Veronica Scott's Blog, page 106

Q Is For Queen – Victoria That Is

Continuing with the A to Z challenge, when I came across this Victorian era trade card, I thought Ihadto have it. It’s entitled “Queen Victoria at Home – Balmoral Castle” and was one of a series of six from Clark’s Spool Thread. (The US entry in the series was Mrs. Grover Cleveland.) I didn’t make this a Wednesday Whimsy because I don’t think of “whimsy” when thinking of this Queen, do you?

Here are a few quotes from Her Majesty:

The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I thin...

Can You Handle ALL The Apocalypses? End is Nigh and End Has Come

I’ve mentioned here before how much I enjoy the End Of The World As We Know It (EOTWAWKI) branch of science fiction. I’ve talked aboutAlas,Babylon and the TV shows “Jericho” and “The Walking Dead.” Love the movies “Testament,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “World War Z,” “Contagion,” “Outbreak” to name a few.

BIG fan of the genre.

So last week John Joseph Adams let me know about the exciting new trilogy of anthologies he’s edited with Hugh Howey – THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH, of which two volumes – THE...

Violets in the Snow for Weekend Writing Warriors

A fun way to sample new books and find new writers! Here’s the link to theWeekend Writing Warriorscentral page, so you can visit all the participants sharing excerpts today…

This week something totally different. For Valentine’s Day my Here Be Magic paranormal group wrote short stories around a heart-shaped box meme and here are the opening sentences from mine:

It was just a little heart-shaped china box, with one gorgeous violet painted on the lid. Every day as she walked past the window of C...

If You Suddenly Lose Vision in One Eye

…don’tcontinue with your grocery shopping, then drive yourself home, then take yourself to the emergency room.Call 911 immediately or have someone with you call them. Tell them you might be having a stroke.

A week ago now, I stopped off at the grocery store for three things – blueberries, bananas and a piece of salmon for dinner. Literally between one step and the next, I lost the vision in my right eye. There was no pain, no dizziness, no warning…just like someone had drawn a gray curtain in...

P is for Parasol on Wednesday Whimsy

This week’s Wednesday Whimsy is all about the parasol….couldn’t find too many quotes about them, other than this one from author Anne Sexton, in a poem entitled “The Kite: “The parasol girls slept, sun-sitting their lovely years.”

When I interviewed steampunk author Gail Carriger for my USA Today/HEA columnawhile ago, of course she has written an entire series entitledThe Parasol Protectorate.Here’s one quick Q&A from the interview:

Veronica: Which piece of steampunk “technology” in the series...

Does He Have the Ring? MISSION TO MAHJUNDAR Weekend Writing Warriors

A fun way to sample new books and find new writers! Here’s the link to theWeekend Writing Warriorscentral page, so you can visit all the participants sharing excerpts today…

Doing excerpts from Mission to Mahjundar,which has been Released and is now available… I’m going to give you one last excerpt from this novel, no spoilers because we know it’s a romance, hence there will be a very hardwon Happily Ever After!

As captain of the battleship, Nikolai was authorized to perform ceremonies from chr...

The Mysterious and Alluring Selkies

Over at USA Today Happily Ever After, I’m interviewing J. Kathleen Cheney today about herGolden City fantasy series, set in an alternate world and featuring a dark murder mystery mixed up with magic. (Isn’t her cover gorgeous?) She selected 1902 Portugal as the site for her stories, for reasons she discusses in the HEA column. Her world of sirens and selkies living amongst the non-magical folks is fascinating. Hop on over to read more about JKC and her novels.

The first time I encountered the...

O is for Owls on Wednesday Whimsy

More Victorian 1800s trade cards from the collection today! They seem to have really loved owls in their advertising.

There was an entire series of these cards to the left, featuring the mother-in-law owl, who seemed to be perpetually disapproving, and then the two owls who were in love, plus random frogs. I like this one the best because even if the old lady owl doesn’t seem happy, the young lovers clearly are. Even the Moon, peeking out from behind the tree, seems ok with the romantic pair....

Channel the Power MISSION TO MAHJUNDAR Weekend Writing Warriors

A fun way to sample new books and find new writers! Here’s the link to theWeekend Writing Warriorscentral page, so you can visit all the participants sharing excerpts today…

Doing excerpts from Mission to Mahjundar,which has been Released and is now available…Princess Shalira has maneuvered her father the emperor into insisting the hero, Major Mike Varone of the Sectors Special Forces, and his companion, must accompany her on a journey. Mike’s not exactly pleased.

I’m jumping ahead a week or so...

Veronica Found Another Magazine Quiz!

This one’s adapted from the August 25th issue ofPeople magazine and they were interviewing singer Rita Ora. All answers below are mine alone!

Describe your style in three words:long and flowy. Wait, do conjunctions count? Where’s an editor? OK, try: Long, flowy, lavender? Actually, I have different styles depending on whether I’m at the day job or at home. We used to have to wear business suits, very proper, except we looked pretty ridiculous in meetings with the scientists who were usually in...