Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 56
August 1, 2011
Critiquing Outside The Comfort Zone
Last week, a friend of mine asked me to do an unusual critique. I'm glad I took her up on it.
This friend, though not a fiction writer, is a professional in nonfiction and has worked as an editor. She's done reading for me in the past, and provided me with a lot of valuable insights. So, even though I doubted I had anything useful to say about her project, I decided to give it a try.
Her project was a gift for someone else. At their request, she had written essentially a literary...
July 31, 2011
"Oxford Revisited in War-Time," Tertius van Dyke
Oxford Revisited in War-Time
Beneath fair Magdalen's storied towers
I wander in a dream,
And hear the mellow chimes float out
O'er Cherwell's ice-bound stream.
Throstle and blackbird stiff with cold
Hop on the frozen grass;
Among the aged, upright oaks
The dun deer slowly pass.
The chapel organ rolls and swells,
And voices still praise God;
But ah! the thought of youthful friends
Who lie beneath the sod.
Now wounded men with gallant eyes
Go hobbling down the street,
And nurses from...
July 29, 2011
A Few More Readercon Reports
Most of these links are related to specific panel content.
Joshua of Glyphpress wishes all cons were like Readercon.
Kate Nepveu's report, includes her recollections of "The Dissonant Power of Alternative Voicing" and "Borders (if Any) Between Fan Fiction and Original Fiction." For "Paranormal Romance and Otherness" she noted "if your similar-to-our-world setting is diverse in lots of ways even before you put your mythical creatures in, then you're not displacing existing issues (of...
July 28, 2011
Remington Steele post
I had a new post up on The Criminal Element yesterday – Dynamic Duos: Remington Steele and Laura Holt.
July 27, 2011
Historical Mystery Series I Have Loved
My mystery-reading binge isn't quite as overwhelming as it was for a while, but I'm still in that mode, especially feeling a craving for historicals. I'm thinking of doing some rereads.
I recommend both of these series very highly.
Sarah Smith's pre- and post-WWI trilogy that starts with The Vanished Child (this is one series that definitely must be read in order). This would be my third re-read, I think, inspired by 1) not having read them in a while; 2) being in the mood for that...
July 26, 2011
Readercon 2011 Interviews
Eric Rosenfield interviewed Junot Diaz, Samuel R. Delany, Barry Malzberg, John Clute, Kelly Link, Neil Gaiman and Neil Clarke at this year's Readercon. Video interviews at his blog.
July 25, 2011
Janet Mullany on Time Travel
Please welcome my guest, Janet Mullany!
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Time Travel
A woman wiser than myself—my agent—told me I had a contemporary voice and although I didn't believe her, I gave it a shot and ended up with a two-book contract for contemporaries for Harlequin Spice. The first one, Tell Me More, is on sale at the end of the month; it's about what happens when fantasy and reality collide, and the erotic lure of storytelling. Find out more at spice.janetmullany.com.
After the initial elation the shock—you m...
July 24, 2011
"Lines Written in Surrey, 1917," George Herbert Clarke
Lines Written in Surrey, 1917
A sudden swirl of song in the bright sky—
The little lark adoring his lord the sun;
Across the corn the lazy ripples run;
Under the eaves, conferring drowsily,
Doves droop or amble; the agile waterfly
Wrinkles the pool; and flowers, gay and dun,
Rose, bluebell, rhododendron, one by one,
The buccaneering bees prove busily.
Ah, who may trace this tranquil loveliness
In verse felicitous?—no measure tells;
But gazing on her bosom we can guess
Why men...
July 22, 2011
I have a guest on Monday!
Be sure to stop by the blog on Monday, when my guest, Janet Mullany, will be her usual brilliantly funny self.
July 21, 2011
More Readercon 2011 Links – and Bittercon!
If you've written a convention report, the Readercon LiveJournal community is asking that you post a link in the comments here.
Sherwood Smith proposed an online Bittercon for those unable to attend Readercon. AttackFish has an essay on "Are We Not Men – Human Women and Beast-Men in Paranormal Romance" with some in-depth comments. There's a long discussion of the same topic in comments over at Sherwood Smith's LiveJournal. Also from Bittercon, Why We Love Bad Writing.
So far as...
