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.

#TBR Challenge 2025

Posted on January 2, 2025 by Victoria Janssen

TBR Challenge 2025 is a fun way to actually read all those books I’ve been accumulating over the years. “Your mission, should you choose to accept it: once a month pull a dormant book out of your TBR pile and … Continue reading →

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TBR Challenge – It’s a Party!: Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake

Posted on December 18, 2024 by Victoria Janssen

My choice for December’s TBR Challenge book is Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake, in which ex-fiancées end up stuck in the same house for Christmas holiday fun. I chose the book because it has professional musician characters; … Continue reading →

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My November Reading Log

Posted on December 13, 2024 by Victoria Janssen

Fiction: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst is a very cozy romantic fantasy set in a world that, to me, felt very dreamlike because there were a number of fantastical creatures with magical origins. Some of these, like the merhorses, … Continue reading →

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#TBR Challenge – It Came From the 1990s!: Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader’s Companion

Posted on November 20, 2024 by Victoria Janssen

It Came From the 1990s!: Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader’s Companion by J. Daniel Gifford and James Gifford was published in 2000, but that’s the end of the 1990s, it counts! This is a nonfiction catalog of all the writing … Continue reading →

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My October Reading Log

Posted on November 15, 2024 by Victoria Janssen

Fiction: Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis is fantasy romance novella set in an alternate nineteenth century England (Angland) where women do politics and men do magic. Humans have an uneasy truce with the powerful Elves. The protagonist Cassandra Harwood, a unique … Continue reading →

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My September Reading Log

Posted on October 18, 2024 by Victoria Janssen

Fiction: Payback in Death by J.D. Robb is fifty-seventh in this futuristic mystery series, and I continue to enjoy, from a writerly perspective, how Robb/Nora Roberts manages to both provide enough information for new readers and reward longtime readers with … Continue reading →

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#TBR Challenge – Spooky (Gothic): All Clear by Connie Willis

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Victoria Janssen

October 16, Spooky (Gothic): All Clear by Connie Willis (2010) is the second half of Blackout, which I read for the September Drama theme. It actually does fit the Spooky theme a bit, as the characters navigate London during the … Continue reading →

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Quick Stovetop Fudge Drops

Posted on October 1, 2024 by Victoria Janssen

Quick Stovetop Fudge Drops 1/4 cup milk 1 cup sugar 4 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 tsp vanilla 1/2 cup peanut butter 1 cup oatmeal [preferably uncooked rolled oats] 1/2 cup diced nuts, salted peanuts, or fruit … Continue reading →

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#TBR Challenge – Drama!: Blackout by Connie Willis

Posted on September 18, 2024 by Victoria Janssen

Blackout by Connie Willis came out in 2010, the first of two books that are really one book, so it ends on a cliffhanger and continues in my next month’s book, All Clear. Does it fit the theme? Oh, yes, … Continue reading →

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My August Reading Log

Posted on September 13, 2024 by Victoria Janssen

Fiction: Encore in Death by J. D. Robb/Nora Roberts is fifty-sixth in this massive series, which I continue reading not only because it’s a comfort read for its familiar characters and justice prevailing, but because I enjoy seeing, from a … Continue reading →

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