall and wiped her hands against her well-worn trousers. Swallowing hard, Joanna tried to commit Mercy Allen to memory. She was only a few inches taller than Joanna, yet she was stalwart and strong in a way she could never be. She moved through the world with purpose, when she let people see her, but the more days she spent in Aldorhaven with her father, the more patches of her that became threadbare under his gaze. If she didn’t get out soon, whatever life Mercy yearned for when she donned her brother’s hand-me-downs and galloped full speed past the house and into the pine barrens would be gone. As Mercy quickly washed her hands and face at the pump, Joanna readjusting her grip on the baby and confirmed she hadn’t lost her purse or knife in her haste. No, Mercy and her son would have the chance to have a life they could never know here.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting. My father left to deal with some crisis in town. Did you hear the—” Mercy’s brown eyes brightened with excitement as soon as they landed on the bundle in Joanna’s arms. “You had the baby!”

“Sssh!”

“Sorry,” she said softer with a wince. Gently shouldering Rasmus out of the way, Mercy peered down at the baby as he yawned and hunkered further into the quilt. “Oh, Joanna, I’m so happy for you. What’s their name?”

“He doesn’t have one.”

“Why not?” Mercy asked, gently stroking his dark hair with two fingers.

“Because I can’t know it.” Mercy’s head shot up, but Joanna held her gaze and nodded toward the woods. When Mercy opened her mouth to speak, Joanna cut her off. “Stephen’s dead. For real this time.”

“We knew it was coming, but still, I’m so sorry, Joanna. Did he get to see—?”

“Yes, he did, but now, they know,” Joanna said, the words tumbling together as she spoke. There was so much to explain and so little time. “Within moments of Stephen dying, they showed up, just like he said they would. I don’t think they fully understand what Stephen and I did yet, but when they do, they’ll come for the baby. You’re the only person who knows he’s alive, besides me and Stephen, and I need you to take him far away from here. I have money for you.” Pulling the heavy purse from her pocket, she shoved it into Mercy’s hands. “There’s enough there that you should be able to pay for the ferry, board Rasmus, and buy anything you need to start a new life, the one you’ve always wanted. My mother will understand and help you. She will let you stay with her until you’re on your feet, but you must take him and ride to the Camden as fast as you can. If you leave now, you can make it to the last ferry to Philadelphia and be at my mother’s not long after nightfall. There’s a note for her in the purse that explains everything. Her address is on it.”

Opening the pouch, Mercy choked. “Joanna, this is a small fortune. I can’t take this. How will you—?” Her eyes widened in understanding. “No. You can’t do that. He… he’ll need his mother.”

“I have to. Once they realize what we’ve done, they will be out for blood. Mine or his. That’s why I can’t name him. If they get it out of me, they can find him.”

“Then, come with me,” Mercy pleaded. “We can all fit on Rasmus.”

“I will only slow you down, and you’ll need all the speed you can get.”

“But I don’t know how to hold a baby. What if I drop him?”

“Mercy, I’ve seen you ride with a basket of eggs. I’ll make sure he’s strapped tight to you, but you need to go soon if you have any hope of escaping.” Glancing at the smoke-streaked sky, Joanna calculated the meager time she had left and turned back to Mercy. “I’ve never had a sibling, but of all the people in this world, you are the closest I have ever had. I would never ask this of you unless I had no other choice, but you are the only one who can escape the wood’s notice. It will be hunting me after what I’ve done, but it hasn’t sunk its teeth into the baby yet. You both can be free.”

When Mercy’s features tightened with fear, Joanna pressed her hand to her cheek and whispered, “If you love me, you will leave this place and live well. That is my greatest hope: for my boys to live well.”

“Are you sure there’s no other way?” Mercy croaked. When Joanna nodded, Mercy sighed and hung her head. “I’ll get my things.”

“Please be quick.”

Grabbing her saddle bags from the barn, Mercy disappeared into the house. As the door shut behind her, a wave of exhaustion passed over Joanna. She leaned against the side of the house out of sight, letting the baby’s full weight rest against her chest. The fear that had propelled her from the mob had finally been spent. Her arms shook with fatigue and blood dripped down her leg and clung to her petticoats while cupboards opened and shut inside the house. With every second she waited for Mercy, the baby seemed heavier and the rippling pain in her core grew stronger. Joanna screwed her eyes tight and released a steadying breath. She only needed to hang on a little longer. Soon, it would be over, and it would all be worth it.

The wind blew down the bank and through the trees, bringing with it the acrid tang of smoke and the sound of Stephen’s sister yelling her name. Tightening her grip on her son, Joanna peered around the corner of the barn, but thankfully, no one was there. Daphne’s only allegiance was to her family, and no bond of motherhood or feigned friendship would stop her from dragging her back. The door to the cottage whined as Mercy stepped outside. Before she could call for her, Joanna emerged from the shadows. In her brother’s clothes with the too long trouser legs rolled beneath her boots and a derby squashed over her hair, Mercy could easily pass for a boy in the evening light. Giving Joanna a stalwart nod, she strapped her bags to the saddle and prepared Rasmus for their ride. The horse looked nervously toward the Dysterwood, but Mercy whispered to him and stroked his neck until he quieted. Stepping back from him, Mercy held Joanna’s gaze but neither moved nor spoke.

