History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Fun for Friday: More Instagram Prompts!

| March 17, 2023

We’ve recently started an Instagram account for DefCon One Publishing, and one of the features on that Instagram is writing prompts every couple of weeks. You can catch them on Fridays on Instagram, or every so often, I’ll round up several of them and post them here! The three prompts this week are: Write a piece about a […]

A Few Recent Horror Publications

| March 16, 2023

If you’re looking for something spooky to read, here’s a few of my recent horror and dark publications. “The Divergence in the Woods” is a creepy flash fiction tale of two young women looking for their missing father in the woods. You can find it in Trees. “Chrysopoeia” is a microfiction story of exposing a […]

Review of Quit Your Day Job by Eleanor C. Whitney

| March 15, 2023

I recently got a big stack of writing craft and creativity books through a Microcosm Publishing Kickstarter, so I’ve decided to work through several of them for reviewing on my blog. Quit Your Day Job by Eleanor C. Whitney is full of useful advice about starting your own business that will allow you to quit […]

Droplets from the Universe Coming Soon!

| March 14, 2023

My next collection is Droplets from the Universe, coming in April! I absolutely love how the cover came out! Droplets from the Universe contains short stories, flash fiction, and poetry from the vastness of the universe. Dance amongst these droplets of joyful and humorous science fiction. Not every story starts happy, but all finish with positive […]

Stephen Fry on Form, Part 5

| March 13, 2023

As I mentioned previously, I’m working through Stephen Fry’s The Ode Less Travelled very slowly to absorb as much wisdom as I can about writing poetry. This week’s post covers Chapter 3, Section 5, on the ode. This section covers several different formats of odes, including Sapphic, Pindaric, Horatian, lyric, and anacreontic. The ongoing theme in this […]

Fun for Friday: A Story in Three Images

| March 10, 2023

I’ve already got a story in mind, looking at these three images, but I wonder what others might make of the same prompt! The first image is of a female-presenting person from Vietnam, dressed in white clothing and carrying a conical hat woven from straw with many large gaps between the straw. Her right hand […]

No February Publications? How About Spring Reads?

| March 9, 2023

My only February 2023 publication wound up being The Sidewalk Diverges, due to delays in production schedules. I will have some new publications in March, but for the time being, how about some spring-themed reads? You can find a couple of those in The Sidewalk Diverges, specifically “Fiddle in the Middle” and “Five Days After,” both […]

Review of City of the Saints by D. J. Butler

| March 8, 2023

City of the Saints by D. J. Butler (WordFire Press, 2015) is a alternate history steampunk tale of a technologically advanced United States on the eve of the Civil War. With characters including Samuel Clemens, Edgar Allan Poe, Richard Burton, and Brigham Young (and many of his Mormon associates), it’s a wild, multi-point of view […]

Want to Hear Me Read?

| March 7, 2023

Did you know that I have a Patreon? I do! It’s a way for my fans to throw a small amount of money my way to support my writing and learn about what I’m working on! I share updates about my works in progress, including snippets of stories for my patrons! I’m inching ever closer […]

Dealing with Other Peoples’ Success

| March 6, 2023

When you’re a writer, it’s easy to compare yourself to other writers and wonder why you’re not as successful or talented or whatever as they are. But it’s important to not get too wrapped up in comparisons or jealousy. This article calls it “the writer’s other classic curse” and offers some suggestions of ways to […]