Category: Monthly Review

new blog post: january 2025 wrap-up post January 2025 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

January 2025 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

How have these past two weeks been so, so long. Also, to everyone in Canada, Mexico, and China, yes, this is the stupidest timeline and the US deserves all the hate it gets globally. ANYWAY, let’s remind ourselves what I was supposed to get done this month.

  • Finish writing “AUE”
  • Edit and format “AUE”
  • Pay Q4 2024 taxes (bleck)
  • Set up my syllabi and Blackboards for my courses
  • Send out my newsletter (with “An Unexpected Evening”)
  • Start planning out TRM #4
  • Blog weekly
  • Read 8 books

Books

My goal was to read 8 books this month, and I read 10. All links below are affiliate links that give me a little kickback.

  1. The Reckless Decade by H. W. Brand- 4 stars, a nonfiction book about the 1890s. This was WAY too timely for what’s going on. If you want a hint as to how we might get out of this, I think this book might be helpful to a point.
  2. Calling the Spirits by Lisa Morton- 4 stars, a nonfiction book about seances throughout the ages. It starts with necromancy and goes all the way to modern ghost hunting shows. It was quite interesting and research for a potential book.
  3. Toad Words & Other Stories by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, I read books 3-5 in rapid succession, so I’m not sure which was which. Overall, I really enjoyed T. Kingfisher’s commentary on fairytales and her retellings.
  4. The Halcyon Fairy Book by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, see #3.
  5. Jackalope Wives and Other Stories by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, see #3.
  6. Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear (#10) by Seanan McGuire- 5 stars,
  7. Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, a beauty and the beast retelling with a beast who has been stuck in a time loop for centuries and a gardening beauty named Bryony. This was a really interesting mechanism for BatB as it reminded me a bit more of Eros and Psyche, but I wish there was more emotional intimacy built between the MCs as that is my jam.
  8. Fever by Jordan L. Hawk- 4 stars, a horror story set during the Canadian gold rush featuring a cabin in the woods, queer characters, and plenty of spookiness. This is good horror for people who are big babies… like myself.
  9. Boyfriend Material (#1) by Alexis Hall- 4 stars, a disaster gay needs a fake boyfriend for a fundraiser and winds up fake dating a fussy lawyer. Soon, fake dating turns to real dating turns too real turns to much more. On one hand, I wanted to shake Luc, but both MCs deserve each other as they are both annoying.
  10. She Loves to Cook & She Loves to Eat (#5) by Sakaomi Yuzaki, 5 stars, the two MCs finally move into together, so we get house hunting, LGBT+ struggles in Japan, and a hint at their new life together. This series is so sweet and cute, and the food always looks impeccable. I love how mental health and the characters’ sexualities are handled.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Postponed the release of “An Unexpected Evening” because my brain broke somewhere around January 20th and didn’t recover in time to finish writing the story
  • Wrote some of “An Unexpected Evening”
  • Started zapping my partner’s face 3x a week because we must achieve gender euphoria, even in hellish times
  • Started working on a writing notebook to keep track of all my writing stuff for the next year (we’ll see how this goes)
  • The Reanimator’s Remains (TRM #3) made it to the next round of the Indie Ink Awards in several categories (a huge thank you to all who voted!)
  • Had several mental breakdowns due to the state of the US
  • Called my reps nearly daily about various issues
    • Democracy.io can be very helpful if you want to email all your reps at once
    • You can also call the Capitol switchboard and ask for your rep by name- (202) 224-3121
  • Paid my 2024 Q4 taxes (bleck)
  • Set up my syllabi and online stuff for my classes
  • Started teaching my classes
  • Kept up with my arm/shoulder workout

Blog Posts

Writing

When I tell you this month has been hard, I mean it. At the beginning of the month, I was struggling to get back into writing because I took a month and a half off after the release of The Reanimator’s Remains to avoid burnout. I needed the break, but the problem with a break is getting back into the routine of writing. I also ended up rewriting and restructuring “An Unexpected Evening,” which made it significantly better but threw me off my game. My confidence was mildly shaken by having to fix it, so when January 20th rolled around and all hell broke loose, my brain just noped out of writing completely. I kept hoping I could wrangle it, but if you have been following politics in the US, you can understand why this was nearly impossible (and made worse by my classes starting). I think I’ve finally regained equilibrium and am hopeful that I’m finally back on track for real this time. The good thing is that I think you will enjoy this silly story… novella? Not sure, it’s grown a bit according to my guestimated word count. I seriously appreciate all of you so much for your kind words when I announced that I had to push the short story’s release back.

