5 Minutes with Kara Jorgensen
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5 Minutes with Kara Jorgensen

Kara JorgensenLeave a comment

Here is an interview I did with the wonderful Chris Pavesic!

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kara j

This is a chance to learn a bit more about Kara Jorgensen, author of The Earl of Brass (Ingenious Mechanical Devices #1) and The Winter Garden (Ingenious Mechanical Devices #2).

Website: http://karajorgensen.com

Twitter: @authorkaraj

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkarajorgensen

I started writing . . .

When I was about nine or ten, I was infatuated with Sherlock Holmes after watching the Basil Rathbone movies from the 1940s and began devouring Conan Doyle’s stories. This love of Sherlock Holmes led to some very sappy fan fictions, but they did instill my love of writing historical fantasy. In my teens, I continued writing on and off, but while at university, I realized writing was my passion and pursued it wholly, adding an English major alongside my biology major. Now, I’m in graduate school working toward an MFA in creative writing.

What I love most about writing . . .

I love watching my characters…

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Writing

Am I a Poly-reader?

Kara Jorgensen2 Comments

book pileFor most of my life, I have considered myself a monogamous reader and writer. I’ll plow through one book at a time, no matter how painful or long it is.  Occasionally exceptions would be made for short stories or poems I needed to read for class (one deals with these things often as an English major), but I would take novels one at a time.

Then, grad school happened.  Looking back now, I wonder how I was able to finagle it that I rarely had to worry about reading two novels simultaneously as an undergrad, but in grad school, I have found it is next to impossible to anticipate what you will end up reading for class.  Continue reading “Am I a Poly-reader?” →

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Postmodern Gender Fluidity versus the Victorian-era Binary Model of Gender: A Steampunk Feminist Perseptive

Kara Jorgensen2 Comments

Awesome post about the Victorian gender binary

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The Genderbread Person v2.1

I was pretty excited when I found the Genderbread Person meme. It clears up the confusion about what defines gender, sexuality, and biological sex. What I really like about it is the use of the word ‘person’. This doesn’t mean I’ll stop calling those doll-shaped gingerbread biscuits ‘gingerbread men’; but it allows for the possibility of ‘gingerbread women’, and everything else in between. It is only in the last decade that the majority of the Western World has come to understand that gender isn’t cut and dried, that gender is a performance, and gender is fluid, not a binary.

So let’s breakdown the concept of gender binaries for the Victorian era. Basically, whatever a man was, a woman wasn’t. Men were strong; women were weak. Men were tool-users; women weren’t (so who do you think invented grinding stones, baskets and slings?). Men were innately honest; women were deceitful by nature. The…

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Writing

Elemental Characters

Kara Jorgensen5 Comments
elemental_mandala_by_bioraka-d48t3cl
by bioraka on Deviant Art

Do you ever think of characters in terms of where they seem to naturally fall within the four elements?  It may seem odd to equate a character with earth, water, fire, or air, but it can help to maintain a theme throughout several works or to create cohesion of your character’s personality.

I’m one of those writers who tends to write, then sees the patterns forming within my writing and continues them.  In The Earl of Brass and The Winter Garden, I have several characters who represent elemental powers and this influences how they interact with their world.  It may make more sense to demonstrate how this happens with concrete examples. Continue reading “Elemental Characters” →

Personal Life

Mr. Wilde and the Awkward Authoress

Kara Jorgensen7 Comments

As I have said in the past, I feel a kinship with Oscar Wilde.  This connection probably stems from my love of Victorian literature and what I have learned about him over time. The more I learn, the more I feel drawn to him, as a person and as a writer.  In a previous post I mentioned how much I love the movie Julie and Julia, and in the same way Julie feels a connection to Julia Child, I feel connected to Oscar Wilde despite living over a century apart. When I think of him, I picture a large man with a quiet yet large presence that isn’t tied to his foppish ensemble.  Along with,  that, I picture champagne, fine dinners, a restaurant gilded and gleaming with a haze of cigar and cigarette smoke somewhere posh.  He was a presence, a man known as much for his wit and intellect as for his talent.  That level of sociability is something I aspire to, but in my introverted, anxiety-ridden bubble, I feel that it is unattainable.  Then, I saw this:power to attract friends Continue reading “Mr. Wilde and the Awkward Authoress” →

Writing

March 2015 in Review

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Starting in January, I decided it would be a good idea to look back at each month and see what I have accomplished in my writing and marketing as well as reflect upon what needs to be improved in the future.

While February was a transitional month as I switched from working on The Winter Garden to book three of the Ingenious Mechanical Devices, March was nearly wholly devoted to my latest project.  Beginning to work on book three has been a refreshing change even if it did take nearly half a month.  I feel much better about March than I did about February, and I hope that April will be even better. Continue reading “March 2015 in Review” →

Writing

My Literary Lineage

Kara Jorgensen3 Comments

literary lineageI noticed something interesting the other day while I was compiling my bibliography for my masters thesis.  It has to do with a writing lineage.

What authors inspire your work? Who are the authors you devour? Who do you read and go, “Wow, I wish I wrote that”?

Part of my “spiritual” beliefs and my writing beliefs, is that we are all interconnected, and every time we read something, the words, techniques, themes, and images are digested and seep into us.  They become part of who we are as writers and manifest in our writing.  Continue reading “My Literary Lineage” →