Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Box
Title
Manuscripts, and Series 2 - 4
Date(s)
- 1990 - 2015 (Creation)
Extent
1 box
Name of creator
Biographical history
Victoria McManus is a resident of Philadelphia, PA. She writes both fiction and nonfiction, under the names Victoria Janssen and Elspeth Potter, and includes both novels and short stories. Her first novel was the alternate-world fantasy The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom and Their Lover (2008), which has been translated into French, German, and Russian. Her next novel, The Moonlight Mistress (2009), features the early days of World War One and werewolves; it has been translated into Italian and has an electronic-only sequel available, “Under Her Uniform.” McManus' third novel The Duke and the Pirate Queen (2010), is a sort-of sequel to The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom and Their Lover, focusing on different characters. In 2021-2022, under the name of Victoria Janssen, she released A Place of Refuge, a new science fiction queer romance space opera consisting of three books: Finding Refuge, Accepting Refuge, and Embracing Refuge.
Her first published short story was "Water Music" (2000), which appeared in Best Lesbian Erotica 2001 from Cleis Press, and she has since written a number of other stories that have been anthologized in various erotica collections. Her nonfiction mostly appears at the blogs Heroes and Heartbreakers (romance) and The Criminal Element (mystery, suspense, and thrillers). She also reviews anonymously for Publishers Weekly.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
1-4/1: No Mirrors [unpublished], typescript notes, 1996
1-4/2: "Starbucket" stories, typescript, 1990
1-4/3: "Starbucket" stories, typescript, 1990
1-4/4: "Die Zauberflote", typescript and solicitation letter, 1994
1-4/5: Assorted McManus works and associated correspondence from writing workshops with Judith Berman, 2000 - 2004
1-4/6: Project notebook, 2010 - 2013
1-4/7: Typescript notes for untitled rock 'n' roll novel, undated
1-4/8: Untitled "1920 novel" [sequel to 1919], typescript chapter 1 with handwritten edits, April 2005
1-4/9: Various World War I-related projects, typescript excerpts, 2012, undated
Series II: Diaries and Correspondence
2-4/10: Agent and editor correspondence re: The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom and Their Lover (2008), February 2006 - July 2008
2-4/11: Correspondence, 1998, 2002 - 2010, undated
2-4/12: Correspondence with agents re: 1919, 2004 -2006
2-4/13: Correspondence with Harlequin Books, 2008, 2015
Series III: Literary Materials
3-4/14: The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom and Their Lover (2008), reviews, 2008
3-4/15: Various book reviews by McManus, 2002
Series IV: Other Materials
4-4/16: Bookmarks and publicity cards for The Duke and The Pirate Queen (2010)
4-4/17: Broad Universe materials, undated
4-4/18: Fanzines - Best of the Federated Speakeasy Irregular Review 1- 6 [Multimedia, undated]
4-4/19: Fanzines - Collection: Summer of '65 vol. 6 [*The Man From U.N.C.L.E., May 1995]
4-4/20: Fanzines - Leap Into Knight [Forever Knight/Quantum Leap, May 1994]
4-4/21: Fanzines - Never Let Me Down [The Professionals, October 1992]
4-4/22: Fanzines - Pulse of the Machine [Star Trek: The Next Generation, 1993]
4-4/23: Fanzines - The String Theory Affair [The Man From U.N.C.L.E./Quantum Leap, May 1998]
4-4/24: Flash drive of archived materials
4-4/25: Italy travelogue, July 2000
4-4/26: Publicity cards, The Moonlight Mistress (2009)
4-4/27: Sketches [by Judith Berman]?, undated