Tag: admin stuff

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
new blog post: march 2024 wrap-up post March 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

March 2024 Wrap-Up Post

Kara JorgensenLeave a comment

Despite battling tree pollen, I have made it through March! The weather is warming up, the flowers are blooming, and a new writing project is underway. Let’s take a look at what I’ve been up to this month and the goals I set out last month.

  • Writing at least 20k words of book 3
  • Proof any audiobook chapters that come in
  • Grade papers but enjoy spring break
  • Set up the preorder for book 3
  • Do a title reveal for book 3
  • Do taxes ;–;
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send monthly newsletter

Books

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

  1. The Reluctant Heartthrob (#2) by Jackie Lau- 5 stars, an actor and an autistic programmer get involved, but she doesn’t realize he’s an actor and panics. Super cute, great rep.
  2. Meet Me in Millfield (#1.5) by Jackie Lau- 4 stars, a side story featuring two fans of a TV show who meet online. A sweet, You’ve Got Mail style story with an older female love interest.
  3. Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen- 4 stars, a nonfiction book about asexuality that I would highly recommend to aces and allosexual people alike.
  4. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi, 4 stars, for fans of Piranesi. This story is one of those where the further you go, the more you realize the cleverness of it.
  5. Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau- 4 stars, fake dating to appease their parents turns into actual romance between a starchy man who is more than meets the eye and a writer who fears she’s disappointing her family. Bonus points for realistic writer rep.
  6. We Could Be So Good (#1) by Cat Sebastian- 5 stars, set in the late 1950s, a reporter falls in love with his best friend who happens to be the bosses son. It’s a story about belatedly realizing you’re queer, love, wanting/having more than you expected, and it is just so friggin cozy and lovely.
  7. Therapy Game Restart (#2) by Meguru Hinohara- 4 stars, I love seeing these two characters get closer and navigate the real world issues that come with being in a long-term queer relationship.
  8. Therapy Game Restart (#3) by Meguru Hinohara- 4 stars, see above.
  9. Ennead (#2) by Mojito- 3 stars, I’m going to keep reading the series for now, but I sometimes feel like I’m missing context while reading these books. I wish there was more dot-connecting or a character chart of gods/characters at the beginning.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Wrote the blurb for The Reanimator’s Remains
  • Did the blurb/title reveal for The Reanimator’s Remains
  • Set up the preorder for The Reanimator’s Remains
  • Did my taxes (woo)
  • Applied for a creative writing grant
  • Signed up for a book promo/sale next month
  • Finished the formatting and such for the uni literary magazine (for one of my classes, but it’s a lot of work)
  • Enjoyed spring break with my partner
  • Stayed on top of grading
  • Tried some new recipes
  • Set up the elliptical, though I haven’t used it much yet
  • Finished a cross-stitch project and got most of the way through another

Blogs

Writing

My next blog will talk more about this, but I hate writing the beginnings of new books. This is the part of the process that is the slowest and most painful part for me, so my word counts have been quite small and sporadic. Starting a new book means extra processing and thinking time, which on one hand is necessary and on the other is maddening as someone who wants to just get into the damn book already. The good thing is that I have the overall plot fairly nailed down as well as the emotional arcs. The Reanimator’s Remains is a story about family, in its various forms, and dealing with trauma. In Felipe’s case, those two concepts are linked in a way that is painful. This story is coming on the heels of my short story, “An Unexpected Question” (TRM #2.5), so if you read The Reanimator’s Soul, I highly recommend reading that short story as some of the details will be important in book 3. Plus, I just think it’s cute. The good thing is that I have all of my admin stuff for this book set up already, like the blurb, title reveal, preorder page, etc., so it should be smooth sailing for a while.

Hopes for April

  • 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
new blog post: February 2024 Wrap-Up Post February 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

February 2024 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

February managed to come and go so fast, but I finally feel like I’m hitting my stride this year. The semester is in full swing, I shoveled snow a few times, and I’m finally working in earnest on book 3 of the Reanimator Mysteries series. Let’s recap the goals I had for February and see how it went.

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

Books

My goal was to read 8 books, and I managed to read 12! Some were short or graphic novels, but DAMN.

