History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Fun for Friday: (Mer)May 2022 Prompts!

| April 29, 2022

It’s almost May (or, in the words of the meme, “It’s gonna be May”), and that means it’s time for MerMay! If you’re not familiar with MerMay, it’s an art challenge started by Tom Bancroft. Every day in May, artists are encouraged to use the prompts for a sketch, which they then post using hashtags […]

Sumerian Mythology in Old Legends and New Fables

| April 28, 2022

Sumerian mythology doesn’t make a lot of appearances in stories or poetry these days, but I have a couple of poems in Old Legends and New Fables featuring bits of Sumerian myths. One of the poems is “Queen of Heaven,” which recounts the story of how Inanna protected the humans within her purview. The other poem, […]

Magic Awakens StoryBundle Ends Tomorrow!

| April 27, 2022

Tomorrow is the final day for the SFWA “Magic Awakens” StoryBundle! For a minimum payment of $5, you’ll get four books, including Promise Me Nothing. If you pay $20 or more, you unlock ten bonus books, for a total of fourteen books! That’s a pretty nice deal! Promise Me Nothing is a young adult contemporary […]

Urban Fantasy Reading!

| April 26, 2022

If you enjoy urban fantasy books and stories, I’ve got a few books that might fit the bill! For slightly darker contemporary fantasy short stories, check out Volatile Figments. The six stories each feature a different female protagonist dealing with something unusual and sinister. If you’d prefer something novella length with only minor urban fantasy […]

Returning to the Office and Writing

| April 25, 2022

It’s been almost two years since I’ve worked in the physical office for more than one day a week. But as the company I work for moves toward a hybrid work plan, in which I’ll be working from the office two days a week, I’m finding I have to re-learn what it’s like to write […]

Fun for Friday: Images for Hidden Treasure!

| April 22, 2022

This week’s Fun for Friday images are all related to hidden treasure! The first image depicts a simple treasure map with a person’s hands visible holding the map. The second image depicts a person with very dark hair on their arms wearing a button-up shirt, which they are holding unbuttoned and separated at the chest […]

The Owls are Gonna Get You in Intercity Illusions

| April 21, 2022

My story, “The Owls are Gonna Get You,” was a Drawlloween-prompted story, joined by my general dislike of owls. (They do some creepy things with their bodies that I am not fond of, in addition to my fear of birds.) And while the owl in this story is not really all that scary, the title […]

Review of Ghost Pirate Gambit by Jessie Kwak

| April 20, 2022

Ghost Pirate Gambit is the first book in Jessie Kwak’s Nanshe Chronicles, named after the ship her protagonists travel on. This new series is a prequel of sorts to Kwak’s first Durga System book, Starfall, with a strong focus on the interpersonal relationships of the crew and others onboard the Nanshe, as well as the […]

Dakota Travis: Saurallero Extraordinaire in New Moons Under Which to Sleep

| April 19, 2022

“Dakota Travis: Saurallero Extraordinaire” started with a title prompt, which was originally “Call Me a Sissy, But I’m Going to Ride this Dinosaur Side-Saddle.” The original title was perfectly evocative, inspiring me to write the obituary for a man who had died (of old age, mind you), but was known for this delightful utterance (which […]

Underrepresented Mythologies at QuaranCon 2022

| April 18, 2022

On April 7th, I moderated a QuaranCon panel on Underrepresented Mythologies, and it’s available to watch on YouTube (linked above).  This was a fantastic panel with five wonderful panelists who had great answers to my questions! We had people who have worked with a variety of Eastern European mythologies, Middle Eastern mythology, and a lot […]