History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Two New Poems Out!

| October 31, 2019

I’ve got two new poems out to finish up October! “Definitely Not Haunted” is included in the inaugural issue of The Macabre Museum, out today! It’s my take on real estate listings that use euphemisms like “Fixer Upper!” and other such things to disguise the fact that there are problems with a property. You can buy […]

Cover Recommendation: Hwasa and Kei sing “Wish You Were Gay”

| October 30, 2019

My current obsession is this specific cover of Billie Eilish’s “Wish You Were Gay,” covered by Hwasa from Mamamoo (in the orange jumpsuit) and Kei from Lovelyz (in the black dress). I like the song best of what I’ve heard of Billie Eilish’s music, but this cover (especially their performance of it) is a delight. […]

Other Historical Fiction

| October 29, 2019

If you’re a fan of the stories I included in Unfixed Timelines, here are some other stories of mine you might want to track down. Wild Musette‘s Vegetable Pulp issue includes my Night Witches story about a Russian opera-singing witch rescuing her pilot and killing Nazis in World War II Germany, “Nochnaya Serenada.” The title is […]

Poetry Forms: The Golden Shovel

| October 28, 2019

One of the early forms of poetry I played around with was the golden shovel. The form takes its name from a Terrance Hayes poem, which took its name from a Gwendolyn Brooks poem, “We Real Cool,” that includes the line “The Pool Players. Seven at the Golden Shovel.” Using Gwendolyn Brooks poems as the […]

Fun for Friday: November 2019 Writing Prompts

| October 25, 2019

It’s time for the November 2019 writing prompts, which are a mix of random prompts with some themed prompts for November events this month. Hopefully, they’ll provide some fun options for you. If you’re doing NaNoWriMo this November, you could try to work one or more of the words into your writing each day of […]

“We Have Not Always Been Small” in Denizens of Distant Realms

| October 24, 2019

A while back, there was a meme I saw of a small black cat attacking the ocean, at least until the ocean “attacked” back in the form of surf. The text said something about cats forgetting that they’re not dragons anymore. That was the inspiration for “We Have Not Always Been Small,” a story that […]

Review of A Family Matter by Ox Aaronson

| October 23, 2019

My latest book review is up at Mad Scientist Journal, for Ox Aaronson’s A Family Matter! It’s a sci-fi heist that reminds me a lot of the Scum and Villainy game we’re currently playing. It’s also got some similarities to the Oceans Eleven series and Firefly. You can check out my review or check out the book, which is out […]

Brass and Glass 3: The Boiling Sea Out Today!

| October 22, 2019

Brass and Glass 3: The Boiling Sea is out today, completing the Brass and Glass trilogy! Now you can read all three of the books back to back! In the turbulent skies of the Republic, it’s not always easy to outrace the storm … With their destination determined, Captain Svetlana Tereshchenko and the crew of […]

Trunking a Story

| October 21, 2019

Previously, I talked about what I do when a story isn’t working. This week, I’m talking about trunking stories. First off, an explanation of this term. A trunked story, is, in simple terms, one you’ve stopped sending out to markets. I suspect the terminology comes from a point when you actually typed (on a typewriter) […]

Fun for Friday: Etymology and Spelling

| October 18, 2019

Ever wondered why English has such unusual spellings when it comes to some words? Some of it can be blamed on etymology, and others can be blamed on false etymology. This article talks about the origins of the English language dictionary and how etymology and false etymology impacted spelling. It’s a fascinating read, and lots […]