  1. Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble (#2) by Alexis Hall, 4 stars, a romance-adjacent story about a highly anxious young man, a baking competition, the adorable gay Muslim dude who finds him cute, and the mess he gets himself into (see Goodreads review for some quibbles regarding this book)
  2. Galatea by Madelline Miller- 4 stars, the story of a statue-turned-human taking back control of her life
  3. Of Socialites and Prizefights by Arden Powell- 4 stars, a social-climbing woman is cursed by a jilted suitor to turn into a wildcat every night unless she finds true love’s kiss. Turns out that might be a butch mechanic from the other side of the tracks.
  4. Taproot by Keezy Young- 4 stars, a ghost and a medium bond over plants and try to figure out how to make their otherworldly relationship work, very cute and fluffy
  5. Shtup Me at Sunrise (#0.5) by Felicia Grossman- 4 stars, the prequel to the Once Upon the East End series, featuring a headstrong woman determined to take her place in a society that has seemingly rejected her
  6. Ghostland by Colin Dickey- 4 stars, a nonfiction book about how ghost stories come to be and what they say about our society
  7. Of Honeymoons and Wildcats by Arden Powell- 4 stars, the companion story to Of Socialites and Prizefights where they go off to a cabin and find something very cute
  8. The Sitcom Star (#1) by Jackie Lau- 4 stars, an overworked TV star and writer accidentally runs into one of her childhood friends who helps her relax and more
  9. Vampire Forensics by Mark Collins Jenkins, a nonfiction book about how disease and irregular decomposition team up to create vampire legends
  10. Therapy Game Restart (#1) by Meguru Hinohara- 4 stars, Shizuma and Minato are back to figure out how to navigate their first real relationship along with new jobs and complicated feelings
  11. A Haunted History of Invisible Women by Leanna Renee Hieber and Andrea Janes- 4 stars, a nonfiction book about how women who live outside the norm become legends and ghost stories
  12. The Invisible Man & His Soon-to-be Wife (#3) by Iwatobineko- 4 stars, really cute fluffy volume of this manga with good blindness rep

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Researched about ghosts for book 3
  • Researched about the undead for book 3
  • Did character sheets for book 3
  • Outlined a chunk of book 3
  • Helped a former student with their poetry book
  • Celebrated my partner’s birthday (more like a bday week since I had to work on their actual bday)
  • Stayed on top of grading (mostly)
  • Refilled my creative well with tons of reading
  • Started learning to cross-stitch
  • Began putting together the elliptical (oops)

Blogs

Writing

This month I decided to refill the well as much as possible and plan out the beginning of book 3 of the Reanimator Mysteries series. While I had hoped that I could start actually drafting it, I’m excited to get started in March. I know where the story is, generally, going and the main threads that the characters will follow. One of the first things I need to figure out before writing a book is how the two main characters’ emotional issues will intertwine and fit with the rest of the outer story. Once I figured that out with Felipe and Oliver, things clicked, especially after I bounced ideas off my partner. The beginnings of stories are the most daunting for me. I’m mostly a discovery writer (who does minimal planning), so there are still so many paths left open at the beginning that I become overwhelmed and get choice paralysis. I know by the halfway point, I’ll be fine, but I know the first act will be done in fits and starts as I figure things out and narrow down the path forward. If you’re interested in what’s going on in book 3, check out the Pinterest board and the playlist I made on Youtube. All vibes are subject to change.

Hopes for March

  • Writing at least 20k words of book 3
  • Proof any audiobook chapters that come in
  • Grade papers but enjoy spring break
  • Set up the preorder for book 3
  • Do a title reveal for book 3
  • Do taxes ;–;
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send monthly newsletter
new blog post: December 2023 wrap-up post December 2023 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

December 2023 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

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

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

Books

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

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

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

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

Blogs

Writing

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

Hopes for January

  • Finish/edit “An Unexpected Question”
  • Format/upload/send out “An Unexpected Question”
  • Start brainstorming The Reanimator Mysteries #3 and doing research
  • Research selling books on my website/Etsy (and if I want to do it)
  • Start checking/proofing the audiobook of The Reanimator’s Soul as the chapters come in
  • Do Sarra Cannon’s 2-3 day class on long-term goal setting
  • Write more days than not (aka get into a better habit)
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my January newsletter with “An Unexpected Question”
new blog post: november 2023 wrap-up post November 2023 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

