June 2024 Wrap-Up Post

June 30, 2024June 30, 2024 Kara JorgensenLeave a comment

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

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

Books

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

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

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

Blogs

Writing

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

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

Hopes for July

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

Monthly Review

May 2024 Wrap-Up Post

June 2, 2024June 2, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

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

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

Books

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

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

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

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

Blogs

Writing

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

Hopes for June

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

Monthly Review

April 2024 Wrap-Up Post

May 5, 2024May 5, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

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

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

Books

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

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

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

Blogs

Writing

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

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

Hopes for May

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

Monthly Review

February 2024 Wrap-Up Post

March 3, 2024March 3, 2024 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.

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)
Galatea by Madelline Miller- 4 stars, the story of a statue-turned-human taking back control of her life
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.
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
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
Ghostland by Colin Dickey- 4 stars, a nonfiction book about how ghost stories come to be and what they say about our society
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
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
Vampire Forensics by Mark Collins Jenkins, a nonfiction book about how disease and irregular decomposition team up to create vampire legends
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
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
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

January 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Social Media and the Devaluation of the Arts Part 1
Social Media and the Devaluation of the Arts Part 2
Reintroducing Myself
February Newsletter

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

Monthly Review

December 2023 Wrap-Up Post

January 7, 2024January 4, 2024 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.

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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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”

Monthly Review

November 2023 Wrap-Up Post

December 3, 2023December 2, 2023 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.

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
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
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
Medicinal Cannibalism by Louise Noble- 4 stars, an academic book on medicinal cannibalism in culture and literature from the Early Modern period on
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
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
“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
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
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

Monthly Review

October 2023 Wrap-Up

November 5, 2023November 2, 2023 Kara Jorgensen4 Comments

October was release month for The Reanimator’s Soul, which was equal parts wonderful and chaotic. It’s been a month, let me tell you, but to refresh your memory (and mine), here are the goals I set 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)

Books

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

The Good Kings by Kara Cooney- 4 stars, a nonfiction book that parallels the famous kings of Ancient Egypt with modern politicians and how what often looks like strength actually signifies a weak ruler.
Unknown (#3) by Jordan L. Hawk- 4 stars, Ves and Sebastian are back to look for the third missing magical book when men who frequent Sebastian’s favorite bathhouse start being murdered.
Lore Olympus (#5) by Rachel Smythe- 4 stars, we get to see Hades and Persephone get closer and secrets finally come to light.
Luke and Billy Finally Get a Clue by Cat Sebastian- 5 stars, two baseball players come together after one is injured and realize they are more than teammates with a little help from fate and the one guy’s mom.
Twisted Tome (#2) by Vanora Lawless- 5 stars, an mm paranormal historical romance set during WWI with a dream-walker and an illusion-creator who team up to find a dangerous book and get far more than they bargained for.
In the Pit of Your Stomach by Arden Powell- 4 stars, a choose-your-own adventure story that involves a giant hole, creatures, and maybe even a touch of romance (with a human, sorry monster lovers).
She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat (#3) by Sakaomi Yuzaki- 5 stars, a wonderful installment in this series where we get a new friend and a new neighbor who join the foodie family.
The Case Study of Vanitas (#10) by Jun Mochizuki- 4 stars, a bridge volume that wraps up some of Vanitas’s backstory and sets us down a new path in the story. I’m still mildly annoyed by the forced heterosexuality of this story when the two leads have the best homoromantic chemistry.
The Lover by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 4 stars, a fairytale-esque story involving a huntsmen, a poor woman, her wealthy sister, a wolf, and a mysterious stranger. It’s very short, but I am a sucker for Moreno-Garcia’s work, so I will always read it, no matter how long or short.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

Finished my Halloween Village craft projects (finally, after months of working on them- take a look here)
Posted consistently about The Reanimator’s Soul (TRM #2) leading up to release day
Uploaded the final files for The Reanimator’s Soul onto all major distributors
Setup the paperback copy of The Reanimator’s Soul
Ordered a proof copy, checked it, and approved it
Ordered a good copy of The Reanimator’s Soul
Had a lovely release day for The Reanimator’s Soul
Reminded ARC readers to post reviews
Created the cover for the Reanimator Mysteries #2.5 short story
Came up with the title for the Reanimator Mysteries #2.5 short story
Wrote newsletter
Blogged weekly
Fought with the insurance company over my meds (again)
Graded a shit ton of papers
Had my car breakdown (repeatedly *laugh sob*)
Decided there was no way in hell I was doing NaNoWriMo

Blogs Posted

Why Oliver is Important Rep to Me
A Preview of The Reanimator’s Soul (TRM #2)
One Day Until The Reanimator’s Soul
On Not Being the NaNo Grinch
October newsletter

