Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 46
January 4, 2012
A Collation of Guest Posts
I had a number of guest posts go live at Heroes and Heartbreakers and at The Criminal Element over the holiday season. I've collected the links in case you want to check them out!
Golden Age Sidekicks: The Heirs of John Watson.
Fresh Meat: R.A. MacAvoy's Death and Resurrection.
"I Behaved Abominably": Mary Balogh's Christmas Beau.
Fresh Meat: Marissa Meyer's Cinder.
Marjorie Liu's Dirk and Steele, or Why I'm a Dirk and Steele Fangirl.
Fresh Meat: Val McDermid's The Retribution, newest in a ...
January 2, 2012
"Optimism," A. Victor Ratcliffe
Optimism
At last there'll dawn the last of the long year,
Of the long year that seemed to dream no end,
Whose every dawn but turned the world more drear,
And slew some hope, or led away some friend.
Or be you dark, or buffeting, or blind,
We care not, day, but leave not death behind.
The hours that feed on war go heavy-hearted,
Death is no fare wherewith to make hearts fain.
Oh, we are sick to find that they who started
With glamour in their eyes came not again.
O day, be long and heavy i...
January 1, 2012
December 30, 2011
2011 Reading: Best Nonfiction
I went through all the nonfiction I read in 2011, and the books below are the volumes I enjoyed the most; they cover a range of topics.
London 1900: The Imperial Metropolis, by Jonathan Schneer, is pretty much what it says on the cover – it gives a detailed picture of the different ways British imperialism affected and interacted with London in 1900. I particularly liked chapters which gave me a lot of good information on anti-imperialists of the period.
December 25, 2011
December 23, 2011
Basic Gumbo
Here is a basic recipe for one of the best wintertime dishes ever.
Gumbo is or is related to an African word for okra, but not all gumbo has okra in it–sometimes file (pronounce with accent on the e) is added as a thickener. File is powdered sassafrass, that you can buy in a jar. The difference between the two is that you cook okra with the rest of the ingredients, but file is added in the bowls at the table–if you cook file, it gets stringy and gross.
This recipe is mostly from a book...
December 21, 2011
Holiday Hiatus
The blog is going to be (mostly) on hiatus for the winter holidays, while I travel and spend time with my family. I might even go ice skating…but not in the illustrated dress. I did schedule a few posts, so you won't be too lonely without me – look for a recipe on December 23rd.
I'll be back in the New Year!
December 19, 2011
Writing and Holidays
I had a new post up Friday at Heroes and Heartbreakers, a preview of Death and Resurrection, the new novel by R.A. MacAvoy.
This post originally appeared at Novelists, Inc..
Writers take holidays? Is that possible?
Some writers write every day, no matter what; some, like me, take time off now and again. The winter holidays (for me Christmas and the New Year) are, for me, a time of genuine vacation, when I visit family who live far away. Except on rare occasions, I do not write during...
December 18, 2011
"The Battlefield," Sydney Oswald
The Battlefield
Around no fire the soldiers sleep to-night,
But lie a-wearied on the ice-bound field,
With cloaks wrapt round their sleeping forms, to shield
Them from the northern winds. Ere comes the light
Of morn brave men must arm, stern foes to fight.
The sentry stands, his limbs with cold congealed;
His head a-nod with sleep; he cannot yield,
Though sleep and snow in deadly force unite.
Amongst the sleepers lies the Boy awake,
And wide-eyed plans brave glories that...
December 16, 2011
2011 in Sales and Publications
I have a guest post up at the Novelists, Inc. blog today: Writing and Holidays.
And now, the time has come for me to sum up the year, in terms of sales and publications. This year was a hard one because of a death in my family, so my writing was sidelined. But here goes.
First, I did a new thing: I became a paid blogger for Heroes & Heartbreakers (romance) and The Criminal Element (mystery). As of this writing, I have not counted exactly how many posts I submitted to those two...
