Smutketeers

Smutketeers: Tell us a little about what it’s like to be Victoria Janssen. You’ve said that through your writing you like to empower women, usually through unconventional means. Do tell!

Victoria: My mother always told me she wanted me to have more opportunities than she did, and so I’ve lived my life trying to make sure I do things that aren’t traditional for women, and give to myself as well as others. I think that’s really important – too often, women are supposed to be self-sacrificing, and eventually that can eat away at your strength and happiness. To me, empowerment means taking the time to find out who you are and what you need to be happy, and then making sure you have it. If you’ve taken care of yourself first, then it’s much easier to give to others.

In stories, I like to dramatize or exaggerate those ideas. For me, spending an afternoon at a spa is taking care of myself. For the Duchess Camille, it’s summoning the hot young stableboy to get her pregnant. For a werewolf, it might be bloody revenge.

Smutketeers: What is your writing process like? Do you have a daily or weekly word count that you try to meet? Or do you wait until the last minute and write like mad?

Victoria: I am a tortoise, and I’ve learned that keeping track of my daily wordcount helps to not only make progress, but feel like I’m making progress. Also, I can then look back and be reassured when I have slow periods, because I can see that I survived times without writing before; it’s just part of my process.

My pattern at the moment is 1000 words a day, skipping the day I have choir rehearsal. Sometimes I do a little better on Saturday, because I have more time to write.

Smutketeers: What made you write erotica? Was it because you could write sexy group lurvin’ (ahem, the duchess, her maid, the groom, and their lover), wasn’t it? Be honest, now. It can be our little secret. Promise!

Victoria: I first started writing erotica to amuse my friends. We used to write stories in a shared universe. I hadn’t written any really romantic scenes before, and they really, really liked the (pretty tame) one I did. So after that, I wrote more. I continue to write erotica because I seem to be good at it. I also like playing with the genre and seeing where it can take me as far as learning the craft of writing.

Smutketeers: Do you read in the same genre(s) you write?

Victoria: Yes and no. I read a lot of romance but very little erotica. I did read a lot of erotica when I started out writing it, but got a bit burned out. I also read fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and nonfiction.

Smutketeers: You’ve written—and published!—in other genres before. What were they and what made you switch? Which genre or time period is your favorite to write in?

Victoria: I sold some non-erotic fantasy, but I don’t think it was nearly as high quality as I would have liked. I still love science fiction and fantasy; I would probably be writing in those genres now if I hadn’t found I was better at writing (and selling) erotica. I do love writing erotica – I think it’s important to explore that part of our imaginations, and it’s important for feminist reasons as well – but I find it to be a lot more fun when I can include speculative or historical elements, so I haven’t really let go of my genre birthplace.

The Moonlight Mistress was particularly fun for me, since I got to use historical knowledge as well as sneaking science fictional werewolves into my erotica. Different genres, to me, are like chocolate and peanut butter, two great tastes that taste great together.

Smutketeers: You have some truly awesome titles under both of your pen names. Do you come up with them yourself or do your editors pick for you?

Victoria: I titled all of my short stories except for “Twisted Beauty.” I’m still not that happy with “Twisted Beauty” because the original title, “Among the Lilies,” is a lot prettier and more allusive – and I didn’t like using the word “Twisted” for a story about a man in a wheelchair. But I went with what the editor chose.

I love titling stories, even though it can be difficult and frustrating. Often a line from a poem or a quote will stick with me, and emerge from my subconscious just when I need it. “Place, Park, Scene, Dark” is the first line of a song, “By the Light of the Silvery Moon,” the moon making it appropriate for a werewolf story. Single word titles often happen that way, too. “Camera” was named before I consciously had a full sense of the story and its themes. “Wire” was the same. And sometimes I parody other titles. “17 Short Films About Hades and Persephone” came from the film “32 Short Films About Glenn Gould.” “Poppies Are Not the Only Flower” came from Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, a lesbian novel by Jeanette Winterson; my story is about lesbians during World War One, so I used poppies to indicate that.

Neither of my original titles for my Spice books survived, and I came up with huge lists of alternate titles before they were approved. However, it looks like my third Spice book is going to stay The Duke and the Pirate Queen, which makes me pretty happy.

Smutketeers: You’ve written for a number of publishers in different lengths. Do you have a favorite story length (novel, novella, short story)?

Victoria: I love writing novels best; I love reading novels much more than short stories, and I love being involved in the world of the novel for months at a time. But writing short stories can be a lot of fun, too, and it’s easier to experiment with different styles and points of view when you’re only committed for a few thousand words.

Smutketeers: We know you have a love of music. Do you ever perform in public?

Victoria: I sing in a choir, and we do several concerts every year. I usually have to put my writing aside during concert week, because it can be exhausting as well as fun.

Smutketeers: Name three of your favorite movies of all time.

Victoria: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Singing in the Rain. The Kenneth Branagh version of Henry V.

Smutketeers: If one of your books were made into a movie, which one would you want to see on the big screen the most? More importantly, who would play in the starring roles?

Victoria: I think The Moonlight Mistress would make the better movie of the two. When I was writing up character descriptions for the art department, I actually did give some actors to approximate the look of the characters: Lucilla was Minnie Driver, Pascal was French actor Vincent Perez though less pretty, Tanneken a blonde Audrey Tatou, Noel very Damien Lewis, Crispin a little bit like singer Tom Jones, and Gabriel like a blonde Jude Law. Only not really.

Smutketeers: Tell us about your current release(s) and what you have coming up next.

Victoria: The Moonlight Mistress is just out this month. It’s an erotic novel set during the early days of World War One. And there are werewolves. I’m finishing up the draft of my next Spice novel, The Duke and the Pirate Queen, which is a sequel to The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom and Their Lover featuring Maxime and Captain Leung.

Smutketeers: Do you have any appearances coming up?

Victoria: I’m having a book launch on December 5th, but that’s it for a while.

http://www.bigbluemarblebooks.com/events.html

I will likely attend Arisia in January.

http://2010.arisia.org

Smutketeers: Where can we find you on the Internet?

Website: www.victoriajanssen.com

Blog: http://victoriajanssen.blogspot.com

I twitter as victoriajanssen

*And now for some quick questions…

~Beach cottage or mountain cabin?

Mountain cabin, with nice fire in fireplace and fuzzy socks. Unless the beach weather is nice and overcast, with a cool ocean-scented breeze.

~Knee high boots or come-fuck-me pumps?

Boots, definitely. Pumps make my feet hurt.

~On men: boxers, briefs, or commando?

Boxers. But commando is also acceptable.

~Werewolf or vampire?

Werewolf.

~Spanker or spankee?

Spanker.

~Blue jeans or pearls?

Blue jeans.

~Voyeur or exhibitionist?

Voyeur.

~Tattoos or piercings?

Piercings.

~Candlelit dinner or moonlight serenade?

Moonlight serenade. If we had dinner first.