November 2023 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

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

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

Books

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

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

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

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

Blogs Posted

Writing

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

Hopes for December

  • Finish the semester/my grading
  • Finish writing “An Unexpected Question”
  • Start editing “An Unexpected Question”
  • Finish all remaining Christmas stuff/prep
  • Prep for Q1 and get my new goals together
  • RELAX with my partner
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my December Newsletter
new blog post: September 2023 Wrap-up post September 2023 Wrap-Up Blog
Book Reviews · Monthly Review · the reanimator's soul

September 2023 Wrap-Up Blog

Kara Jorgensen2 Comments

In September, I finally feel like I found my footing again. With all my major book launch/release prep out of the way, I am looking forward to The Reanimator’s Soul coming out October 24th, in time for spooky season. As a recap, here were my goals for September:

  • blog weekly
  • monthly newsletter
  • read 8 books
  • maintain mental health by gaming, reading, or crafting when necessary
  • stay on top of grading
  • Edit The Reanimator’s Soul

Books

My goal was to read 8 book this month, and I read 8 total.

  1. The Dragon’s Betrothed (#1) by Meguru Hinohara- 4 stars, a blocked up writer returns to his family home only to find out he is supposed to be a dragon’s bride. Hi-jinks ensue as the dragon tries to persuade him to give him a shot and it eventually becomes steamy.
  2. The Dragon’s Betrothed (#2) by Meguru Hinohara- 4 stars, see above.
  3. Night Spinner (#1) by Addie Thorley- 3 stars, an ex-soldier finds her loyalties cannot so easily lie with her old troops after falling in with a band of Robin Hood-like deserters. I found the world-building to be… meh, and while the tone is YA, the ages feel very off for the story.
  4. Akata Woman (#3) by Nnedi Okorafor- 3 stars, a young woman finds she is far more than she appeared and must steal back a mystical book to appease a spider god that threatens to destroy her world. While I enjoyed this, I found the world-building to be all over the place compared to previous books.
  5. Fangs by Sarah Anderson- 4 stars, cute vignettes between a vampire and a werewolf, very fluffy.
  6. Mammoths at the Gate (#4) by Nghi Vo- 4 stars, Chih returns to their monastery to find their home a mess as the head monk has died and the relatives want more than the monastery can give. A wonderful look at grief and the transformative power of love and devotion.
  7. Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir- 5 stars, Princess Bride meets Adventure Time as a princess saves herself with the help of a sassy pixie. Hilarious and weird.
  8. The Candles are Burning (#6) by Veronica G. Henry- 4 stars, a horror short story set in the South, featuring a recent widow who must trick the devil to save her soul. Very atmospheric.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • The Reanimator’s Heart made it to the final round of BBNYA 2023!
  • The Reanimator’s Heart was the queer romance book club pick at Meet Cute Bookshop
  • I ran a sale on The Reanimator’s Heart and a Bookbub ad
  • Finished playing Venba and Assemble With Care (both are available on Steam)
  • Finished writing the last little bit of The Reanimator’s Soul
  • Edited The Reanimator’s Soul twice/two rounds
  • Proofread The Reanimator’s Soul
  • Prepared and sent out ARCs for The Reanimator’s Soul
  • Formatted the paperback interior for The Reanimator’s Soul
  • Contacted my cover designer for the paperback cover for The Reanimator’s Soul
  • Got my covid booster
  • Did a bunch of event admin stuff for work
  • Beta read someone else’s book

Blogs Posted

Writing

Writing and editing went really well, which always scares me a bit. In my defense, The Reanimator’s Soul was a book that I spent a lot of time on, so the “done” draft ended up being fairly clean. When I keep going back and fiddling, I make less of a mess for myself at the end of the process. Another thing that I think worked in my favor for the editing process was that a) I enjoy editing, especially since I edit as I go. b) I made of list of things I needed to add/tweak as I finishing the book up, which made it far easier to go back and run through.

I’m not going to lie, I really like this book. The emotional arcs for Felipe and Oliver are as important as the mystery. There’s a bit less action than the last book, but I feel like that’s to be expected and is ultimately good for balance since I don’t want the feel of the books to be too homogenous/identical. It’s about coming to terms with being chronically ill/disabled, realizing you can be loved as an autistic person without changing who you are, setting boundaries, and how medicine can uphold white supremacy. Sadly, these things don’t look sexy on a marketing picture, so I rarely get to talk about them, but those are the core things the book is about.

