A Preview of The Reanimator’s Remains

October 20, 2024October 20, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

The Reanimator’s Remains (TRM #3) comes out on October 29th, so about a little over a week from now! In order to whet your appetite, I thought I would share another lengthy excerpt. This time from chapter one. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter One: Secrets and Surprises

Oliver Barlow did not keep secrets or enjoy surprises, yet he found himself eagerly doing both for Felipe. As Oliver buttoned his waistcoat, he went over the plan for that night’s outing once more. First, he would borrow one of the Paranormal Society’s steamers and take Felipe to the botanical gardens. Oliver wasn’t certain Felipe particularly cared about plants, but he enjoyed walking far more than sitting through a play. Besides, going to the greenhouses would be like visiting forests and gardens all over the world without ever leaving New York. Unlike at the theater, they could freely talk, and there was still a chance they could sneak a touch or kiss on a secluded trail. On the way back to the society, Oliver planned to stop at an Italian restaurant Louisa and Agatha had raved about. Felipe had mentioned wanting to have dinner there one day, but in the chaos of cases and meetings, they had never gotten around to it. Oliver wasn’t certain if the restaurant served dessert, so he double checked the maps in the archives to confirm there were places nearby where they could get an egg cream or some rugelach if Felipe was still peckish.

Oliver drew in a calming breath and shook out his hands to keep Felipe from feeling his anxiety on the other end of the tether. He didn’t need him running down to check on him and ruining the surprise. After listening to confirm Felipe hadn’t reached the laboratory or closet outside his basement bedroom yet, Oliver retrieved the strong box from under his bed. Tucked under papers and old photographs sat a ring box. A nervous smile crossed his lips as he turned it over in his hands. More than anything, he wanted Felipe to enjoy their outing because when they got back to the apartment, Oliver would give him a ring. Popping open the box, he marveled at the way the globe of polished amber set in gold caught the light. When he first saw the amber ring in a display case at the jeweler’s, he couldn’t get it out of his mind. Inside the fossilized resin were bits of ancient flower petals forever frozen in time, but what truly drew him to it was that the amber was nearly the exact shade of Felipe’s eyes when they caught the sunlight. He even got it inscribed with My light in the darkness to drive home to Felipe how much he meant to him. A man who reminded Oliver of all the beauty and softness in the world deserved a ring that reflected that light and life.

Oliver’s thumb drifted to the gold and black enamel band on his ring finger. Even though he wore it every day and kept it on a chain around his neck during autopsies, he still couldn’t believe it was there. He had never expected to be proposed to or to be proposing to Felipe. Men like them rarely found someone, let alone someone who wanted to stay with them forever. Oliver knew it was different at the Paranormal Society, that they could have some semblance of permanency and normalcy, but he never expected that he would find anyone who loved him like that. When Felipe had suggested they take a trip to Coney Island to relax, Oliver never thought it would end with Felipe presenting him with a ring and asking him to spend the rest of his life with him. Oliver swallowed hard at the memory. He would have given anything for that, proposal or not, but the ring with its grinning skeleton and Felipe’s message of Don’t go where I can’t follow was as much a memento mori as it was a memento vivere. If Oliver had his way, they would have so many more years together.

Shutting the ring away, Oliver shoved the strong box back under the bed with his foot. Felipe knew the proposal was eventually coming; Oliver had asked him if he could do it in return after all, but even if it couldn’t be a true surprise, he wanted Felipe to feel special and loved, the way he had made Oliver feel. At the clack of the laboratory door, Oliver stuffed the ring box into the jacket he left hanging on the desk chair and scrambled to his feet. He had just finished smoothing the wrinkles from his trousers when the bedroom door opened, and Felipe slipped inside with a tired sigh. His curly brown hair and suit were rumpled, and beneath his eyes, dark circles blotted his tan skin, but when he saw Oliver watching him, a relieved smile spread across his lips. Oliver crossed the room in two strides and caught his partner in his arms. The shorter man sagged against him in a boneless heap.

“That bad?” Oliver asked with a small smile.

Felipe grunted into Oliver’s chest. “You don’t know the half of it. You’re lucky you work down here. If it wouldn’t make a mess for both of us, I would fully retire now just to not have to deal with these meetings.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Everyone’s getting on my nerves,” Felipe replied, leaning into Oliver’s touch as he combed his fingers through his hair. “During the meeting, the head inspector let us know that a case is being transferred to us from the New Jersey Paranormal Society, so of course, everyone has to pipe up that they are too busy to take it. It couldn’t possibly go to them. Give it to someone else.”

“Do you want to take it?”

“God no, but I didn’t start griping about how we’ve been run off our feet since the Institute for the Betterment of the Soul case. Everyone is busy. Yelling at each other and fighting over whose case is bigger isn’t going to make us any less short staffed. Besides, it hasn’t even been officially transferred to our branch. None of us even know what the case is about, so why start making trouble before we even know what we’re up against?”

