History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Urban Fantasy Reads!

| April 30, 2020

If urban fantasy is your jam, I’ve got several options for you! Cross & Circle is an urban fantasy novella, in which magic is real and becomes a part of Evie and Carlotta’s lives as they prepare for the birth of their son. Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse is a little more slipstream, but still […]

Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse “Pinspiration”

| May 23, 2019

When I write many of my longer pieces, and even some of my short stories, I make a Pinterest board where I collect images that connect to the themes, characters, or other aspects of my writing. For Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse, which drew on the major arcana of the tarot deck for inspiration, my Pinterest […]

Fiction and the Changing Landscape

| January 21, 2019

One of the iconic aspects of Seattle transportation–the Highway 99 Viaduct–is currently being deconstructed. And that got me thinking about the way that fiction, and the landscape it’s set in, is a product of its time. Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse is set in Seattle, even though that’s never explicitly stated. And there’s one scene in the book where […]

Winter Reads: Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse

| December 6, 2018

Probably my most unusual book to date, Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse uses an abnormal structure compared to my other books. What emerges is a story told in snippets, painting a picture of how the “survivors” react in a world that has suddenly gone silent. If you enjoy post-apocalyptic tales with a diverse cast of characters and […]

Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse

| July 24, 2018

This time last year, I was writing what became Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse as part of the Zoetic Press Write Like You’re Alive challenge. I’m taking this year off from the challenge, as I’m doing different challenges instead. However, if you’re a fan of Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse and wish you could have more, did […]

Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse: Where is Destiny?

| May 3, 2018

While I was writing Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse, I very much had a setting in mind, but it’s a setting that never was named. Astute readers may have picked up on the clues that I left, but for others, it may have read as a strictly fictitious city. The book works fine whether you know […]

Have You Checked out Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse Yet?

| March 22, 2018

Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse has been out for about a month and a half now, and I’m still curious to hear what people think of it. That’s typically the case whenever I write something, but with this book, it’s extra heightened because I put it together in such a different way from my normal […]

Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse Now Available!

| February 6, 2018

Today’s the day that Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse goes live! If you’ve already pre-ordered it, it has likely already shown up on your ereader. If you missed out on the pre-order, you can buy a copy here! I’m always curious to hear what people think of my writing, but with this novella, written in […]

Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse: What’s It All About?

| January 18, 2018

My next novella, Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse, will be out in a couple of weeks, and it’s available for pre-order now! The title hints at what it’s about, but the blurb explains it a bit better! Without warning, most of humanity stopped speaking. Acting in silent unison, they overthrew the world in service to an […]

Inspiration: Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse

| January 9, 2018

As I’ve mentioned before, Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse came out of the 2017 Write Like You’re Alive challenge from Zoetic Press. This also wound up informing the format for the story, too. See, I normally outline using Mark Teppo’s outline structure (which I’ve talked about before), which leads to an 18 chapter outline, with […]