Hopes for October

  • Post/market consistently before The Reanimator’s Soul releases October 24th
  • Do all the paperback setup for The Reanimator’s Soul once I have the final cover
  • Have a great launch for The Reanimator’s Soul
  • Write side/follow-up story for my newsletter subscribers (TRM #2.5)
  • Get ball rolling on the audiobook of The Reanimator’s Soul
  • Read 8 books
  • Send out my October newsletter
  • Finish putting together my Halloween plastic canvas village sets (I have one building left and need to hot glue others together)
  • Decide if I want to do anything NaNoWriMo related in November, despite it being a month from hell for me usually (aka is Kara feeling masochistic)
April 2023 wrap-up post April 2023 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

April 2023 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen3 Comments

Looking back at my goals for April, I feel like I was a tad unrealistic considering this is one of my busiest grading months. While I hit quite a few of these goals, others I totally fell short, but I will not feel bad about readjusting or rerouting my energy once chaos hit. Let’s take a look at what I thought would happen when I made my goals back in March before checking out what actually happened in April.

  • Writing (we’re feeling ambitious this month)
    • 23,000 words is the goal (770 words a day)
    • Because of this goal, everything else is sort of scant, which I’m fine with since this is also a heavy grading month
  • Read 8 books
  • Refill the well each week (aka do art, crafting, or game)
  • Blog weekly
  • Send a newsletter each month
  • Doctor’s appointment/taxes BOO
  • Start watching Sarra Cannon’s Publish and Thrive updated lessons

Books

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

  1. Ironiside (#3) by Holly Black- 4 stars, I thought this was a good wrap-up to the series. While this isn’t my favorite of her series, I enjoyed Roiben a lot and Cornelius as well.
  2. Rattling Bone (#2) by Jordan L. Hawk- 4 stars, my only hang-up with this book is that I felt like we got so little of the main characters together interacting. It felt plot first, characters second, which I don’t really enjoy as much compared to Hawk’s other books.
  3. The Return of the King (#3) by J. R. R. Tolkien- 4 stars, not going to lie, I got choked up in my car over Sam and Frodo. Sam’s love for Frodo is what kept me reading this series. We need more Samwise Gamgees in the world.
  4. A Thief in the Night (#2) by KJ Charles- 4 stars, this is sort of a concurrent story to another set in the same world, and I always love a semi-reformed thief who falls in with someone who doesn’t take their shit.
  5. The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen (#1) by KJ Charles- 4 stars, if you liked Poldark but wished he was less gross and gay, this one is for you as we have smugglers, family drama, and a seemingly mismatched pair.
  6. A Rose by Any Name (#2.5) by KJ Charles- 4 stars, this is a short story that comes after Thief in the Night where the siblings reunite. I loved how unapologetically sweet it is.
  7. I Hear the Sunspot: Four Seasons by Yuki Fumino- 4 stars, I have lost count of what book this is in the series overall, but I love seeing these two get closer and figure out their relationship and lives. Plus the hard-of-hearing rep is well done.
  8. The Black Pages (#2) by Nnedi Okorafor- 3 stars, this story was pretty damn brutal. It felt like it cut off as soon as we figure out what might be going on, which is the point, but it is also unsatisfying as there won’t be a follow-up.
  9. The Invisible Man & His Soon-to-Be-Wife (#1) by Iwatobineko- 4 stars, this manga has visually impaired rep that is well researched, and I always love seeing disability mixed into fantasy worlds and with monsters and such. The Invisible Man love interest is sweet and dapper as well.
  10. Persephone (#2) by Lev Grossman- 4 stars, this also felt like the start of something larger, but it cuts off in a more satisfying place. I read this mostly to see if I’d like his other books and it was enjoyable, though a bit brutal for my tastes.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Set up all my Q2 goals, kanban board, etc.
  • Did my 2022 taxes and set up quarterly taxes for this year, just in case, because I don’t want to pay the US government any more in penalty fees and interest than I have to
  • Went to the doctor to do my 6 month please refill my meds check (a giant time/money waster)
  • I found out there are copies of The Reanimator’s Heart for sale physically at the Meet Cute Bookshop and The Portal Bookshop, an LGBT bookstore in York, England, which is VERY cool (also at some B&Ns as well)
  • Two of my books were part of an Indie April sale
  • Graded so many papers… so, so many papers
  • Finished setting up the proof copy of the university literary magazine my class was working on, and we approved it
  • Did promo for the university’s literary magazine
  • Started using my Tiktok again and have been posting daily
  • Figured out how to use Capcut for said Tiktoks
  • Made a reverse outline for The Reanimator’s Soul so far
  • Ended up running my dog to the vet in a panic, but he’s okay. He has Lyme’s Disease, so he’s getting antibiotics and supplements and such, which took up a lot of mental real estate this month
  • Worked on my craft projects consistently in order to unwind and stay mentally balanced.