“I’m assuming there’s no corpse, or it would be my problem too.”

Kissing the top of Felipe’s head, Oliver inhaled the familiar scent of his aftershave mixed with coffee. When his lips traveled down Felipe’s cheek and into the hollow beneath his jaw, the other man’s hands tightened on Oliver’s back and a low moan broke from his throat. Oliver’s tongue rasped against Felipe’s stubble as his lover’s hands snaked under his waistcoat and down his backside. Halfway down the dark blue wool, Felipe’s hand stilled.

Opening his eyes, he pulled back to look over Oliver’s form. “You’re in your new suit.”

“I am,” Oliver replied with a sly smile.

Felipe stepped back to take Oliver in. His walnut brown eyes raked over Oliver’s form, pausing pointedly on his navy-clad legs and backside as he circled him. A blush rose on Oliver’s cheeks at the heat in Felipe’s gaze. Letting out an appreciative whistle, he ran his hands down Oliver’s sides before kissing him in that slow, deliberate way that made every thought scatter like billiard balls.

“And what’s the occasion for so much color? Last time I saw you, you were in work charcoal.”

“I thought we could go out this evening. I have a whole itinerary. Unless you’re too tired, of course. We could always put it off until tomorrow if you would prefer to stay in. I don’t mind waiting.”

You can read the rest of chapter one when The Reanimator’s Remains comes out October 29th. Preorder it here. Paperbacks will be available very soon.

Writing

How to Deal with Writer’s Block and Imposter Syndrome

October 13, 2024October 6, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

This semester I’m teaching a class about writing a novel, and one of the things I am trying to emphasize is maintaining your mental health as a writer. I wanted my students to know all the things I had to learn the hard way or from other writers way too late, so I thought I would share my tips for dealing with writer’s block and imposter syndrome.

Writer’s Block

There is no such thing as writer’s block. Before you get mad at me, hear me out. What I mean by that is that there is no divine muse that has ripped away your ability to write and you may never write again. 99% of the time, there is a very fixable reason as to why you are blocked

How to fix writer’s block

Deal with your emotions– is there something bothering you? Sometimes you have a mental block. There is an emotion or thought that is clogging the pipes, and until you get rid of it, there will be no way to go forward. If you do need a good cry, embrace it, or if you think that will tank your ability to write afterward, you might consider writing about it in a journal or spending ten minutes to just dump whatever is in your head.
- Performance anxiety-Another version of this is that you’re ruminating on something you’re worried about with your story. Whether it’s a plot hole you need to fill or imposter syndrome, freewriting for a few minutes can eliminate that block.

You’re burnt out– Sometimes you’re just plain tired. Being mentally, physically, or emotionally drained can cause writer’s block. You are out of spoons, and you need to take a break. You might be on a deadline or rushing to finish something, but sometimes, taking a day off can make you more productive after. If you still feel fried after taking a day off from trying to work, you may be headed toward burnout and more self-care and rest may be necessary.
- Refill the well– This can be resting, watching tv, playing video games, going to a museum/concert, or doing crafts. Do what you need to in order to refill your creative well. In order to be creative, you need to also take things in that inspire you or stimulate your creativity.

Work on something else– This has the biggest caveat because if you have shiny idea syndrome, you will never complete anything, but sometimes you started working on something too early or you have another story that is loudly knocking at your brain, making it difficult to focus on your main project. You may want to give yourself a smaller amount of time to work on the other thing. Once you vent it out, you’ll probably have an easier time. If you worry you’re going to run with it and abandon your first project, then don’t do this one or only allow yourself a little side project as a treat.

You need to backtrack– One of the most common things for me when I get stuck is that I screwed up somewhere a few pages back, and somehow, my subconscious knows it but I don’t. Reread your story and see if you can figure out what went wrong. Sometimes it’s someone acting out of character, a missing beat/plot point, emotions that just aren’t ringing true, or an imbalance of action to introspection. Once you edit that bit and recalibrate, the words should start flowing again.
- Most commonly, this tends to be a character issue. We’ve written ourselves into a corner or in such a way that moving in the direction we want doesn’t make any sense. Using a reverse outline can help you avoid this sort of thing, though it does still happen.

Resistance– sometimes we get ourselves so wrapped up in the anxiety of starting that we can’t get going. Some tips for this is to set a 15 or 20 min timer and tidy up your writing space (less to fiddle with or feel stressed by). Then, sit down and read your work for 10-15 min. If you feel the need to tinker or edit as you do so, do it. Then, set the timer again for 15-20 minutes and write. Sometimes all we need is to force ourselves to start in order to get over that resistance. You can also try switching it up by opening a new doc, working on paper, using a white board. Lower the stakes.

