History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Poetry Forms: Fibonacci

| August 31, 2020

If you’re looking for a really interesting poetry form to try out, check out the Fibonacci. This form uses the numerical pattern of the Fibonacci sequence as the syllable count for each line (ooh boy, MATH!). So your first and second lines both have one syllable, and your third line is the sum of those […]

Fun for Friday: September 2020 Writing Prompts!

| August 28, 2020

We’re getting very close to September now, so it’s time for September 2020’s writing prompts! This month’s prompts are taken from back to school, the beginning of autumn, and some things specific to September, while also having a number of words that are less connected to these things. I also chose a lot of words […]

Coming Soon: Spiders of the Shifting Swamp

| August 27, 2020

One of my big projects this summer has been working on my first children’s book. It started out as a very short flash fiction story, but someone suggested it might work better as a children’s book, so I thought I’d try going in that direction. The tricky part about a children’s book, however, is that […]

What I’m Reading, Watching, and Listening To, Late August 2020 Edition

| August 26, 2020

Reading: I’m currently working through books to review, but I’m chomping at the bit to get into Harrow the Ninth. My husband finished reading it in two days, and several of our friends are part of the way through. So I’m diligently reading the books I agreed to review so I can clear my plate […]

“He Who Is in the Place of Embalming” Now Out!

| August 25, 2020

I’ve got a new poem out in the most recent issue of The Weird and Whatnot. “He Who Is in the Place of Embalming” is a poem I wrote based on an image of a modern Anubis, colored slightly with shades of American Gods. It’s one of several mythology-based poems I’ve written, and I’m glad to […]

Self-Editing Tips, Part 3

| August 24, 2020

The devil, as they say, is in the details. While most of my previous editing tips (find part 1 and part 2 here) have been of a fairly generalized nature, today’s tips are getting into a handful of specific topics. 6) Learn to Spot Passive Voice! Passive voice is, quite simply, putting the object before […]

Fun for Friday: Writing Prompts on Pinterest

| August 21, 2020

If you’re looking for a random bit of writing inspirations, I’ve recently created a writing prompts board on my Pinterest. It’s a collection of ideas for monthly writing challenges, one-off writing challenges, cool words, and useful lists of names. I’ll be adding more to it as time goes on, so feel free to follow it […]

Check Out my Collection, What If I’m a Merfolk?

| August 20, 2020

What If I’m a Merfolk? is my latest publication, a collection of poetry and a few stories about merfolk. The blurb for the collection reads: Becoming a merfolk. Accepting yourself. Defending your home. Anguishing over environmental degradation. Exploring mythology. And falling in love. What If I’m a Merfolk? collects 23 poems and 3 stories about […]

DefCon One Publishing

| August 19, 2020

You may know that my books are published by DefCon One Publishing, but I’m not the only author published there. Aside from all the back issues of Mad Scientist Journal and the Mad Scientist Journal Presents anthologies, authors, Amanda Cherry, Nathan Crowder, Erik Scott de Bie, and Jeremy Zimmerman all have books through DefCon One Publishing. The […]

Denizens of Distant Realms

| August 18, 2020

Time flies, and Denizens of Distant Realms is already a year old! I swear it feels like I just got to hold this book in my hands a short time ago! It’s a slim little volume in print, but it’s full of fantasy stories featuring all sorts of protagonists and antagonists. One reviewer even called it […]