Hopes for February

  • Finish writing “AUE”
  • Edit “AUE”
  • Send it out to my newsletter peeps first (everyone else gets it a month later)
  • Reread The Reanimator Mysteries books 1-3
  • Start proofing the audiobook for The Reanimator’s Remains
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my monthly newsletter
  • Maintain my fragile sanity
  • Perpetually bug my congress people
new blog post: december 2024 wrap-up post December 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

December 2024 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

December is a weird liminal space month, especially as a professor. It begins with finals chaos and ends with the strange nothing week between Christmas and New Year. I purposely tried to take it easy this month, despite the goals listed below, and it was just what I needed to reinvigorate my creativity and brain. Here are the goals I made in November:

  • Finish grading finals ASAP
  • Finish Christmas shopping
  • Wrap everything without hurting my back
  • Write all of “An Unexpected Evening”
  • Start brainstorming my next writing project
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my newsletter
  • Play more video games to unwind/refill the well
  • Get my yearly goals for 2025 and my Q1 goals in order

Books

My goal was to read 8 books, and I read 12 books. The links to the books below are affiliate links, so I get a small kickback if you grab one.

  1. Crabs by Peter J. F. Davie- 4 stars, a nonfiction book about crab species. It’s very interesting and has a ton of pictures. If you like sea creatures, I highly recommend it.
  2. One Night in Boukos by A. J. Demas- 4 stars, this is a mystery, romance mash-up with a soldier and a secretary losing their wayward boss in Boukos. This story cracked me up, and I love the people the characters match up with and that we get to see them in later books.
  3. A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, if you watched Shrek 2, did you love Big Mongo and Gingy? If so, grab this book. We get a girl trying to save a kingdom one giant gingerbread man at a time.
  4. Black Water Sister by Zen Cho- 4 stars, a story of generational trauma, breaking the cycle, the ghosts of the past (literal and figurative), and figuring out how to not repeat those mistakes.
  5. Something Human by A. J. Demas- 5 stars, this is probably my favorite A. J. Demas book. We get two soldiers on opposite sides of the war who save each other’s lives, fall for each other, and realize that they must work together to save their people. It was just so tender and lovely.
  6. Honey and Pepper by A. J. Demas- 4 stars, a lawyer(?) and a man who works in a snack stall team up to take down a mob boss and save their city from his power trip and evil ways.
  7. Flawless Girls by Anna-Marie McLemore- 4 stars, two girls go to a finishing school, one runs off and the other comes home not herself only to disappear. The story is rich in texture and explores the way we crush girls beneath expectations.
  8. Illuminations by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, a girl and her friend accidentally unleash a creature akin to the evil creature from Super Mario Sunshine that wants to destroy magical images and steal the magic for itself.
  9. Minor Mage by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, a young boy is sent off alone to bring rain to the town despite not being more than a child and only knowing a few spells. It’s an incredibly clever story that makes you hate all the adults.
  10. The Moon on a Rainy Night (#6) by Kuzushiro- 4 stars, another fantastic addition to the series, and I love that we get to see the other MC start to realize she may have feelings too.
  11. Venom and Vow by Anna-Marie McLemore- 4 stars, two warring kingdoms realize they have been set up to fight each other when all along they are under the same spell.
  12. The Raven and the Reindeer by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, a queer retelling the Ice Queen that has some adorable otters and some gore.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Finished my grading and survived to tell the tale
  • Wrote several letters of recommendations for my students
  • Continued weight-lifting and upgraded to 7lb weights (woo! progress!)
  • Outlined “An Unexpected Evening”
  • Wrote part of “An Unexpected Evening” (which I later rewrote… oops)
  • Finished all of my Christmas shopping
  • Wrapped all the presents
  • Set up my bullet journal for 2025
  • Finished playing the game I had started (Botany Manor– highly recommend, it was a lot of fun)
  • The Reanimator’s Remains made it into the Indie Ink Awards (more on that soon)
  • Set up my goals for Q1 of 2025
  • Appeared on the Right Here, Write Queer podcast talking about queer, historical romance

Blogs

Writing

Truthfully, I didn’t write much this month because I needed to rest my brain a bit. It was worth it. Instead, I devoted myself to planning the story, getting my stuff together in regards to my writing plan for the year, and figuring out where I want to go with book 4 of The Reanimator Mysteries series. I planned out most of “An Unexpected Evening” this month, and now, that I’m writing it, I think you all will enjoy it. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy a masquerade party that goes wrong? Unlike other parties that I’ve written, there is no murder *gasp* for once. I was struggling very hard with what to write next after “An Unexpected Evening,” and I’m displeased to announce that actually sitting down and writing out what you have to do worked to sort it out in like… five minutes. It’s very annoying how your brain will do donuts for days, but when you put it on paper, it takes minutes to sort out.

