History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

An Interview with Yaroslav Barsukov

| March 17, 2021

Today, I’m chatting with Yaroslav Barsukov, whose book, Tower of Mud and Straw, I reviewed last October, which has just been announced on the Nebula Award shortlist! DV: Tell us a little about yourself and your writing background. Yaroslav Barsukov: I’m a Russian living in Vienna, writing in English 🙂 It’s like an answer to a […]

Self-Acceptance in What If I’m A Merfolk

| March 16, 2021

When I collected the poems that I’d written for What If I’m a Merfolk?, one of the themes that stood out for me was one of self-acceptance. These poems often revolved around the idea of a person realizing that they were a merfolk and learning to love the changes to their bodies. But there are also […]

Have You Checked Out Promise Me Nothing?

| March 11, 2021

Have you had a chance to check out Promise Me Nothing yet? It’s out in both ebook formats and paperback, so you can read it whichever way you prefer! Here’s the blurb for this young adult contemporary fantasy novel! Supernatural Reform School or Horrifying Death Trap? Dedwydd Academy is meant to be a third chance for […]

What I’m Reading, Watching, and Listening To, Early March 2021 Edition

| March 3, 2021

Reading: I’m reading for book reviews, but I also recently devoured When Brains Dream by Antonio Zadra and Robert Stickgold, which is both research for a novel I’m planning to write that plays with dreams, but also just a fascinating read if you’ve ever had questions about dreams from a scientific perspective. This book does a […]

“A Sixteen Step Plan to Supervillainy” in Coast to Coast Stars

| February 25, 2021

When I’m writing in a superhero universe, I generally write heroes and not villains. But for “A Sixteen Step Plan to Supervillainy,” I decided to try out the other side of the fence. After all, villains believe themselves to be the heroes of their stories, so why not write a sympathetic villain story? “A Sixteen […]

MoonTree Readers Takeover Day!

| February 18, 2021

Today’s another exciting day for Promise Me Nothing!  I’m taking over my friend Jesikah Sundin’s MoonTree Readers Facebook page to talk about Promise Me Nothing and more! If you’d like to join the fun, request to join the Facebook page now! I promise to kee18p any potential spoilers to a minimum, so you don’t need to worry if you haven’t read […]

Promise Me Nothing Out Today!

| February 16, 2021

Today is release day for my young adult contemporary fantasy novel, Promise Me Nothing! It’s available in ebook or print format from all of the usual locations! Supernatural Reform School or Horrifying Death Trap? Dedwydd Academy is meant to be a third chance for Briar Williams, exiled from the fae realm of Idyll for her part […]

Sarah Castille’s Las Capas House

| February 4, 2021

When I was writing Sure Shot in Las Capas, I knew the book was going to start with the scene in Sarah and Daisy’s kitchen, as Sarah was washing the dinner dishes. And I had an image in my mind of what her view out the window would look like. It was only when I took […]

Review of Unnatural Order

| January 27, 2021

Unnatural Order, edited by Lyss Wickramasinghe and Alis Franklin (CSFG Publishing, 2021), is an anthology of stories of monstrous beings produced by the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild. The stories range widely under the speculative umbrella, with fantasy, science fiction, and horror all represented in the anthology’s pages. In a themed anthology, each author’s ideas on a […]

Moms Having Adventures in Cross & Circle

| January 26, 2021

Not too long ago, someone on Twitter was looking for fantasy books that involve mothers as protagonists. Their ask was related to epic/high fantasy, not urban fantasy. If they’d been interested in urban fantasy, I could have recommended Cross and Circle. In Cross and Circle, Evie is pregnant for a good chunk of the book, then […]