May 2024 Wrap-Up Post

June 2, 2024June 2, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

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

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

Books

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

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

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

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

Blogs

Writing

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

Hopes for June

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

Writing

On Being Your Own Cheerleader

November 26, 2023November 11, 2023 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

Let me tell you a little secret: no one will be as excited about your project as you are.

This might sound harsh, but ultimately, it’s true, and for newer writers, I think it’s better to learn this early than to learn it the hard way as you give up on projects because no one seems interested. Despite what others may say, writing is, generally, a solitary pursuit. You are the writer. You are the omnipotent god of your fictional world. And while others might be cheering you on, no one should be as excited about your project as you are, and expecting others to be your constant hype men is setting yourself up for failure.

I don’t want to say you can’t rely on others, but frankly, you can’t rely on other people. It isn’t your current or future readers’ responsibility to sustain your interest in a project.

When I first came across this sentiment of “No one seems interested in my work, so why bother,” I was a bit confused because I thought, “Well, the book isn’t out yet. Why would they be excited, especially if you are a new writer?” I forget that people actually show others their work while they’re writing. I tend not to. Not due to being squeamish about showing my unedited work but because I have a don’t bother anyone complex. It also slipped my mind that when people write fanfic, they tend to post things a chapter at a time and build an audience along the way. That tends not to happen with original fiction, unless you’re posting it on something like Wattpad or Ream as you write it, or you share your work in progress with an alpha-reader.

I can see how that would be a rough shift, having that built-in audience from posting your work on a piece-by-piece basis to having no one knowing what you’re working on or being excited about it until people read it and start to spread the word. No matter what though, if you abandon a project because your hypothetical audience isn’t hyped for it, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. I would definitely take a second and think if your knee-jerk reaction is self-sabotage to avoid feeling like a failure if that book isn’t popular.

I’ll let you in on another secret, first books rarely sell well. At least not until you have several other books out.

You need to find some sort of motivation to keep you going, whether it’s for the love of the story or for money, you need something that’s wholly you to keep writing when things get hard and it seems like no one cares. Above all, I care about my characters. I love them and want to see what happens to them, and my first audience member is me. If I like them, I assume others will too, but you’ll have to market the book to people like you in order to find those other readers. Look at what other people in your genre (or other writers you enjoy who are similar to you) are doing and try to emulate that when marketing your own work. Don’t go rogue with that first book. Don’t think you’re the exception. Don’t assume you’re a failure if book one is sort of a flop because that’s normal, and there’s a good chance it’ll get better.

As I write this, the thing I regret is that I can’t make you care about your work or about your characters enough to maintain that level of “screw you” needed to make art. Every artist who finishes something has a healthy (or unhealthy) amount of screw you in their system. It’s the little voice that pops up to tell off the world when someone devalues the humanities or says, “who would read that?” ME, that’s who. Over the years, I feel like my screw you voice sounds more and more like Anthony Bourdain, but I’m okay with that. When I need to summon the strength to tell my brain or the outside world to f-off because my work matters, I channel the spirit of a disgruntled, slightly world-weary chef, and it does the trick.

Whatever works to help stoke your artist ego to get your art done, do it. It may seem silly or pointless, but trust me, it isn’t. In the darker times when things aren’t going smoothly or you feel like no one gives a shit, that inner voice will get you through. In the end, you need to be your own cheerleader or disgruntled chef because no one else will.

September 2023 Wrap-Up Blog

October 1, 2023October 1, 2023 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.

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.
The Dragon’s Betrothed (#2) by Meguru Hinohara- 4 stars, see above.
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.
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.
Fangs by Sarah Anderson- 4 stars, cute vignettes between a vampire and a werewolf, very fluffy.
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.
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.
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)

Monthly Review

July 2023 Wrap-Up Post

August 6, 2023August 1, 2023 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

July has gone oddly well until the end when I started to get a little fried. I had a really good writing and reading month, and I didn’t get picked for jury duty, which is the most important thing of all. Let’s take a look at what my goals were for July:

Write 25,000 words
Read 8 books
Blog Weekly
Monthly Newsletter
Jury duty (UGH) and my birthday (meh)
Post the cover reveal for The Reanimator’s Soul
Prepare for the summer class I’m [probably] teaching

Books

My goal for July was to read 8 books, and I read 12.

