History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Telling a Story Another Way

| June 25, 2018

I recently learned about wooden maps of Greenland’s coastlines, made by the native inhabitants for storytelling rather than navigation. And while I’m pretty sure that most magazines wouldn’t let you submit woodworking as a short story, it does present an interesting lesson for writers nonetheless. Sometimes, the trick to telling a story isn’t to change […]

Review of As Told by Things

| June 13, 2018

My latest MSJ review is up today, this time for an anthology called As Told by Things! Much like it sounds, it’s a collection of stories from the perspective of inanimate objects, and it’s just as delightful as that sounds! You can read my review here!

“The Cobbler’s Daughter” to be published in MYTHIC Mag

| May 24, 2018

Now that the contract is signed, I’m pleased to announce that my story, “The Cobbler’s Daughter,” will appear in the Summer 2018 issue of MYTHIC Mag. It’s a lovely little story about a magical pair of shoes, set in a not entirely historical India. I’ll post again when it’s live!

Stuck in the Middle with You

| May 14, 2018

Last week, I talked about beginnings. Today, I’m thinking about what happens when you get stuck in the middle of the story. Sometimes, my stories grind to a halt around the middle when I’ve been writing for a while. Pinpointing the reason for this isn’t always easy, but for me, at least, I often find […]

What Makes a Hero?

| April 19, 2018

Is a hero defined by their actions or by their powers? I’m inclined to think it’s the former, because there are a lot of “super heroes” who don’t actually have superpowers. Batman, Hawkeye, and many others just have training and skill, rather than powers that come from some weird source. By that token, even the […]

Review of Long Hidden

| April 18, 2018

It’s been on my to-read list for quite some time, but I finally have read and reviewed Long Hidden, edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older. It’s an anthology of 27 alternate history speculative fiction stories featuring marginalized characters. If you’re curious to see what I thought of it, check out my review at Mad Scientist Journal!

Two Heads are Better

| January 11, 2018

What’s better than a superhero? A team-up! Any time you get two (or more) superheroes involved, you’ve got potential for more exciting happenings. And, likely, more exciting conflict. In Sparx and Arrows, Kara Sparx, who is very much not a team joiner, works with Huntsman to deal with a problem that they’ve both had to confront–robotic […]

2018 Planning

| January 2, 2018

Yesterday, I talked about what I accomplished in 2017. I managed to get a lot of writing, reviewing, and editing done. 2018 will be similarly ambitious! This year, I’m writing a bit more detail about what I plan to work on, so that I can track it better at the end of the year! In […]

Holiday Reading: Heroes of Necessity

| December 28, 2017

Back when I worked at a university, I had the whole week between Christmas and New Years off from work. I don’t have that perk anymore, but I know a lot of people who take time between the holidays to relax. If you’ve got a lot of time and are looking for something to read, […]

2017 publishing

| December 14, 2017

It’s the time of the year when authors are making lists of the stories and other items that they published in 2017, which are eligible for awards. Most of my short stories that were published this year were reprints, but I’ve got a few things to mention! Short Stories: “Justice is Blind,” published as part of Bards […]