Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 124

Excerpt: The Duke and the Pirate Queen

I don't normally post excerpts from works in progress, but I decided it wasn't fair that only the male protagonist appeared in my previous sample from The Duke and the Pirate Queen.#A few minutes later, Imena hailed a pony-cab and gave Sanji's address. She leaned back in the padded seat and closed her eyes, forcing herself to replace Maxime's image in her mind with Sanji's. It was more

Book Collection Blues

I'm determined to cull my books. The problem is, many of the books I would likely cull are in boxes, stored away to make room for newer books on the shelves and in the, er, more accessible boxes. And the little piles here and there, of books for which I haven't yet found spaces. (I almost typed "for whom." Which tells you something about me and books.)Notice I said nothing about not buying

My Favorite Westerns - Books, Movies, Television

Wendy the Super Librarian and Kristie of Ramblings on Romance are posting about Westerns this week, so I thought I'd list a few of my favorites.Song:Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other, covered here by Willie Nelson. It doesn't get much better than that.Novel:The Jump-Off Creek, Molly Gloss. Unrelentingly realistic and beautifully written, to boot.Honorable Mention to Ledoyt by

Lucienne Diver Guest Post - Agent And Author

Please welcome my guest, Lucienne Diver!#The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbinsby Lucienne DiverDo you remember growing up reading the Seuss story The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins? Well, young master Cubbins has me beat, but only by about 497 hats. I wear at least three: agent, author, mom. Wife fits in there somewhere. And sun-worshipper. Beader, scrapbooker, house-cleaner,

About Business Cards

I've only been involved in romance author forums for about a year and a half, but during that time, the topic of business cards seems to come up every month or so.I'm of two minds about them. First, they're an expense, so getting them free is a good thing. Vistaprint is a popular source for these; so long as you don't add extras (all of which are presented to you), you're only paying for

Montreal's Botanical Gardens

My friend and I spent five and a half hours at the Botanical Gardens on Montreal. Hopefully, these pictures will help explain why.

Character Sketch, The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom and Their Lover

Back in 2000 or 2001, when I wrote the original short story that, many years later, becamse The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom and Their Lover, I had a different idea of the main characters than I later developed.I quote myself, from an email to a friend: Henri--He never stops objectifying the Duchess. First she's an icon, then she is generic flesh, indistinguishable from someone disguised as a

Morag McKendrick Pippin Guest Post - Writing Recent History

Please welcome my guest, Morag McKendrick Pippin.#How exciting to have lived in the early 20th century! It opened a whole new world into transportation, communication, scientific innovation --and said a resounding good-bye to the social and fashion restrictions of the last century.So many new doors opened for women. WWI and WWII brought women to the forefront and proved we could run the country

World War I, a CBS News production

World War I, a CBS News production. Narration written by Arthur Kloch, narrated by Robert Ryan. Originally aired 1964-1965.The historical narrative in this documentary series is much simplified compared to most books on WWI I've read, and also the episodes are by topic rather than strictly chronological; so, watching this, it helps to already know what events were all happening at the same time.

WWI Ambulance Research

I'm working on a proposal that involves an ambulance driver in World War One, and I took notes on this interesting book: Farmcarts to Fords: A History of the Military Ambulance, 1790-1925 by John S. Haller, Jr.p. 147 "Mobility remained the focus of an efficient ambulance-company service; and the variables of too much weight, proper shoeing of animals, forage, human and animal exhaustion,