Writing

Not much writing happened this month, but frankly, I’m okay with that. This month was mostly spent preparing for the release of The Reanimator’s Soul, so I knew going into it that my word count was not going to be astronomical. In the end, I only wrote 1,000 words of the Reanimator Mysteries #2.5 short story. Do I wish I could have written more? Yes. Am I okay with only having written a 1,000 words? Also, yes. October has been ridiculously stressful, especially once my car broke down. That happened through the majority of the month where the check engine light came on repeatedly (over two weeks), but my local mechanic (twice) couldn’t figure out why. Eventually, it refused to start in their parking lot, and I had to tow it to the car dealer to get fixed by mechanics who know my brand of car specifically. You know once you bring in the specialty mechanics that it’s going to be big bucks to fix, and it was. As of writing this post on November 1st, I’m still waiting to get my car back from the mechanic due to how long it took for a part to come in. The on-going car repair saga completely stressed me out, making it nearly impossible for me to read or write. I’m hoping that November won’t be a No-Words-November and that I’ll be able to get the majority, if not all, of the short story/novella done.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how much seeing the genocide of the Palestinian people live online is affecting me. I have made my stance on Palestinian liberation very clear on social media for years, and to see nearly every politician in the US abandon Palestinian civilians to be wiped out by Israeli forces is more than criminal. If you have the energy, please call your reps and demand a ceasefire now. More needs to be done, but a ceasefire is long overdue. If you would like to learn more about the history of Palestine and how British/American imperialism has lead us to this moment, Verso books has several free books available right now.

Hopes for November

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

Book Reviews · Monthly Review · the reanimator's soul

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

August 2023 Wrap-up Post

September 3, 2023September 2, 2023 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

This month has been chaotic to say the least, and because of that, I have been fending off burnout since midway through the month (and not very well, mind you). It has been a struggle to get through most things I need to do this month, and I did not maintain the balance I need to keep my mental health from derailing. Anywho, let’s take a look at the goals I made for August:

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

Books

My goal was to read 8 books, and I read 7 this month.

The Tiger Came to the Mountain by Silvia Moreno Garcia- 4 stars, a magical and mildly autobiographical story about desperation and strength during war and the history of girls lost to time.
Four Weddings to Fall in Love (#1) by Jackie Lau- 4 stars, a romance that begins with a one-night stand that goes awry where the couple needs to reconnect and regroup as they attend multiple weddings together.
The Invisible Man and his Soon to be Wife (#2) by Iwatobineko- 4 stars, a cute, sweet addition to the series, which brings in a queer side character, which was a lovely surprise.
Saffron Alley (#2) by A. J. Demas- 4 stars, we get to see a bit of domesticity between our MCs as they try to navigate the future together.
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell- 3 stars, a slightly fantastical version of Lucrezia de Medici’s marriage and short life. While I loved Hamnet, I found this one to be a bit brutal for my taste.
Strong Wine (#3) by A. J. Demas- 4 stars, the wonderful conclusion to the Sword Dance trilogy where we meet Dami’s horrid family, see him fighting a murder charge, and get a HEA.
Secret XXX (#0) by Meguru Hinohara- 4 stars, a spicy yet sweet manga between a pet shop owner and a man who thinks he’s allergic to bunnies. It also sets the scene for a spin-off series.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

Got a Bookbub for The Reanimator’s Heart (dropping 9/3)
Made my syllabi for my classes
Made the Blackboard boards for my classes
Taught my summer class and graded all their papers
Got my car’s oil changed and brakes checked before the fall semester starts (was stressing over this)
Took part in the Narratess Indie Author Sale
Kept my mental health hanging on by a string and rode myself into the ground
Did not manage my anxiety well… at all.
But the sales I ran have bumped up my preorders for The Reanimator’s Soul nicely

Blogs Posted

July 2023 Wrap-Up Post
Kara’s Random Game Recs
Art of Oliver and Felipe!
The Reanimator’s Heart is Only 99c (still on til 9/6, btw)
August Newsletter

Writing

Writing has been a mixed bag this month with it mostly being decent, despite my mental chaos. I ended up writing more than I have in a long time, and I basically finished the book. I need to go back and do a bit of tweaking, editing, and expanding, but the story itself is complete. I am super excited for you all to read The Reanimator’s Soul when it comes out October 24th because I think I did a better job on the mystery than I did in book one, and there’s a lot of emotional complexity going on between Oliver, Felipe, and their various family, friends, and foes. I’m trying to control myself for now, but there will definitely be a side story that goes out to newsletter subscribers as well as potentially a novel or novella featuring Ansley and another character from this book.

Hopes for September

We are once again keeping the goals light because my brain needs a break.

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

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