Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 52
September 20, 2011
Goliath is out today!
I blogged about Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan series at Heroes and Heartbreakers yesterday.
September 19, 2011
Thinking About (Erotic) Word Choice
I was recently reading a marriage of convenience romance story with erotic content.
The story's tone was very serious: the couple were initially forced into being together, and there was a lot of complicated angst on the part of the hero. It had lots of complicated conflict. Overall, I liked the story.
However, in the first sex scene, I burst out laughing. Why? A metaphor. It wasn't that the metaphor was bad. It was actually very evocative. But…one phrase the author used...
September 18, 2011
"Thomas of the Light Heart," Owen Seaman
Thomas of the Light Heart
Facing the guns, he jokes as well
As any Judge upon the Bench;
Between the crash of shell and shell
His laughter rings along the trench;
He seems immensely tickled by a
Projectile which he calls a "Black Maria."
He whistles down the day-long road,
And, when the chilly shadows fall
And heavier hangs the weary load,
Is he down-hearted? Not at all.
'T is then he takes a light and airy
View of the tedious route to Tipperary.
His songs are not e...
September 16, 2011
Talking about Comics at NINC
I'm a guest at the Novelists, Inc. blog today: Sometimes You Need Comics.
I have another "Fresh Meat" post up at The Criminal Element, this one on J.T. Ellison's new novel, Where All the Dead Lie.
September 14, 2011
Degrees of Suckitude
I was recently discussing a story-in-progress with someone. I ventured to hope that it didn't suck. I was told there was no way it could suck, given excerpts she had seen.
Au contraire! There are degrees of suckitude. (That is a technical phrase which I have just invented.)
The Degree of Suckitude, or D-Suck, cannot be determined objectively. It is rather a subjective quality (suck-jective?) that varies depending on both internal and external factors. Internal factors are, for the ...
September 12, 2011
September 9, 2011
September 8, 2011
Heat in Nairobi
I chatted about the mystery novel Nairobi Heat by Mukoma wa Ngugi at The Criminal Element this week.
September 7, 2011
Retro Cherries, Popped and Not
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
I'm going to have to do another post's worth…there are simply too many in this category!
September 5, 2011
Line Editing: Specific Examples
I took these examples of revisions from a story I'm still working on. The first version is dated August 15, 2010. The second version is dated February 26, 2011. Between those two versions, I began changing this piece from a novel to a much shorter story, though that probably won't be evident in these small examples. What will show is how, as I read over my previous work, I often make small edits along the way, before I start on a new section. Sometimes I'm barely conscious I'm...
