Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 90

Bearded Heroes

I'm a guest today at the Novelists, Inc. blog on "Five Ways of Thinking About a Writer's Conference."As for my own personal blog, I've been wondering something. Where are all the romance heroes with beards? Or even moustaches?I'm thinking about this because Maxime, hero of The Duke & the Pirate Queen, has a beard. The man on the book's cover does not have a beard; I've rarely seen moustaches,

When to Submit.

How do you know if you're ready to submit a story or novel to an editor?When's the deadline? Have you proofread? Have you put "the end" at the end? Then it's time. Go for it.Okay, so I'm being a little facetious. But not entirely. More than once I have used a deadline (perhaps adjusted to account for mailing time) to inspire me to finish a story. Or I've used a deadline as a goal. After

Eroticism in To Have and To Hold by Patricia Gaffney

I recently read Patricia Gaffney's To Have and To Hold for the first time. If I'd only read the first section of the book (a bit less than half), I could easily interpret it as an erotic novel, though one without much explicit sex. To explain why I think that, first I have to talk about the book as a whole.There's a lot of discussion of this novel mostly because of its hero, aristocrat

Women in WWI Picspam

Women served in many capacities during World War One.Nurses.VADs.Drivers.Radio Corps.Fundraisers.Factory Workers.

Readercon Linkgasm

For those who are interested, I've been collecting some links to reports on Readercon, which took place July 8-11, 2010. These are in no particular order, but grouped by topic. There are lots more than this. I recommend checking out Icerocket's Blog Search if you want more and have a few days to read.General Reports and CommentsFirst, My summary report.Rose Fox's report. Gwynne Garfinkle on

Readercon Linkgasm, Novelists, Inc. Guest Post

For those who are interested, I've been collecting some links to reports on Readercon, which took place July 8-11, 2010. These are in no particular order, but grouped by topic. There are lots more than this. I recommend checking out Icerocket's Blog Search if you want more and have a few days to read.General Reports and CommentsFirst, My summary report.Rose Fox's report. Gwynne Garfinkle on

Charles Sorley, "To Germany"

To GermanyYou are blind like us. Your hurt no man designed,And no man claimed the conquest of your land.But gropers both through fields of thought confinedWe stumble and we do not understand.You only saw your future bigly planned,And we, the tapering paths of our own mind,And in each others dearest ways we stand,And hiss and hate. And the blind fight the blind.When it is peace, then we may view

Charles Sorley, "Such, Such Is Death"

Such, Such Is DeathSuch, such is Death: no triumph: no defeat:Only an empty pail, a slate rubbed clean,A merciful putting away of what has been.And this we know: Death is not Life, effete,Life crushed, the broken pail. We who have seenSo marvellous things know well the end not yet.Victor and vanquished are a-one in death:Coward and brave: friend, foe. Ghosts do not say,"Come, what was your record

Mansfield Park Revisited, Part the Third

My final notes on my last re-read of Mansfield Park.Mansfield Park can be read online at Gutenberg.org.#November 18, 2004After finishing my reread I confess I'm a bit puzzled about Henry Crawford. Either he was a great actor (it is a plot point that he is a good actor) and managed to fool not only Fanny and Edmund but his own sister, or he's simply inconsistent. I could believe him flirting with

Mansfield Park Revisited, Part the Second

More on my most recent re-read of Mansfield Park, from several years ago.Mansfield Park can be read online at Gutenberg.org.#November 15, 2004I had a couple more thoughts on the rereading I've done so far. First, Edmund criticizes the behavior of Mary Crawford and blames her upbringing for it; but he never makes the same point about his brother and sisters, who also exhibit poor judgement on