Joanna twisted her fingers into the quilt and swallowed against the knot in her throat. She knew the time would come to let him go, but it still felt too soon. Everything she and Stephen had done had been for this moment when they could send him somewhere far away, where he would never know of Aldorhaven or the fate that would have awaited him if he had stayed. He had the chance for a life his father never did, and she needed to let him go. Pulling back the quilt, Joanna tried to memorize his face as she had Mercy’s. He was so new. He had no name or features she could pin down as coming from her or Stephen, but he had his life. And it would always be his own. Joanna kissed his forehead and readjusted the blanket around him until he was swaddled tight. Beckoning Mercy closer, she pulled the shawl from her shoulders and threaded it around Mercy’s middle under her coat. She carefully tied the bundled blanket into it and stepped away before she could change her mind.

Embers blew on the wind as Mercy gingerly swung into the saddle and turned Rasmus toward the road. “You can still come, Joanna.”

“You know I can’t.” At the hesitance in her eyes, Joanna called, “Mercy, after you get settled, promise me you won’t look for me. Forget I or this place ever existed.”

“I promise I won’t look, but I’ll never forget.”

Joanna stood rooted at the gate as Mercy gave her one final, long look before spurring her horse to a trot. She tried to keep her gaze trained on Mercy’s back as Rasmus picked up speed down the road, but her eyes kept sliding off as if they weren’t there. When she could no longer find them beyond the distant clack of hooves, the pain in her heart lessened a fraction. If she couldn’t see them, then hopefully, the wood couldn’t either. Godspeed, Mercy. Tears burned the backs of Joanna’s eyes, but she quickly blinked them away and headed back to the road. At the top of Cemetery Hill, a lone figure appeared between the tombs. Joanna’s heart lurched in her throat as Stephen’s father stepped from the shadows. Before he could see her and call out to the others, Joanna took a deep breath and plunged into the Dysterwood.

If you enjoyed this excerpt, I hope you will preorder The Reanimator’s Remains at your favorite retailer or add it to your TBR on Goodreads. If you haven’t read books 1 or 2, you can grab them in ebook, paperback, or audiobook. Stay tuned for the second half of the prologue next week.

Writing

Kara’s Current & Future Writing Plans

June 9, 2024June 8, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

As we head toward the end of the second quarter of 2024, I find myself starting to plan. Truthfully, I should be planning for the third quarter, but instead, I find myself thinking about all the writing projects I would like to work on and when I’m hopefully getting to them. To preface, none of what I’m going to talk about is set in stone. All dates and ideas are subject to change, especially due to work, extra projects, etc.

2024 Books

The Reanimator’s Remains (TRM #3)– Book 3 of the Reanimator Mysteries will be out October 29th, 2024. I’m hoping to have it drafted and done by the end of the summer for the late fall release. You can preorder it here.

TRM #3.5 short story– I still have no idea what this will be about, though I’m thinking it will be set during the Paranormal Society’s All Hallows Eve party. Depending on how long it ends up being, it will be released at the end of 2024 or beginning of 2025.

2025 Books

The Reanimator’s ________ (TRM #4)– As of right now, I think book 4 will be the last book in the Reanimator Mysteries series. I have ideas for it and hope you all will love how the series wraps up, and don’t worry, we will definitely revisit our favorites in future books. This will be my big project for 2025, and I expect it to come out in October as usual.

TRM #4.5– I’m not 100% sure if there will be a final short story, but I’m going to assume I will write some sort of epilogue for Oliver and Felipe. This story will come out after book 4.

Timeline Unknown

When I say “timeline unknown,” what I really mean is, “I haven’t committed to a due date, and I can’t be behind if I don’t know when they’re due.” Basically, these projects are marinating and will for sure be worked on, but they are not as high of a priority as the Reanimatory Mysteries books are at the moment. Also, due to job stuff, energy levels, etc., it’s hard for me to write more than one book a year, though I would love to work up to finishing two a year without sacrificing quality or my sanity.

Joe and Ansley’s Book– I’m 99% sure this will be novel length, so it will probably take months to write. I don’t want to shoehorn it in between Reanimator books like an afterthought, but it is coming! I have ideas for them, and I really want to write more within this universe as well.

A book starring Teresa Galvan– This one is a huge maybe. I have a sparkly idea, but I’m not sure it makes sense yet. Teresa is growing up in a time of immense change and possibility, so writing a story set during the Belle Époque from an artist’s perspective would be a lot of fun. Once again, still working out the bugs.

More Reanimator Side Stories– I have some ideas bouncing around for an Oliver and Gwen prequel short story, potentially a short story about the head inspector and Gale, and several others. Eventually, I would like to put together a collected volume of Reanimator Mysteries related short stories.