Hopes for January

  • Finish writing “AUE”
  • Edit and format “AUE”
  • Pay Q4 2024 taxes (bleck)
  • Set up my syllabi and Blackboards for my courses
  • Send out my newsletter (with “An Unexpected Evening”)
  • Start planning out TRM #4
  • Blog weekly
  • Read 8 books
new blog post: november 2024 wrap-up post November 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

November 2024 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

This month has FLOWN by. Seriously, where did it go? For me, October dragged, but November managed to gallop past when I wasn’t looking. This has been sort of a decompression month for me after the release of The Reanimator’s Remains, which was very needed. Before we get going, let’s see what my goals were for November.

  • Start working on a new writing project
  • Finish Botany Manor and Love, Ghostie
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my monthly newsletter
  • Finish the majority of my Christmas shopping
  • Finish the majority of my grading (yay)

Books

My goal for this month was to read 8 books, and I read X books (the links below are affiliate links).

  1. A History of Ancient Egypt Volume 3 by John Romer- 4 stars, a comprehensive overview of the last dynasties of Ancient Egypt. Part of me wished this went further into history when Egypt was colonized, but I understand why it is cut off where it is.
  2. Sinner (#3.5) by Maggie Stiefvater- 3 stars, this one is a mixed bag. The reality show part I loved, but I thought Cole’s dad was sort of out of character compared to how he previously spoke about him. It felt like slightly out of character fanfic rather than something made by the author.
  3. Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween by Lisa Morton- 4 stars, an overview of the history of Halloween up into the modern day. Very interesting, especially in how it dispels myths that were perpetuated by past historians. This is research for TRM #3.5
  4. Glitterland (#1) by Alexis Hall- 4 stars, a novelist grappling with his mental health falls for an earnest and sweet model. The MCs are mismatched, which is what makes it perfect. It was very heartfelt and lovely.
  5. Floriography by Jessica Roux- 4 stars, a primer on the language of flowers. I read the ebook, but the physical edition would probably make a lovely coffee table book. Useful for my Victorian research purposes.
  6. Waiting for the Flood (#2) by Alexis Hall- 4 stars, a conservator falls for a civil engineer who is helping with the flooding around his home. The MC is still recovering from a break up with his long-time partner several years earlier, and we get to see that partner find someone as well since the edition I had contained that story as well. Having them together and seeing their lives separate but intertwined was oddly lovely.
  7. Ennead (#4) by Mojito- 3 stars, I’m still not sure how I feel about this series. There’s a major content warning for rape with this series, and I know mythology is very much like that, but I have a hard time with this one. The Ancient Egyptian gods are compelling and messy, yet I find myself put-off by this series. I’ll probably buy one more volume, and if I don’t love it, I won’t continue.
  8. Black on Both Sides by C. Riley Snorton- 4 stars, a very interesting nonfiction text about the intersection of face and gender identity. It is about trans people, but it also discusses Blackness and gender on a whole, especially in relation to the Mammy figure and other historical stereotypes and such.
  9. The City in Glass by Nghi Vo- 5 stars, one of my top reads for this year. This book is as much about an angel and a demon falling in love over time as it is about a demon’s unwavering love for humanity and hope for the future. It was so, so damn good.
  10. Three Reasons to Run (#2) by Jackie Lau- 4 stars, on her wedding day the bride realizes she cannot marry her future husband and manages to run straight into an unexpected getaway car, his cousin who has had a crush on her for years. He (and his parents) help her get her life in order, but things are turned on their head when she asks him for a one night stand that rapidly turns into more.
  11. Lion’s Tail (#2) by Jordan L. Hawk- 4 stars, a witch and his shapeshifting boyfriend get entangled in a murder when a man from a rival speakeasy dies in the establishment they work in. While one deals with a potential turf war, the other blossoms at a job that may not be the golden ticket it seems.
  12. Monstress (#9) by Majorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda- 4 stars, Monstress is one of those series that keeps unfolding and getting better with each volume. Marika is up to her eyeballs in trouble as her father leads a war and has new, untold powers, but there are far worse things lurking in Marika’s mind and body than she thought.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • figured out a title for the TRM #3.5 story (“An Unexpected Evening”, which will be out in January probably)
  • made the cover for “An Unexpected Evening”
  • outlined “An Unexpected Evening”
  • graded all the papers I had laying around and didn’t dillydally too much
  • beta read a friend’s book and gave them feedback
  • renewed by healthcare for next year (if you get your insurance through the ACA/Obamacare, now is the time to renew/reapply)
  • freaked out over the election, screamed, cried, threw up, got angry
  • started doing some weight lifting, which has helped my mental health and body
  • finished my lesson plans for my novel class for the rest of the semester
  • started setting up my bullet journal for 2025
  • Contacted my narrator and set up the dates/contract for TRR (it’ll be out in late spring/early summer 2025)
  • bought most of the gifts I need to get for my family, which I’m pretty happy with

