Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 93

Writer, Know Yourself - Emily Ryan-Davis Guest Post

Please welcome my guest, Emily Ryan-Davis!#Writer, Know YourselfGood morning, faithful Victoria fans. I'm a fan, too (she's a lovely person and her characters fascinate me) so I'm pleased to be able to say you and I already have something in common.I'm here today because Victoria generously volunteered a little of her cyberspace for my promotional efforts. Between the initial offer and now,

Teaser from The Duke & The Pirate Queen

Today, I give you a tiny teaser from The Duke & the Pirate Queen, which is coming out in December, 2010.#Maxime heard the ship's bell ring two quarter hours before the cabin's door opened again. The cabin girl, Norris, poked her head in, then slid around the door and shut it behind her, reaching for a basket on the deck. When she saw Maxime, she stopped and looked at him incredulously."Is this

Promotional Goodies Questions

I've been pondering options for promotional items I could give away that would be related to The Duke and the Pirate Queen. I would really, really like some input into these ideas, so please feel free to comment at length.Here are my ideas so far:1. The usual suspects - postcards or bookmarks. Bo-ring, or usual because they work?2. Temporary tattoos, which would fit in with the pirate idea.

Picspam: Albert I, King of the Belgians

I have learned one very important thing during my recent World War One research. It is that Albert, King of the Belgians, was a total hottie. Particularly when he wore spectacles.

Also, he looked great in uniform, whether with helmet in this late photo

or kepi in this earlier one. Check out the differing details of the two uniforms.

His wife, Elisabeth, was pretty hot, too.

I love this picture.

Sometimes, research is more fun than you expect it to be.

Erotica Under the Skin

I want to read erotica from the inside.

The surface elements are much less important to me than how the characters feel. A bland setting or one that is poorly realized is, to me, a flaw, and an intriguing one is a bonus, but I don't absolutely require fabulous worldbuilding. For me, erotica is about the characters.

If the characters are bland, unoriginal, lacking in conflict, then what's the point of me reading the story? If the characters are intriguing enough, they don't need to be having ...

Isaac Rosenberg, "Dead Man's Dump"

Dead Man's Dump

The plunging limbers over the shattered track
Racketed with their rusty freight,
Stuck out like many crowns of thorns,
And the rusty stakes like sceptres old
To stay the flood of brutish men
Upon our brothers dear.

The wheels lurched over sprawled dead
But pained them not, though their bones crunched,
Their shut mouths made no moan,
They lie there huddled, friend and foeman,
Man born of man, and born of woman,
And shells go crying over them
From night till night and now.

Earth has waited fo...

"Strange Meeting," Wilfred Owen

Strange Meeting

It seemed that out of battle I escaped
Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped
Through granites which titanic wars had groined.
Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned,
Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.
Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared
With piteous recognition in fixed eyes,
Lifting distressful hands as if to bless.
And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall,
By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.
With a thousand pains that vision's face was ...

Adventures in Pronouns - Jessica Freely Guest Post

Please welcome my guest, Jessica Freely!

#

Hi everybody and good morning! First of all, I want to thank Victoria for generously opening her blog to me -- again. I had a great time last time I was a guest here and I'm sure today will be just as much fun.

In a second I'm going to tell you a bit about my new release, Amaranth & Ash, and one particular challenge I faced in writing it. Before I do, I want to make a couple of announcements. We're running a contest today, right here on Victoria's blo...

Marriage of Convenience or Not?

My current novel is not a Marriage of Convenience. I'd been thinking it was. In my mind, for many months, I've been calling it "The Werewolf Marriage of Convenience."

Alas, I was wrong. My desperate desire to write a Marriage of Convenience obscured the reality. My characters know each other too well for their marriage to be one of convenience.

I think one of the major aspects of a Marriage of Convenience story is a focus on the hero and heroine (or whatever other gender pairing/grouping y...

Perfect Research Books Fall From the Sky

It is so satisfying with the perfect research material for a work-in-progress drops from the sky.

This blog is syndicated on Facebook, and after seeing one of my posts about World War One research, a Facebook friend recommended a couple of additional research books to me. One of them was already on my list, but the other wasn't, which gave me great joy.

French Women and the First World War: War Stories of the Home Front by Margaret H. Darrow will be a lovely complement to my other source on oc...