Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 2

My March Reading Log

Fiction:
Passions in Death by J.D. Robb is fifty-ninth in this series and yes I am still reading it because every once in a while I crave a mystery because the point of mystery novels is for justice to prevail. Also, reading J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts is a masterclass in providing just enough information for readers new to the series when you’re more than fifty books into it. The series is also topical; Roberts’ feelings about current events and social change surface in the murder plot with both vic...

#TBR Challenge – Location, Location, Location: White Sands, Red Menace by Ellen Klages

White Sands, Red Menace by Ellen Klages follows The Green Glass Sea, a middle grade book about a lonely young girl, Dewey, whose father is working on the Manhattan Project. In 1946, World War II has ended; Dewey and her foster family, the Gordons, have just moved to scorchingly hot Alamogordo, New Mexico from Berkeley, California. Dewey and Suze, now just barely into their teens, have become best friends who each have their own deep interests: Dewey loves engineering and science, while Suze is a...

Spicy Sapphic Treats is here!

Spicy Sapphic Treats is now available! Also available on itch.io. This collection features ten character-driven bedtime stories, from science fiction to contemporary. 20,000 words. Includes “Place, Park, Scene, Dark”; “Free Falling”; “Camera,” “Wire,” and “Toy”; “Mo-o and the Woman”; “Water Music”; “The Airplane Story”; “Unlimited Minutes”; and “Green Pajamas.”

Cover of Spicy Sapphic Treats.

“Place, Park, Scene, Dark” After I broke up with Angie, sometimes women would hit on me. I’d tell the tru...

My February Reading Log

Fanfiction:
Mirage by Jean Graham is a 1980s sequel to Blake’s 7, which I had read when it was new, and re-read for a group discussion on Discord. The novel is comprised of short stories previously published elsewhere. I remembered barely anything about it; it’s plotty and reminiscent of an episode in ways both good and sometimes a bit dated. I definitely relies on the reader knowing the show from beginning to end.

Heartlands by Hafren is a short trilogy following the end of Blake’s 7, and focus...

#TBR Challenge – Rizz: The Gentleman’s Book of Vices by Jess Everlee

The Gentleman’s Book of Vices by Jess Everlee was very fun and I will definitely seek out more of this author’s work. It’s a male/male romance set in 1883 London. Extrovert Charlie Price is embedded in a small community of queer friends, while Miles Montague, after his lover died in prison, isolates himself from everyone while writing philosophical and filthy erotica under a pen name. It’s a bit of a Grumpy/Sunshine story and I loved seeing how Charlie shows Miles how lonely he’s become through ...

Now Available on Itch.Io!

Check me out on Itch.io!

The entire Refuge series is now collected there and available for purchase!

Steamy Sapphic Treats!

I’ve issued an updated ebook collection of some of my favorite steamy romance stories!

Steamy Sapphic Treats features six character-driven romantic bedtime stories, from contemporary to historical, and includes:
“Cinema Fantastique”
“The Princess on the Rock”
“Still Marching”
“Found”
“Poppies Are Not the Only Flower”
“Delivery.”

Stay tuned for this collection’s spicier cousin, coming soon!

#TBR CHALLENGE – Previously, In Romance…: This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is an epistolary novel, with opposing time-traveling rival agents attempting to win a war. Also, they gradually fall in love.

The fun of this book, for me, was in my appreciation of the prose style, and in piecing together the scraps of worldbuilding to differentiate the two sides and the two agents, Red and Blue. the book is also a commentary on correspondence, particularly the type of correspondence that is timely (heh) and ...

My January Reading Log

Fiction:
Bitter Waters by Vivian Shaw is a novella in the Greta Helsing series about a doctor who treats supernatural beings (a descendant of Abraham Van Helsing of Dracula fame). This rather cozy installment starts off with the tragedy of a child being turned into a vampire, but things swiftly take a turn for the better when the unloved child finds herself among caring strangers, her new vampire kin, who want what’s best for her. Plus there are barrow wights. I very much enjoyed the original tr...

Welcome to Refuge!

This is the official website of writer Victoria Janssen, author of A Place of Refuge, is science fiction #hopepunk following three former guerillas who lose their fight against a fascist empire but escape to a utopian planet. They’re figuring out what’s next with the aid of pastries, therapy, and other people. A Place of Refuge is now available in an omnibus edition with extras. New! Dissenter Rebellion: The Rattri Extraction, a Refuge prequel.

Victoria is a member of the Science Fiction and Fan...