History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Coming Attractions: Unfixed Timelines 2 and Coast to Coast Stars!

| February 20, 2020

I’ve got a couple of short story collections that I’m working on to release this year! The first will be a collection of short stories from Cobalt City and one of its sister cities, Cerulean City, California. The connection started when I established a new hero in Cobalt City, and then had her on a […]

Guest Post: History, Alternate History, and Ahistoricity

| September 30, 2019

Today, I’m hosting a guest post from author Laurence Raphael Brothers, who has a few things to say about writing historical fiction, alternate history, and ahistoricity, in relation to his recently released book, Twilight Patrol! ~ When you set out to write a historical novel, of course you don’t want to get anything wrong. Well. Not […]

Review of Wireless and More Steam-Powered Adventures by Alex Acks

| June 19, 2019

My newest book review is up at Mad Scientist Journal. Today, I’m reviewing Wireless and More Steam-Powered Adventures by Alex Acks, which is the sequel collection to Murder on the Titania and Other Steam-Powered Adventures, which I reviewed back in January. Wireless is three more stories featuring the same characters as Murder on the Titania, and they […]

The “What-Ifs?” of Alternate History and Historical Fantasy

| May 14, 2019

While I don’t often write the traditional sort of alternate history that posits a major change in the timestream (like a different outcome in a war or election), even within the alternate history and historical fantasy that I do write, there are often “what if” moments. The big difference is that my “what ifs” tend […]

Review of The Adventure of the Dux Bellorum by Cynthia Ward

| May 8, 2019

My latest review for Mad Scientist Journal is now live, this one for a sequel to a book I reviewed earlier. The Adventure of the Dux Bellorum is the second in Cynthia Ward’s series of novellas about Lucy Harker, the dhampir daughter of Mina (Murray) Harker and Dracula. It’s a fun bit of alternate history with literary […]

Let’s Talk Historical Fantasy!

| March 28, 2019

On Saturday, March 30th (that’s this Saturday!), I’m taking part in a Facebook event for authors of historical fantasy. Along with three other historical fantasy authors, I’ll be talking about my writing in that genre. My slot is from 1:30-2:00 Pacific time, and the whole event runs from 1:00-3:00 Pacific time! You can find out […]

Guest Post: Catherine Schaff-Stump on Acceptable Anachronism

| February 4, 2019

Acceptable Anachronism By Catherine Schaff-Stump Sometimes when you look at visions of the future, you cannot help but see the past. The two examples that come immediately to my mind, child of the 1970s that I am, are The Jetsons and EPCOT’s Spaceship Earth. The future comes in flavors of mod miniskirts, polyester jumpsuits, and […]

Alternate History in Unfixed Timelines

| January 29, 2019

I’ve been racking up another bunch of finished historical fantasy stories, which means that sooner or later, I’ll be putting together another Unfixed Timelines collection (probably titled Unfixed Timelines 2). The exact contents will depend on sales of stories and reversions of rights, so I don’t know yet what sort of essays I’ll be writing for those […]

Review of Murder on the Titania by Alex Acks

| January 2, 2019

My newest book review is up at Mad Scientist Journal today, wherein I review the delightful Murder on the Titania and Other Steam-Powered Adventures by Alex Acks. This book was right up my alley, involving airships, piracy, and wonderful characters. Toss in some alternate history as well, and I was quite pleased with this collection of novellas and one short story! If this sounds […]

Winter Reads: Unfixed Timelines

| December 18, 2018

If you’re a fan of history and alternate histories, check out Unfixed Timelines! Within, you’ll find a mix of short alternate history stories and essays about the real history that the stories are based on. There are zombies and aliens and witchcraft and more, but there are also notes on a regiment during the Civil War, […]