Tag: writing life

Life

New Book Release: Your Addiction is Deadly

katjorgensen

November saw the release of my 5th book in the River City Mysteries. The series is comprised currently of four full novels and a prequel. The latest full novel is Your Addiction is Deadly.

Here’s the information on what happens in the latest exploits of Becca and her friends. All stories are stand alone novels.

Intrepid amateur sleuth Becca Reynolds believes she is leaving family, friends, and murder behind when she travels from River City to St. Louis, Missouri, to attend her first mental health conference.  But things rarely go as planned, and this trip is no exception.

Instead of instructional workshops with a bit of sightseeing on the side, Becca finds herself embroiled in murder and mayhem when she is discovered alone with a dead body.  To her horror, the police focus on her as their prime suspect. Visions of a prison cell with a mandatory dress code of stipes, or worse orange, and a new best friend named Bertha, forces Becca to launch her own investigation.  If she ever wants to see River City again, it’s up to her to solve the case.  

As the body count increases, she has serious doubts about who she can trust.  But never a quitter, Becca vows she will find the killer and see justice prevail.

Hot men, dangerous suspects, and twisted motives keep Becca on her toes as she works to solve her latest case and clear her name.

Join Becca and her gang of quirky characters in the latest installment of the River City Mysteries, Your Addiction is Deadly.

Buy it here

Several of the quirky things that happen to Becca in the book are actually things that happened to me on several trips to St. Louis over the years. This month in my newsletter I’ll be talking about those real life exploits that fueled my writing imagination. I hope you will join me later this month as I reveal them.

Life

What is the Hardest Day of the Week for You?

katjorgensen

Mine seems to be Mondays. Remember the words to the Mamas and Papas song? Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day. That’s kind of how I feel about it.

Usually I take the weekends off from my writing. I catch up on things around the house, run errands, cook a bit so I have easy meals for the coming week. You know odds and ends. There’s always plenty to do on the weekend.

But I also like to have time to watch television, read or work on my craft projects. And just relax without any pressures for a few days.

But then another Monday rolls around. It’s back into the work week. And as much as I love what I do, it’s hard to get back into things.

My mind is often still on the weekend. I get off to shaky starts on Mondays. There’s a reason we don’t trust it. It expects things from us. We are supposed to show up on Mondays with bright eyes, an alert brain, fully engaged and ready to put new things into action.

But seriously, how many of us greet a Monday warmly? I sure don’t. I usually go into a Monday kicking and screaming. What happened to those extra hours of sleep I get on Saturdays and Sundays? Mondays sure don’t let you sleep in. Mondays have lots of expectations. More so than any other day of the week.

But somehow I adjust to every new Monday. Then as I work my way back from the lazy weekend days that expect very little of me, I eventually get with the program.

By Tuesday, I’m fully back into a good solid work ethic. Until the next Monday rolls around.

So what’s your hardest day of any week? And why? I’m guessing there are a lot of folks like me. Mondays – yeah, they are tough.

Here’s to that necessary day.

Kat

Life

Guest Blogging

katjorgensen

Please join me Friday, July 10th, as the main character in my River City Mystery series guest blogs on the Anastasia Pollock blog. Becca dishes and reveals a few interesting things. I never know what she’s going to say. We might need to talk after this interview.

Visit us here: https://anastasiapollack.blogspot.com/2020/07/book-club-friday-interview-with-mystery_10.html

Life

Marketing for Writers?

katjorgensen

In May I published two novels. One was actually a second edition with some reformatting and a pretty new cover. But the other was brand new. And then the real job started. Marketing. I almost say it like it’s a dirty word and that’s because I have quickly found out that I have a lot to learn.

And it is humbling. My learning curve is steep. I’ve been trying things one by one to see what works. So far, I’ve been coming up mostly blank with a lot of back to the drawing board for me moments. And a few successes here and there.

It’s largely made me feel like a creative mess. I have notes everywhere and lists of things to try. Things crossed out and others inserted. Big black Xs by the things that didn’t work. My excel marketing sheet is looking like the loser in some intricate military campaign. Arrows everywhere. Little notations. But not a lot of success as far as reaching new readers.

I’m using social media as much as I can. Not sure how effective that is either. But I’m still very much trying out different things. The very last thing I want to do is look like I’m asking friends and family to buy my books over and over again.

I’m trying to alert them to where I am doing promos and inviting them to take a look – not just at my book, but at the other books offered from the other participating authors. It’s hard for someone who is an introvert to do these kinds of things.

But I do want to succeed as a writer. So I will keep trying to come up with a solid strategy.

If you’re a writer, how do you handle the marketing end of things? And is there any advice you would offer someone trying to learn? If you’re not a writer, and have a good idea for me, I’d like to hear from you too.

As always, I’m focused on my goals. I will keep writing books. And keep trying different things. We learn from our mistakes and sometimes we actually figure things out. Never give up on your dreams.

Kat

Life

The Pandemic Has Turned Me Into Aunt Alice

katjorgensen

Growing up my father told me many times about his mother’s aunt, Aunt Alice. She lived down in the country in a very little place on some family member’s property. Aunt Alice was a committed recluse – I suspect she suffered from some sort of anxiety condition that left her unable, or unwilling, to venture out.

I asked my grandmother about Aunt Alice. She wouldn’t tell me much, but what I was able to piece together was that this poor, sweet woman had suffered a lot of sadness and tragedy in her life.

Each Sunday, my grandparents would pack up my father and his sisters and take a basket of food to Aunt A. They’d leave it on the porch and then go visit other relatives in the area. But all of the kids were cautioned not to make noise or do anything to upset their great aunt.

I write mysteries. Aunt Alice has always been a mystery in my family tree. I’ve done genealogical research, but I haven’t uncovered anything more than I knew before. She died when my dad was a little boy.

When it was announced earlier in the year that those of us at high risk for Coved-19 should shelter in place, I was very concerned. I’m a fairly social person and I was worried that I may not be able to do this. But I have to say somewhere along the way, I have embraced my inner Aunt Alice. I have hunkered down. And I have enjoyed it on some level. Sure, I still miss all of my family and my friends. But I do not miss the endless appointments I had or the many errands I was forced into doing on a daily basis before the pandemic hit.

I have used my time wisely. I’ve rereleased a book that I’d written several years ago. And I’ve just released the second book in that series – Your Time is Up. That book had just been waiting to be revised and published. I’m hard at work on edits for the third book in the series. I’ve been VERY busy. And it’s felt great.

And as I’ve been safely ensconced in my little sheltered world, I’ve often thought how different my self-imposed reclusive life has been from Aunt Alice’s. What would she have done with a laptop and her imagination? How would her life have been different? Would it have made a difference? I really hope so.

But I have no idea and I wish I knew the answer. One thing I do know is that Aunt Alice will turn into a character in one of my books. Loosely based, of course. I’m a writer. It’s what I do.

I hope you’re using your Pandemic time wisely and are getting a lot accomplished.

Kat