Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 35
September 2, 2012
“To Victory,” Siegfried Sassoon
To Victory
Return to greet me, colours that were my joy,
Not in the woeful crimson of men slain,
But shining as a garden; come with the streaming
Banners of dawn and sundown after rain.
I want to fill my gaze with blue and silver,
Radiance through living roses, spires of green
Rising in young-limbed copse and lovely wood
Where the hueless wind passes and cries unseen.
I am not sad; only I long for lustre.
I am tired of the greys and browns and the leafless ash.
I would have hours that move like a...
August 27, 2012
Guest Post Roundup for July and August
My most recent novel, The Duke & the Pirate Queen, gets a brief mention over at RT Book Reviews.
I’ve been doing a lot of guest blogging this summer for a couple of different sites.
I compared Arthur Morrison’s fictional detective Martin Hewitt, Investigator to his contemporary Sherlock Holmes, and gave my thoughts on the Top 5 Sex Scenes in SF/F.
Also, I wrote previews for quite a few upcoming releases.
Hidden Paradise by Janet Mullany, erotica set at a weekend “living in the Georgian perio...
August 22, 2012
“There Will Come Soft Rains,” Sara Teasdale
There Will Come Soft Rains
There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire,
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn
Would scarcely kn...
August 20, 2012
My Summer Publications – 2012
I have a few erotic short stories out in anthologies this summer, and one that’s upcoming for the fall.
“The Airplane Story” was out in June 2012 in Girl Fever: 69 Stories of Sudden Sex for Lesbians from Cleis Press. The anthology was edited by my friend Sacchi Green. It’s a very short story – all of them in the anthology are – but fun, I think. You can sort of guess what it’s about from the title. I, umm, couldn’t think of a better title, so I just called it “The Airplane Story” while I...
August 13, 2012
A Soldier’s Secret by Marissa Moss, out 9/1/12
I don’t normally post reviews in this blog, but this isn’t really a review. I acquired a galley of A Soldier’s Secret by Marissa Moss because I have a longtime fascination with crossdressing characters in fiction, particularly women who dressed as men – I’ve created more than one crossdressing character. But I also love to read about the real women who could, and did, do the same throughout history, risking a lot more than their reputations if their real sex was discovered.
Here’s the blu...
August 6, 2012
July 30, 2012
The Research/Writing Interface
I’m going back and forth between researching and writing, on my new novel draft. I don’t follow any sort of organized plan so far as historical research reading goes. I don’t finish all my research reading before I start to write, or even after I’ve finished writing. I don’t read everything there is to read; sometimes I skim for what’s relevant or might be relevant. Sometimes I decide I don’t need a particular source, and return it to the library, mostly unread.
Even a writer who attempts...
July 25, 2012
July 23, 2012
Readercon 23 Link Roundup (Panels) – 2012
All about the programming in one place.
Many photos by Jonathan Crowe.
Readercon 2012- Some of the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year and What I Bought by The Boston Bibliophile. Includes a writeup of “The Year in Novels” panel.
Writeup of the World SF Panel by darkcargo.
Writeups of “Why Am I Telling You This (in the First Person)?” and Guess Who’s Coming to Fairland?” by Kate Nepveu.
Athena Andreadis on The Other Half of the Sky.