Trousers and Trouble– I am so sorry to my readers who have been waiting years for this book. Between burnout, covid, life stuff, etc., it was really hard to write a book about trans joy. Once again, after the Reanimator books are done, I will revisit this book, and this series to write books for other characters mentioned in this one and Kinship and Kindness.

Dinosaur Duology– So I think it’s a duology. In my head, that’s the structure of it, before and after a giant event, but that is subject to change. There are also some other things I would like to explore within the same time period, so I don’t know what the structure of this series will be or if there will be an off-shoot book. I have no idea, but it’s marinating.

Scandinavian flavored epic fantasy– the series that will be cooking the longest because I don’t know if I am smart and/or talented enough to pull it off yet. I have lots of sparkly ideas and aesthetics, but those do not make a book, unfortunately.

For now, these are the works I have on the docket and the backburner. I hope you will stay tuned as I talk more about my current and future projects!

Monthly Review

May 2024 Wrap-Up Post

June 2, 2024June 2, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

May has been one of those months that felt twice as long as it should. I feel like I’m finally hitting my stride with The Reanimator’s Remains, and I don’t want to jinx anything, but things are finally going smoothly. Before getting into things, let’s take a look at the goals I made for May.

Writing goals are as follows:
- minimum 15k words
- standard 20k words
- stretch 25k words
Finish outlining the next chunk
Finish grading finals
Do more creative stuff to avoid burnout
Read 8 books
Blog weekly
Send out my May newsletter
Keep up with my stitch-a-long

Books

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

Night for Day by Roselle Lim- 4 stars, a second chance romance where a couple reunites only to be sent to an escape room-like challenge in order to end a war between the gods. The catch is that they must work together but in separate pocket dimensions, and the gods can be friend or foe.
The Brides of High Hill (#5) by Nghi Vo- 5 stars, a Gothic East Asian fantasy with nods to Bluebeard stories and Asian folklore with plenty of twists and surprises. Loved it!
Lore Olympus (#6) by Rachel Smythe- 4 stars, I’m deeply enjoying this series, especially seeing Hades finally standing up to Zeus and the loom of consequences for certain people.
Spear by Nicola Griffith- 5 stars, a Medieval fantasy featuring a crossdressing/living character, a queer romance, and plenty of Arthurian goodness in a small package.
The Binding of Bloom Mountain by Siggy Chambers- 4 stars, a lightly horror fantasy that takes place in a slightly unsettling down and its deeply unsettling mountain, which is full of creatures, nature gods, and potential ways to die.
Therapy Game Restart (#4) by Meguru Hinohara- 4 stars, in this volume we get to see some of the issues queer couples in Japan face as well as some sweet and steamy moments between my fav couple.
The Lies of the Ajungo (#1) by Moses Ose Utomi- 4 stars, a story of a young boy who goes looking for water to save his mother and discovers things are not how they appear. I am very curious as to how Utomi will handle the sequel.
She Loves to Cook & She Loves to Eat (#4) by Sakaomi Yuzaki- 4 stars, a super cute sapphic story about neighbors who are slowly becoming more. I love how we get to see more of the main couple’s relationship along with their new friends.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

Edited the entirety of what I’ve written so far for TRR
Wrote fairly consistently in the second half of the month
Finished grading finals/last minute papers in a timely manner
Turned in grades and collapsed into a heap
I commissioned art from OblivionsDream of Oliver and Felipe (it’s GORGEOUS- please follow and support her, she’s awesome and a fan of the series)
Had a small emotional/mental breakdown after everything that happened in April, but I feel better, so it’s all good.
Blogged weekly
Sent out my monthly newsletter
Listened to my body and actually rested
Kept up with the Femurs and Fungi stitch-a-long

Blogs

Writing

This month has been a bit of a weird one for writing. I feel like I’m finally hitting my stride with The Reanimator’s Remains. I ended up having to revamp part of it because Gwen is going on this investigation with them (yay!). While this makes the book so much better, it also means rewriting and reconfiguring things a bit (boo). On one hand, I’m very happy that things seem to be flowing better, but on the other, I feel behind because I had to fix stuff and I’m going to end up sending less of my book to my cover artist than I intended. I don’t think he’ll mind, and I can always send him more as I go, but yeah, I am struggling to keep the “you’re not doing enough!” thoughts out of my head. Listening to those too closely is a one-way trip to burnout ville, and I don’t need that right now at all. I’m really liking this story, especially knowing what the big emotional beats for Felipe will be. I apologize in advance to Felipe fans because you will be put through the wringer with this one. Something that has been low-key shaking my confidence a little bit is that this is a quieter, more internal focused book than books 1 and 2. It’s still very dark and has a spooky forest and the undead, but it’s less overtly action packed. I think you all will enjoy it, but knowing this book won’t be an action movie worries me a bit. This will not be the last book in the series, so I have to remind myself that we don’t need to go out on a bang with this one. We just need to put the boys through it.

