History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Stephen Fry on Meter, Part 6

| August 1, 2022

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 1, Section 6, on syllabic verse. This is a very short section, and interestingly for me, it basically describes a lot of the poetry that […]

Celtic Tales in Old Legends and New Fables

| July 28, 2022

Celtic tales worked their way into three of the poems of Old Legends and New Fables, specifically “A Man of the Earth,” “The Cromlech Glen, and “If You See the Black Dog.” I haven’t been able to retrace the details of the legend that inspired “A Man of the Earth,” but it has some bits in […]

My Fantasy Collections

| July 26, 2022

If you’re looking for books for a lover of fantasy, I’ve got a few books you could check out! If you’d prefer short stories, Denizens of Distant Realms is half a dozen fantasy short stories with dragons, witches, fairies, cats, and more. If instead, you’d like a book that’s primarily poetry with a few stories, What […]

“Double Angel” in Avatar of Freya

| July 21, 2022

“Double Angel” started out as a Drawlloween prompt that I turned into a Cobalt City story. This was the first of the Friday Jones/Dulcamara stories I wrote, with the main character based on the character I’d played in a Cobalt City University game. She wound up being the sensible one of the group and was […]

“One, Two, Three, FOUR!” in Intercity Illusions

| July 14, 2022

My collection Intercity Illusions is full of urban fantasy stories, and “One, Two, Three, FOUR!” is no exception. The original idea for the story was a young bunch of wizards forming a rock band at their wizard school, where electric instruments were strictly prohibited. Along the way, they realize that their instruments are just the tools […]

Conceits of Whim and Fancy Out Today!

| July 12, 2022

My latest collection, Conceits of Whim and Fancy, is out today. It’s a collection of short and flash fiction, along with a handful of poems, all of which are fantasy. Fairy tales you’ve never read, magic workers young and old, and a few characters who defy description—all these and more can be found within Conceits of […]

Stephen Fry on Meter, Part 5

| July 4, 2022

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 1, Section 5, on non-metered poetry from the Anglo-Saxons. Instead of meter and feet, the primary technique covered in this chapter is accentual-alliterative poetry, in […]

Reading Alternate History

| June 30, 2022

My published alternate history (which I prefer to call fantastical history) can primarily be found in two collections: Unfixed Timelines and Unfixed Timelines 2. Both of these collections include stories along with brief essays on the history that inspired them. I’ve got plans for an eventual third volume in this series, and at that point, I plan […]

Greek and Roman Myths in Old Legends and New Fables

| June 28, 2022

Because Greek and Roman mythology is some of the most commonly taught in the western world, it’s not surprising that a number of my pieces in Old Legends and New Fables reflect this knowledge. Even those pieces that deal with the legends of other cultures often get viewed through a Greek or Roman lens because of […]

Outlining Advice

| June 27, 2022

I’ve got outlining on the brain at the moment, as I frantically put one together for what was supposed to be a simple July project that grew into “no, put that idea down for a while and use this one”. The first idea required a bunch of research, which is done now, but also ate […]