Tag: writer life

new blog post: september 2025 wrap-up post September 2025 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

September 2025 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

I don’t know about anyone else, but September was the month of chaos for me. Between random family stuff, a bunch of medical appointments, and other things beyond my control, I felt like I was pulled in ten different directions this month. At the same time, I do feel like I did decently but not on my goals for September. Let’s take a look at what they were.

  • Write 20,000 words of TRF
  • Work more on F&F rewrite
  • Set up my goals for Q4
  • Cover reveal
  • Set up preorder for TRF
  • Stay on top of grading
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out newsletter

Books

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

  1. A Letter from the Lonesome Shore (#2) by Sylvie Cathrall- 4 stars, the final book in a duology set beneath the sea and told through letters and other found objects. It’s a really cool idea, and I absolutely love the main characters. At the same time, some of the characters come off as juvenile or weirder than they’re meant to.
  2. The Dragon’s Promise (#3) by Elizabeth Lim- 4 stars, the second half of Six Crimson Cranes follows the main characters are they reclaim their positions and figure out how to untangled their world from promises made with dragons. I loved the glimpses of history we get from this book and how they tie to the prequel book.
  3. Eaters of the Dead by Kevin J. Wetmore Jr.- 5 stars, a fantastic nonfiction book about how cannibalistic monsters tie back to death rites, famine, and other sociological causes. It was incredibly interesting and very useful if you are someone who is into why monsters appear and how they fit into our history.
  4. Her Radiant Curse (#0) by Elizabeth Lim- 4 stars, this feels more like a third book than a prequel. It needs to be read after The Dragon’s Promise to avoid spoilers for that series. I think I actually liked this better than the other two books in the series. Lim does a fantastic job weaving in folklore into fantasy.
  5. Conquering Writer’s Block by K. M. Weiland- 4 stars, useful for people who need a little reminder as to what is important how to untangle ourselves from brain chaos and doubt. For someone who has been writing for a long time, it’s nothing you don’t already know, but I do think hearing these things and refreshing our memories with a less than a hundred page book can make it worth it and useful when floundering.
  6. The Summer War by Naomi Novik- 5 stars, a book about sibling relationships, ineffectual parents, and how people need to stick together to create a better future. I especially loved how one of the main themes/messages is that leaving anyone behind means leaving everyone behind.
  7. A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, a creepy rather than scary horror book about a house haunted by familial expectation. Really creepy and deliciously soft yet ghoulish (as many of T. Kingfisher’s books are). It probably won’t do it for diehard horror fans, but for chickens like me, it was great.
  8. To Clutch a Razor (#2) by Veronica Roth- 4 stars, a novella about dealing with familial trauma, revenge, and how to make things right. I absolutely LOVE this series and how it combines folklore and modern settings.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Set up the preorder for The Reanimator’s Fate
  • Made my goals for Q4
  • Set up my kanban board for Q4
  • The Reanimator’s Remains won in 3 categories of the Indie Ink Awards
  • Created a retroactive outline for The Reanimator’s Fate as I work on it
  • Did celebratory sushi for morale
  • Got my flu and covid shots
  • Got my car inspected and got my partner’s ID done
  • Paid Q2 author taxes
  • Went to my specialist appoint (just a refill, I’m fine)
  • Took my partner for blood work and doctor appointments
  • Dealt with family health stuff (partner’s, not mine but you know how it is)
  • Stayed on top of my grade… yay *laugh-sob*

Blogs

Writing

Writing this month was equal parts productive and chaotic. I had weeks where things went really well, but toward the end of the month, things went rapidly downhill due to external family chaos and a week full of appointments between me and my partner. I think I would have done better if we didn’t have so much crammed so close together, and as an autistic person, it’s really hard for me to do anything before an appointment and I often need to decompress after an appointment. It just takes the life out of me, as does unpredictable things that have to be done to help someone else. The Reanimator’s Fate has been going well, even with a week of no writing, and I’m really excited having it come out in late January. It will definitely be done by then, *knock on wood*.

