October 2024 Wrap-Up Post

November 3, 2024November 1, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

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

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

Books

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

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

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

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

Blogs

Writing

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

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

Hopes for November

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

Monthly Review

September 2024 Wrap-Up Post

October 6, 2024October 6, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

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

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

Books

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

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

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

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

Blogs

Writing

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

Hopes for October

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

Monthly Review

July 2024 Wrap-Up Post

August 4, 2024August 4, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

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

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

Books

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

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

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

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

Blogs

Writing

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

Hopes for August

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

Monthly Review

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

Writing

Kara’s Current & Future Writing Plans

June 9, 2024June 8, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

As we head toward the end of the second quarter of 2024, I find myself starting to plan. Truthfully, I should be planning for the third quarter, but instead, I find myself thinking about all the writing projects I would like to work on and when I’m hopefully getting to them. To preface, none of what I’m going to talk about is set in stone. All dates and ideas are subject to change, especially due to work, extra projects, etc.

2024 Books

The Reanimator’s Remains (TRM #3)– Book 3 of the Reanimator Mysteries will be out October 29th, 2024. I’m hoping to have it drafted and done by the end of the summer for the late fall release. You can preorder it here.

TRM #3.5 short story– I still have no idea what this will be about, though I’m thinking it will be set during the Paranormal Society’s All Hallows Eve party. Depending on how long it ends up being, it will be released at the end of 2024 or beginning of 2025.

2025 Books

The Reanimator’s ________ (TRM #4)– As of right now, I think book 4 will be the last book in the Reanimator Mysteries series. I have ideas for it and hope you all will love how the series wraps up, and don’t worry, we will definitely revisit our favorites in future books. This will be my big project for 2025, and I expect it to come out in October as usual.

TRM #4.5– I’m not 100% sure if there will be a final short story, but I’m going to assume I will write some sort of epilogue for Oliver and Felipe. This story will come out after book 4.

Timeline Unknown

When I say “timeline unknown,” what I really mean is, “I haven’t committed to a due date, and I can’t be behind if I don’t know when they’re due.” Basically, these projects are marinating and will for sure be worked on, but they are not as high of a priority as the Reanimatory Mysteries books are at the moment. Also, due to job stuff, energy levels, etc., it’s hard for me to write more than one book a year, though I would love to work up to finishing two a year without sacrificing quality or my sanity.

Joe and Ansley’s Book– I’m 99% sure this will be novel length, so it will probably take months to write. I don’t want to shoehorn it in between Reanimator books like an afterthought, but it is coming! I have ideas for them, and I really want to write more within this universe as well.

A book starring Teresa Galvan– This one is a huge maybe. I have a sparkly idea, but I’m not sure it makes sense yet. Teresa is growing up in a time of immense change and possibility, so writing a story set during the Belle Époque from an artist’s perspective would be a lot of fun. Once again, still working out the bugs.

More Reanimator Side Stories– I have some ideas bouncing around for an Oliver and Gwen prequel short story, potentially a short story about the head inspector and Gale, and several others. Eventually, I would like to put together a collected volume of Reanimator Mysteries related short stories.

Trousers and Trouble– I am so sorry to my readers who have been waiting years for this book. Between burnout, covid, life stuff, etc., it was really hard to write a book about trans joy. Once again, after the Reanimator books are done, I will revisit this book, and this series to write books for other characters mentioned in this one and Kinship and Kindness.

Dinosaur Duology– So I think it’s a duology. In my head, that’s the structure of it, before and after a giant event, but that is subject to change. There are also some other things I would like to explore within the same time period, so I don’t know what the structure of this series will be or if there will be an off-shoot book. I have no idea, but it’s marinating.

Scandinavian flavored epic fantasy– the series that will be cooking the longest because I don’t know if I am smart and/or talented enough to pull it off yet. I have lots of sparkly ideas and aesthetics, but those do not make a book, unfortunately.

For now, these are the works I have on the docket and the backburner. I hope you will stay tuned as I talk more about my current and future projects!

Monthly Review

March 2024 Wrap-Up Post

March 31, 2024March 30, 2024 Kara JorgensenLeave a comment

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

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

Books

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

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

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

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

Blogs

Writing

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

Hopes for April

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

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

Personal Life · Writing

My End of 2023 Reflection

December 31, 2023 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

I’m not going to lie, I have been putting off writing a yearly review of 2023. By and large, this year has been awesome. My book won awards, I had a record number of preorders on The Reanimator’s Soul, I wrote a whole book, things have gone well– more than well. On the other hand, there were things that happened that upset me and have continued to grate on me all year. My fear is that this reflection will come off as unnecessarily bitter, which I don’t want for you (my readers) or for myself. I don’t want someone else’s assholery to poison my soul and that is something I will be working on as we move into 2024, especially since so many great things happened this year. Without further ado, let’s get into it.

