Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 59
June 15, 2011
June 13, 2011
Guest Post – Saskia Walker
Please welcome my guest, Saskia Walker!
#
The joys and challenges of creating historical worlds
by Saskia Walker
As writers of historical fiction we aim to create historical worlds that are as believable and accurate as possible, in order to enhance the reader's experience of the story. This is a challenge, but a rewarding one when we feel we've done a story justice. The scary part is getting it as accurate as possible, knowing that it's so easy to slip up.
When I think about the...
June 12, 2011
"Two Hundred Years After," Siegfried Sassoon
Two Hundred Years After
Trudging by Corbie Ridge one winter's night,
(Unless old hearsay memories tricked his sight)
Along the pallid edge of the quiet sky
He watched a nosing lorry grinding on,
And straggling files of men; when these were gone,
A double limber and six mules went by,
Hauling the rations up through ruts and mud
To trench-lines digged two hundred years ago.
Then darkness hid them with a rainy scud,
And soon he saw the village lights below.
But when he'd told his tale, an...
June 6, 2011
The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin
Last month, I read The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin by Colette Moody, mostly because it was a lesbian pirate novel, and I'd never read one before.
Plot summary: "The Gulf of Mexico, 1702: When pirates of the square-rigger Original Sin steal ashore to abduct a doctor to tend to their wounded, they end up settling for the doctor's attractive fiancée–Celia Pierce, the town seamstress.
Together with Gayle Malvern, daughter of the wounded pirate captain "Madman" Malvern...
June 5, 2011
"They," Siegfried Sassoon
They
The Bishop tells us: 'When the boys come back
'They will not be the same; for they'll have fought
'In a just cause: they lead the last attack
'On Anti-Christ; their comrades' blood has bought
'New right to breed an honourable race,
'They have challenged Death and dared him face to face.'
'We're none of us the same!' the boys reply.
'For George lost both his legs; and Bill's stone blind;
'Poor Jim's shot through the lungs and like to die;
'And Bert's gone syphilitic: you'll not find
'A ...
June 3, 2011
Musical Linkgasm
Here are some of my current favorite music blogs – just in case you, like me, don't have enough music to listen to. (Kidding!)
Silence is a Rhythm Too has been around for a decade! It's interesting because it reflects the taste of a single blogger.
Mashuptown focuses on, you guessed it, Mashups! I am consistently amused and impressed by how seemingly disparate songs can be, with editing skill, seamlessly blended into something that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Cover Me grew out ...
June 1, 2011
Sexual Mores in J.D. Robb
One of the ways J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) uses to cue "it's the future!" in the Eve Dallas mysteries is her portrayal of social/sexual mores. Though the future is noir, rife with horrible murders and serial killers (otherwise, no work for Eve Dallas!), it's also a liberal world in some ways, though far from a utopia. Here's the rundown, so far as I can remember.
1. Prostitution is legal if the person is licensed. "Licensed companions" are not universally successful, however. Robb...
May 30, 2011
"The Dead," Rupert Brooke
The Dead
I
Blow out, you bugles, over the rich Dead!
There's none of these so lonely and poor of old,
But, dying, has made us rarer gifts than gold.
These laid the world away; poured out the red
Sweet wine of youth; gave up the years to be
Of work and joy, and that unhoped serene,
That men call age; and those who would have been,
Their sons, they gave, their immortality.
Blow, bugles, blow! They brought us, for our dearth,
Holiness, lacked so long, and Love, and Pain.
Honour has come back...
May 29, 2011
"The One-Legged Man," Siegfried Sassoon
The One-Legged Man
Propped on a stick he viewed the August weald;
Squat orchard trees and oasts with painted cowls;
A homely, tangled hedge, a corn-stalked field,
And sound of barking dogs and farmyard fowls.
And he'd come home again to find it more
Desirable than ever it was before.
How right it seemed that he should reach the span
Of comfortable years allowed to man!
Splendid to eat and sleep and choose a wife,
Safe with his wound, a citizen of life.
He hobbled blithely through the garden g...
May 27, 2011
Reviews of Dream Lover
I have a post up at The Criminal Element today: Hijinks with History: Abigail Adams as Detective?
Dream Lover: Paranormal Tales of Erotic Romance, an anthology in which I have a short story, "Vanilla," has received a number of reviews so far.
The Discriminating Fangirl liked it–"Vanilla" was mentioned as a favorite on the romantic side.
Lady Caella's review; again, "Vanilla" has a favorable mention.
Pagan Spirits review.