Hopes for June

Write at least 20k words
Outline next chunk of book 3
Start the cover stuff for The Reanimator’s Remains
Maintain some semblance of brain balance to avoid burnout
Keep up with the stitch-a-long
Read 8 books
Blog weekly
Send out June newsletter

Book Reviews

10 Books to Add to Your TBR 2024 Edition Part 1

May 26, 2024May 25, 2024 Kara Jorgensen2 Comments

Most years I put out a list of books I greatly enjoyed from the first half of the year some time in June. This year, I decided to do it early because, besides needing a blog for this week, I have read a lot of good books lately, so I’m thinking of making this something I do more than twice a year (and often forget to do in December). The books listed below are not in any order of favoritism, but I will provide reasons for why you should pick up my ten favorite reads of 2024 thus far.

Spear by Nicola Griffith– If you enjoy Medieval or Arthurian fantasy with a queer twist, Spear should be on your tbr. It is under 200 pages, but there is so much crammed into such a small book. The writing flows so smoothly, and while it reads as more authentically Medieval than many Arthurian retellings, it feels very modern while simultaneously being true to the time. Yes, the Middle Ages were diverse; get over it.
The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo– I am a Nghi Vo stan. If they write it, I will read it, and while you do not need to read the Singing Hills Cycle books in order, you should still read all of them. The Brides of High Hill was deliciously South-East Asian Gothic with little flourishes of Bluebeard-esque stories while being obviously grounded in Asian myths and folklore. Vo’s books are all at once beautiful and horrific with plenty of twists and surprises, and this one was no different.
The Shabti by Megaera C. Lorenz– I received this one as an ARC, and now, Megaera is on my autobuy list. The Shabti is a historical-paranormal romance set in the 1930s between a washed up fake medium trying to go straight(ish) and an Egyptology professor with a ghost problem. Hermann and Dashiel are adorable together, and the side characters and titular ghost/object are all delightful.
Refusing Compulsory Sexuality by Sherronda J. Brown– A really fantastic nonfiction book about asexuality, acephobia, compulsory sexuality and how that all intersects with anti-Blackness, racism, the patriarchy, etc. I think you should read Angela Chen’s ACE first if you aren’t familiar with asexual scholarship, but Refusing Compulsory Sexuality really puts all the pieces together in a concise way.
We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian– Cat Sebastian is one of those authors who continually rips my heart out with how loving and cozy her books are, and We Could Be So Good is no exception. A reporter falls for the owner of the newspaper’s son and realizes Andy is far deeper than he seems. Andy and Nick are just so good for each other, and the side characters really make the story shine.
The Reluctant Heartthrob by Jackie Lau– Technically, this is the second book in series, but I think they can be read out of order. The female main character is autistic with face blindness, and the male main character is an actor who prefers to stay out of the limelight. They are delightful together, and as with all Jackie Lau books, there is so much good food and heat to go with it.
Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire– If the Tardis and an antique shop had a baby, it would be the setting of this story. You do have to read at least the book before this one to understand fully what’s going on, but this whole series is chef kiss if you enjoy portal fantasies and misfit kids finding where they truly belong. I love stories where we get to revisit a character and have them grow even more than the previous book allowed.
Ivy, Angelica, Bay by C. L. Polk– If Claudia is your favorite character in Interview with the Vampire, I think you’ll love Ivy, Angelica, Bay. Once again, this is technically a sequel, but it can be skipped (though you should read St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid because it’s also fantastic). We have a witch fighting capitalism and gentrification and so much more.
Threads of Life by Clare Hunter– If you’re a crafter, especially someone into needle crafts, I highly recommend Threads of Life. Hunter talks about the sociological, political, cultural, and feminist issues that surround needle crafts. She talks about the shifting gender roles behind them as well as the ways people are lost to history yet their great works remain. She also touches upon Palestine and other disenfranchised and threatened people/cultures.
The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi– This one is super short (under 100 pages), but Tutu goes through so much in such a limited amount of time. It’s a story about how empire destroys and defangs the people it colonizes and turns them against each other. I’m really interested to see how what happened in book one plays into book two’s plot.

Personal Life

Ambition v. Spoons

May 19, 2024May 16, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

I hate making banana bread. And it isn’t because I hate bananas or banana bread or even baking. It’s because somehow, no matter what I do or how I plan the bananas and I are never ready at the same time.

This has been a theme throughout my life, especially as an adult as my inflammatory issues have taken a toll on my energy levels. If I have the energy, I don’t have the inspiration. If I have the inspiration, I don’t have the energy to work on my creative projects.

If you’ve heard of spoon theory, should sound familiar to you. In short, spoon theory is the idea that we all have a certain allotment of energy (spoons), and certain activities cost more spoons that others. The problem with being neurodivergent and chronically ill is that there is no such thing as a work-life balance. There isn’t a single activity that doesn’t cost me spoons, whether they’re physical or mental.