Blogs Posted

Writing

You may have noticed that I have forgone the weekly breakdown lately. I tend to do this when my writing has been feast or famine because seeing those tiny word counts certain weeks is disheartening and doesn’t really show all the other stuff I was doing, like giving a metric shit ton of feedback to my students. If only I could count my feedback as part of my monthly word count. By the end of the month, I wrote 11,500 words, which is way below my initial goal, but that goal was very unrealistic. I don’t know how I forgot that April is a horrible month for grading. April and November are when all the longer papers come in, and next year when making my goals, I really need to be mindful that, if I’m teaching freshman, I need to ease up on my word count goals. Either way though, I’m happy with those words, and I know where I’m going from this point on, which means that (hopefully) the next chunk I work on will come a lot smoother. Act I is always the hardest for me to write as it requires so much set up and micromanaging of future threads.

Hopes for May

  • Watch Sarra Cannon’s updated Publish and Thrive classes- at least 2-3 weeks
  • Read 8 books
  • Newsletter monthly/blog weekly
  • Keep messing around with Tiktok
  • Write 20,000-25,000 words for the month
  • Finish grading for the semester
  • Relax or do something fun, something to avoid an end of semester burnout/shutdown
March 2023 Wrap-Up post March 2023 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

March 2023 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

I’d love to know why March felt like the longest and shortest month. Oddly, this month was busy, yet I spent a lot of the time resting and re-calibrating as I worked on The Reanimator’s Soul. It was sort of a weird month. Not good or bad, just a transitional month between projects and parts of the semester. Anywho, let’s see what my goals were and what I got up to during the month.

  • Read 8 books
  • Write The Reanimator’s Soul
    • Minimum goal 15k words
    • Real goal 20k words
    • Stretch goal 25k words
  • Enjoy spring break and actually relax (as opposed to using it to catch up)
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my monthly newsletter
  • Do some digital art
  • Plan my goals for Q2

Books

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

  1. The River of Silver (#4) by S. A. Chakraborty- 4 stars, a great book of additional stories in a universe I was very sad to leave. Also, yay for some closure.
  2. The Two Towers (#2) by J. R. R. Tolkien- 4 stars, once again loving Andy Serkis being a one-man cast.
  3. Tithe (#1) by Holly Black- 3 stars, it was okay. I know this is one of her earlier books, and it definitely reads like my middle/high school experience. It was weird reading a book that takes place so close to where I live.
  4. Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert- 4 stars, loved this one. The neurodivergent and mentally ill rep was great, as always with Hibbert’s books.
  5. The Ancient Magus’s Bride (#17) by Kore Yamazaki- 4 stars, we’re still mid-arc, but I am enjoying it and hoping the conclusion of this arc will be satisfying.
  6. The Magus of the Library (#6) by Mitsu Izumi- 4 stars, I love seeing a mystery deepen and characters come into their own. This is a complex yet low stress manga.
  7. A Black Women’s History of the United States (#5) by Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross- 5 stars, a great primer for further research.
  8. Circe by Madeline Miller- 4 stars, if Aragorn and Arwen in The Lord of the Rings was your jam but you wished there as extra baggage, this one is for you.
  9. She Loves to Cook & She Loves to Eat (#2) by Sakaomi Yuzaki- 5 stars, so sweet, so tender, so sapphic, and so much good food.
  10. Valiant (#2) by Holly Black- 4 stars, I’m not sure how this one ended up with more stars than book 1. The end sort of saved it for me because I really like Ravus and the whole Beauty and the Beast dynamic we had going.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Finished the major compiling for the university literary magazine my class was working on (low key stressful since this was the first one since 2018)
  • Sent the university literary magazine to the printers
  • Wrote the preliminary blurb for The Reanimator’s Soul
  • Setup the preorder for The Reanimator’s Soul at all major retailers (except Google Play, which I will do soon)
  • Started doing crafts again, yay! I started working on a Halloween village plastic canvas kit from Herrschner’s, which I’m really enjoying doing since I haven’t done plastic canvas since high school. It’s very centering.
  • Made my quarter 2 goals and setup my Kanban board
  • Enjoyed spring break with only a bit of freaking out (my brain has been on fire all month)
  • Retail therapy for a case of the stressful sads, which means buying washi tape and planner stickers