Hopes for October

  • Write 20,000 words
  • Keep up with grades
  • Maintain my mental health
  • Make a dent in Christmas shopping
  • Read 8 books
  • Blog weekly
  • Send out my monthly newsletter
  • Cover reveal??

new blog post: my end of 2024 reflection My End of 2024 Reflection
Personal Life · Writing

My End of 2024 Reflection

Kara Jorgensen3 Comments

Let me tell you, this year was SO MUCH better than last year. 2023 was horrendous, and while 2024 has not been great on a national scale, on a personal level it has been a breath of fresh air.

The word I had chosen for my word of the year for 2024 was “navigate” because I felt like I had been tossed into turbulent waters due to the fact that I was being harassed and besmirched by Freydis Moon/Taylor Barton, and I couldn’t tell anyone. They were a dark cloud looming over anything good that happened to me, and I was constantly afraid that any time I got attention, they would pounce on me. This meant every book release or awards announcement was riddled with anxiety since they did this to other authors they didn’t like in the past. In late April when they were finally exposed by Elle Porter, it felt like a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders. The thing that had been too afraid to discuss publicly was finally out in the open, and FM/TB could no longer hurt me. I spent the rest of April and half of May vibrating with equal parts relief and anxiety, waiting for the other shoe to drop. My writing slowed to a crawl at the fear of retaliation and while processing all that had happened, but it was worth it. The only good thing to come out of FM’s assholery is that I have picked up a few new friends who experienced the same thing, and I’ve grown closer to another author I have a lot in common because of it.

On the writing front, it was actually a rather good year. Even with the wasted month, I wrote, edited, and published, “An Unexpected Question” (TRM #2.5), The Reanimator’s Remains (TRM #3), and started writing “An Unexpected Evening” (TRM #3.5). There’s always part of me that wished I wrote more, especially since that month off set me back and gave me a lot of stress in October when it was close to release day, but overall, I’m very happy with everything I published this year. The Reanimator’s Heart (TRM #1) and The Reanimator’s Soul (TRM #2) were both in the 2023 Indie Ink Awards, and TRS won for mental health representation, and book 3 is nominated in a bunch of categories for the 2024 Indie Ink Awards.

This year, I was invited to be on a few queer podcasts, I blurbed a friend’s book, and I got to work with some great people, like Jack R. R. Evans, who narrates my audiobooks, and Crowglass Design, who creates the covers for my books. I can’t thank enough my author friends for all the support they provided during all of this (and before and after). I also can’t forget my readers, who made the launch of The Reanimator’s Remains so wonderful. Without you all, there would be no books, or at least no audience for my books, and your support means so much to me. Seriously though, the reviews, shout outs about my book on social media, and the little things daily mean the world to me.

In my personal life, things have been going very well. My partner and I have both been on our own gender journeys, where we’ve been trying to figure out what brings us gender euphoria. During this process, we’ve become even closer. We both still struggle with our mental health and neurodivergence at time (are really ND if you don’t get in your own way regularly? lol), but I do feel like I’ve finally found a path toward better physical health. I have started lifting weights, and it’s been interesting to see how getting stronger has intertwined with my own version of nonbinary-ness.

I’m going to write more about my goals for 2025 in a future post, but with the way this year ended, I’m going into 2025 with far more hope than I did going into 2024. More than anything, I hope you all have a fantastic new year filled with good health, fulfilling projects, safe shores, and supportive people who love you.

new blog post: What I Learned from Writing TRR What I Learned from Writing TRR
Writing

What I Learned from Writing TRR

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

Every book is a learning experience. This is something I have been trying to drill into my college students’ heads while teaching my novel writing class this semester. No two projects are the same, and every book teaches you new things. Some more than others. The Reanimator’s Remains (TRM #3) is one of those books where I felt like I stretched myself and came out the other side a better writer. This isn’t a blog patting myself on the back. It’s more so a postmortem on what I think I did right this time.

