History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

May 2018 Recap

| May 31, 2018

By the numbers: Stories out at the beginning of the month: 27 Acceptances received: 0 Rejections received: 30 Stories withdrawn: 1 Resubmissions: 36 New Submissions: 2 Stories out at the end of the month: 33 Things are ramping up for me in terms of submissions! Part of this is that I’m participating in a challenge […]

Have you checked out Mad Scientist Journal lately?

| May 30, 2018

When I’m not working on my many writing projects, I’m the co-editor over at Mad Scientist Journal. Here, we publish a piece of fiction every Monday, told from the perspective of the world of mad science. We also share book reviews and other neat things on Wednesdays, and talk about real world science on Fridays. […]

Brass and Glass 2 now out!

| May 29, 2018

In case you were waiting for Brass and Glass 2: The Long Cursed Map, I’m pleased to say that it’s now available! If you’re interested in a signed copy, let me know! I have physical copies (which aren’t available yet on Amazon). I’ll also be at some events in the coming months, where you can see […]

And then there’s The End

| May 28, 2018

Last week, I talked about getting lost while writing a story. This week, I’m back to talk about endings. Figuring out where to end a story can be tricky. I like to have my endings all tied up neatly, and I like to end things with someone saying or doing something really clever. But that’s […]

Fun for Friday: June Writing Prompts!

| May 25, 2018

Can you believe it’s already almost June? Time flies when you’re having fun … or maybe when you’re super busy! June’s writing prompts are mostly about summer and vacation. Even though I work year round, rather than following an academic calendar, I can still tell when it’s June, because the streets of Seattle are flooded […]

“The Cobbler’s Daughter” to be published in MYTHIC Mag

| May 24, 2018

Now that the contract is signed, I’m pleased to announce that my story, “The Cobbler’s Daughter,” will appear in the Summer 2018 issue of MYTHIC Mag. It’s a lovely little story about a magical pair of shoes, set in a not entirely historical India. I’ll post again when it’s live!

Review of An Aberrant Mind by Ken MacGregor

| May 23, 2018

This week at Mad Scientist Journal, I reviewed a book that’s a little outside of my normal reading. An Aberrant Mind by Ken MacGregor is a collection of horror short stories, not for the faint of heart. The good news is that it didn’t give my nightmares! Some of the stories are more funny than scary, and […]

Brass and Glass 2: The Long-Cursed Map

| May 22, 2018

Brass and Glass 2: The Long-Cursed Map is out this Friday, May 25th! Here’s the summary! On the hunt for a legendary, cursed map that leads to treasure unimaginable, the crew of The Silent Monsoon, led by the pertinacious Captain Svetlana Tereshchenko, soon discover they aren’t the only ones hunting for riches. But there’s more […]

Falling Off the Map

| May 21, 2018

Last week, I talked about getting stuck in the middle of a story. A similar, and yet different problem can be when your story takes on a life of its own, and somehow falls off the edge of your map. Many folks who fall into the “pantsers” camp of writing insist that they just let […]

Fun for Friday: Writing Prompts for Young Adults and Beyond

| May 18, 2018

Here’s a fun prompt that’s a mix of a photo prompt and text prompts. Exhibit A is the photo to the right, which, despite its lack of diverse characters, looks very much like the cast of characters for a young adult novel. (Or a horror movie, but that’s a different sort of setup.) Or maybe […]