Blogs

Writing

For most of November, I took a break from writing. Finishing The Reanimator’s Remains drained my creative battery, and I was worried I would burn myself out if I immediately jumped into a new book or story. I did do a lot of brainstorming for the TRM #3.5 story and started working on it a little along with brainstorming more ideas for the Joe and Ansley story. For TRM #3.5, I’m thinking that I will send it out to my newsletter in January, and it will be released to the general public a month or two after. Next month will be a writing-focused month since I have most of my Christmas shopping and job stuff out of the way, and I’m very excited to get going.

Hopes for December

  • Finish grading finals ASAP
  • Finish Christmas shopping
  • Wrap everything without hurting my back
  • Write all of “An Unexpected Evening”
  • Start brainstorming my next writing project
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my newsletter
  • Play more video games to unwind/refill the well
  • Get my yearly goals for 2025 and my Q1 goals in order
new blog post: october 2024 wrap-up post October 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

October 2024 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

Wow, okay, so October was hectic for me because I was preparing for the release of The Reanimator’s Remains (TRM #3), and let me tell you, it went wonderfully. I want to thank you all so much for preordering it and buying the paperback. You all are awesome. Anywho, let’s get into what my goals were for October:

  • Finish editing TRR
  • Send out ARCs/Review copies
  • Format the paperback
  • Have a great publication day
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my monthly newsletter
  • Not implode along the way
  • Stay on top of my class stuff

Books

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

  1. Forever (#3) by Maggie Stiefvater- 4 stars, we get the conclusion of the main romance/series in this volume. Without giving too much away, I enjoyed this. It is very much a teen angst book, and while I feel like the two main characters lost a little of their zip in this book, it’s still good.
  2. The Clockwork Boys (#1) by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, set in the same world as the Saint of Steel books, we get an exorcised paladin/ex-demon hunter who teams up with a pair of ex-criminals and a gnole to stop the “clockwork boys,” which are basically killer automata. I loved the characters and the romance, but I think I prefer the Paladin books a little more.
  3. Lore Olympus (#7) by Rachel Smythe- 4 stars, another great installment. I enjoyed seeing Persephone and Hades get closer while things start to crack with the antagonists. I’m very interested in the next installment since we’re heading into the trial.
  4. The Wonder Engine (#2) by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, see The Clockwork Boys above.
  5. The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, a play on Bluebeard’s brides (I think) where a seemingly ordinary girl teams up with a man’s magical wives to save herself and all of them from him. I loved the Alice in Wonderland-ish nature of this book.
  6. Avenger of Sins (#6) by Jordan L. Hawk- 4 stars, we get the conclusion of SPECTR season 3 with Caleb and John stopping another absolutely horrendous ex-government agent, uncovering more of John’s past, and hopefully getting justice in the future.
  7. Swordheart by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, a woman inherits her uncle’s estate only to be harangued by her dead husband’s family into giving them control of her money by marrying his cousin. She grabs an old sword off the wall to kill herself with only to find the sword is enchanted/haunted by a dead warrior who does the bidding of the owner. Together, they must work to get her, her life back and along the way, they find romance and far more than they bargained for.
  8. The Book of Hallowe’en by Ruth Edna Kelley- 3 stars, a research book for my TRM #3.5 story. It was useful, but overall, it was kind of vague and apparently had some errors in it (it was written in 1919 after all), and it was a bit poetry heavy for my purposes as a nonfiction book.
  9. The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke- 4 stars, very short but the story is concise and in the spirit of Clarke’s other books, if not a tad more fable-like. The illustrations and feel of the book as a whole are really what makes it. My kingdom for an illustrated short story collection from her.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Edited THE WHOLE BOOK
  • Edited the whole book again
  • Proofread TRR
  • Had an ARC reader send me a punch of typos I missed, so I fixed those and reuploaded it everywhere (PS- thank you from the bottom of my heart for catching all those typos)
  • Formatted the paperback for TRR
  • Got the paperback cover wrap from Crowglass Design
  • Sent out ARCs (super late, oops)
  • Managed to somehow keep up with grading
  • Fell behind in my class notes but caught up
  • Bought advent calendars and a 2025 calendar (yes, I start prepping this early)
  • Managed to not lose my marbles this month because I actually took care of myself and my mental health
  • Finished Minami Lane and started playing Botany Manor (I highly recommend both games)
  • Sent out my October newsletter
  • Blogged weekly
  • I added the freebies page to my website, which has “An Unexpected Valentine” and “An Unexpected Question” on it for free.