Imposter Syndrome

What is imposter syndrome?
- It’s the feeling that you aren’t a real writer, artist, etc. and that if anyone looks closely, they’ll realize you’re a liar/faker. Basically, feeling you shouldn’t be given the label because you aren’t good enough. That sort of self-doubt can paralyze you or make you give up before you’ve even truly started.
How to deal with it:
- Remember that this is a very normal feeling. All of the writers and artists you look up to have also had imposter syndrome, and you still look up to them. There will never be a point when this fully goes away, even if you’re famous and on the New York Times bestseller list.
- Remember you are a writer if you write. If you have put pen to paper or finger to key while working on a story, you are a writer. People who put other writers down are insecure and projecting. If you have written, you are a writer.
- Keep a log of your accomplishments. It’s really easy to remember all the rejections, but you need to celebrate the wins, even the small ones. You sent out your manuscript to agents- celebrate! You wrote the end on a book- celebrate! You got your first 5 star review- celebrate!
- Talk to other writers about your feelings. Trust me when I say they will get it and will try to hype you up. Everyone has gone through it from time to time. The key is to not give in to those feelings and stop writing.
- Remember that everyone sucks. The books you see in stores are usually like the 5^th draft of a story and have been professionally edited. The first draft was a hot mess. If you think your writing is a hot mess, good. That’s part of the process, and it’s what editing and second drafts are for.

Monthly Review

August 2024 Wrap-Up Post

September 1, 2024September 1, 2024 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.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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

July 2024 Wrap-Up Post
Trusting Your Writing Intuition
10 Reasons to Read The Reanimator’s Remains
Get 2 Books for $2
August Newsletter

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

Writing

Trusting Your Writing Intuition

August 11, 2024August 11, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

As some of you may know, my writing process is a delicate dance of two steps forward, one step back. I’m a writer who edits as they go, which I know is not how many authors or writers work. There’s a lot of advice thrown around in the writing community about when to edit. Some people overthink things and need to power through a draft to get it out before going back and fixing it. I am not one of those people. I don’t like mess. When I cook or bake, I clean pans and utensils as I go. The same applies to my writing.

Recently, I was working on The Reanimator’s Remains (TRM #3) and was finding myself slowing. Every time I tried to work, I sort of stalled out, and I couldn’t figure out why. I had an outline, I knew where I was going, I double checked the outline made sense, yet I still couldn’t convince my brain that we needed to keep moving forward. Sitting with the feeling, I realized I wanted to edit earlier parts of the book. Not a major rewrite, but I wanted to tidy things up again and reacquaint myself with the first half of the book. I kept telling myself no. No, you need to write forward, not go back and fiddle with the book, especially when I already knew act 1 was solid.

For a few days, I ignored this compulsion to edit, and guess what happened: I still didn’t write. Finally, after several days of stalling, I gave in. I had Word read the book back to me, and I edited through the entire first half of The Reanimator’s Remains. It took two days since it’s already been gone over several times, and during those days, I didn’t write anything new. At the same time, I’m kicking myself for not doing it sooner. My subconscious was begging me to edit the first half of the book and reacquaint myself with the major threads before going on, but I ignored it. My brain literally had to force me to stop writing in order for me to listen.

The worst part is that I understand why I refused to stop. I need to be productive. I need to write every day. FORWARD MOMENTUM IS KEY. But editing is a large part of my process that helps me maintain forward momentum, and somehow, I forgot that key point. Going back through that chunk of the story helped to remind me of all the threads and little details I need to pluck at in the second half of the book. I made a list as I went through the first half and went through the parts of the second half that I’ve already written to sprinkle them back in. Continuity is key, and my memory is certainly not infallible. Actually, it’s more like an internet browser with 123 tabs open, so going back through the earlier parts of the book was vitally important to not making a huge mess had I gone further into the story without checking what I needed to add in.

This whole do I or don’t I edit again debacle really comes down to trusting your intuition. If your brain is saying, hey, we need to slow down and refresh our memories and/or tidy up, we need to listen to it. Often, your subconscious knows something you don’t. Same thing with when you stall out while writing and can’t figure out why. It’s usually because you messed something up earlier, and you need to fix it before going forward.

After over a decade of writing novels, this is still something I need to remind myself: trust that inner voice when it’s telling you to stop and regroup. 99% of the time it’s worth it.

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

Writing

Why I Will Never Be a “Brand”

July 7, 2024July 7, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

I’ve been thinking about brands, online personalities, and sincerity a lot lately. Without harping on past posts, let’s summarize the reason for this rumination as recent-past online trauma (if you know, you know).

