History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Fun for Friday: Turning Drawing Prompts into Writing Prompts

| September 15, 2017

Often times when I’m looking for a random inspiration for something to write, I turn to lists that are designed for artists who want random prompts for daily drawings. It’s not that difficult to turn a drawing prompt into a writing prompt. Instead of drawing whatever is on the list, you can write a story […]

Character Inspirations

| September 14, 2017

Last week, I finished up the first draft of Brass and Glass 2 (which doesn’t have an official subtitle yet) and started outlining book 3. In doing so, I had a chance to look at some of my characters, their motivations, and the inspirations behind them. One of my friends read the first chapter of The Cask […]

Book Recommendation: A. Grimsbro, Warlord of Mars

| September 13, 2017

Previously, I recommended reading Matt Youngmark’s hilarious take on the Wizard of Oz, The “Wonderful” Wizard of Futhermucking Oz. Now, I’m recommending his second book in the series, A. Grimsbro, Warlord of Mars. A. Grimsbro, Warlord of Mars continues Arabella’s adventures through literature, to great hilarity. Now she has to deal with the world perceiving […]

Now available on Channillo: Cross and Circle

| September 12, 2017

I’ve added Cross and Circle to Channillo. If you’re already a subscriber, you can subscribe to it here. If you’re not a Channillo subscriber, you should check it out. For as low as $5 per month, you can read up to 10 different books by a variety of authors. Jeremy and I both have multiple books you can […]

Keeping Track of Story Ideas

| September 11, 2017

My friend Nate has a Field Notes notebook obsession. He is never without at least one of them, and often has several of them between his pockets and bag. More than a couple of times, he’s grabbed one, flipped it open, said, “no, it’s not in this one,” and had to go hunting for another […]

Fun for Friday: Random EVERYTHING Generators

| September 8, 2017

You know I love random things, and today, I’m sharing with you the motherlode! Fantasy Name Generators may sound like a site with just a single purpose, but it’s SO much more than just a place for random fantasy names. It’s a HUGE collection of random generators, from the general to certain-realms-of-pop-culture specific. And in addition […]

Writing A Series

| September 7, 2017

I didn’t set out to write a series with Brass and Glass. But when the editors finished reading it, they asked, “Is there a sequel?” And by that point, I’d realized that I’d inadvertently written the first book of a trilogy. I’ve just finished writing the first draft of book 2 of this series now, […]

Book Recommendations?

| September 6, 2017

I’m reaching the end of my “to be read for reviews” pile, and I’m looking for more books to read and review. If you want to know about what I’m looking for, check out Mad Scientist Journal‘s book review policy. Since I also write reviews for Girl Cooties, I’m often more interested in books written by […]

Coming Up: Volatile Figments

| September 5, 2017

I’ve been working on pulling together a lot of my old, previously published stories, along with some new stories, into mini collections. The one I’m working on currently is Volatile Figments, which will be a collection of six stories in the young adult/dark contemporary fantasy realm, a number of which feature teenage monsters. Why teenage monsters? […]

A Brief Vacation!

| September 4, 2017

I’m off from my day job today, and it was going to be a writing day. Then I got a last minute invitation to PAX West/Prime, so I’m off to do that instead. I’ll return tomorrow with your regularly schedule programming!