“In the Trenches,” Maurice Hewlett

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Victoria Janssen

In the Trenches

As I lay in the trenches
Under the Hunter’s Moon,
My mind ran to the lenches
Cut in a Wiltshire down.

I saw their long black shadows,
The beeches in the lane,
The gray church in the meadows
And my white cottage—plain.

Thinks I, the down lies dreaming
Under that hot moon’s eye,
Which sees the shells fly screaming
And men and horses die.

And what makes she, I wonder,
Of the horror and the blood,
And what’s her luck, to sunder
The evil from the good?

’T was more than I could compass,
For how was I to think
With such infernal rumpus
In such a blasted stink?

But here’s a thought to tally
With t’other. That moon sees
A shrouded German valley
With woods and ghostly trees.

And maybe there’s a river
As we have got at home
With poplar-trees aquiver
And clots of whirling foam.

And over there some fellow,
A German and a foe,
Whose gills are turning yellow
As sure as mine are so,

Watches that riding glory
Apparel’d in her gold,
And craves to hear the story
Her frozen lips enfold.

And if he sees as clearly
As I do where her shrine
Must fall, he longs as dearly,
With heart as full as mine.

–Maurice Hewlett

Posted in wwi poetry | Tagged | Comments Off on “In the Trenches,” Maurice Hewlett

At Readercon 22

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Victoria Janssen

I’m at Readercon 22 this weekend.

You can find me at these panels and discussion groups:

Saturday July 16, 10:00 AM G
Paranormal Romance and Otherness.
Victoria Janssen (leader), Alaya Dawn Johnson, Toni L.P. Kelner, Kate Nepveu, JoSelle Vanderhooft.
In science fiction, aliens are often used to explore aspects of otherness in our own society, such as gender and race. How are the mythical creatures of paranormal romance and urban fantasy being used to explore these same issues? What are the advantages and the pitfalls for writers?

11:00 AM G
Are We Not Men?: Human Women and Beast-Men in Paranormal Romance.
Stacy Hague-Hill, Victoria Janssen (leader), K.A. Laity, Delia Sherman, Ann Tonsor Zeddies.
In a 2009 blog post, Victoria Janssen [that’s me!!!] wrote: “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? And is it emblematic of women seeing men as Other?” In addition, many of these stories feature women who metaphorically or literally tame men who have non-human aspects, turning them from bestial creatures driven by base urges into civilized, socially acceptable mates. We examine the social context of this narrative and its appeal to paranormal romance readers of various genders.

1:00 PM Vin. Kaffeeklatsch. Victoria Janssen, John Langan. Come find me and get free coffee or tea.

3:00 PM G
Matrilineal Heritage.
Gemma Files, Eileen Gunn, Victoria Janssen, Ellen Kushner (leader), Chris Moriarty.
Diana Wynne Jones and Joanna Russ were two of the women who greatly inspired other women to write speculative fiction. Who are their heirs? And who are their heirs inspiring?

9:00 PM G
There’s No Homelike Place.
Debra Doyle, Theodora Goss, Victoria Janssen (leader), Tom Purdom, Kaaron Warren.
Many portal quest fantasies function by exploiting anxieties surrounding the location of home: either home is to be found beyond the portal, where the nerd/outcast finds their true tribe, or home is to be returned to, enriched by the fantasy land left behind in its favor. However, given that our world is increasingly mobile and rootless, why do we seem to produce so few sympathetic narratives of adventurers who never find home–for whom home is less a destination than a journey? Among all the stories of nomads who extol the traveling life but then either settle down (Sharon Shinn’s Samaria books) or are forced to stay in one place (Daniel Abraham’s Long Price Quartet), why are there so few where wandering is the happy ending?

Sunday July 17, 10:00 AM G
Great War Geeks Unite, Part 2.
Walter H. Hunt, Victoria Janssen (leader), Barbara Krasnoff, Alison Sinclair, Howard Waldrop.
Last year, the Great War geeks filled a room; there were so many that we barely had time to introduce ourselves before the time ran out. This year, let’s try to focus on a single topic: What makes the period of World War I so fascinating to speculative fiction writers and readers? Is it because The World Changed or is there some other reason? Let’s chat and maybe get some future panel topics out of our discussion.

Full schedule with item descriptions.

Posted in conferences, sf/f | Tagged | Comments Off on At Readercon 22

Readercon 22 Schedule

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Victoria Janssen

The full schedule for Readercon 22, including program item descriptions, is now available.

Posted in conferences | Comments Off on Readercon 22 Schedule

What I’m Up To

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Victoria Janssen

I haven’t posted a lot about writing lately – that’s because I haven’t been doing much writing!

Part of that is because I needed some time for family and friends, and part of it is that I desperately needed some time off. However, I’ve also been busy with the business side of writing, mostly networking, which doesn’t translate well into interesting blog posts (unless you like name-dropping). I attended the IASPR and RWA conferences, and later this week will be attending Readercon. I wrote some posts for Heroes and Heartbreakers and The Criminal Element and the Novelists, Inc. blog. I collected a whole pile of calls for submissions to consider in the coming months, after I’ve finished the story that’s currently under contract with Harlequin. I’ve started the process of adding another venue for online sales, though that’s been temporarily sidetracked by all my traveling. I’m trying to make a decision about attending the Novelists, Inc. conference in October.

All of that is important, and all of it takes time and mental space.

Posted in business of writing, writing process | Comments Off on What I’m Up To

“Courage,” Dyneley Hussey

Posted on July 10, 2011 by Victoria Janssen

Courage

Alone amid the battle-din untouched
Stands out one figure beautiful, serene;
No grime of smoke nor reeking blood hath smutched
The virgin brow of this unconquered queen.
She is the Joy of Courage vanquishing
The unstilled tremors of the fearful heart;
And it is she that bids the poet sing,
And gives to each the strength to bear his part.