Sailor’s Delight by Rose Lerner- 4 stars, a lovely, low heat novella about a Jewish merchant and a gentile naval officer in the 1800s.
Falling Bodies by Rebecca Roanhorse- 4 stars, a short story/novella set in space that speaks to the issues surrounding trans-racial adoptions
The Ancient Magus’s Bride (#18) by Kore Yamazaki- 4 stars, an action-packed volume with some good reveals.
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang- 5 stars, a fantastic look at how white authors behave horribly. If you’ve been on book Twitter for a long time, so much of this makes sense. If you love a delusional narrator, this one is perfect.
On or Off (#1) by A1- 4 stars, a graphic novel series about a high-powered CEO and the new employee/CEO of a much smaller company as they navigate the power struggles and their own issues. There is a misunderstanding at the beginning, so check the trigger warnings for volume 1
On or Off (#2) by A1- 4 stars, see above
On or Off (#3) by A1- 4 stars, see above
On or Off (#4) by A1- 4 stars, see above
Payback’s a Witch (#1) by Lana Harper- 4 stars, a witchy romcom about a woman returning to her hometown to officiate a magical celebration/games and uses it to get back at her awful ex and finds herself falling for one of his jilted girlfriends.
A Thief & a Gentleman (#6) by Arden Powell- 5 stars, a saucy thief reunites with his childhood friend who is now an uptight man of leisure, but can they meet each other where they are and thrive?
Sappho: A New Translation by Diane J. Rayor-4 stars, an interesting glimpse into how little we have of Sappho’s works
The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamina- 4 stars, a shorter book packed with medical magic, a queer-normative world, and the complications of being conquered and conqueror

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

Survived jury duty and didn’t get picked- did you know jury duty selection can trigger checking OCD? Me neither, but it can.
Prepared for my summer class- fixed the syllabus and set up the Blackboard module
The Reanimator’s Heart made it through to round 2 of the Book Blogger’s Novel of the Year Awards (I will update you all on the next round when I know!)
Did the cover reveal for The Reanimator’s Soul
Made a page on my website for The Reanimator’s Soul
Made more index cards/planned the rest of this book
Celebrated my birthday and enjoyed myself
Continued to post daily Tiktoks
Announced the audiobook release for The Reanimator’s Heart
The Reanimator’s Heart is now available everywhere in audiobook, including libraries
Fried myself a bit, but I have managed to avoid burnout by listening to my body
Made a to-be-read jar (aka a mug with slips of paper with book titles)

Blogs Posted

Writing

Writing actually went pretty well this month. I wrote 20,000 words, which makes me very happy. I’ve had some mental health lows this month, so at some point, I got worried about how productive I would actually be. Luckily, I’m heading toward the end of the book, and that second half is often easier for me to write than the first half. The good thing is that the words I have put down are solid, so I don’t think I’m going to need to do any major rewrites, just tinkering with foreshadowing and hitting home the major themes and threads. I’ve been doing sprints with my partner, which seems to be helping me stay on task. They do coding stuff while I write, so we both benefit from the body doubling and accountability. Something I’d like to do as time goes on is increase my daily word count, and I think by doing sprints, I can accomplish that.

Hopes for August

I’m keeping August’s goals light since I’ll be doing a lot of stuff for my classes.

FINISH THIS BOOK
Get through my summer class
Prep for my fall classes
Read 8 books
Blog weekly + monthly newsletter
Not lose my marbles along the way
Get ahead on blog posts again

Monthly Review

June 2023 Wrap-Up Post

July 2, 2023July 2, 2023 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

Looking back on my goals for June, I’m pretty sure I was delusional. Seriously, I don’t know why I put together this mishmash of goals, but I do think I got a lot done in June, just not those things. In May, I was feeling fried, but in June, I have actually been doing pretty decently, apart from a bump of anxiety. Here are the goals I made last month:

Blog weekly and send out my monthly newsletter
Write 25,000 words
Edit act 1 as a tidy up
Watch and take notes on more of Publish and Thrive 2.0
Enjoy my anniversary with my partner
Keep posting regularly on Tiktok
Maintain mental health by not overdoing it