Blogs

Writing

I think I’ll eventually end up writing a whole post about what I learned from writing The Reanimator’s Remains, but I want to wait until the book has been out for a bit in case I let out some spoilers. Overall, this month was ridiculous in terms of writing. I pushed myself so hard, and I think TRR is one of my best books so far. I stretched my writer muscles more than I think I ever have. On one hand, there are things I think I could have done differently, but I truly like this book a lot. I have the general end-game setup for this series in book 4, but I haven’t started it yet. It feels very weird to realize this is the penultimate book for Oliver and Felipe, though they will pop up in other books in the future. My editing process is a two steps forward, one step back kind of process, so my draft was fairly clean when I finished it (apart from the very end of the book). I managed to speed-run through the end of my editing, and one of my ARC readers (once again, a thousand thanks) found typos I missed. This book somehow managed to grow larger than I anticipated, which caused me to finish it VERY close to the deadline. It needed to be longer in order for the story to make sense, but *nervous laughter* I was sweating it at the very end because I felt the upload date for Amazon and D2D looming ever closer. In the end, I pushed myself and put up the best book I possibly could. This book is more plot-heavy than the previous two, but since it’s the foundation for the final book, I think it is necessary to make a satisfying ending.

I haven’t decided what I’m working on next, but I have a few ideas for the TRM #3.5 story that I think you all will like. More about that in the future.

Hopes for November

  • Start working on a new writing project
  • Finish Botany Manor and Love, Ghostie
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my monthly newsletter
  • Finish the majority of my Christmas shopping
  • Finish the majority of my grading (yay)
new blog post: September 2024 Wrap-up Post September 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

September 2024 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

September did not exactly go to plan, but that’s all right because I can and will get everything together. I underestimated how rough the beginning of the semester would be on my brain and body, especially when I didn’t get my medications for several weeks (laugh sob). Things are back on track (mostly), so let’s take a look at September’s goals before we go on:

  • Finish The Reanimator’s Remains completely
  • Edit the rest of The Reanimator’s Remains
  • Proofread The Reanimator’s Remains
  • Prep ARCs to go out
  • Format the paperback
  • Keep up with my class prep/grading
  • Send out my monthly newsletter
  • Blog weekly
  • Read 8 books

Books

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

  1. Paladin’s Grace (#1) by T. Kingfisher- 5 stars, a Paladin with a dead god hesitantly falls in love with a perfumer who is dragged into international espionage and nearly ends up losing her life.
  2. The Heroine’s Journey by Gail Carriger- 4 stars, a nonfiction book taking a look at the hero and heroine’s journey. I highly recommend this if you are a writer or academic with a background in literature.
  3. Linger (#2) by Maggie Stiefvater- 4 stars, Sam is now a human but Grace is slowly losing her hold on her humanity as the werewolves beckon. Her parents nearly made me throw this book through a window because of how they treat Sam.
  4. Paladin’s Strength (#2) by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, a bear shifter and a paladin collide as she looks to get back her missing sisters from the monastery after they are kidnapped.
  5. The Invisible Man & His Soon-to-be-Wife (#4) by Iwatobineko- 4 stars, a really cute volume involving a spa and ghosts. I love when stories like this take a field trip.
  6. The Pairing by Casey McQuiston- 4 stars, a second chance romance between two rather pretentious characters as they eat and screw their way across Europe. It reminds me of how Regency and Victorian gentlemen took hedonistic European tours.
  7. Paladin’s Hope (#3) by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, an MM romance between a paladin trying to help his Gnole friend find a killer as he falls in love with the city medical examiner who happens to have necromancer-adjacent powers.
  8. The Carnelian King and Other Stories by Arden Powell- 5 stars, a really fantastic anthology of fantasy stories spanning genres, time periods, etc.
  9. Paladin’s Faith (#4) by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, a spy falls for her paladin bodyguard as they infiltrate a party, end up trapped in a cave during a snowstorm, and figure out who they might be in the future.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • The Reanimator’s Soul won in the mental health representation category in the Indie Ink Awards
  • Wrote my butt off but didn’t finish TRR (it was done in October, oops)
  • Started editing the latter half of TRR… repeatedly
  • Wrote class notes for my new class and got ahead finally
  • Tried to maintain my mental health, so I don’t burn out
  • Played a lot of Love, Ghostie (highly recommend, it’s a very cute game)
  • Went to my doctor and got my meds problem dealt with (laugh sob)
  • Bugged my state reps about not supporting a mask ban (please call your state reps to tell them preemptively not to support a mask ban)
  • Blogged weekly
  • Sent out my newsletter

