History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

An (Un)helpful Reminder?

| August 8, 2024

In case you missed it, An (Un)helpful Guide to Writing a Novel is out in the world! It’s a great book for aspiring authors, and it also contains advice that established authors might also find useful! Plus, it’s got just the right amount of humor and illustrations to make it a lot of fun! Most books […]

An (Un)helpful Guide to Writing a Novel Out Today!

| July 16, 2024

My non-fiction, tongue-in-cheek, book of novel writing advice, An (Un)helpful Guide to Writing a Novel, is out today! 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 (Un)helpful Guide to Writing a Novel, you’ll find information about writing novels from […]

Coming in July: An (Un)helpful Guide to Writing a Novel

| June 18, 2024

I’ve spent a lot of time preparing to publish An (Un)helpful Guide to Writing a Novel, my non-fiction, tongue-in-cheek, guide for aspiring novel writers. In large part, some of the humor in this book is the fact that I do not enjoy writing novels, but I’ve got advice to share about the process. The other part […]

Plans for My Patreon in 2024!

| March 12, 2024

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’d love to reach my goal of making a monthly video of me reading one of my […]

My 2024 Goals!

| January 9, 2024

Time to look at my 2024 goals! I’m primarily focusing on shorter fiction in 2024, as I did in 2023, though I am already brainstorming a couple of of novellas that I might want to write as well. We’ll see if those pan out, though! If I do stick with my focus on shorter fiction, […]

NaNoWriMo 2023

| December 4, 2023

After not doing NaNoWriMo for several years, I came back to it this year. In large part, this was because Jeremy was going to do NaNo this year, and I joined in solidarity with him. Initially, I set out to write a non-fiction book about how to write a novel. Keeping in mind that I […]

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 […]

Fun for Friday: Writing Prompts for Non-Fiction Turned to Fiction

| May 19, 2023

Sometimes, even non-fiction writing prompts can be a good source of inspiration if you look at them from a fictional lens. For example, the writing prompts offered here are meant to be more of journaling exercises. But you could also use them to stretch your fiction writing skills by writing them from the perspective of […]

Review of A People’s Guide to Publishing by Joe Biel

| March 29, 2023

I recently got a big stack of writing craft and books through a Microcosm Publishing Kickstarter, so I’ve decided to work through several of them for reviewing on my blog. A People’s Guide to Publishing by Joe Biel is a fantastic book for anyone serious about creating and sustaining a publishing business. The focus is […]

Review of Quit Your Day Job by Eleanor C. Whitney

| March 15, 2023

I recently got a big stack of writing craft and creativity books through a Microcosm Publishing Kickstarter, so I’ve decided to work through several of them for reviewing on my blog. Quit Your Day Job by Eleanor C. Whitney is full of useful advice about starting your own business that will allow you to quit […]