History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Urban Fantasy Reads!

| April 30, 2020

If urban fantasy is your jam, I’ve got several options for you! Cross & Circle is an urban fantasy novella, in which magic is real and becomes a part of Evie and Carlotta’s lives as they prepare for the birth of their son. Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse is a little more slipstream, but still […]

Review of The Witches of St. Petersburg by Imogen Edwards-Jones

| April 29, 2020

The Witches of St. Petersburg by Imogen Edwards-Jones (Harper Paperbacks, 2019) is a beautifully crafted novel of historical fiction, holding closely to actual historical events while concocting a more fantastical explanation behind some of them. Set during the reign of Russian Tsar Nicholas, the story revolves around two Montenegrin princesses, Militza and Stana, who have […]

“Origin Story” in Heroes of Necessity

| April 28, 2020

“Origin Story” is one of the few stories I’ve written where the first few lines of the story popped into my head and made it onto paper, at which point I realized I loved them and couldn’t possibly change them. Seattle is a city of runners. Every other car has a “13.1” or a “26.2” […]

Writing Games

| April 27, 2020

Last week, I was able to do one of the online classes offered through Clarion West. The one I participated in was the Writing Sprints with K. Tempest Bradford. For the prompt for our writing sprints, Tempest used a game called “I Believe,” which is a lonely game that’s included in Of the Woods. The […]

Fun for Friday: Dreamy Images

| April 24, 2020

Today’s three images started with the word “dream,” and they somehow all ended up being things in the sky. The first image has a soft pink sky with a pair of floating islands, one larger and one smaller, connected by a bridge. There’s a large earthen hoop holding up a crescent moon shape, with a […]

“The Cobbler’s Daughter” in Denizens of Distant Realms

| April 23, 2020

The concept behind “The Cobbler’s Daughter” started with the idea of magical shoes, of the sort you see in fairy tales. But I wanted to write a story about magical shoes that hadn’t been told before, and a story of two characters falling in love over a span of years. And thus, “The Cobbler’s Daughter” […]

Reading, Watching, and Listening To, Mid to Late April edition

| April 22, 2020

Look, I don’t know where April went either, but it’s vanishing far more quickly than March did. Reading: A stack of books to review, when I’m not re-reading my own writing. Watching: We finished out season 2 of Altered Carbon (and enjoyed it, even though it was different from the first season) and have returned to […]

“The Sky Rock” at Centropic Oracle!

| April 21, 2020

Sometimes you start writing a story and aren’t sure where it’s going to end up. And when your main characters are a pair of birds, the answer to that could be “just about anywhere.” And that’s how I wound up with a story in which the punchline is … Well, you’ll have to listen to […]

Cool Alternate History Resource: Historic Cities

| April 20, 2020

If you’re writing alternate history, historical fiction, or even fantastical history, check out Historic Cities as a great source of historical maps. The primary page makes it look a little Eurocentric, but if you click through to the list of city names, you’ll see maps for non-European countries as well!

Fun for Friday: Things to Do at Home, or Things to Write about People Doing at Home

| April 17, 2020

With many of us staying at home a lot more than we used to, people may want to get creative for things to do while they’re at home. This list has 30 fun options! But if you want to get really creative, you could take this list of options and use it as writing prompts. […]