Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 45
January 19, 2012
Heroes of Anne Stuart
Wickedly Funny: the humor of Anne Stuart's Heroes is up at Heroes & Heartbreakers. The post focused on Stuart's novel Devil's Waltz.
January 18, 2012
Pics – Arisia 2012
Photos from Arisia 2012, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Need some dice?
This stormtrooper? Is cake.
No, really, he was cake. People ate him.
Need some steampunky specs?
Among my favorite costumes of the con – cross-gender casting of Holmes and Watson.
January 17, 2012
Animals in Historical Romance
I have a new Top 5 post up at Heroes & Heartbreakers – Animals in Historical Romance.
January 16, 2012
Dr. Who Pics – Arisia 2012
I'm on my way home from Boston today. Here are a few Dr. Who-related photos from Arisia. (I didn't take photos of the people costumed as The Doctor, because I wouldn't have been able to stop – there were at least a dozen that I saw, most of them dressed as the Eleventh Doctor, in brown blazer, bow tie, and fez.)
Here's a Dalek with a Cyberman. The Dalek was in the Masquerade on Saturday night; the Cyberman was fortuitous.
And a closeup.
Here's a full view of the dalek, wearing the scarf ...
January 15, 2012
"The Journey," Grace Fallow Norton
The Journey
I went upon a journey
To countries far away,
From province unto province
To pass my holiday.
And when I came to Serbia,
In a quiet little town
At an inn with a flower-filled garden
With a soldier I sat down.
Now he lies dead at Belgrade.
You heard the cannon roar!
It boomed from Rome to Stockholm,
It pealed to the far west shore.
And when I came to Russia,
A man with flowing hair
Called me his friend and showed me
A flowing river there.
Now he lies dead at Lemberg,
January 13, 2012
I'm at Arisia
I am at Arisia in Boston this weekend; my first panel is this evening, and my last one is Sunday afternoon. My full schedule of panels. I'll try to post some photos when I get a chance, depending upon the hotel wireless capacity. If you're there, feel free to say hi! If not, you can still check out the program schedule here.
Also, Love Is in the Details: Patricia Gaffney's Crooked Hearts is live at Heroes & Heartbreakers, in which I look at the author's characterization techniques.
January 11, 2012
"War Horse" – WWI Challenge
This review contains spoilers.
I've never read the novel War Horse by Michael Morpurgo; all of my comments are based on the Spielberg movie. I imagine the novel is a much different experience, because it allows for narration from the horse's point of view. In the movie, the horse is not given a voice.
As someone who's done a lot of reading about World War One, I really enjoyed the visuals of this movie, particularly the trenches and No Man's Land. Some of it looked so familiar, I...
January 9, 2012
A World War One Reading Challenge
For the first time ever, I've decided to participate in a reading challenge. War Through the Generations is hosting a 2012 challenge to read "fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, etc. with WWI as the primary or secondary theme.
Books can take place before, during, or after the war, so long as the conflicts that led to the war or the war itself are important to the story."
Challenge information and sign-up are here.
I signed up at the "wade" level, 4-10 books. Since I'm not very far...
January 8, 2012
"Headquarters," Gilbert Frankau
Headquarters
A league and a league from the trenches–from the traversed maze of the lines,
Where daylong the sniper watches and daylong the bullet whines,
And the cratered earth is in travail with mines and with countermines–
Here, where haply some woman dreamed (are those her roses that bloom
In the garden beyond the windows of my littered
working room?) We have decked the map for our masters as a bride is decked for the groom.
Fair, on each lettered numbered square–crossroad and...
January 6, 2012
My Arisia 2012 Schedule
Arisia 2012 is taking place January 13-16, 2012, at the Westin Boston Waterfront hotel. Here's where you can find me during the convention:
Schools for Magicians
Douglas, Friday 5:30 PM
Cecilia Tan (mod.), Mary Catelli, Frances K. Selkirk, Victoria Janssen, Ken Schneyer
A Hogwarts degree isn't the only path from mundanity to magehood. Let's consider how writers have portrayed schools, including Roke, Unseen University, Brakebills, and more. Why a school setting? Is it due to the innate...