Spending time with people outside my partner, costs me even if I greatly enjoy our time together. Washing my hair will ultimately feel better, but it will cost me energy to do, which means I end up putting it off until I have to because I have work or I put it off so long that it starts to bother me from a sensory perspective.

What people don’t seem to grasp with spoon theory and autism is that things cost you spoons that don’t always make sense to others or they cost a disproportionate amount. Going to the grocery store isn’t physically taxing for me, but the lights, the noise, trying not to get clipped in the parking lot, the people, remembering to get everything on my list (I need a list because I have gone totally blank at the store), acting “normal” at the checkout, etc. is a lot that most neurotypical people take for granted. For me, this mental stress converts into physical stress, so once I get home from the grocery store and unpack everything, I wind up in a heap of fatigue for a few hours decompressing. It’s the same thing with my job(s) and why I avoid going to conferences or conventions. Even if covid wasn’t a thing, they still suck the life out of me and require a multi-day recovery period. Part of the reason I diligently mask and try to reduce my chances of catching covid is because if I got long-covid/a post viral illness, I would have even less spoons to go around, and I can’t imagine limiting my life more.

I’ve tried to organize my life in such a way that I’m expending as few extra spoons as I possibly can, so I can still do my writing and creative stuff and not be an overstimulated misery to deal with. It sucks though because I don’t think most people who casually know me would think of me as disabled or even autistic, and people with invisible disabilities or neurodivergence will always be held to impossible standards. They might be attainable for a time, but they aren’t something most of us can manage long-term without burning ourselves out. There is no way for me to have a standard neurotypical work-life balance without losing something, whether it be hobbies, socializing, chores, or my actual job. Something will always be falling to the wayside, and in neurotypical society’s eyes, I will always be failing.

For people where most of these things are near effortless or the effort is only required in short bursts, they will probably never understand how much I struggle and how little of a safety net there is. There are many reasons I support Universal Basic Income (UBI), but one of the main reasons is for when people who are ND or disabled burn out or need time to recover from a flare, they won’t be left destitute or having to keep working at seemingly 100% while actively hurting themselves. We live in a society that is very much all or nothing. If you aren’t disabled enough, you get zero benefits/support. If you are able bodied enough, there is no safety net. The best way to support your neurodivergent or chronically ill friends is to help them out when they need it (after asking, of course) and pressuring your government and politicians to expand things that actually help our society and those who need that extra help or safety net. Being able bodied is a temporary state for most people. Shaping our society to support rather than penalize a state most of us will end up in will benefit everyone.

the reanimator's soul · Writing

The Reanimator’s Soul Audiobook is Available Now!

May 12, 2024May 10, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

the audiobook cover for The Reanimator's Soul written by Kara Jorgensen, read by Jack R. R. Evans

I am so excited to announce that The Reanimator’s Soul is now out in audiobook! It’s still trickling out to a few other retailers, but it’s now out at most major retailers and library systems.

Jack R. R. Evans, who narrated The Reanimator’s Heart and Kinship and Kindness, has returned to narrate The Reanimator’s Soul, and they have done an amazing job. I always rave about Jack’s work, but the way they did Ansley and Joe had me grinning from ear to ear.

You can grab the audiobook of The Reanimator’s Soul at

Amazon

Audible

Barnes & Noble/Nook

Kobo (on Kobo Plus as well)

And many more including Libby, which many libraries in the US use. It will also be available in other library systems and Libro.fm, but it takes a few weeks to appear.

Monthly Review

April 2024 Wrap-Up Post

May 5, 2024May 5, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

This month has been wild. I knew I would be busy grading a bunch of papers since April is the busiest month of the spring semester, but this month threw me some curve balls I wasn’t expecting. Let’s look back at what I had intended to get done before we get into it.

Write 20k words of The Reanimator’s Remains (TRM #3)
Proof audiobook chapters of The Reanimator’s Soul (TRM #2)
Keep up with the Fungi and Frogs stitch-a-long I’ve joined
Maintain my mental health better (aka refill the well and use your elliptical)
Send out monthly newsletter
Read 8 books
Blog weekly

Books

Wake Me Most Wickedly (#2) by Felicia Grossman- 4 stars, a Snow White retelling set in 1800s British-Jewish society featuring a disgraced pawnshop owner and a young man trying desperately to make his brother proud. I loved the gender swap in this story as well as how the villain was represented.
Sunflowers by Keezy Young- 4 stars, a short autobiographical comic about bipolar I disorder. Beautiful art and an interesting look into a stigmatized mental illness.
Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture by Sherronda J. Brown- 5 stars, an absolutely fantastic nonfiction work on how asexuality is tied up into white supremacy, the patriarchy, anti-Blackness, and more.
Bells are Ringing (#1.5) by Cat Sebastian- 5 stars, an epilogue that follows Nick and Andy several months after the events of We Could Be So Good. I absolutely loved seeing them grow as a couple.
The Vermilion Emporium by Jamie Pacton- 4 stars, a magical girl and a boy who hears starlight are brought together by a magical store and find they are far more special than they ever thought.
Threads of Life by Clare Hunter- 4 stars, a nonfiction book about the social, historical, political, and cultural significance of embroidery and sewing. This book was fascinating and gave me plot bunnies galore.
The Shabti by Megaera C. Lorenz- 5 stars, a reformed fake medium and an awkward academic/Egyptologist team up to solve the very real haunting of the university’s Egyptology exhibit/artifacts. I loved these two together as well as all the side characters.
The Potion Gardener (#8) by Arden Powell- 4 stars, a potion maker wakes up to find a young person sleeping off a rough party in their shed only to find that they are more than they appear. This story has transitioning magic, which I thought was really awesome and not often seen in historical-fantasy.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

