Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 115

Siegfried Sassoon, "Repression of War Experience"

Repression of War ExperienceNow light the candles; one; two; there's a moth; What silly beggars they are to blunder in And scorch their wings with glory, liquid flame-- No, no, not that,--it's bad to think of war, When thoughts you've gagged all day come back to scare you;And it's been proved that soldiers don't go mad Unless they lose control of ugly thoughts That drive them out to jabber among

Notes from "The Repression of War Experience" by W.H.R. Rivers, M.D.

Notes from "The Repression of War Experience" by W.H.R. Rivers, M.D. Published in The Lancet, Feb. 2, 1918NB: This document is reproduced from and held at the The Napier University War Poets site."I hope to show that many of the most trying and distressing symptoms from which the subjects of war neurosis suffer are not the necessary result of the strains and shocks to which they have been exposed

Real People as Fiction - Linkgasm #3

Timmi Duchamp on representing history in fiction, particularly using real historical personages in fiction. Here's Part Two.Are novelists entitled to use real-world characters? by Guy Gavriel Kay, an essay for The Guardian that's linked from the above post.This also brings to mind Real Person Fiction, which is not at all a new practice - for example, the Brontë juvenalia includes historical

Dream Stories

I have a mental list of stories I want to write. Also a list I'd like to revisit, that I attempted but never completed to my satisfaction. And a few files that are nothing but a few sentences, that just flowed out of my fingers in that strange, almost-subconscious way that always astonishes me when it happens.Right now, of course, those stories must remain dreams. I have a certain amount of

Siegfried Sassoon, "Aftermath"

It's Armistice/Remembrance/Veterans' Day today.AftermathHave you forgotten yet?... For the world's events have rumbled on since those gagged days, Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways: And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow Like clouds in the lit heaven of life; and you're a man reprieved to go, Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy

Georgette Heyer Recommendations

Is anyone out there a Heyer Virgin?I suspect many of you aren't, but just in case you've always been told you need to read some Georgette Heyer, but had no idea where to start, here's a quick list to start you off.These Old Shades has a hero who is actually a sort of nasty person instead of just pretending to be so, and a cross-dressing heroine who is...well, kind of violent. And that's why I

Visiting Star-Crossed Romance Today

I'm visiting at Star-Crossed Romance today, talking about Multi-Purpose Worldbuilding in Moonlight Mistress.Related posts:Why Werewolves?Werewolves in Moonlight Mistress.Of Wolves and Men.Tate Hallaway Guest Post, If You Built It....Ann Aguirre Guest Post, On Worldbuilding.

Leçons de plaisir - Happy Book Birthday to my French edition!

Leçons de plaisirAu moment de prendre la fuite, la duchesse Camille n'imaginait pas une seule seconde que ce voyage forcé jusqu'aux confins du royaume allait prendre une tournure si... excitante. Une seule chose comptait alors : fuir loin de son terrible mari, le duc Michel, décidé à se débarrasser d'elle par tous les moyens. Aussi avait-elle demandé à ses plus fidèles serviteurs de l'accompagner

Moonlight Mistress Excerpt - Weaponry

Moonlight Mistress is out December 2009 from Harlequin Spice. This scene depicts the first combat of World War One, as experienced by one of the secondary characters, Lieutenant Gabriel Meyer, who until this moment directed the regimental band.#Gabriel slid from tree to tree until he reached the low wall bordering the cemetery. He stepped over, then wriggled to the road on his belly. The

Louisa Edwards - Guest Post

Please welcome my guest, Louisa Edwards!#I've never considered myself a good researcher. In school, it took everything I had to cobble together enough sources and information to write a decent paper—and I freely admit that the exercise taught me more about the fine art of B.S. than it did about whatever topic I was assigned. I actually don't remember the subject of my senior thesis—but it did