Blogs Posted

Writing

If you saw my false starts blog post, you’ll know that I ended up basically rewriting the whole beginning of The Reanimator’s Soul. I’m not going to lie, I was very annoyed at first. I felt like I fell behind as soon as the month started, but ultimately, my writing word count goals take a backseat to story quality and starting over was necessary. I have to keep reminding myself of this when I internally freak out over being behind. Behind is better than words that are lukewarm and don’t make sense in the larger context of the work. It took me about a week to figure out what I needed to fix and how to make it better. In the end, I wrote 12,000 words this month, which I’m pretty happy with since all of these words make sense and have sent the story in the proper direction. I’m feeling much more confident at this point, so fingers crossed no major rewrites will be needed at the 25-33% mark.

Hopes for April

  • Writing (we’re feeling ambitious this month)
    • 23,000 words is the goal (770 words a day)
    • Because of this goal, everything else is sort of scant, which I’m fine with since this is also a heavy grading month
  • Read 8 books
  • Refill the well each week (aka do art, crafting, or game)
  • Blog weekly
  • Send a newsletter each month
  • Doctor’s appointment/taxes BOO
  • Start watching Sarra Cannon’s Publish and Thrive updated lessons
New blog post: january 2023 wrap-up post January 2023 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

January 2023 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

Phew, January has been one of those months where it is a mad dash toward the finish line, but it has also been one of the best months I have had in a while. Writing/editing Flowers and Flourishing went well, and that’s been sent out to my newsletter subscribers. The spring semester started, and my students seem like a good bunch (hopefully energetic and interested too). Best of all, I feel like I’m finally coming out of my winter exhaustion. Anywho, let’s take a look at the goals or aspirations for January that I made last month

  • Figure out how quarterly taxes work
  • Start working on the second Reanimator Mysteries book
  • Book research
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Finish editing Flowers and Flourishing
  • Send out Flowers and Flourishing with my January newsletter
  • Finally, a little relaxation via gaming or art regularly

Books

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

  1. The Six Deaths of the Saint (#3) by Alix E. Harrow- 4 stars, still loving the Into the Shadows series (different authors each book). The way Harrow plays with time in this short work is superb.
  2. The Kingdom of Copper (#2) by S. A. Chakraborty- 4 stars, you know a book is good when you finish it and immediately dig around to find the next one. It is a doorstop, but it was so worth it, especially if you like Middle Eastern flavored mythology mixed with court intrigue.
  3. A Mirror Mended (#2) by Alix E. Harrow- 4 stars, more broken fairytales with our universe-hopping hero only this time she falls into the wrong story and she must save herself and an unlikely ally.
  4. Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse- 5 stars, so frigging good. An atmospheric mystery complete with angels, demons, and a gritty new world.
  5. Into the Windwracked Wilds (#3) by A. Deborah Baker (aka Seanan McGuire)- 4 stars, if you like Wizard of Oz-esque tales, this series is for you. It is meant for a middle grade audience, but it’s still complex and intriguing for adults as well.
  6. Lost in the Moment and Found (#8) by Seanan McGuire- 5 stars, a phenomenal read about childhood trauma and what happens when you can’t trust the adults in your life, one of my favorites from this series so far (though I love all of them).
  7. Mummies, Cannibals, and Vampires by Richard Sugg- 4 stars, a bit of book 2 research. It focuses on the way corpse medicine was used for centuries, the rehabilitation of doctors as a profession, and the way the rich made use of the poor. Fascinating stuff, writing at times could have been tighter/better organized.
  8. A Garter as a Lesser Gift by Aster Glenn Grey- 4 stars, a Gawain and the Green Knight retelling set during WWII, it does a great job of capturing the original story while keeping it fresh and modern.
  9. Not Your Valentine by Jackie Lau- 4 stars, a contemporary romance where a woman who has had her breakup go viral denounces love only to recruit her friend into being her fake boyfriend to get her friends off her back. You can guess how this goes wrong.
  10. Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom- 5 stars, fascinating look into the history of books bound in human skin with forays into medical ethics, book challenges, fakes, and the history of several examples.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

Buckle in, buttercups. It’s been a busy month.