Proofed all the files for the audiobook of The Reanimator’s Soul (TRM #2)
Paid for and approved the files for the audiobook on ACX (coming to Audible and Amazon soon)
Uploaded them to Findaway Voices and kicked them through for distribution
Ran a sale on The Reanimator’s Heart
Paid Q1 2024 taxes
Picked up the literary magazine copies for my class (they came out great!)
Kept up with the Femurs and Fungi Stitch-a-long thus far (pics are on IG if you’re interested)
Sent a bajillion emails to my students, random admins/faculty members
Finished the majority of my grading
Finally was able to speak out about being harassed online for the past however many months (see Freydis blog post and that assorted chaos), so I have processed/dealt with more emotions than I would care to admit since April 20th. It sort of sucked the life out of me, but I’ll talk about that more in the writing section.

Blogs

Writing

Looking back, when I made the word count for April, I was being unrealistic. I somehow forgot that April is the busiest month in the spring semester when it comes to grading. I did not come close to meeting that goal. This was initially due to grading and being a bit fried, but ultimately, what did me in was everything about Freydis Moon/Taylor Barton coming to light. You can read more in my blog post about my experience being harassed by Freydis/Taylor, and if you want more on how this came to light, just google Freydis Moon drama as there are plenty of videos that sum it up. Being able to finally tell people what was going on and being believed was an immense relief, but it was also a punch to the psyche and body. I ended up having a post-strong-emotions autoimmune flare a week after, and that made doing anything difficult. I greatly appreciate Em/Elle Porter bringing everything to light and for my friends/readers who have been very supportive.

On a brighter note, I was stuck on The Reanimator’s Remains, but I finally figured out what needs to be changed to make everything fall into place. I also got a rather unhinged idea for something toward the end. I’m not 100% sure I’ll use it, but it has inspired me. As the semester wraps up, I feel my creativity returning finally. May will be for fanning the flames of that creativity back to a roar.

Hopes for May

Writing goals are as follows:
- minimum 15k words
- standard 20k words
- stretch 25k words
Finish outlining the next chunk
Finish grading finals
Do more creative stuff to avoid burnout
Read 8 books
Blog weekly
Send out my May newsletter
Keep up with my stitch-a-long

Personal Life

On Gender

April 28, 2024April 27, 2024 Kara Jorgensen2 Comments

The other day I was listening to the audiobook of Threads of Life by Clare Hunter, and there were several instances in her book where she discusses the synergy of cis women working together and relating to each other in a space all their own. Listening to it, I was puzzled that people experience that kind of synergy or easy relation. I often chocked up my discomfort to being autistic. By nature, I’m not particularly good at “blending” with neurotypical people. As Hannah Gadsby talks about in their comedy shows, being autistic is like being the one sober person in a room of drunks; you constantly feel like you stick out.

But it runs deeper than the autism. I’ve never felt like a woman. People would talk about womanhood or what women want or feel, and I would feel my eyes glaze over. Cannot relate. At an abstract level, I get it. I can see and understand what other people in the same way I can say people can be the same gender and be very different people. The problem is woman has always fit like an outfit two sizes two big. It just sort of hung around me with no shape, and the shape people tried to give it didn’t make me feel good about myself or make sense in terms of how I see myself.

That has always been the bigger issue for me: how people perceive me. The lack of control over other people’s assumptions is a burden I constantly struggle to deal with. Any time I get hit with “ma’am” or “miss,” I can feel my soul curl like a shrimp. I’m lucky in that I’m an adjunct college professor, so most of the time, I get called “professor,” which is blessedly neutral. There are assumptions that come with being a woman or man, none of which I want or live up to. If I tried to ascribe to either, I would always be failing, falling short of someone’s idea of what I should be.

The best way I can describe my gender is neither or none or femininely masculine. One of the reasons I gravitated toward Stede Bonnet in Our Flag Means Death is because he hits the right gender buttons for me. He is a queer, autistic man, but he’s quite feminine and fussy compared to the other male characters. He wears bright colors, loves a luxury fabric, and isn’t clinging to traditional masculinity. I look at him and see gender inspiration. Same with Lestat de Lioncourt in Interview with the Vampire, though I’m far too silly to embody that fully.