Blogs

Writing

My first mistake was underestimating the size of this book. It’s been kicking my butt because it is LONG. It isn’t horrendously long, but it’s long for me. It’s close to 110k right now, and while editing, it may end up even longer. Most of my books are around 90k, hence how I ended up woefully behind. I also made the mistake of thinking teaching wouldn’t kick my butt at the beginning of the semester. After like eight years of teaching, those first few weeks still make me feel like I’ve been dragged behind a bus no matter how much I like my students. With the added pressure of creating weeks of notes for a new class, things did not go well in the productivity department. BUT I do think this book is one of my best. I feel like I’ve grown as far as juggling things in the narrative and fleshing out my characters’ trauma in new and interesting ways. I hate feeling behind, but I build in a cushion for a reason.

Hopes for October

  • Finish editing TRR
  • Send out ARCs/Review copies
  • Format the paperback
  • Have a great publication day
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my monthly newsletter
  • Not implode along the way
  • Stay on top of my class stuff
new blog post august 2024 wrap-up post August 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

August 2024 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

Where the hell did August go?? This managed to be the shortest month ever for me, though I think that has to do with prepping for the new semester while trying to get my shit together with book 3 of the The Reanimator Mysteries. Let’s take a look at our goals for August:

  • Write 25,000 words
  • Start edits
  • Prepare for my classes
  • Make the online parts of my classes (bleck)
  • Continue to try to maintain my tenuous grip on my mental health
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my newsletter
  • Read 8 books

Books

The goal was to read 8 books, and that is exactly how many I read.

  1. White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo- 4 stars, a nonfiction book that looks at why white people react so poorly to being told they are (or might be) racist. A good primer but not super in-depth.
  2. Shiver (#1) by Maggie Stiefvater- 4 stars, a girl is attacked by wolves as a child only to fall in love with the werewolf who saved her. This is very much a YA romance, but I loved every second of it. Sometimes we need angst teen romances.
  3. Cheese by Andrew Dalby- 4 stars, a nonfiction book about the history of cheese. Interesting, but part of me wishes it was more in-depth.
  4. Mushroom by Cynthia D. Bertlesen- 4 stars, from the same series as the book on cheese, this book looks at the history and science of mushrooms. The look at mushroom philic v. phobic countries was quite interesting.
  5. Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth- 4 stars, a dystopian, futuristic reimagining of Antigone. Very interesting set-up, and I like how the focus on reproductive writes and memory were handled in this version.
  6. When Among Crows by Veronica Roth- 5 stars, a fantastic fantasy book set in a monster-filled modern Chicago with an Eastern European flare. I absolutely loved the characters and the world. You know a novella is good when you wish it was longer or that there was a sequel.
  7. The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P.Djèlí Clark- 5 stars, another fantastic short book. We have an undead assassin working for a goddess, a case that goes very wrong, wibbly wobbly time, and a really rich world.
  8. Broodmother by Vesper Doom- 4 stars, a folk horror short story featuring some incredibly scary and gross cicadas. No offense to the cicadas, but they were quite horrifying.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Prepped all my class stuff (except the content for my new class, oops)
  • Prepared for the Naratess Indie Sale
  • Advertised my butt off for the Naratess Indie Sale
  • Edited over half of The Reanimator’s Remains
  • Continued to write The Reanimator’s Remains (nearly done, had to fix some stuff)
  • Barely maintained my grip on my sanity, but I did it
  • Listened to my body and did more creative/fun things to keep from McLosingIt
  • Joined the Plants and Petrichor Stitch-a-long, hosted by FineFrogStitching, and have been keeping up with it
  • Had a good first week of teaching my classes
  • Had to put a new battery in my car on the first day of classes because it died in the driveway .-. (it’s been a week, peeps)
  • Brainstormed how I might add to the Paranormal Society Romance series in the future
  • Blogged weekly
  • Sent out my newsletter

