Victoria Allen

Well, retreat is over and it’s time to get back to reality – which for me, means back to editing other people’s stories while working on my own. Yes, I’m one of those horrible things called an editor. I’m the person who tells you where to put your commas and whether a word is a [...]

This post will be a little different today. Instead of giving you editorial tidbits, I’m going to talk about an event that’s going to take place this week for myself and my friends. We will all be jumping in our cars and driving 3-4+ hours to reach an incredible place where we will spend the [...]

In my “real” life, I am an editor and I work at a small, independent bookstore so my life is surrounded by books. I was also a reviewer for a national magazine for almost twenty years, and have a degree in library science. All this goes to say – I love books. I can’t get [...]

I love crossword puzzles. There. I’ve said it. I’m one of those people who do them in ink. I’ve been doing them since I was a little kid. Dad would pull me up on his lap and we’d do them together. It was his way of teaching me, a slow to start reader, spelling and [...]

Birthdays: William Cobbett, Vita Sackville-West, Mickey Spillane, Tips and Teasers: A redundancy is the use of a word or words that are not necessary and can be eliminated without losing the meaning of the sentence. “That” is often a redundant word. Go over your manuscript. Are there any places where “that” can be eliminated? Thought [...]

Oops – missed a couple of days – just too much going on. My apologies. So here is an abbreviated one for today. Enjoy! Birthdays: Erik Linklater, Kenneth Grahame, Sembene Ousmane Tips and Teasers: Make a list of places you would like to visit. Now do the research. Besides money, what would you need to [...]

In addition to the birthdays, quote and tips, I’m happy to announce the print version of my futuristic romance, Danger on Xy-One, is available from Ellora’s Cave Blush. It’s been available as an ebook, but now will be in print format as well. The publisher is Ellora’s Cave found in their “Blush” line (the non-erotic [...]

Today is “Hug a G.I.” day – actually, for what they do and endure, that should be every day. Thank you to the men and women of the Armed Forces. Birthdays: Alan Sillitoe, Johann Wyss I’m not overly familiar with Sillitoe, though I should be, but Johann Wyss? Even if you don’t know the name, [...]

Birthdays: Emile-Auguste Chartier, Sidney Lanier Okay, I have to admit, I’ve never heard of either of these authors. But I did look the up when their names appeared on the birthday list. Interesting people. Go ahead, check them out. Lanier was a well-known American poet who has a school in Alabama named after him. And [...]

Birthdays: John Irving, Philip K. Dick, John Jay Chapman, Theodor Geisel Okay, I’ve heard of all of these, but my favorite is Theodor Geisel, aka Dr.Seuss. His lessons in silly rhymes educated and amused me for years, and still do. As a young librarian, my students used to challenge me to see how fast I [...]