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.

Backwards Outlining

Posted on March 22, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

I did not come up with this on my own; I got it from Sarah Monette back in 2003. Backwards or reverse outlining is, essentially, seeing what you’ve already done. It’s an aid to structure, and it’s helped me more … Continue reading →

Posted in writing craft | 1 Comment

Ivor Gurney, "The Silent One"

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

The Silent One Who died on the wires, and hung there, one of two–Who for his hours of life had chattered throughInfinite lovely chatter of Bucksaccent:Yet faced unbroken wires; stepped over, and wentA noble fool, faithful to his stripes –and … Continue reading →

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Anne Sexton, "Courage"

Posted on March 20, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

Courage It is in the small things we see it.The child’s first step,as awesome as an earthquake.The first time you rode a bike,wallowing up the sidewalk.The first spanking when your heartwent on a journey all alone.When they called you crybabyor … Continue reading →

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Why Not Twentieth Century Historicals?

Posted on March 19, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

Why are so few (print) romance novels set in the twentieth century? If you go to a bookstore and look at the section labelled “Romance,” certain things are there and certain things are not. With the exception of occasional outliers … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, historical fiction, romance novels | 20 Comments

How to Write – Linkgasm #4

Posted on March 18, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

I visited Lauren Dane’s blog yesterday for Writerly Wednesday, to talk about Dialog Tricks. Also, Great War Fiction, one of my favorite blogs, reviewed The Moonlight Mistress yesterday! Here’s the link. It’s so cool to be meandering about, reading your … Continue reading →

Posted in links, writing | 2 Comments

I Like Being Reviewed

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

I like getting reviews of my work. Not everyone does. Not everyone is required to like it, or even to read reviews of their work. But some of us like reading reviews and commentary (which is how I think of … Continue reading →

Posted in business of writing | 5 Comments

Romance in Short

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

Having written a short romance story last month, I naturally had to think about how to do it. I’ve written many short stories, but I would classify them all as erotica whether or not they were romantic. This was the … Continue reading →

Posted in short fiction, writing craft | 2 Comments

Guest at Midnight Moon Cafe

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

I’m a guest today over at Midnight Moon Cafe, on “Making the Paranormal Real – Boundaries and Consequences.”

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e.e. cummings, "may my heart always be open to little"

Posted on March 14, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

may my heart always be open to littlebirds who are the secrets of livingwhatever they sing is better than to knowand if men should not hear them men are old may my mind stroll about hungryand fearless and thirsty and … Continue reading →

Posted in cummings, poetry | 1 Comment

e.e. cummings, "you being in love… (XII)"

Posted on March 13, 2010 by Victoria Janssen

you being in lovewill tell who softly asks in love, am i separated from your body smile brain hands merelyto become the jumping puppets of a dream? oh i mean:entirely having in my careful howcareful arms created this at lengthinexcusable, … Continue reading →

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