  • The Reanimator’s Heart won the Queer Indie Awards for Best Historical Romance!
  • Officially finished writing Flower and Flourishing (yes, I said I finished last month, but I needed to add/rework some stuff)
  • Edited Flowers and Flourishing multiple times
  • Proof-read Flowers and Flourishing (though I’m sure there are still typos *laugh sob*)
  • Formatted Flowers and Flourishing, set up my Bookfunnel account, and set it up there as a newsletter freebie
  • Updated all my newsletter info to match the aforementioned update/book release
  • Sent out Flowers and Flourishing to my newsletter subscribers (sign-up at the top of the page if you want it or you can add it on Goodreads)
  • Made a landing page on my website for Flowers and Flourishing
  • Announced the title for the sequel to The Reanimator’s Heart, which is The Reanimator’s Soul (add it on Goodreads)
  • Started brainstorming ideas for The Reanimator’s Soul before I start writing
  • Started doing research for The Reanimator’s Soul
  • Spoke at the Romancing the Gothic Book Club about The Reanimator’s Heart
  • Looked into quarterly taxes- more confident about it but also feel like puking every time I think about it
  • Played video games weekly to unwind
    • I started playing Lemoncake but didn’t really love it because I’m not great at those sorts of running around, optimization games
    • Then, I started playing Bear and Breakfast and have been enjoying that much more
  • Finished drafting all my lesson plans/notes for the new class I’m teaching
  • Created all the syllabi and Blackboards for my classes this semester

Blogs Posted

Writing

I’m not going to post my weekly stats again because it’s a weird mix of writing and editing, which isn’t very quantifiable. What I can say is that I started the month at 29k words in Flowers and Flourishing and ended the month at 37k words, which means I wrote 8,000 words. Considering I was absolutely fried at the beginning of the month, I’m really happy with this. Some of these words were brand new, others were fleshing out and/or changing things I wrote in the first half of this book. Writing and editing for me is never a linear process. I tend to do a two steps forward, one step back kind of thing where I write, edit, write, edit, then do a major edit, then write more, and repeat. A lot of people like to zero/fast draft and then start a new draft from beginning to end, but that just isn’t how I work. I tinker with my past writing session’s words as a warm-up before I jump back in. For me, it eliminates a lot of stress at the end when I need to clean up the manuscript since almost all of it has been touched multiple times. While writing this month, I also made a list of things I needed to edit/tweak in a Notepad file and had that open as I wrote. That way, I could make sure I mentioned little things that became important later. Notepad as a tiny, moveable stickynote while I’m editing/writing does wonders.

I also did a lot of brainstorming for The Reanimator’s Soul. In the past, I’ve been bad about actually putting pen to paper with ideas, and then, I get mad at myself when I forget them. The hope is that if I write a bunch of stuff down and pick through it after, it will help me figure out where to start the story and make outlining a bit easier.

Hopes for February

  • Learn more about writing mysteries specifically (research!)
  • Outline Act I of The Reanimator’s Soul
  • Write 500 words a day (14k total)
  • Grade a shit ton of papers with my brain in tact
  • Manage stress
  • Do more art
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my monthly newsletter
new blog post: december 2022 wrap up post December 2022 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

December 2022 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

Ah yes, December, the month of chaos where I am full of food, have no idea what day it is, and am perpetually stuck between finishing the year and looking toward the new year. This month was a bit weird because, of course, we had the holidays to contend with, classes ended (yay for grading a shit ton of papers), and my partner was dealing with some med changes/season affect disorder, so fun all around. I don’t want to be a downer, so I’ll try to reel myself in. This month was similar to November’s levels of exhaustion, but I’m finally starting to feel better. Fingers crossed January is when I finally perk up more fully. As a reminder before we begin, here were my goals for December:

