History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

WriteHive Panel: How to Self-Edit Like a Developmental Editor

| October 2, 2023

One of the WriteHive online conference panels I watched was a presentation on How to Self-Edit Like a Developmental Editor. Even though I am an editor, developmental editing is one of the places where I’d like to increase my skills, and getting some tips and tricks that can help me practice these things on my […]

Stephen Fry on Diction and Poetics Today

| September 25, 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 (the final one!) covers Chapter 4 on Diction and Poetics Today. Most of this chapter is Stephen Fry talking about how poetry has moved him and some of […]

Interview with Zilla Novikov

| September 20, 2023

Today, I’m talking with Zilla Novikov, author of fiction and a fantastic cookbook! Read on to learn more! DV: Tell me a little about yourself and your writing. ZN: I’m Zilla Novikov (she/her), a depressed millennial who is very tired of late-stage capitalism. Turns out, that’s an endless font of story ideas. People tell me […]

WriteHive Panel: Seasons in Worldbuilding

| September 18, 2023

One of the WriteHive online conference panels I watched was Seasons in Worldbuilding, which was an interesting look at how you can use seasons as part of your writing. Even outside of the part they play in worldbuilding, seasons can be used evoke emotions related to that season. In some writing, the season and/or the […]

Interview with Ryder O’Malley

| September 11, 2023

Today, I’m talking with Ryder O’Malley, who writes superhero and supervillain fiction, including some on the gay and steamy part of the spectrum! Read on to learn more! DV: Tell me a little about yourself and your writing. RO: Howdy! Most people know me as Ryder O’Malley, the author of gay steamy superheroes. My origin […]

WriteHive Panel: Newsletter 101

| September 4, 2023

One of the panels from the WriteHive online conference this year that I found valuable was Newsletter 101: The Basics. Though I’ve had my newsletter up and running for a while, I still find it useful to read and watch things about newsletters to see what I can do better. And this panel had lots […]

Stephen Fry on Form, Part 11

| August 28, 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 11, on shaped verse. This section goes through many different forms of poetry, but the thing the forms all have in common is […]

Interview with Priya J. Sridhar

| August 23, 2023

Today, I’m talking with Priya J. Sridhar, who is a prolific writer spanning fiction and nonfiction, and much more! Read on to learn more! DV: Tell me a little about yourself and your writing. PJS: I am a speculative fiction writer with eight books under my belt, a nerdy nonfiction writer, and a copywriter in […]

Write Hive Conference Videos Available!

| August 21, 2023

A couple of months back, I watched a bunch of the WriteHive conference videos online as a moderator. Now they’re all online and available for anyone to watch here! There are also videos from previous years available at the same location! I’ll be posting some of my thoughts and summaries about many of the individual […]

Interview with CD Covington

| August 14, 2023

Today, I’m talking with CD Covington, who is just about to launch her Kickstarter for A Writer’s Guide to Linguistic Worldbuilding! Keep reading for more on the Kickstarter, CD’s work, and linguistic nerdery! DV: Tell me a little about yourself and your linguistics background. CD: My name is CD Covington, and I’ve been writing as long […]