Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 54

"Blighters," Siegfried Sassoon

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'Blighters'

The House is crammed: tier beyond tier they grin

And cackle at the Show, while prancing ranks

Of harlots shrill the chorus, drunk with din;

'We're sure the Kaiser loves our dear old Tanks!'

I'd like to see a Tank come down the stalls,

Lurching to rag-time tunes, or 'Home, sweet Home',

And there'd be no more jokes in Music-halls

To mock the riddled corpses round Bapaume.

–Siegfried Sassoon, The Old Huntsman and Other Poems, 1918

Don't Google Yourself, Write!

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I'm over at Novelists, Inc. today, talking about why procrastinating by Googling yourself is bad in more than one way.

Body Part of Sin

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I did a "Fresh Meat" feature at Heroes and Heartbreakers this week on Eve Silver's Body of Sin. No, not body part of sin. Though that would have been funny.

Also, Lynn Spencer at the All About Romance blog read The Moonlight Mistress. Overall, she liked it!

My 5 Tips for Writing Erotica post is now appearing over at Erotic Meet.

One week to go!

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One week from today, a New York book club is having a meeting. They read a "light" book every August. This August, it's my first book, The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom & Their Lover. I was invited to attend.



My book didn't get chosen randomly – I went to college with one of the book club members. She's promised me that if they have things they really hate about the book, they will save them for the next meeting, when I'm not there. (Heh.)

I am actually pretty excited, and glad I...

Dandy Gilver post

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I had a new post up at The Criminal Element yesterday, on Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains, fifth in a series of historical mysteries I'd like to read from the beginning.

Five Tips for Writing Erotica

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Needless to say these aren't the only five things to keep in mind when writing erotica. And these five things aren't always going to be applicable. They can be useful on many occasions, however.



1. You don't need to show every twitch.

Concentrate on gestures that embody the most sensuality and emotion in the tone you're going for, and choose words to match. Obviously, this will vary according to the story and the characters. For instance, if you want to portray a building romantic...

"At Carnoy," Siegfried Sassoon

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At Carnoy

Down in the hollow there's the whole Brigade

Camped in four groups: through twilight falling slow

I hear a sound of mouth-organs, ill-played,

And murmur of voices, gruff, confused, and low.

Crouched among thistle-tufts I've watched the glow

Of a blurred orange sunset flare and fade;

And I'm content. To-morrow we must go

To take some cursèd Wood … O world God made!

July 3rd, 1916.

–Siegfried Sassoon, The Old Huntsman and Other Poems, 1918

Erotic Book Covers of the Past

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Size Does Matter

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The piece I'm currently writing is meant to be about 15,000 words. It's been an interesting experience so far. I'm learning a lot about writing at this length.

You see, I have written many short stories, almost all of them less than 6000 words, most of them in the 1500-3000 word range. I have written novels, in the 80,000-100,000 word range. I have a draft lying around for a piece of about 20,000 words, that is condensed from parts of a novel draft and is in very rough shape. And...

Women of the Mean Streets and Hottest Villains

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In case you missed it last week, my guest posts from last week:

at Heroes and Heartbreakers about the Top 5 Villains I Wish Were Heroes;

and at The Criminal Element, Fresh Meat: Women of the Mean Streets, an anthology of lesbian noir from Bold Strokes Books.

Also, I don't think I ever linked this Criminal Element post from June here: History Down Under: Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher series.

And now for something completely different (not written by me). Ms. Magazine on White Cowboys and...