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.

Ann Aguirre Guest Post – On Worldbuilding

Posted on June 5, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

Please welcome my guest Ann Aguirre, author of futuristic romance and urban fantasy. # Some people make exhaustive lists before they start writing. They chart things and color code them and write them on cards. I’m not one of them. … Continue reading →

Posted in guest, sf/f, writing craft | 3 Comments

Striving for Perfection

Posted on June 4, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

Striving for absolute shiny perfection is the worst thing for me. No, really. My idea of perfection is just a little too perfect. I could go mad, trying to write the Platonic ideal story; I know I could. I could … Continue reading →

Posted in writing, writing process | 6 Comments

The Faces of World War One

Posted on June 3, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

This post originated as a guest post for Lust in Time in December, 2008. I rarely use photographs to give me character ideas, though occasionally after the story is in progress, or finished, I realize the character looks like a … Continue reading →

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On writing The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom and Their Lover

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

This post originated as a guest post for Lust in Time in December, 2008. The inspiration for The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom and Their Lover was in a contest; I think it was in 2001. I am often inspired … Continue reading →

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On writing The Moonlight Mistress

Posted on June 1, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

This post originated as a guest post for Lust in Time in December, 2008. When I sold The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom and Their Lover, the contract was for two books. I’d submitted several brief ideas for the second … Continue reading →

Posted in moonlight mistress, werewolves, writing craft, writing process | 2 Comments

Siegfried Sassoon, "The Dream"

Posted on May 31, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

The Dream IMoonlight and dew-drenched blossom, and the scentOf summer gardens; these can bring you allThose dreams that in the starlit silence fall:Sweet songs are full of odours.While I wentLast night in drizzling dusk along a lane,I passed a squalid … Continue reading →

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How Times Change!

Posted on May 29, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

How times change! On this day in 2003, I noted in my journal that I wrote 183 words on the novel I was writing at the time. That is, 183 words all day. Now, I very, very rarely allow myself … Continue reading →

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Books on Writing

Posted on May 28, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

I have a few favorite books on writing which I’d like to share. Links are to Amazon.com. This is my favorite, which I enjoy reading for itself as well as for what it teaches me: Steering the Craft: Exercises and … Continue reading →

Posted in writing, writing craft | 7 Comments

Writing Goals

Posted on May 27, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

What are your goals for writing? I was thinking about this recently, and realized I needed to make some new goals. My first goal was sell a short story. I did quite a bit of that, all the while with … Continue reading →