Books

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

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care (#1) by Ashley Herring Blake- 4 stars, a sapphic romance between a bookstore owner with a kid and a photographer who doesn’t do love. I don’t read a lot of contemporary romance, but I really enjoyed this one, especially with the complicated family dynamics running in the background.
My Alcoholic Escape from Reality (#4) by Nagata Kabi- 4 stars, I always love Kabi’s candor about her struggles with alcoholism, mental illness, and her sexuality.
My Wandering Warrior Existence (#5) by Nagata Kabi- 3 stars, I loved this one a little less as it felt like it had less substance than her other works. Not bad, just a bit flimsy for its own book.
The Case Study of Vanitas (#9) by Jun Mochizuki- 4 stars, a good addition to the story where we get to learn a bit about Vanitas’s past while still leaving a lot unanswered.
Lore Olympus (#4) by Rachel Smythe- 4 stars, I would love to know why I’m hooked on this series, despite it being so hetero, but I am. I think it’s Hades and his love of dogs mixed with Persephone being a mess.
Last Gender (#3) by Rei Taki- 4 stars, the final installment of Last Gender gives a surprising twist about the club’s owner and more.
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw- 5 stars, a monstrous aftermath for The Little Mermaid where a mermaid and a plague doctor team up to figure out what’s going on with immortal kids in the woods and their sinister gods. Very queer and goes into the beauty and brutality of nature and man. Adored it.
The Madman’s Library by Edward Brooke-Hitching- 4 stars, an interesting overview of weird books found all over the world. A good jumping point for deeper research.
Monster and the Beast (#4) by Renji- 4 stars, the final installment in the series where we get to see what is in store for our heroes as well as finding out Liam’s backstory.

Admin/Behind the Scenes Stuff

Celebrated our 18th anniversary with my partner (brought home a smörgåsbord of takeout, and it was glorious)
Kept up with my tiktok-making
Got the cover for The Reanimator’s Soul sorted with Crowglass Design
Rewrote the blurb for The Reanimator’s Soul
Did a major editing pass of The Reanimator’s Soul
Listened to the audiobook proof of The Reanimator’s Heart, narrated by Jack R. R. Evans
Paid for, approved, and distributed the audiobook of The Reanimator’s Heart to all major retailers (see next week’s blog for more details)
Managed to recover (mostly) from burnout while only having a few major stress/anxiety days
Made and setup my goals/kanban board for Q3
Ran a sale on K&K
Took my dog for his vet recheck (he’s doing well, btw)
Had The Reanimator’s Heart appear as one of Meet Cute Bookshop’s “guess the queer romance by the unhinged description,” which made my day

Blogs Posted

May 2023 Wrap-Up Post
Planning for Pantsers
What’s in the Works Right Now
10 Queer Books to Read After Pride Month
June Newsletter

Writing

While the month started out a little slow, I picked up speed partway through the month as I truly hit my stride on the draft. I began by editing the first act and doing some tidying in the second, but once that was over, I was able to write more per day more fluidly, which feels amazing. The first half of a book is always the slowest part for me because I’m constantly double-checking plants and foreshadowing, setting things up for later, etc., so I probably end up spending double the time on the first half as I do the second. The second half is sort of the consequences of the first half, so whatever happens there should make sense with what I started with. The only thing I’m semi stuck on at the moment is the order of events for the later part of the book, but I’ll figure that out soon. Over the entire month, I netted 15,000 words, but do keep in mind that I was editing for the first week, so there is a lot of rewriting and tinkering mixed in.

Hopes for July

Write 25,000 words
Read 8 books
Blog Weekly
Monthly Newsletter
Jury duty (UGH) and my birthday (meh)
Post the cover reveal for The Reanimator’s Soul
Prepare for the summer class I’m [probably] teaching

Monthly Review

April 2023 Wrap-Up Post

May 7, 2023May 6, 2023 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.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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

Personal Life · The Reanimator's Heart · Writing

The Fear of Success

August 28, 2022August 28, 2022 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

This isn’t actually the post I had planned to put up this week, so bear with me if this seems off the cuff because it is.

Since the end of last year, I’ve been trying to get my shit together, especially in regard to my writing life. I ended up taking both of Sarra Canon’s classes, HB90 (a planning/goal setting system) and Publish and Thrive (a course on indie publishing), because I felt like I was spaghetti flinging hoping what I was doing would work. I’ve been sort of methodically moving forward trying to set and hit goals in order to move toward what I want. That goal is having more time for creative pursuits, leaning more into my writing, and only teaching at the university that gives me better opportunities and is better for my mental health but pays less. I have a chunk of savings as a cushion and have been trying to strategize how I can go about doing this in a way that doesn’t totally kick my butt and doesn’t depend on my partner landing a much better job as we cannot control that.