I joke with my partner that “weird little guy” is my gender. Can a gender be queer? Not genderqueer, per se, but slightly masculine in a queer way, not a cis het guy way. Mostly, I use agender or nonbinary as the closest labels I can get. I add lightly masc because if I wear anything too feminine, I get dysphoric. Truthfully, I’d rather toss gender out the window as an unnecessary nuisance. The people I tend to vibe with most tend to be neurodivergent nonbinary people because I think we look at gender differently than neurotypicals. Autistic people are more likely than the general population to be trans or nonbinary, and that’s probably because gender is made up. We hate when people make arbitrary rules or try to create hierarchy, so why would we let made up gender rules get in the way of living our best lives?

While in the past it may have bothered me that I didn’t vibe fully with cis men or cis women, I’m more than happy to vibe in the agender autistic/ADHD club with the rest of my friends. I may never feel the synergy people talk about, but I feel at peace and at home where I can talk about my special interests, not be chastised for a verbal fumble, and not be judged for the parts I came with. For those people, I am eternally grateful.

Personal Life · Uncategorized

A Vent: the Freydis Fiasco

April 21, 2024April 22, 2024 Kara Jorgensen11 Comments

**What is written below is my experience with Freydis Moon and what has gone down since last February. Obviously, all of this is from my perspective, and I have not used other people’s names for privacy reasons. I want to use this post to vent everything that has happened this past year**

If you follow me on social media, over the past year or so, you may have seen me posting about how I was getting weird messages/replies on Twitter along with ghost quote rts (where someone who has seemingly privated or blocked you shares you work) on posts that wouldn’t normally get quoted/shared. This freaked me out so badly that my hair fell out over the summer/early fall of 2023 due to the stress of what was going on and the fact that I couldn’t say anything because the person who was behind it was another author within my orbit: Freydis Moon.

Freydis Moon has been unmasked Scooby Doo style as another terrible author named Taylor Barton or Brooklyn Ray. You can take a look at the evidence here if you want more background. The main m.o. with this person was that they would bully people, and when they would say something or try to, Freydis would rile up their readers/followers/friends to take them down. This was often done publicly, but it was often done on Discords and back channels only.

My issues with Freydis go back to February of 2023. I made a post on Twitter complaining about trope marketing since I don’t write or read fanfic, basically riffing off what a friend said. Freydis came into both of our posts and stirred up shit. I got off lighter with insinuations that I was being classist for saying if you have a BA in English, you look at book structure/writing differently (not better, differently). But they went after my friend, even though they backed down and unnecessarily apologized for their marketing opinion. Freydis and another queer author made a whole thread making fun of them and then seemingly booted my friend off a queer author Discord we were part of with the words “bad vibes be gone.” I was pissed. I left the Discord nearly immediately and muted Freydis everywhere. Part of me hoped they might apologize, but that never came.

After that happened, I started comparing notes with another neurodivergent author who had also had run-ins with Freydis and realized there were more and more of us who had this experience of “misunderstandings” that felt ableist. What I mean by that is tone policing, reading into things that aren’t there and then attacking you for it, and ganging up on them with another author/supporter among other things. Between February and summer, I watched another neurodivergent author get into a spat with them after calling them out for bullying. It’s also key to note here that Freydis also masqueraded as another author, Saint Harlow, who often acted as their attack dog. Saint Harlow went after this author, then Freydis got them into emails/DMs and then twisted around what they said. Once again, shitty behavior, but when you throw in that this author was autistic, it takes on a far more obvious ableist edge in that we are often not as socially adept and it’s far easier to trip us up, especially since clarifying leads to over-explaining, which gives the bully more to work with.

By this point, the pattern of ableist behavior was solidifying, especially after going through older spats between them and traditionally published authors, several of whom were known to be neurodivergent. Another autistic author became more vocal about Freydis’s behavior toward autistic and neurodivergent author, and so did I. Neither of us ever named names, and I don’t think I even mentioned that I was talking about a specific person when I talked about ableism being a pattern of behavior rather than a discreet action. That was seemingly enough. When a friend was called out by them, I told them to ignore Freydis (basically doing the opposite of what happened with the other author and because grey rocking is a common tactic against abusive behavior). Someone leaked those chats to Freydis, who then leaked them to their friends. I lost like 10-15 mutuals in like two days and couldn’t figure out why. I later found out it was because they told people I had been “racially harassing” them despite the fact that I hadn’t spoken to/about them in months and never had been racist toward/about them.