The Reanimator’s Remains is the third book in the Reanimator Mysteries series, so I was working with characters I had already worked with twice before. This is important because I think being able to grow as a writer can be dependent upon being comfortable in other areas of the book. Knowing who Oliver, Gwen, and Felipe are and being very confident in portraying them made it much easier to step out of my comfort zone when it came to plot level intricacies. I had never really written a plot (or subplot) that relied upon flashbacks. As a creative writing teacher, I know these things can go badly fast. I was worried about how to sprinkle Felipe’s memories into the story in a way that a) feels natural b) doesn’t break up the action too much c) is useful to the story/his characterization. Felipe is a character who holds his cards close to his chest, so the chance of him spilling all of his traumatic backstory to Oliver was slim to none. Ultimately, I decided the best way to deal with this was through dreams (which can be risky in their own way), but the dreams end up tied into the overarching plot of the story, not due to Felipe’s memories per se but something else. Each dream ended with Felipe waking up in a way that scared and/or disoriented him, which helped to keep the tension from dipping after. I think the big thing about feeling like you leveled up your writing is that you’re just more aware of all the moving parts and how they link together. Instead of dropping them, I have been focused on how can one feed another.

The other thing with this book that I think made it a little better than my previous stories is that I leaned into the things my writers like or have told me I’m good at, which comes down to rich descriptions and crying men. I don’t like drama for the sake of drama in books, which is why I hate third act break-ups in romance novels. With this book, we have two established main characters who love each other very much. They are each other’s main vulnerability, and at this point we know their fears. Half of writing The Reanimator’s Remains was playing on Oliver and Felipe’s fears, especially the ones readers are already privy to. This sort of thing upped the ante when it came to the tension between the characters, and even if readers know things will end up all right, they are still feeding off the other character’s fear. My favorite thing to write is the third act mental breakdown (as opposed to a break-up) where one of the characters has to be exceedingly vulnerable and the other has to meet them where they are and accept them for the hot mess they are. It’s a level of emotional intimacy that just makes the romance so much deeper. This book also has a sex scene that isn’t a sex scene, but I won’t go too deep into that because I don’t want to go too much into spoiler land. All I will say is that sex scenes are about being naked and vulnerable, and the sex scene that isn’t a sex scene is all about letting someone else care for you when you struggle to let down your guard.

Something I feel awkward about sometimes is how I write descriptions. I love a lot of detail. My writing influences are very Victorian, which means I enjoy a useful, well-placed description rich in detail. Part of me worries my descriptions are boring or that modern audiences don’t like them, but I have to remind myself that my audience likes a beefy, evocative description. I actually had a reader tell me how much she loved the creepy cathedral in The Reanimator’s Heart, so in book 3, I was like f it, I’m writing a creepy forest, and you all are going to like it. So I went ass-deep into research about bogs, forests, etc. and let the freak fly when it came to my descriptions. I am a romantic goremonger by nature, so I leaned into it in this book with the Dysterwood, the dead people, and the [redacted] mentioned in the story.

As you become more comfortable with your style as a writer, you need to lean into the things that drew people to your work in the first place. Sometimes, you can go overboard, but for the most part, appealing to your readers by playing to your strengths is rarely a bad thing. Do what you do but better. Keep an eye on all of the spinning plates and figure out how to make your narrative work by having the pieces feed off each other rather than act as discrete, separate parts of the plot/construction. Most of all, never stop trying to get better at your craft and learning.

new blog post: october 2024 wrap-up post October 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

October 2024 Wrap-Up Post

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. The Wonder Engine (#2) by T. Kingfisher- 4 stars, see The Clockwork Boys above.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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)
new blog post august 2024 wrap-up post August 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

August 2024 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

Where the hell did August go?? This managed to be the shortest month ever for me, though I think that has to do with prepping for the new semester while trying to get my shit together with book 3 of the The Reanimator Mysteries. Let’s take a look at our goals 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

