Author Archives: Victoria Janssen

About Victoria Janssen

Victoria Janssen [she, her] currently writes cozy space opera for Kalikoi. The novella series A Place of Refuge begins with Finding Refuge: Telepathic warrior Talia Avi, genius engineer Miki Boudreaux, and augmented soldier Faigin Balfour fought the fascist Federated Colonies for ten years, following the charismatic dissenter Jon Churchill. Then Jon disappeared, Talia was thought dead, and Miki and Faigin struggled to take Jon’s place and stay alive. When the FC is unexpectedly upended, Talia is reunited with her friends and they are given sanctuary on the enigmatic planet Refuge. The trio of former guerillas strive to recover from lifetimes of trauma, build new lives on a planet with endless horizons, and forge tender new connections with each other.

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

I did a lot of experimenting with grilled cheese sandwiches this month. I learned some things! Colby-Jack melted a lot more smoothly than cheddar, my previous go-to cheese when not using processed “American” slices. For this rather excellent sandwich, I … Continue reading

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#TBRChallenge – Fairy Tale: Wendy, Darling by A.C. Wise

Wendy, Darling by A.C. Wise is in conversation with Peter Pan, a story so familiar and entrenched in general English-speaking cultural consciousness that I’m counting it as fitting the fairy tale theme. Peter Pan is easily read as extremely creepy, … Continue reading

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Updates on My Kalikoi Novellas

Finding Refuge received a lovely review at Phoebe’s Randoms: “Janssen has laid the ground floor for what could be an exciting series about PTSD, life after war, human and non-human relations, and just personal relationships in general.” Sapphic Book Club … Continue reading

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My January Reading Log

Fiction: The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton is a bitingly satirical alternate Victorian England in which women have learned to make their houses fly, and of course have used this ability to become pirates, and also spend … Continue reading

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#TBRChallenge – Quickie: Instead of Three Wishes by Megan Whalen Turner

Instead of Three Wishes: Magical Short Stories by Megan Whalen Turner was the slenderest volume on my TBR shelves. I dearly love Turner’s “Queen’s Thief” series, marketed as Young Adult, that begins with The Thief. In my opinion this short … Continue reading

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My December Reading Log

Fiction: Plus-One by Barbara Hambly is a novelette in her Windrose series; I had been hoarding a couple of it for a while, as it’s from my favorite of her various fantasy series. Joanna and Antryg are attending a martial … Continue reading

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IHeartLesfic Reading Challenge

I Heart Lesfic‘s 2022 reading challenge features a themed list of books each week, which seems like a great way to encounter some new-to-me authors; it starts the week of January 10, 2022. My speculative fiction erotica collection Erotic Exploits … Continue reading

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2021 Guest Posts

My 2021 Guest Post Round-Up: Sapphic Book Club gave me an Author Spotlight in December; I wrote about SF Worldbuilding Techniques. I Heart Lesfic’s Project Kindness hosted a blog post from me on December 3, about growing closer to my … Continue reading

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#TBRChallenge 2022

This year, I’ll again be participating in the TBR Challenge hosted by Wendy the Super Librarian. My goal is to post reviews of a themed book on the third Wednesday of every month. Feel free to join me! Tag your … Continue reading

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#TBRChallenge – Festive: Cotillion by Georgette Heyer

It’s true! I’ve never read Cotillion by Georgette Heyer! Until now. This book was published in 1953, so I felt free to include spoilers in this post. I found the novel charming, with typical Heyer character types, plotlines, and shenanigans, … Continue reading

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