Things That Went Really Well

This year has been awesome, and I want to thank my readers for that. Without you all, I wouldn’t have had nearly as good a year. You all were so enthusiastic about The Reanimator’s Soul‘s release in October, and you all put up The Reanimator’s Heart for a bunch of awards/categories. As someone who is a bit self-deprecating when it comes to awards, I was shocked to see my books repeatedly put up. Seriously, thank you all. The Reanimator’s Heart won third place in BBNYA 2023 (Book Blogger’s Novel of the Year Awards 2023) out of over 250 entries. My books are also up for the Indie Ink Awards in several categories, and The Reanimator’s Heart won “best historical fiction” in the Queer Indie Awards.

The Reanimator’s Heart was also Meet Cute Bookshop’s LGBT romance read for September. Hell, MY BOOK WAS IN A PHYSICAL STORE! That alone just blew my mind. I was also interviewed by Geeks Out about my books/writing. More importantly, my books got more fan art! I love artwork so much, and every time I find out that someone was moved to create something based around my characters I am just over the moon. Few things make me happier than fan art. I also commissioned art from OblivionsDream and really want to do that again in 2024.

I don’t want to go into sales numbers and all the nitty gritty of that, but I had a good year in that regard. I’ve been trying to build on the momentum of The Reanimator’s Heart‘s release with book two, and I think I achieved that. I had the most preorders I have ever had, which I did not expect at all. My sales overall have been strong (for me), and I’m hoping I can keep that up in 2024 as well. I’m also hoping that the various awards and such will sort of keep stoking that fire.

Things That Didn’t Go As Great

I need to get better at writing consistently. It’s something I have struggled with this year. Overall, I wrote quite a bit, but I often feel like my attention is all over the place. Stretching my attention muscles is something I really do want to work on going forward as well as getting into a more consistent writing routine. This year had some chaos that I know messed specifically with this. If I’m mentally doing not great, my writing suffers first, and when my writing isn’t going well, I can’t get mentally balanced. It is a vicious cycle.

When I was called for jury duty in July, my OCD kicked up. This was compounded by some assholerly caused by another author who repeatedly made my life miserable by being a bully to me and others I know. The first instance of this didn’t cause me that much angst back in February because, while angry about how they treated someone else, I muted/blocked them, deleted my reviews of their books, and said good riddance. Unfortunately, several months later (when my OCD was already acting up) they reappeared when they got in a beef with someone else I know. The bullying person somehow got access to conversations where several of us talked about our shared experiences of them being weirdly passive aggressive or being a straight-up bully, and they made our lives miserable. I ended up having to lock my Twitter for a bit because I was getting cryptic replies and ghost rts, despite having the other person blocked everywhere. It was stress I neither needed nor wanted.

Going forward, I need to move on. I know I have been stewing on this because this person hasn’t been negatively impacted at all, despite bullying ND people several times this year that I know of, because they sick their followers on anyone who even mentions they have behaved poorly. If you follow me on social media, you may have heard me mention that my hair fell out from stress; this was why. My brain doesn’t want to leave it alone, but it isn’t healthy to dwell and frankly, calling them out on it will only backfire on me. I have to accept that and focus on maintaining my mental health in 2024 and working on my stress levels. Taking care of my brain is something I need to get better about. My plan in 2024 is to forget they exist and wait til karma catches up with them or they pick a fight with the wrong person.

Things I’m Thankful For

Let’s clear the air of negativity by ending with talking about the people and things I am very thankful for this year.

All of you. Seriously, every one of my readers who have read my books, suggested them to others, left reviews, made art, replied kindly to my posts, you all have made my life so much brighter this year. I wish nothing but the best for you in 2024, whether that’s success, prosperity, peace, healing, I hope you get it.

My partner. My partner has been going on a journey of their own with their gender, mental health, neurodivergence, etc. This year has been tough for both of us, but my partner has been nothing but supportive, kind, and loving, even when dealing with their own stuff. I love them immensely and cannot wait for another year with them.

My author friends who are my social network, my moral support system, and vast wells of knowledge. I couldn’t ask for better peeps to hang with than all of you. I plan to keep cheering you all on in the coming year.

And of course, my students, who make my daily life so much brighter, richer, and sillier.

Overall, this was a really fantastic year, and I just wanted to thank all of you [again] for making it one.

I’ll be posting a goals for 2024 post soon, so stay tuned for more on that in the coming weeks. I hope you all have a safe and happy new year!

Book Reviews

My 10 Top Reads of 2023

December 24, 2023December 17, 2023 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

I have a love-hate relationship with so many end of year wrap-up posts, but I do want to give a shout out to some books that I really enjoyed this year. I decided to cut it off at ten books to avoid completely overloading the post, but I hope you will find some new books or authors to add to your to-be-read pile. The books mentioned below are not in any particular order.

Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse- a Western novel set in a post-apocalyptic-ish setting where angels rule over humans and two sisters much work together to survive and solve a murder.
Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire- I love a Wayward Children book, but I especially loved this one. It takes place outside the school and follows a young woman who is forced to grow too fast due to the adults in her life. There’s also a magical store, ala the House of Many Ways.
Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom- a nonfiction book about the history of books bound in human skin. If you like Caitlin Doughty’s books or books about death that are socially conscious without being salacious, this one is for you.
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone- this was probably the hot book of the year, but I really loved it. Sapphic enemies to lovers between two time agents of opposite sides of a time war changing history and leaving each other puzzle sounds weird, but it was phenomenal.
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw- a horror story with a mute, terrifying mermaid who teams up with a nonbinary plague doctor to survive and save a village of children from monsters with human faces. It’s very much a medical horror story, and I loved it.
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang- if you have been on writing Twitter long enough, a lot of what goes on in this book should be familiar to you. A white woman writer steals a dead Asian author’s book, descends into madness, and commits other atrocities along the way. *chef kiss*
Luke and Billy Finally Get a Clue by Cat Sebastian- two professional baseball players realize they’re more than teammates or bench buddies when one gets injured an the other gets feelings. Very cozy and comforting.
Over My Dead Body by Greg Melville- another nonfiction book about the dead, but this time it’s about how cemeteries influence society and how society influences cemeteries. I really loved how much Melville goes into how people of color, the poor, indigenous people, and other marginalized groups are affected even in death.
Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir- I never thought I’d be raving about the himbo-ification of a princess, but here we are. Muir turns the princess in a tower trope on its head with a princess who takes matters into her own hands. Perfect for fans of The Princess Bride.
She Loves to Cook & She Loves to Eat by Sakaomi Yuzaki- this is a sapphic manga series about two neighbors who bond over their love of cooking and eating. The series is a sweet slow burn as these two navigate friendship and perhaps more. In more recent volumes, we also get more friends and neighbors to add greater depth to the story.

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10 Books on my Wishlist in 2024

December 10, 2023November 22, 2023 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

As we head ever closer to the end of the year, I thought I might make a very non-exhaustive list of books that I am dying to get my hands on when they come out next year. To be clear, this is definitely not every book I have been eyeing, and if it was, you probably wouldn’t want to sit through that lengthy blog post. I’m also confining this list to the first half of 2024 for simplicity’s sake and because you never know if things will get pushed back or cancelled. Without further ado, here are 10 of the books I am looking forward to in early 2024 in the order of their release date:

The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton (2/6)- Sapphic, fae, and with the decadence of late 1800s Paris, what more could you ask for? The cover is also gorgeously art noveau, and I am sucker for the beauty of the book as I am for Jamie’s work.
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden (2/13)- If you haven’t read The Bear and the Nightingale yet, you need to. Arden’s books are so atmospheric and dreamy while still being grounded in the horrors of reality. While this book is set during WWI, I know she’ll do the horrors and tragedy of war justice.
Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares (2/20)- As soon as I saw genderbent Zorro with magic, I was sold. It sounds amazing, and I will take any and all Zorro reimaginings.
A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal (2/20)- A secret tearoom catering to vampires, a dangerous heist, and a ragtag group of outcasts who may or not be on the heroine’s side sounds like the perfect book for someone who loves Gail Carriger’s works and We Hunt the Flame.
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark (3/24)- I adore P. Djèlí Clark’s books. He creates so much texture and characterization in few words, and whether it’s djinn or assassins, I’m here for it.
Wake Me Most Wickedly by Felicia Grossman (4/9)- A historical romance set in mid-1800s London, featuring Jewish characters is good enough on its own, but once you add in nods to Snow White, I am thoroughly sold, especially knowing we get to see characters introduced in Marry Me By Midnight.
The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo (5/7)- If Nghi Vo writes it, I will buy it. This story follows Cleric Chih as they escort a bride to her new home, which is haunted by the ghosts of past wives, a mad son, and far more dangerous monsters. East Asian Gothic is a genre I need more of in my life.
You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian (5/7)- A baseball player and a reporter come together for an article but find there might be more between them than just an article. From the description, it sounds like they will deal with grief, secrets, being out, and knowing Cat’s work, it’ll be like a warm hug.
Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse (6/4)- This is the final book in the Between Earth & Sky series, where we return to an alternate version of Indigenous Central America, complete with magic, gods, and creatures. This series has me in a death grip, and while I’m not one for morally grey/bad characters, Serapio has me in a death grip.
The Sitcom Star by Jackie Lau (???)- I backed Jackie’s Kickstarter last month, so I’ll be getting this book and the sequel in January, but I’m not sure when it’s coming to other retailers. It’s about a star looking to get away for a while who accidentally runs into her childhood friend, literally, he spills boba tea on her. Jackie’s romances are always so carefully and lovingly written and jive with my ND brain that she is on my autobuy list.