Blogs

Writing

I forgot to chart my writing progress this month because I’ve been writing as much as I can. Truthfully, there were weeks where I felt my brain starting to spark, so I had to slow down for a few days. I’m trying to be better about listening to my body and not running myself into the ground. This is a constant struggle for me as I will self-flagellate about not doing enough. Luckily, editing the first 60% of the book helped to get me back on track and figure out where I needed to go with the last chunk. That’s something I usually have to do during the writing process, even though I resist it every friggin time. I’m actually really proud of this book. It’s definitely different than books 1 and 2. It’s quieter and a bit more internal, even though there’s a lot going on in terms of the mystery and learning more about Oliver’s background. That’s also why I’ve been feeling a bit self-conscious about it. I worry readers won’t necessarily enjoy it as much because it isn’t as swashbuckly at the other two. Maybe it is and I’m just hung up on something that’s a non-issue. Either way, I guess I’ll find out when it comes out in October or when my ARC readers get their hands on it.

Hopes for September

  • Finish The Reanimator’s Remains completely
  • Edit the rest of The Reanimator’s Remains
  • Proofread The Reanimator’s Remains
  • Prep ARCs to go out
  • Format the paperback
  • Keep up with my class prep/grading
  • Send out my monthly newsletter
  • Blog weekly
  • Read 8 books
new blog post: july 2024 wrap-up post July 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

July 2024 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

July was my birthday month, and luckily, it was a good one for getting writing done. Despite the heat and humidity, I enjoyed July and tried to take time to keep myself from flaming out. A reminder of our goals:

  • Write 25,000 words
  • Outline next chunk of book
  • Do a cover reveal and make graphics for them
  • Maintain my mental health better (oops)
  • Blog weekly
  • Read 8 books
  • Send out my July newsletter

Books

My goal was to read 8 books, and I read 10 books.

  1. The Christmas Chevalier (#1) by Meg Mardell- 4 stars, a historical romance with a trans masc MC who is a bit of a bohemian who falls for his ex-governess best friend and offers her the chance at a new life on her own terms. Oh, and there’s a masquerade ball.
  2. The Moon on a Rainy Night (#3) by Kuzushiro- 4 stars, a sapphic YA featuring a hard-of-hearing MC and the hearing girl who is in love with her. I love the dynamic between these two as friends and the potential for more.
  3. The Moon on a Rainy Night (#4) by Kuzushiro- 4 stars, see above
  4. The Moon on a Rainy Night (#5) by Kuzushiro- 4 stars, see above
  5. I Hear the Sunspot Four Seasons (#2) by Yuki Fumino- 4 stars, we’re starting a new arch where we find out more about the one mc’s backstory and meet some new people who may cause trouble.
  6. A Highland Hogmanay (#2) by Meg Mardell- 4 stars, an heiress runs away from London to a Scottish castle to avoid pushy, fortune hunting family and not only falls in love with the land but the woman who cares for it.
  7. Fiction Blurbs The Best Page Forward Way by Phoebe Ravencraft- 4 stars, useful for doing blurbs, but I think the original blurb book by Bryan Cohen is better, mostly because I wish it came with finished examples at the end.
  8. A Chaperoned Christmas (#3) by Meg Mardell- 4 stars, a thrupple story featuring a London lady, her ex flame, and the woman who had a crush on her years ago.
  9. A Restless Truth (#2) by Freya Marske- 4 stars, a sapphic historical fantasy on a ship where an old woman with a very valuable magical artifact is murdered, and her young traveling companion and an ex-actress must find it and survive the trip.
  10. Ennead (#3) by Mojito- 3 stars, not sure I’m going to keep reading this one if the next volume doesn’t hook me. There was some dubious consent in this one, and the writing is a bit… sparse/loose to me.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Finished outlining the rest of TRR
  • Paid Crowglass Design for the cover of TRR
  • Did a cover reveal for TRR
  • Made so many graphics and videos for TRR’s cover reveal
  • Celebrated my birthday with my partner and had a great day
  • Edited previous chunks of TRR
  • Maintained my sanity as best I could
  • Blogged weekly
  • Sent out my newsletter
  • Signed up for the Naratess Sale in August

Blogs

Writing

So I didn’t quite hit my writing goal for July, which is fine because I wrote a lot. In June, I mentioned that I was flirting with burnout (and I still am), but days when I felt like I was overloaded or tired, I took a day off. I ended up getting a few migraines that took me out whether I wanted to write or not, which sucked immensely. The good thing is that I think the rest of the book will be fairly smooth sailing since I know where I’m going and what I’m doing to get there. I’m a plantser/gardener, so I generally have an idea of where I’m going, but it isn’t set in stone. Now, I have the vast majority of the plot solidified, so there’s less time spent waffling and staring moodily into the void.

