Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 97

"Cold, Brooding and Dead" - Cate Hart - Guest Post

Please welcome my guest, Cate Hart, blogging on some of her favorite vampires in movies and books.#Cold, Brooding and Dead: Vampires and Why We Love 'EmI think I can pinpoint when my love of vampire stories began. I'd have to blame it on the movie Lost Boys. After that, I was obsessed. I think what made Lost Boys so popular was that the vampires were edgy, young and looked like rock n roll stars

Gemma Files, "Everything Old is New Again" - Guest Post

Please welcome my guest, Gemma Files! #Everything Old is New AgainBy Gemma FilesBack when I was a kid, in much the same way that I would have been utterly startled to be told that even an incredibly mainstreamed version of Rap music would eventually occupy most slots on a computer-file equivalent of the Billboard Top 100, the idea that vampires would have become the go-to monster of the

"Not Your Grandma's Vampires" - M.K. Mancos - Guest Blog

Please welcome my guest, M.K. Mancos!#Not Your Grandma's VampiresBy MK MancosSince childhood, I've loved the idea of vampires. I sat in front of the television in glazed-eyed wonder as the Universal Monsters wreaked havoc on mankind. Bela Lugosi brought such class and panache to the undead that for a long time he was a hard act to follow. Over the years, there have been many who have portrayed

Lydia Parks - Guest Post

Please welcome my guest, Lydia Parks!#Thank you, Vickie, for inviting me to be your guest. I'm thrilled to be here, even if only virtually.I know readers and aspiring authors like to hear how published authors got started. (I know this because I've been both! Yes, and I'm still a reader.) I'm happy to tell you my (semi-goofy) story.I didn't start out to be a writer. Actually, I'm an engineer

Jane Eyre in the Carnival Mirror

Finally, I'm going backwards to the scenes surrounding Jane and Rochester's wedding day, and tying those into the repeated reflections of Jane in Bertha and in Rochester himself.Several times throughout the novel, Jane's true feelings escape the barriers she sets around them; she first lets her true feelings free when she expresses her anger at Mrs. Reed, forms barriers under the influence of

Jane Eyre A-Wandering in Search of Family

I left off yesterday when Jane departs Thornfield for Gateshead, where her Aunt Reed lies dying. Mrs. Reed's dislike of Jane is finally explained more fully; she was jealous of her husband's affection for his sister, Jane's mother, and of his apparent preference for the baby Jane over his own children. Presumably, she resented the monetary outlay to take Jane in; and I wondered if Mr. Reed

Jane Eyre Advertises, Will Travel

I'm a guest poster today at the Novelists, Inc. Blog on "Promotional Drops in the Online Bucket." Please drop by and check it out!I recently re-read Jane Eyre in conjunction with Jessica of Read React Review, and am posting about it today, Saturday, and Sunday (there will be a discussion on her blog beginning May 23rd). That's a photo of my tattered copy to the right, which I've now had to

Reading and Reading Again

In the last couple of years I've started to become fascinated with the study of reading and narrative. I partly blame a friend who specializes in a related academic discipline. I haven't read a lot about theories of reading yet (amusing irony!) but I have some academic books in my Giant Wishlist of Doom.I'm going to ramble on a bit about the vague scraps of ideas I've acquired so far.One of the

Reading our Grandmothers

Jessica of Read React Review, one of my favorite blogs, recently mentioned that she had never read Jane Eyre and had decided to do so. I and several others volunteered to read or reread it along with her. I'll be posting on my re-read Friday, May 14th through Sunday, May 16th, and hopefully will manage to put in links to some of the other posts, as well, as they appear - Jessica's post is now

Making the Paranormal Real: Boundaries and Consequences

This post was originally written for Midnight Moon Cafe.I was a reader and writer of science fiction and fantasy long before I read romance, and in many ways my reading tastes still reflect that early influence. I tend to favor paranormal romances that have dense worldbuilding that makes sense to me and holds up to questioning. I think, in general, that's a good thing, because anything that can