Books

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

  1. White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo- 4 stars, a nonfiction book that looks at why white people react so poorly to being told they are (or might be) racist. A good primer but not super in-depth.
  2. Shiver (#1) by Maggie Stiefvater- 4 stars, a girl is attacked by wolves as a child only to fall in love with the werewolf who saved her. This is very much a YA romance, but I loved every second of it. Sometimes we need angst teen romances.
  3. Cheese by Andrew Dalby- 4 stars, a nonfiction book about the history of cheese. Interesting, but part of me wishes it was more in-depth.
  4. Mushroom by Cynthia D. Bertlesen- 4 stars, from the same series as the book on cheese, this book looks at the history and science of mushrooms. The look at mushroom philic v. phobic countries was quite interesting.
  5. Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth- 4 stars, a dystopian, futuristic reimagining of Antigone. Very interesting set-up, and I like how the focus on reproductive writes and memory were handled in this version.
  6. When Among Crows by Veronica Roth- 5 stars, a fantastic fantasy book set in a monster-filled modern Chicago with an Eastern European flare. I absolutely loved the characters and the world. You know a novella is good when you wish it was longer or that there was a sequel.
  7. The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P.Djèlí Clark- 5 stars, another fantastic short book. We have an undead assassin working for a goddess, a case that goes very wrong, wibbly wobbly time, and a really rich world.
  8. Broodmother by Vesper Doom- 4 stars, a folk horror short story featuring some incredibly scary and gross cicadas. No offense to the cicadas, but they were quite horrifying.

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

  • Prepped all my class stuff (except the content for my new class, oops)
  • Prepared for the Naratess Indie Sale
  • Advertised my butt off for the Naratess Indie Sale
  • Edited over half of The Reanimator’s Remains
  • Continued to write The Reanimator’s Remains (nearly done, had to fix some stuff)
  • Barely maintained my grip on my sanity, but I did it
  • Listened to my body and did more creative/fun things to keep from McLosingIt
  • Joined the Plants and Petrichor Stitch-a-long, hosted by FineFrogStitching, and have been keeping up with it
  • Had a good first week of teaching my classes
  • Had to put a new battery in my car on the first day of classes because it died in the driveway .-. (it’s been a week, peeps)
  • Brainstormed how I might add to the Paranormal Society Romance series in the future
  • Blogged weekly
  • Sent out my newsletter

Blogs

Writing

I forgot to chart my writing progress this month because I’ve been writing as much as I can. Truthfully, there were weeks where I felt my brain starting to spark, so I had to slow down for a few days. I’m trying to be better about listening to my body and not running myself into the ground. This is a constant struggle for me as I will self-flagellate about not doing enough. Luckily, editing the first 60% of the book helped to get me back on track and figure out where I needed to go with the last chunk. That’s something I usually have to do during the writing process, even though I resist it every friggin time. I’m actually really proud of this book. It’s definitely different than books 1 and 2. It’s quieter and a bit more internal, even though there’s a lot going on in terms of the mystery and learning more about Oliver’s background. That’s also why I’ve been feeling a bit self-conscious about it. I worry readers won’t necessarily enjoy it as much because it isn’t as swashbuckly at the other two. Maybe it is and I’m just hung up on something that’s a non-issue. Either way, I guess I’ll find out when it comes out in October or when my ARC readers get their hands on it.

Hopes for September

  • 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
new blog post: june 2024 wrap-up post June 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

June 2024 Wrap-Up Post

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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)
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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
new blog post: may 2024 wrap-up post May 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

May 2024 Wrap-Up Post

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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!
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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
new blog post: august 2023 wrap-up post August 2023 Wrap-up Post
Monthly Review

August 2023 Wrap-up Post

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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

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
new blog post: july 2023 wrap-up post July 2023 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

July 2023 Wrap-Up Post

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.

  1. 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.
  2. Falling Bodies by Rebecca Roanhorse- 4 stars, a short story/novella set in space that speaks to the issues surrounding trans-racial adoptions
  3. The Ancient Magus’s Bride (#18) by Kore Yamazaki- 4 stars, an action-packed volume with some good reveals.
  4. 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.
  5. 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
  6. On or Off (#2) by A1- 4 stars, see above
  7. On or Off (#3) by A1- 4 stars, see above
  8. On or Off (#4) by A1- 4 stars, see above
  9. 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.
  10. 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?
  11. Sappho: A New Translation by Diane J. Rayor-4 stars, an interesting glimpse into how little we have of Sappho’s works
  12. 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
April 2023 wrap-up post April 2023 Wrap-Up Post
Monthly Review

April 2023 Wrap-Up Post

Kara Jorgensen3 Comments

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

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

Books

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

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

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

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

Blogs Posted

Writing

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

Hopes for May

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