History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

New Years’ Resolution to Write a Novel? Check Out An (Un)helpful Guide!

| January 30, 2025

If you’ve given yourself a New Years’ resolution to write a novel, my non-fiction, tongue-in-cheek, book of novel writing advice, An (Un)helpful Guide to Writing a Novel, might be helpful! Most books about writing a novel give you advice about plot and structure and stakes and more. This isn’t most books. Within the pages of An […]

Watch Me Read “Best of Both Worlds”

| January 29, 2025

A couple of weeks ago, I read my short story, “Best of Both Worlds,” which originally appeared in Dangerous Waters, for Story Hour. This was my third appearance at Story Hour, which started in 2020 to give authors a venue to read online when we couldn’t read in person. But they’ve kept going even after […]

Denizens of Distant Realms for Valentine’s Day?

| January 28, 2025

My collection of fantasy short stories, Denizens of Distant Realms, might not seem like an obvious Valentine’s Day read, but it’s got a few stories within its pages that have a bit of romance and love within! “Stormbringer” involves a young man asking for his beloved’s hand in marriage, but before she can accept, there’s a […]

The Hierophant in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages

| January 23, 2025

The Hierophant tarot card represents righteousness, sacredness, and hierarchical order. In A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages, this is represented by a haiku and a poem. The haiku, which begins with the line “it’s traditional,” is a bit of a protest against the hierarchical order and righteousness of this particular card, rendered in very few […]

“The Storyteller” and “To Choose a Name” in Weathering Youth

| January 21, 2025

Because Weathering Youth is my biggest collection to date, I’m grouping the short stories and flash fiction stories in pairs for my posts, based on the way they fall in the collection. This lets me look at the connections between the stories and how I decided to arrange specific stories in the collection! “The Storyteller” is […]

My Newest Superhero Fiction

| January 16, 2025

Since the last time I posted about my superhero fiction, I haven’t had much new come out in the world, though I’ve been busily editing a lot of other folks’ Cobalt City superhero fiction! I did publish a couple of marginally superhero stories in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages, which includes  pieces inspired by the […]

My Brass and Glass Trilogy

| January 14, 2025

My Brass and Glass trilogy has been in the world for a little over five years, which is a wild thing to me! The first book came out in 2017 and the second in 2018. Then, after a bit of delay when my first publisher closed, I had the covers updated and the third one […]

Patreon in 2025

| January 9, 2025

Have you checked out my Patreon? It’s a way for my fans 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’ve got a book coming out this year in March, and backers at $3 a month or higher […]

Do You Know a Kid Who Loves Spiders?

| December 31, 2024

We met up with a former co-worker of Jeremy and her young daughter at one point, and somehow got on the topic of my writing. Because I’m really good at talking to kids, I wound up addressing most of my comments to the daughter, whose eyes got bigger and bigger as I told her about […]

Have You Checked Out Weathering Youth?

| December 26, 2024

Have you checked out my latest collection, Weathering Youth? It’s got a bunch of stories and poetry featuring younger characters and other characters with a more youthful outlook, regardless of age. In worlds with dragons, starships, and monsters, adults aren’t the only people. Children, teenagers, and young adults are sometimes the heroes of the story […]