The Reanimator’s Heart has sort of been step one in that goal. It’s the project I’ve been working on since I started trying to get my shit together, and things have been going well. I do well with structure and goals, so I have surprised myself by actually getting a lot done. After taking Publish and Thrive, I was also able to brush up on what is working in indie publishing right now, and from watching various indie authors on Youtube, I’ve been working on my publishing strategy for this book. In the past, I’ve sort of just haphazardly launched things. I would let them rip as soon as I finished or not send them to any bloggers/ARC readers. I’ve certainly done things to tank my own success because I was more excited about people reading my work than doing a good job with the launch. This time, I’ve purposely slowed myself down, made lists, made a half-formed plan for releasing this book.

The problem is that I’m scared because it’s working.

Yes, I raised my eyebrow at myself too at the realization, but as reviews have been rolling in and people are enjoying the book, I’m panicking more. The cover is beautiful (thank you, Crowglass Design), the characters are lovable messes, and the pacing and such is solid. Between this book and Kinship and Kindness, I think my skills leveled up in certain areas, and that sort of rise and recognition of that rise is scaring me.

What if this is the best book I ever put out? What if everything after this is a disappointment?

Thus far, I haven’t gotten too far into my own head, but the panicked thoughts are seeping through more and more. The pitiful thing is that this isn’t like super viral panic-worthy success. This is “I’m doing better than my previous launch” success.

After everything that’s happened these past two years and my own issues with confidence as a creative person, I am always waiting for the shoe to drop and things to go wrong. It is an absolutely shitty way to look at life, but part of me feels like I should be bracing for impact instead of celebrating that things are going well. It’s possible to do both; I wildly vacillate between “Omg, look at my preorder numbers” and nail-biting panic.

Part of this, I think, has to do with also reaching outside my comfort zone with this launch. I set up my book with a review service, and I’ve reached out to a few authors I love and respect for potential blurbs, which I’ve never been brave enough to do. Pointing eyes to my work is something that could pan out for me, but also could potentially magnify the imperfections. Logically, I know not everyone will like my book. Certain people will absolutely hate Oliver and Felipe, which is fine. It really isn’t bad reviews that are bothering me (trust me, I’ve seen enough homophobia on The Gentleman Devil‘s reviews to cure me worrying about them). It’s a fear of success.

What if this book does really well? What if more people start reading my books? What if they’re disappointed when they go through my backlist and the rest of my books aren’t as good? What if nothing I write after this is as good as The Reanimator’s Heart? Or what if someone outside my usual circle sees it and sends the 1 star mob after me due to homophobia or whatever other assholery they can come up with?

Living in the age of the internet means constantly worrying about the wrong kind of attention for your creative projects, especially if you’re a queer author writing queer characters or in this case, a neurodivergent author writing neurodivergent characters. Will someone flag Oliver as “the wrong kind” of autistic and rip me and him to shreds? I could come up with a myriad of what-ifs at this point, all of which get more illogical and self-destructive.

On the flip side, I’m constantly trying to remind myself that people preordering and/or enjoying The Reanimator’s Heart is a good thing. It means I’ve done a decent job planning this launch, and that its success might move me a step closer to my goal of having more of an income from writing. This success isn’t random is something I have to remind myself. It means that I took the things I learned and applied them in a way that worked. Like I said earlier, this isn’t a runaway, gone viral, wtf happened kind of success. This is a building upon past success with previous books to make this launch even better. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I put in the work, and by doing so, things feel less out of my control.

I’m sure I’ll still have several absolute oh-shit panic moments between now and October 25th, but I’ll just reread this post and stare at all my past to-do lists to remind myself that months of work went into this launch and I should be proud of what I’ve done instead of scared.

If you’d like to help out while simultaneously adding to my panic, you can preorder The Reanimator’s Heart here. Paperbacks will be available closer to release day.

Writing

My Editing Process

July 10, 2022June 26, 2022 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

Two weeks ago, I posted about my writing process. This was originally going to be one GIANT post, but at some point, readers lose interest. It also made sense to me to break this up into before the end and after the end for simplicity’s sake. If you haven’t read the first post, you can do so here.

The End? Nope. Editing Time.

So the writing process typically takes me anywhere from 4-6 months, depending on how long the story is and how long it took for me to get past the beginning stage to start fully drafting. This is why I try to get the gooey beginning part started while finishing up another book if I can.

