Tag: june 2025 wrap-up

new blog post: june 2025 wrap-up post June 2025 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

June 2025 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

Part of me would love to say that this month went really well because I got quite a bit of writing done, but the other part of me looks at the dumpster fire and chaos around me and feels otherwise. Either way, I am happy that I feel like I have finally found my stride with The Reanimator’s Fate. Let’s look at our goals for June before we get started.

  • Write at least 20,000 words of The Reanimator’s Fate (TRM #4)
  • Try to write every single day at least a little to be consistent
  • Get the audiobook for The Reanimator’s Remains (TRM #3) out everywhere
  • Maintain my mental health and balancing my writing and hobbies to avoid burnout
  • Catch up on my stitch-a-long
  • Exercise consistently
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my monthly newsletter
  • Enjoy my 20th anniversary with my partner

Books

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

  1. The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting (#1) by KJ Charles- 5 stars, two fortune hunting but charming young people come to London hoping to find stability and find more than they bargained for when the young man sets his sights on the well-off niece of a cranky brewer only to fall for the brewer instead.
  2. Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date (#3) by Ashley Herring Blake- 4 stars, Iris has sworn off love after too many failed relationships while Stevie is trying to get back into the dating world after leaving a long-term relationship. When anxiety wrecks a one night stand with Iris, Stevie thinks she’ll never see her again until they end up in the same queer community theater production.
  3. The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter (#3) by Yatsuki Wakatsu- 4 stars, an accountant ends up accidentally ending up in a new world along with the woman fated to save it only to find out he’s allergic to magic and the only one who can keep him safe is a very serious, slightly overprotective knight. The world’s books are a mess, and they may be the key to saving the kingdom.
  4. The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter (#4) by Yatsuki Wakatsu- 4 stars, see above.
  5. The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter (#5) by Yatsuki Wakatsu- 5 stars, see above.
  6. I Hear the Sunspot: Four Seasons (#3) by Yuki Fumino- 4 stars, a hard-of-hearing man joins a new company only to realize he’s stepped in it in regards to one of his coworkers. Meanwhile, his boyfriend is struggling with his own issues at work and how to deal with being a queer person.
  7. The Duke at Hazard (#2) by KJ Charles- 4 stars, a duke ends up duped out of his signet ring and goes on a mission, while incognito, to find it only to run into a ruined noble who might be the key to helping him find it.
  8. Mr. Collins in Love by Lee Welch- 4 stars, a very sympathetic retelling of Pride and Prejudice from Mr. Collins’s point of view where he is neurodivergent and struggling to maintain the life he desperately wants to keep. His life changes for the better when he runs into his childhood best friend only to realize it runs up against his patroness’s desire for him to find a wife.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Wrote the initial blurb for The Reanimator’s Fate
  • Published The Reanimator’s Remains (TRM #3) on Amazon, Audible, Apple Books, Spotify, Chirp, Nook, Kobo, LibroFM, library systems, and every other major audiobook platform
  • Enjoyed my 20th anniversary with my partner
  • Got my partner’s blood work done (this gets a spot here because it was an ordeal)
  • Made my goals for Q3
  • Edited someone else’s book
  • Took a weight-lifting hiatus due to the heat
  • Played Coral Island extensively to maintain my sanity
  • Incessantly bothered my senators and congress person
  • Fell even further behind on my stitch-a-long project (oops)

Blogs

Writing

While I didn’t hit my goal for the month, I did write quite a bit and feel like I’ve finally hit my stride. The beginnings of books are where I struggle most. It feels like there are so many paths open that it is overwhelming to me. By the time I hit the end of act 1, I find my footing, and my daily word counts get progressively larger. Part of the problem is that the #3.5 short story took longer to write than I expected, and then, I had to restart the beginning of TRF because I didn’t like it. This version is significantly better, and I will not yeet this draft into the void. Oliver and Felipe are dealing with a case of death by book while also grappling with librarians being weird, buildings with a mind of their own, and of course, their own neuroses getting the better of them. Next month, I will have more to show you and talk about, so stay tuned.

Hopes for July

  • Write at least 20,000 words of TRF
  • Set up the preorder for TRF
  • Work a little on the rewrite of F&F
  • Manage my stress better as a USian living in this hellscape
  • Keep up with my bullet journal better
  • Catch up with my cross-stitch
  • Enjoy my birthday
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • send out my monthly newsletter