  • Finish writing Flowers and Flourishing
  • Edit Flowers and Flourishing
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly and send out my December newsletter
  • Finish Christmas prep
  • Have 6 weeks of lessons prepped/outlined for next semester
  • Set goals for Q1 of 2023

Books

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

  1. Last Gender (Vol #1) by Rei Taki- 4 stars, a manga that follows several people who all frequent a queer club. A bit grittier(?) than I expected, but I liked the frank nature of the portrayals of all the characters.
  2. Undercover (#5) by Tamsyn Muir- 5 stars, as with all Muir books, it’s gorey, sapphic, and so unexpected. If you liked Gideon or Harrow, hit this up.
  3. Masters in This Hall (#3) by KJ Charles- 4 stars, an off-shoot story from the Lilywhite Boys where a decorator gets tangled up with a killer and the only way out is to team up with an irate past flame and an unexpected ally.
  4. Afterlives: The Return of the Dead in the Middle Ages by Nancy Mandeville Caciola- 4 stars, nonfiction research for a future book. It is academic but incredibly interesting as we get to see different kinds of dead and the geographic/theological changes.
  5. She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat (Vol #1) by Sakaomi Yuzaki- 4 stars, an adorable sapphic manga following a truck driver who loves to eat and an office worker who loves to make pretty (and large quantities of food). Being neighbors sparks the potential for something more.
  6. Hen Fever by Olivia Waite- 4 stars, a new woman moves into a town with a chicken breeding contest and finds love in a quiet, sunny woman who is hellbent on winning the festival and raising a once-thought-dead breed of chickens.
  7. Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake (#1) by Alexis Hall- 4 stars, a single mom enters a TV baking contest, falls for an asshole but eventually realizes she needs to take back control of her life and what she really wants.
  8. The Girl from the Other Side (Vol #12) by Nagabe- 4 stars, a volume that fills in with short stories. It was very cute and sweet, not a lot of substance but I loved seeing Shiva and Teacher again.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Finished Christmas shopping, wrapping, decorating, *insert stressful holiday stuff*
  • Graded all my students’ portfolios and grades
  • Contacted ACX to get Kinship and Kindness changed from exclusive to non-exclusive (aka in the future I can publish the audiobook to sites besides Audible/Amazon and iTunes)
  • Listened to and approved the first 15+ minutes of The Reanimator’s Heart audiobook (same narrator as K&K!)
  • Worked on my lesson plans for my new class next semester and did 11/15 weeks worth of classes (aka I have 8 left to plan)
  • Set up my goals for 2023 Q1 and my 2023 bullet journal (it’s a lot of work)
  • Did an impromptu title reveal for the second Reanimator Mysteries book (I will do a more formal post here soon)
  • Edited Flowers and Flourishing. It’s currently in the let it rest stage before I go through and edit it again, but it will be coming to newsletter subscribers in late January. Join my newsletter to get it for free!
  • Edited what my newsletter automatic subscriber reply says in preparation for Flowers and Flourishing coming out. If you subscribe now, it’s the same, but I wanted to have the new copy ready for next month.
  • Played Lemoncake on PC (haven’t finished it yet), but if you liked Diner Dash or other timing based food/serving games, this one is basically the cozy version

Blogs Posted

Writing

I’m not going to do a week-by-week calculation because I wrote sporadically during the holidays and the numbers don’t make sense when you factor in editing and such. Instead I’m just going to talk a little bit about the writing process here. I struggled. Part of what sucks about what happened in November is that I sort of got out of practice/routine with my writing, so it ended up very much being done in small bursts, which is frustrating after having it be more fluid. I probably have a scene or two I will need to go back and add after I edit the second time, which is fine and expected. More than anything, I want to put out the best story I can for my newsletter peeps. Flowers and Flourishing has been fun to write and a far lighter (yet still pretty heavy) tone than The Reanimator’s Heart, and if you liked Kinship and Kindness, I think you’ll like this one too.

Hopes for January

  • Figure out how quarterly taxes work
  • Start working on the second Reanimator Mysteries book
  • Book research
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Finish editing Flowers and Flourishing
  • Send out Flowers and Flourishing with my January newsletter
  • Finally, a little relaxation via gaming or art regularly