From there is the major editing stage. Something I started doing a few books back (I think while writing Selkie Cove) is to stop at the 33% to 50% mark and do some major edits early. This way, I tidy up the beginning, I make sure the characterization makes sense, and reacquaint myself with the beginning of the story and early stakes before moving on. This helps me a lot in terms of consistency, especially because it takes me longer to write the first half than the second half. Also, remember that I edit as I go anyway, so my book isn’t terribly messy after I’ve done the minor tidies throughout and the more major tidy at the halfway point.

Big Picture Edits

When I finish the entire book, it is time to do big picture edits. Typically, I don’t have anything too monumental because I edit as I go and do that 50% edit, but I do often have a list of things I need to fix or change but didn’t feel like doing while writing. I’m not someone who usually has to rewrite their entire book from scratch or move too much or insert whole scenes. This is probably because I go so slowly and have a lot of built in thinking time. An example of what I might fix is making sure character descriptions make sense, deleting unnecessary dialogue or lines of description, reorganizing scene breaks in a chapter to make it more dynamic/flow better, breaking a chapter in a new place, beefing up description if it seems lacking, etc. If I spot typos along the way, those get fixed as well.

Beta Readers and Round 2

Next, I send the book off to a beta reader if I have someone who is willing to take a look. I don’t always anymore, so if I don’t, then I put it aside for a few days while I work on something else and then dive into round 2 of edits. If I have a beta reader, I will still dive into round 2, but I may need to do another round of edits with their feedback. If anyone hasn’t heard of a beta reader, it’s typically a trusted friend or critique partner who is willing to give you feedback on your work. At this point, my hope is that their feedback won’t include major changes. As with any feedback, you should listen to what your beta reader(s) have to say, especially if more than one person tells the same thing, but if their feedback goes against what you’re trying to accomplish or just feels wrong in your gut, don’t use it.

Round 2 edits are line-level edits. Making sure things sound good, they’re clear, everything makes sense, etc. Smoothing lines, breaking out the thesaurus or double checking that words aren’t anachronistic. Inevitably, I will miss something, but I try. At this point (or after beta feedback), the book should be in pretty good shape and there shouldn’t be any massive changes.

Round 3 Edits (where the most weeping occurs)

Round 3 edits are copy edits. I tend to do this twice because I miss typos no matter how hard I try and something always manages to make it into the book, usually more than one. I read chapters out of order at this point to keep my brain from numbing out and not reading the words. I also use Microsoft Word’s speak feature to have it read me back my work a paragraph at a time to catch typos. It will miss homophones, though, so if you know that’s a problem you have, be like me and make a list of words you might screw up and use ctrl F to find them and double check (that and the verb tenses for lie/lay). Once I have finished rereading my work for what feels like the 800th time, we’re ready to format.

I will not go into the formatting process here, but I do my own formatting for paperbacks and ebooks. The good thing is, putting the book in either form also makes it easier to catch typos, so if you feel like you’re eyes are crossing looking at your computer screen, print it off on paper or read it on your phone/tablet to catch errors better. The change is format seems to help a lot.

I will admit that copy editing is my least favorite part. By the end, my eyes feel like their bleeding and knowing that despite reading my work so many times I still will miss things hurts. If you have enough money to do so, I highly recommend sending your work to a copy editor to find all those typos and grammar errors for you.

A Final Word

But yes, dear reader, we have come to the end of the writing and editing process. I’m sure some of you are appalled that my process goes against the usual advice you see online for writing books. Write a lot, write fast, but if you are like me and thinking about writing 30k, let alone 50k, in a month makes you feel ill, this may be a better process for you.

I will also add that I am a monogamous writer, meaning that I typically write one book at a time until I hit the later editing phases. Then, I might have an edit going and the early drafting process started. In order to keep my characters consistent, I need to be able to keep my projects separate in order to mold the best story I can. Some people just aren’t built for writing 3 things at once or writing 2k a day, and that’s totally fine. The point is that you need to find what works for you.

My process has evolved over time to become a process versus me just doing my best, feeling it out. I’m still feeling it out with projects, and over time, I’m sure how I write will change too, but as of 2022, this is what works best for me.

See you all next week!

Monthly Review

May 2022 Wrap-Up Post

May 29, 2022May 29, 2022 Kara Jorgensen2 Comments

Ah, May. The month when my allergies beat me up and steal my lunch money every year. But the semester is over, the grading is done, and I can fully invest my time in my work. I know we aren’t completely done with May, but I think the end of the 29th is good enough to capture most of what I have done. If anything earth-shattering happens those last two days, I’ll edit and add them. Let’s take a look at what my goals were for May.

