Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 36
July 9, 2012
My Readercon 2012 Schedule
Here’s my schedule for Readercon.
“Subversion Through Friendliness”
Friday July 13, 11:00 AM G
Glenn Grant, Victoria Janssen (leader), Toni L.P. Kelner, Alison Sinclair, Ruth Sternglantz.
In a 2011 review of Vonda N. McIntyre’s classic Dreamsnake, Ursula K. Le Guin quotes Moe Bowstern’s slogan “Subversion Through Friendliness” and adds, “Subversion through terror, shock, pain is easy—instant gratification, as it were. Subversion through friendliness is paradoxical, slow-acting, and durable....
July 2, 2012
Daughter of Recent DNFs
I tried to read some books and stories recently but Did Not Finish reading them.
1. The concept behind this story intrigued me exceedingly – what an unusual twist on a famous myth! But after the prologue, which explained the twist, it was as if that premise had never been. Suddenly, I was reading a story that I had seen a thousand times before. Then I was reading another story that seemed to have completely different themes and tone…without any transition that I noticed. Then back to the...
June 25, 2012
Guest Post Roundup – also Bjork
My posts, both book previews and otherwise, continue to appear at Heroes & Heartbreakers and The Criminal Element. Here are the most recent:
The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton by Elizabeth Speller, second in a series of post-WWI mysteries.
Fresh Meat: The Orphanmaster by Jean Zimmerman, a historical romance set in 1663 New Amsterdam (Manhattan).
Romance in Kate Elliott’s Jaran series.
A First Look at Linda Lael Miller’s Big Sky Country, a contemporary Western romance.
June 18, 2012
Gingery – Vintage Erotica Covers
Hot and spicy as the summer sun, I give you…redheads!
The redheaded nurse manages to cover two genres in one book….
Also, check out Alison Tyler’s blog for the ToC of her Morning, Noon, & Night anthology, which includes my story “8:00 PM: Appointment Tee Vee.” Amazon pre-order is now available.
June 11, 2012
Summer Vacation!
It’s summer, and because I’m pretty busy with the first draft of my current manuscript, I plan to take some time off from blogging. For the rest of June, July, and August, I plan to only post once a week, unless I have big news or a really great idea that I absolutely must write about.
Aside from the writing, this summer I hope to do some re-reading of old favorites as well as reading down my TBR piles. And…I might read some fashion magazines. A few. Well, several. And wear my new big fl...
June 8, 2012
WisCon 2012 Photos
One of the first things I did at WisCon was attend The Gathering, which is sort of like an indoor carnival. A volunteer was decorating people with the calligraphed word of their choice. Mine lasted most of the long weekend.
Friday morning after breakfast, a friend and I toured the Wisconsin State Capital Building. It was lovely, though I confess I was envisioning it surrounded by protesters, as it was recently.
Badgers are an important part of the decor.
This is one of the gorgeous glass ce...
June 6, 2012
A Diary without Dates, Enid Bagnold – WWI Challenge
My most recent book for The WWI Challenge was Enid Bagnold’s A Diary Without Dates, which is out of copyright and available for free download. It’s a famous work (the author also wrote National Velvet) and one I’ve meant to read for some time. I’m glad the challenge gave me a push!
Bagnold worked as a V.A.D. at the beginning of the war, but after this memoir was published, she was dismissed because her writing was seen as too critical of the hospital administration. She then volunteered a...
June 4, 2012
Language Linkgasm
Speech Accent Archive at George Mason University.
June 3, 2012
“Golgotha,” Siegfried Sassoon
Golgotha
Through darkness curves a spume of falling flares
That flood the field with shallow, blanching light.
The huddled sentry stares
On gloom at war with white,
And white receding slow, submerged in gloom.
Guns into mimic thunder burst and boom,
And mirthless laughter rakes the whistling night.
The sentry keeps his watch where no one stirs
But the brown rats, the nimble scavengers.
–Siegfried Sassoon
The Old Huntsman and Other Poems, 1918
June 1, 2012
Some Practical Worldbuilding Techniques
I recently was asked about worldbuilding. To answer the question, I wrote up a list of techniques I’ve used, and seen used, that I thought would be generally helpful, whether you’re writing historical fiction or speculative fiction (or even fiction in a contemporary setting). These are not all the techniques there are; just a few I’ve been considering lately.
–In dialogue, take note when your supernatural beings come up in conversation, particularly if one or both of the speaking characte...