Something you hear a lot as a new author is figuring out your “brand.” What’s your author brand? Build your author brand in 5 easy steps! Build your brand!

What building your brand should be is targeting your product to your ideal reader. Note: I said product. Your book is a product; you are not a product. I do have an author brand. I call it being a romantic goremonger. I write books with some gory, highly descriptive gross bits (usually medical in nature or having to do with a cadaver) while balancing that with lots of emotional intimacy between the two main characters. My ideal reader also enjoys historicals and is probably queer (or enjoys queer books) since those are basically all that I write. If you like Anne Rice, KJ Charles, Jordan L. Hawk, Cat Sebastian, Allie Therin, and Arden Powell, you’ll probably like my books.

What I don’t like and have come to actively distrust is creatives who treat their social media as an extension of their brand. There’s a big difference between throwing your audience a bone by posting a smutty snippet or sharing some cool research from your latest project and treating everything you post like it’s a direct reflection on you. When the latter happens, often people start posting less about things they actually care about and more about things that will reflect well on them as a brand. It’s the same reason corporations only post rainbow stuff in June or Black history infographics in February. It’s not that they care about any of these groups or want to foster equity of any sort. It’s that if they don’t, it’ll reflect poorly on their public image.

Years ago, I saw this mostly when authors completely refused to post anything “political” on their pages by abstaining from every mentioning a problem a person of color might face or that LGBT people exist. This was mostly due to the fear that people wouldn’t want to buy from them due to their lack of a stance (or conservative stance) on an issue. Unfortunately, we’re also starting to see it happen in the other direction where people make token posts about Palestine or trans rights because they feel they have to, not because they actually give a shit about either group. The idea is once again a preservation of their audience rather than a sincere post about something they care about. I’m totally fine with someone saying, “Hey, I’m not going to post about X because I don’t know enough about it.” I’d rather someone step back and educate themselves than make a knee-jerk post because they feel they have to. You should be supporting people of color, queer people, disabled people, etc. because you want to, not because you feel social pressure to do so. The social pressure on social media can absolutely drive this sort of insincerity, and I hate it immensely. The worst part is how many people seem very happy to tick off the boxes that make someone acceptable before supporting them when in reality it’s all for show and they don’t actually care.

Kara, how do you tell if someone cares? Well, at a glance, you really can’t.

This is the internet where everything is online for all to see, yet nothing is truly real. I think the only way you can truly judge is by looking at patterns of behavior. Do they continue support after X month is over? Do they seem to genuinely care about this topic/group? Do they retweet people who aren’t themselves posting about X thing? At the same time, some people only use their social media accounts for updates about their own stuff, so you have to take that into consideration. At a time where many people want a black and white litmus test for goodness or good rep, I’m here to remind you that nothing is that straightforward.

Going off of this, I will say the one rule of thumb that hasn’t proven me wrong yet is anyone who gets online and touts themself as an authority on anything is probably full of shit. Anyone who acts like they are the most queer, the most trans, the most Latinx, the most whatever because it makes them an absolute, unquestionable authority is probably pulling a Wizard of Oz act and hoping you can’t look behind the curtain to see who they really are. Authority should always be questioned, no matter if it’s in the community or outside of it. I feel like most people who know anything about something know that there is still a lot left to learn, and they are open to criticism or open to new information or outside perspectives. If someone’s online brand is that they are trying to cultivate a following that looks only to them or sees them as the ultimate authority on a marginalization or topic (like publishing), I would be very cautious as those people are usually grifters.

Has the idea of an author brand gone too far? I do kind of think so. The problem truly begins once a person gets a large enough following online. It seems around 3k-5k followers on most platforms is enough for fans/followers to start treating them less as a person and more of some random avatar that they can say whatever they want to as if they don’t have feelings. It’s weird, but I’ve seen it many times where people will suddenly say things to a person with a larger account that they would never say to someone they’re friends with who has 500 followers. The size of the account means the intimacy disappears and with it the humanity of the person holding the account. When we do that, we reduce a real person to only their posts, which makes it easier for grifters to turn themselves into an authority or “brand” that posts only to appease rather than sharing things they actually care about. Ultimately, it’s a problem that lies with the fans/followers as much as the creators. People don’t magically attain a different status when they reach a certain number of followers, and they are never going to appease everyone. Expecting them to do so will only lead to heartbreak, so keep your expectations in moderation and check yourself for parasocial relationships.

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

May 2024 Wrap-Up Post

June 2, 2024June 2, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

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

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

Books

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

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

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

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

Blogs

Writing

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

Hopes for June

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

Monthly Review

April 2024 Wrap-Up Post

May 5, 2024May 5, 2024 Kara Jorgensen1 Comment

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

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

Books

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

Admin/Behind-the-Scenes Stuff

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

Blogs

Writing

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

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

Hopes for May

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