Her eye shall not be dimmed, but as a flame
Shall light the distant ages with its fire,
That men may know the glory of her name,
That purified our souls of fear’s desire.
And she doth calm our sorrow, soothe our pain,
And she shall lead us back to peace again.

–Dyneley Hussey

Posted in wwi poetry | Tagged | Comments Off on “Courage,” Dyneley Hussey

Cool views out my RWA 2011 hotel room

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Victoria Janssen

This was the view out my hotel room at RWA 2011.


I’m especially happy there were water towers.

Posted in conferences, images, rwa | Comments Off on Cool views out my RWA 2011 hotel room

Torchwood hits New York City

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Victoria Janssen

I spotted this poster for the new Torchwood series around Times Square. It was hard to miss. Note the scale.

Compare to the double-decker bus!

Posted in images, television | Tagged | Comments Off on Torchwood hits New York City

My 2011 Readercon Schedule

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Victoria Janssen

I’ll be attending Readercon 22 on July 14-17, in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Here’s my schedule:

Saturday July 16, 10:00 AM G
Paranormal Romance and Otherness.
Victoria Janssen (leader), Alaya Dawn Johnson, Toni L.P. Kelner, Kate Nepveu, JoSelle Vanderhooft.
In science fiction, aliens are often used to explore aspects of otherness in our own society, such as gender and race. How are the mythical creatures of paranormal romance and urban fantasy being used to explore these same issues? What are the advantages and the pitfalls for writers?

11:00 AM    G   
Are We Not Men?: Human Women and Beast-Men in Paranormal Romance.
Stacy Hague-Hill, Victoria Janssen (leader), K.A. Laity, Delia Sherman, Ann Tonsor Zeddies.
In a 2009 blog post, Victoria Janssen [that’s me!!!] wrote: “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? And is it emblematic of women seeing men as Other?” In addition, many of these stories feature women who metaphorically or literally tame men who have non-human aspects, turning them from bestial creatures driven by base urges into civilized, socially acceptable mates. We examine the social context of this narrative and its appeal to paranormal romance readers of various genders.

1:00 PM Vin. Kaffeeklatsch. Victoria Janssen, John Langan. Come find me and get free coffee or tea.

3:00 PM G
Matrilineal Heritage.
Gemma Files, Eileen Gunn, Victoria Janssen, Ellen Kushner (leader), Chris Moriarty.
Diana Wynne Jones and Joanna Russ were two of the women who greatly inspired other women to write speculative fiction. Who are their heirs? And who are their heirs inspiring?

9:00 PM G
There’s No Homelike Place.
Debra Doyle, Theodora Goss, Victoria Janssen (leader), Tom Purdom, Kaaron Warren.
Many portal quest fantasies function by exploiting anxieties surrounding the location of home: either home is to be found beyond the portal, where the nerd/outcast finds their true tribe, or home is to be returned to, enriched by the fantasy land left behind in its favor. However, given that our world is increasingly mobile and rootless, why do we seem to produce so few sympathetic narratives of adventurers who never find home–for whom home is less a destination than a journey? Among all the stories of nomads who extol the traveling life but then either settle down (Sharon Shinn’s Samaria books) or are forced to stay in one place (Daniel Abraham’s Long Price Quartet), why are there so few where wandering is the happy ending?

Sunday July 17, 10:00 AM G
Great War Geeks Unite, Part 2.
Walter H. Hunt, Victoria Janssen (leader), Barbara Krasnoff, Alison Sinclair, Howard Waldrop.
Last year, the Great War geeks filled a room; there were so many that we barely had time to introduce ourselves before the time ran out. This year, let’s try to focus on a single topic: What makes the period of World War I so fascinating to speculative fiction writers and readers? Is it because The World Changed or is there some other reason? Let’s chat and maybe get some future panel topics out of our discussion.

Posted in conferences, sf/f | Tagged | 2 Comments

2011 Harlequin Party Pics

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Victoria Janssen

Crystal Jordan and me, before we headed out to the party.

The gorgeous lobby of the New York Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

Attendees were given “dancing socks” upon arrival.

The ballroom was long and narrow, and very crowded!

Harlequin Historical author Elaine Golden had awesome shoes.

Author Elaine Golden (still wearing the shoes).

Author Leia Rice looking snazzy.

I hung out with some of my science fiction friends – author Laura Anne Gilman and agent Lucienne Diver.

More science fiction types – Josh Jasper and Rose Fox of PW – I’ll be seeing them again at Readercon, later this month.

Victoria Dahl in a great dress!

Posted in conferences, images | Tagged | Comments Off on 2011 Harlequin Party Pics

“Buttons,” Carl Sandburg

Posted on July 3, 2011 by Victoria Janssen

Buttons

I have been watching the war map slammed up for advertising in front of the newspaper office.
Buttons—red and yellow buttons—blue and black buttons—are shoved back and forth across the map.

A laughing young man, sunny with freckles,
Climbs a ladder, yells a joke to somebody in the crowd,
And then fixes a yellow button one inch west
And follows the yellow button with a black button one inch west.

(Ten thousand men and boys twist on their bodies in a red soak along a river edge,
Gasping of wounds, calling for water, some rattling death in their throats.)
Who would guess what it cost to move two buttons one inch on the war map here in front of the newspaper office where the freckle-faced young man is laughing to us?

–Carl Sandburg, Chicago Poems, 1916.

Posted in sandburg, wwi poetry | Tagged | Comments Off on “Buttons,” Carl Sandburg