Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 116

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

Werewolves All Over the World

I think that the werewolves currently depicted in paranormal romance are, gradually, creating a new idea of what a werewolf in fiction ought to be - in other words, reader expectation is being affected by what mythological details writers choose to present, or invent. Also, of course, writers who read in their genre can't help but be influenced by it.There are plenty of werewolf types I haven't

Oral Tradition, Epithets, and J.D. Robb

In many romance novels, particularly those in series, the reader's familiarity with the characters and setting can be reinforced by repeated use of the same descriptive phrases. I think this is similar to the technique of assigning epithets, often poetic, to various characters in oral tradition, such as these examples from Orphic Hymns: "Poseidon, ruler of the sea profound, dark-haired, whose

Not a Marriage of Convenience

Why, yes, I'm still thinking about marriage of convenience plots. I like them. I'm finding this pondering of sub-genre to be extremely intellectually pleasing. Also, it's helping me whittle down my to-be-read pile.I recently read Come Fly With Me by Jill Shalvis, which I had acquired because it was recommended to me as a contemporary marriage of convenience romance. While a lovely book with a

NaNoWriMo - O - Rama

It's a big question this month, all over the Internet: are you nano-ing? Yes, once again it's National Novel Writing Month.I am not participating in NaNoWriMo, and never have, but I think it can be a useful tool for a writer, or for a non-writer who wants to become a writer. I think a lot depends on your expectations for the month. For example, 50,000 words is not always enough to be an