History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Have You Checked Out Sure Shot in Cobalt City: Homecoming?

| May 8, 2025

Have you checked out Sure Shot in Cobalt City: Homecoming, the second of my Sure Shot novellas, which are stand-alone, alternate history, 1950s noir mysteries with superheroes? A mysterious case, a murdered friend, and something sinister behind it all. Sarah Castile, former superhero turned private investigator, is on the case! When her old friend Lillian invites […]

Review of North Continent Ribbon by Ursula Whitcher

| May 7, 2025

North Continent Ribbon by Ursula Whitcher (Neon Hemlock, 2024) is a collection of six linked sci-fi short stories that span 400 years, but with all but one of the stories taking place in a 100-year span. Featuring queer characters occupying a vast star-faring culture, the stories stand alone but also contribute to the larger storyline. […]

April 2025 Recap

| May 6, 2025

By the numbers: Stories out at the beginning of the month: 53 Acceptances received: 1 Rejections received: 14 (+2) Stories withdrawn: 0 Resubmissions: 22 New Submissions: 7 Stories out at the end of the month: 60 I had thought my submissions in April had been a little higher than March, but it turns out they […]

Self-Editing and “Weasel Words”

| May 5, 2025

There’s a lot of writing advice that tells authors to remove passive voice, adverbs, and more. And while these things can be useful ideas to keep in mind when you’re editing your writing, there’s a lot more nuance to these “rules” than is initially apparent. Some people take “remove passive voice” to mean “never use […]

Fun for Friday: Weird May History

| May 2, 2025

Time for more weird history to inspire your writing or maybe just pique your curiosity! As usual, I start with The History Place, which always has the fullest coverage for every month. You may need to pick through the list to find truly weird events, but I’m certain they’re there! Meanwhile, Historic UK has a […]

New Poetry in April 2025 (and a March 2025 pub)

| May 1, 2025

I had one new piece out in April 2025. My poem “Adaptable” appeared in issue 56 of Eye to the Telescope. This poem is from the perspective of a bit of dandelion fluff in space, with a refrain of “I don’t belong here.” The fun of the refrain is that by emphasizing any single word in […]