Read 8 books
Word count goals
- Minimum goal: 15k
- True goal: 17k
- Stretch goal 19k
Blog Weekly
Monthly Newsletter
Finish majority of room/office clean up
Play video games and craft more to unwind
Do a craft for fun (I’ve been slacking)

Let’s see how it went.

Books

I set out to read 8 books, and I read 8 books in May.

The Hellion’s Waltz (#3) by Olivia Waite- 4 stars, wonderful sapphic historical romance between a union activist/weaver and a piano teacher
Along the Saltwise Sea (#2) by A. Deborah Baker (aka Seanan McGuire)- 4 stars, a middle grade story with a sort of Wizard of Oz style voice and adventure
Love Bites (Southern Gothic series) by Magen Cubed- 4 stars, origin short story for the Leather and Lace series. It’s interesting to see how the story developed and expanded
How to Train Your Pet Human (Southern Gothic series) by Magen Cubed- 5 stars, erotic short stories attached to the characters from Leather and Lace. As always, Cash and Dorian are hilarious and wonderful
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo- 4 stars, a sapphic historical-fantasy story set in pre-Hayes Code Hollywood, horrific and glorious
The 7 Days Author Guide to Book Advertising by Matthew J Holmes- 4 stars, useful in deciding what sort of ads to use and how they differ, not very specific or fleshed out
Saga (#3) by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples- 4 stars, rereading in preparation for volume 10’s release in October
Fevered Star (#2) by Rebecca Roanhorse- 4 stars, fantastic second book in a Meso/Indigenous American inspired world

Admin/Behind the Scenes Author Stuff

Researched AMS ads and ran one (yay for trying new things)
Made a book trailer and posted it on TikTok
Ran a free book ad with Free Booksy that was a FLOP, as far as paid promotion goes
Created a book launch/pre-order checklist for The Reanimator’s Heart
Made a list of keywords for The Reanimator’s Heart
Finished grading and posted my students’ grades
Brainstormed the future newsletter freebie “Jasmine and Jaguars”
I have been working on my disaster of a room/office. I have organized all my clothes/purged the ones I don’t want, thrown out a metric shit ton of my childhood toys and junk, organized my books and purged the ones I no longer want. I have the vast majority of the work done. The only things left to tackle is some more childhood stuff that needs to go and getting rid of old furniture.

Blogs Posted

Writing

My goal this month was to add 15,000 words at a minimum, and I am currently on track to hit that if I write 1,000 words a day for the next few days. I think I can do it, but it might be close or I might fall slightly short. Either way, it’s fine. My stats below do not include the 30th or 31st of May.

Week 1- 2,700 words and 2 missed days, 540 words/writing day
Week 2- 2,600 words and 3 missed days, 650 words/writing day
Week 3- 2,700 words and 3 missed days, 675 words/writing day
Week 4- 5,100 words and 0 missed days, 729 words/writing day

So this month has been a mixed bag as you can see from above. I’m not 100% sure what sort of went wrong this month, but I have a few ideas. First is that I hit the second half of act two. In terms of plotting, that is the hardest spot for me because it requires weaving all the threads you’ve created and load them up for act three where they must tie together and make a satisfying, coherent ending. This is where I end up pausing the most while working to make sure I’m staying on track. The second issue was my mom being home several days due to it being her birthday month, which threw me off along with the post-semester change in schedule. That transition period always trips me up. Ultimately, the tragedies toward the latter half of the month have been hard to deal with. I alternate between throwing myself into my work to deal and being so numbed out that I can’t do anything.

Shockingly, I’m very happy with what I’ve written so far this month, which I hope will continue as I move into June. The Reanimator’s Heart should be fully written by the middle of July, fingers crossed. I edit as I go, so the hope is that there will be minimal large scale issues to fix.

Hopes for June

I still haven’t done any crafts or really played any of my video games this month. I’m hoping I can find better balance in June and actually do some things to refill my creative well besides reading. I have a few needle felting kits that are small projects, so I may try doing those to see if I can at least complete one project this quarter. Below are my goals for June.

Read 8 books
Word count goals
- Minimum goal 13k
- Real goal 15k
- Stretch goal 17k
Finish the room/office destruction/cleaning
Blog weekly
Monthly newsletter
Approve cover design
Work on new reader magnet story
Play a video game/do some crafts