By that point, I had had them blocked everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, Tiktok, in my email, even Etsy. Their presence was triggering to me by that point. I went out of my way to avoid them, so there was no way in hell I was going to harass them. On top of that, I hadn’t said anything about any of this on any of my public social media accounts, only within close friend groups. Around this time in the summer is when what I can only describe as cyberstalking started. I would post something and a friend who come tell me Freydis is subtweeting me, even though I had them and their other alias’s account (whom I thought was a separate person) both blocked. I started getting ghost quote retweets on posts about my health or neurodivergence, which was strange since those aren’t topics people would comment on. I would have replies/qrts pop up, then disappear, and I started to think I was losing my mind. More people I thought were my friends unfollowed me, and I stayed silent publicly. I didn’t know how to possibly prove something I hadn’t done, but what saddened me most was that people who I thought knew me, knew my character and behavior over the months/years we had been acquaintances believed I was harassing someone and being racist. I’m not perfect, but I do my best to be anti-racist and continue to unlearn damaging behaviors and thought patterns. If I had done something, I would have apologized and taken responsibility for my behavior, but I hadn’t, especially since I hadn’t spoken to/about them since February.

When Bluesky appeared, I was relieved as they hadn’t arrived and the weird ghosts posts stopped for a time. The moment Freydis got an account there, I blocked them. I literally searched their name every day just to block them. Then, one day I made a post that was meant to be a joke about asexuality and spice (I’m asexual). Suddenly, my post was circulating among Freydis’s people, despite having most of them blocked, and I only knew because a friend came to tell me people were upset with me. I realized they were creeping on my posts again and cyberstalking me with a sock puppet/alt account or by using a friend to evade the block.

During the Trans Rights Readathon this year, I was tagged in a trans author list and one of their followers popped on to call me a serial harasser. Their “evidence” was me complaining about Frey’s clique to the friend from February and the ace-spice joke post (that I later deleted and apologized for). Luckily, the person who saw it didn’t believe the “evidence,” but this confirmed to me that they were doing this somewhere privately and that I wasn’t wrong in believing that they were sowing discord on Discord. During the Trans Rights Readathon, this happened more than once, and someone left a one star review on one of my books calling me a racist harasser, which my friends reported and got taken down. Once again, I still hadn’t said a peep about them.

Two weeks or so before today, I cracked and made a thread on Bluesky about being cyberstalking and how if someone asks you to keep tabs on someone who blocked them, you are contributing to stalking and harassment. I was tired and overwrought emotionally by what was going on but still didn’t name names or use specifics. My friends were being supportive and agreeing when a sock puppet account came out of the woodwork to call me racist [again]. They told a person who was supporting me that doing so was not a “good look” for them. Fortunately, that person saw through the manipulation and told them off. The sock puppet deleted their account and disappeared.

That episode rattled me because of how overt it was. I spent the rest of the week freaked out, and as recently as Friday, I had been pouring out my feelings to my partner about how this bullying felt like it was never ending to the point that I had gone back through interactions to make sure I hadn’t actually done something. It made me question my sanity and memory. I struggle with OCD and have chronic inflammatory problems, and the prolonged nature of Freydis’s bullying took its toll on me. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, my hair fell out from stress.

When the news came out that there was hard evidence that Freydis Moon was Taylor Barton/Brooklyn Ray, I was relieved. Several friends who knew about the situation reached out to me, and I decided to finally post about what went on. Everyone who has interacted with my posts has been very supportive, which I greatly appreciate. At the same time, I have mixed feelings about everything. The non-anonymous whistleblower was part of the crowd that spread/believed lies about me and shut me and several others out of parts of the queer indie romance community. People who I saw joining in on Freydis’s bad behavior are claiming they had no idea, and suddenly, people who have had me blocked for months on Freydis’s orders or word are now unblocking and re-friending me.

While I’m relieved this person’s behavior and real identity have come to light, I have been embittered by what has happened. My character and conduct meant nothing in the face of Freydis’s word because if they said it with enough authority, it had to be true even if there was no evidence. Freydis also weaseled their way into authority positions on projects that centered autism after being ableist and awful to autistic authors. They were actively ableist on their Discords and even made fun of me specifically for being autistic, yet no one pushed back. I’m not ready to forgive anyone who moved in that circle because I think if a new leader for the cult of personality stepped up, they would follow them. I hope they examine their actions and strive to do better in the future.

My sympathy goes out to all the readers who saw themselves in Freydis’s work and the queer, Latinx indie authors who may be harmed in the future due to their careless actions. They all deserved better.

The Reanimator's Heart · Writing

The Narratess Indie Sale!

April 14, 2024April 14, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

a grid of book covers. in the center is a dragon and a planet, and around them it says, Indie Sale fantasy, scifi, and horror. April 13-15th

We will be back to our regularly scheduled blogging next week, but I wanted to let you all know that there is one day left in the Narratess Indie Sale, so if you are looking to beef up your to-be-read pile for Indie April, swing over to the Narratess Sale to check out over 200 indie books that are free to $1.99.

The Reanimator's Heart by Kara Jorgensen is on sale for $0.99 for a limited time at all major retailers. mm romance, food tour of 1890s NYC, unbury your gays, forced proximity, a lavender marriage, an autistic necromancer, everybody's queer, murder, magic and mysteries

The Reanimator’s Heart is also part of the sale and is $0.99 at all major retailers and in most regions, so if you’ve been looking to get your hands on it, now is the perfect time to start the series, especially ahead of book 3‘s release in October.