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.

Historical and Paranormal: Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

For my December 2009 erotic novel for Harlequin Spice, Moonlight Mistress, I combined a historical novel with paranormal elements. The book is set during the early days of World War One, and begins with a romance between Lucilla, an English … Continue reading →

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Joanna Russ, How to Suppress Women’s Writing

Posted on July 7, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

I’ve been thinking about this book lately, and considering a re-read. Excerpt from How to Suppress Women’s Writing by Joanna Russ: If certain people are not supposed to have the ability to produce “great” literature, and if this supposition is … Continue reading →

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Why I Love the Marriage of Convenience Plot

Posted on July 6, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

The “marriage of convenience” plot in historical romance might focus on an arranged marriage, but more typically, shenanigans are involved; the couple marries to save the heroine from ruin at the hands of a dastardly plotter, or to ensure the … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, historical fiction, reading, romance novels | 3 Comments

Julian Grenfell, “Into Battle”

Posted on July 5, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

Into Battle The naked earth is warm with Spring, And with green grass and bursting trees Leans to the sun’s gaze glorying, And quivers in the sunny breeze; And Life is Colour and Warmth and Light,And a striving evermore for … Continue reading →

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Moonlight Mistress excerpt – First Meeting with the Villain

Posted on July 4, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

In this scene, the two werewolves Tanneken and Ashby meet their captor, Herr Kauz, for the first time (Tanneken has met him before the novel begins, but this is the reader’s introduction to him). When describing Herr Kauz, I call … Continue reading →

Posted in free read, moonlight mistress, promo, werewolves | 2 Comments

Top Ten Reasons to Attend a Writing/Reading Conference

Posted on July 3, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

Top Ten Reasons to Attend a Writing/Reading Conference 1. To see your friends! 2. To make new friends. Sometimes this is called “networking,” but really, that sounds like something robots do. And there’s no point in “networking” if you’re not … Continue reading →

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Romancing the Beast

Posted on July 2, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

Paranormal romance almost always features the hero as a paranormal being and the heroine as an ordinary human. How does this resonate with gender relations and power relationships in our society? Is it a way of expressing women seeing men … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, paranormal, romance novels | 8 Comments

Paranormal Appropriation

Posted on July 1, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

There are a lot of paranormal romances and urban fantasies on the market, and certain mythological creatures–vampires and werewolves, for example–tend to be used a lot. For that reason, I can understand why writers look a little farther for inspiration, … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, paranormal | 8 Comments

World War One Recruitment Posters

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

I love looking at the material culture of the First World War as well as reading the rhetoric of the period. These recruitment posters are a good example of how men were convinced to enlist in the armed forces. Guilt … Continue reading →

Posted in research, wwi | 4 Comments

Normative Heterosexuality and the Alpha Male Fantasy

Posted on June 29, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

Normative(Adjective): of or establishing a norm or standard. Romance novels feature vast numbers of heroes who are so-called “alpha” males – usually taken to mean men who are better-looking and stronger than other men, with more dominant personalities, and usually … Continue reading →

Posted in genre, reading, romance novels | 13 Comments