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Victoria Dougherty

Writer, Book Coach, Unapologetic Fantasist

Victoria Dougherty writes Cold War historical thrillers, historical fantasy, and personal essays. She's also a book coach, blogger, podcaster, and avid celebrant of the creative life!

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Featured Post

Never a "Bah-humbug" in the Cold!

Hello from the Cold! The holidays are truly upon us, and I've been thinking a lot about how to express to all of you how very grateful I am for our Cold forum. It's a place, I believe, where nothing is off limits, and where we endeavor to address topics of real meaning, and stories of true consequence, whether they are fiction, family lore, or history. I thought about writing a short story, holiday-themed perhaps, or offering some of my favorite holiday photos along with some anecdotes I...

4 months ago • 7 min read

Hello from the Cold! I'm coming to you a bit early this week, but for good reason! American Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and I wanted to be sure we could give thanks together, bask in the soul-nurturing gift of gratitude. This annual mediation is a great reminder of the good things in our lives, large and small. It is especially indispensable to those of us who aren't feeling particularly thankful, have had a hard year, and may be wondering what comes next. If this is you, you're not alone, my...

5 months ago • 2 min read

Hello from the Cold! This is going to be a something of a stream of consciousness. An attempt at articulating a process that I'm still smack in the middle of. There will be no neat beginning, middle, and end. At least not today. Nevertheless, I hope you'll indulge me, because I think this could be illuminating. See, I've been experiencing what I would call a creative stutter. This is not to be confused with writer's block, which is when a writer stares at a blank page for hours, days, or...

6 months ago • 2 min read

Hello from the Cold! The farm down the road from us has the Halloween spirit. Halloween - one of my all-time favorite holidays - is coming up. While I have every intention of indulging in the candy, the costume-foolery, and all manner of otherworldly shenanigans, I'd like to honor the coming Day of the Dead holiday with something a bit more serious and spiritual. I'd like to take you on a soulful walk through four very different graveyards. You may want to bundle up for this, because it's...

6 months ago • 3 min read

Hello from the Cold! My husband's all boys Catholic High School. This is their mascot - no joke. My husband and I returned from his High School reunion a few days ago, and I have to say that despite the devil image above, it was magic. To see a group of men who spent their adolescences together decades ago, and witness the camaraderie and yes, love, between them - these guys step up when one of them is hurting - was life-affirming. We drank beers, we laughed, we visited with old friends and...

7 months ago • 2 min read

Hello from the Cold! Our autumn table Yes, it is an off week, but I had to reach out. For two reasons. The first is that I've started reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this classic work on creativity, I'll give you a snapshot. It's written by Martin Scorsese's ex-wife, of all people, and it's not surprising that she's quite brilliant. Cameron is a writer by trade, who happened to stumble across a very successful second career as a teacher and...

7 months ago • 1 min read

Hello from the Cold! Before we get to the roast pork and dumplings of this missive (FYI, roast pork and dumplings is the Czech national dish), my BREATH series is on sale today and tomorrow only (that's the 29th and 30th)! For those of you who have not read these novels yet, you'll be able to download BREATH (book 1, on multiple platforms) for $.99 and OF SAND AND BONE (book 2 on Amazon only) for free. The links in the paragraph you're reading will take you to Amazon, while the button link...

7 months ago • 2 min read

Hello from the Cold! Some years ago, a writer friend of mine – a fun blonde with surfer-mom waves in her hair and a smile that made everyone in the room feel like it was for them and them alone – was having a hell of a year. In a good way. She’s a Romance author who’d been writing in just about every Romance sub-genre, including erotica. This was back when “Fifty Shades of Grey” was all the rage, and my friend’s fairly obscure BDSM series suddenly took off like a rocket. Once readers...

7 months ago • 3 min read

Hello from the Beach Cold! Folly Beach, SC The sun may be setting on summer (at least here in the Northern Hemisphere), but we've got the Cold coming in, my friends! As usual, I promise you thousands upon thousands of words and images that will take you through the gloomier months, i.e., my favorite time of the year, with plenty of fictional worlds, fanciful thoughts, artistic impulses, philosophical segues, and even a few bone-chilling twists and turns. As I plop back into my desk chair and...

8 months ago • 5 min read

Hello from the Cold! I've been thinking a lot about the spirit of Christmas, especially as we go full throttle into the remaining days before the big holiday. When we're still running from shop to shop for our hardest-to-shop-for relatives, scanning the epicurean websites for the perfect Beef Wellington recipe, and ogling the lights and festive decor with a childlike mirth. I get caught up in the holiday blitz as much as anyone. It's at this time of year that I take "research" breaks during...

over 2 years ago • 3 min read
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