Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 75
December 12, 2010
Siegfried Sassoon, "Survivors"
Survivors
No doubt they'll soon get well; the shock and strain
Have caused their stammering, disconnected talk.
Of course they're 'longing to go out again,'–
These boys with old, scared faces, learning to walk.
They'll soon forget their haunted nights; their cowed
Subjection to the ghosts of friends who died,–
Their dreams that drip with murder; and they'll be proud
Of glorious war that shatter'd all their pride…
Men who went out to battle, grim and glad;
Children, with eyes that hate you...
December 11, 2010
Siegfried Sassoon, "Suicide in the Trenches"
Suicide in the Trenches
I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.
In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again.
. . . .
You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.
–Siegfried Sassoon...
December 10, 2010
"Romantic Settings" Guest Post
I'm at Moonlight and Roses today, discussing "Romantic Settings" and The Duke and The Pirate Queen. It isn't all pirates, you see.
December 9, 2010
Launch Party! Dukes & Pirates all welcome!
Photographer Kyle Cassidy profiles several books, including The Duke and The Pirate Queen – he's the namesake of an evil pirate character in the book. He is not really an evil pirate. But at his post, you can see him dressed as one.
Also, RT Book Reviews reviewed The Duke & The Pirate Queen.
And:
I'm having a launch party for The Duke and The Pirate Queen and if you're in the area, I'd love for you to attend.
Saturday, December 11, 2010, 3 pm
Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 551 Carpenter Lane...
December 8, 2010
FAQ for Victoria Janssen
I'm a guest today at Chicks N' Scratching, explaining "Why Pirates?"
And below if the beginning of what will become my website FAQ, based on an interview I did at Erotica For All. If you have questions I should include, please submit them in the comments! Thanks!
Note: I do not look like Sophia Loren.
What erotic authors do you enjoy reading?
Emma Holly was my first favorite. I still love her books; I especially enjoy her sense of fun, and the way she mingles science fiction and fantasy in...
December 7, 2010
Hints of Mystery
This post, in a shorter form, was originally written for K.S. Manning's blog.
One of the things I experimented with while writing The Duke and the Pirate Queen was a mystery plot. Throughout the story, I interspersed questions that weren't immediately answered. For example, the heroine, Imena, overhears fragments of what might be a plot against the Duke Maxime. Throughout the novel, as Imena is trying to protect him against that threat, another character, Sylvie, is elsewhere, trying to...
December 6, 2010
Interviewed by Kate Pearce – Guest Post
I'm being interviewed a little later today at Kate Pearce's blog. I'll update with the direct link once I have it.
December 5, 2010
Siegfried Sassoon, "Song-Books of the War"
Song-Books of the War
In fifty years, when peace outshines
Remembrance of the battle lines,
Adventurous lads will sigh and cast
Proud looks upon the plundered past.
On summer morn or winter's night,
Their hearts will kindle for the fight,
Reading a snatch of soldier-song,
Savage and jaunty, fierce and strong;
And through the angry marching rhymes
Of blind regret and haggard mirth,
They'll envy us the dazzling times
When sacrifice absolved our earth.
Some ancient man with silver locks
Will...
December 4, 2010
Siegfried Sassoon, "Trench Duty"
Trench Duty
Shaken from sleep, and numbed and scarce awake,
Out in the trench with three hours' watch to take,
I blunder through the splashing mirk; and then
Hear the gruff muttering voices of the men
Crouching in cabins candle-chinked with light.
Hark! There's the big bombardment on our right
Rumbling and bumping; and the dark's a glare
Of flickering horror in the sectors where
We raid the Boche; men waiting, stiff and chilled,
Or crawling on their bellies through the wire.
'What? Stretcher-bearers...