Hopes for August

  • Write 25,000 words
  • Start edits
  • Prepare for my classes
  • Make the online parts of my classes (bleck)
  • Continue to try to maintain my tenuous grip on my mental health
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my newsletter
  • Read 8 books
new blog post: june 2024 wrap-up post June 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

June 2024 Wrap-Up Post

Kara JorgensenLeave a comment

This month has somehow flown but also been the longest month ever. At least it was a rather productive month for me, so I’m content with that. I will say that I am lowkey flirting with burnout, but I think I’ll be okay if I am able to convince myself to play more games and chill a bit more. Here are my goals from last month:

  • 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

Books

  1. The Magus of the Library (#7) by Mitsu Izumi- 4 stars, in this volume we have discussions about censorship, political upheaval, and how we navigate it without setting the wrong precedent.
  2. The Truth of the Aleke (#2) by Moses Ose Utomi- 4 stars, in book one, we got the story of a martyred boy and now we get the history of what comes after and how history gets twisted by time and politics.
  3. You Should Be So Lucky (#2) by Cat Sebastian- 5 stars, a baseball player falls for a reporter fall in love during early 1960s NYC. I loved this book so much, especially since it also deals with grief and finding your place/value.
  4. Asian American Histories of the United States by Catherine Ceniza Choy- 4 stars, I struggled a bit with the backwards chronology, but it was interesting to see how history has led to the present.
  5. The House of the Red Balconies by A. J. Demas- 5 stars, an mm romance set in a fictional Ancient Greece where an engineer who comes to the island to build an aqueduct falls for a chronically ill courtesan.
  6. The Captain’s Holiday Homecoming by Meg Mardell- 4 stars, a widower stumbles across an old friend presumed to be dead in his stable and finds they may have a future together (definitely a HFN rather than a HEA)
  7. A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall- 4 stars, an epistolary novel between the siblings of two missing people in an underwater city, loved the agoraphobia/OCD rep.
  8. The Moon on a Rainy Night (#1) by Kuzushiro- 4 stars, a sapphic YA featuring a teenage girl starts falling for her hard-of-hearing classmate. Once again, great HoH rep that is obvious well researched.
  9. The Moon on a Rainy Night (#2) by Kuzushiro- 4 stars, see above.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • I appeared on the Incoherent Fangirl Podcast’s Pride event, which you can watch here
  • Finished the Femurs and Fungi Stitch-a-long (and I plan to join Fine Frog Stitching’s next SAL in August)
  • Sent in all my info to my cover designer/Crowglass Design
  • Celebrated my 19th anniversary with my partner
  • Outlined the next chunk of my book draft
  • Edited the whole first act (again)
  • Blogged weekly
  • Sent out my newsletter in a semi-timely fashion for once
  • Attempted to relax more and refill the well by not taking on a shit ton of responsibilities
  • Wrote quite a bit (see writing section)

Blogs

Writing

This month has mainly been devoted to writing. I could feel myself flirting with burnout at the end of May due to the semester ending, so I took June to decompress and mostly write. On one hand, yay for doing quite a bit of writing. On the other hand, I’m still struggling to maintain any semblance of balance because I’m still mostly writing or staying at a Word Doc pretending I’m writing. The difficult part has been tearing myself away to do other things like reading and playing games, which ultimately keep me from frying my brain. My tendency is to give 100% repeatedly, even when I can’t actually give that much, until I’m beating myself up about how that current 100% is far less than it was a month earlier. I hope that makes sense. It’s really that I go too hard and take from a well that is rapidly running dry.

The Reanimator’s Remains is shaping up nicely though. I really love this book. I think it’s a little quieter than books 1 or 2, but it still has murder, mysteries, and some very tender moments between Oliver and Felipe. I eventually need to tweak the blurb for this book because it isn’t obvious, but Gwen is involved in this case and goes to the murder town with Oliver and Felipe. I know Gwen is a fan fav as Oliver’s bestie, so I hope you enjoy her getting some extra screen time.

Hopes for July

  • Write 25,000 words
  • Outline next chunk of book
  • Do a cover reveal and make graphics for them
  • Maintain my mental health better (oops)
  • Blog weekly
  • Read 8 books
  • Send out my July newsletter
new blog post: may 2024 wrap-up post May 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

May 2024 Wrap-Up Post

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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!
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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
new blog post: April 2024 Wrap-up post April 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

April 2024 Wrap-Up Post

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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