History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Review of Powered Personnel: The Big Startup by K. A. Maxwell

| September 15, 2021

Powered Personnel: The Big Startup by K. A. Maxwell (2021) is an interesting look at how the corporate world might look when it’s controlled by people with super powers. The book centers on Chloe Ceres, recently hired by a major corporation to start a new department, along with her best friend, Melinda. The two women […]

My Superhero Books

| September 14, 2021

There are two genres at the top of my list for how many books I’ve published in them. One of those two is superhero books! While most of my superhero books are collections of short stories, that just gives you a lot more heroes to enjoy! Heroes of Necessity is my collection of unlikely hero […]

Convention of Heroes Recap

| June 28, 2021

Last week was the Convention of Heroes, an online event hosted by Superhero-Fiction.com. There were a ton of great panels, and the best news is that you can watch recordings of all of them on YouTube! I particularly found the “How to Craft a Hero” and “Captivating World Building” panels useful for someone who writes […]

“Fortissimo Possibile” in Heroes of Necessity

| April 20, 2021

“Fortissimo Possibile” was one of the two stories in Heroes of Necessity that was written to a specific prompt. In this case, the prompt was for stories that involved low-powered superheroes–the sort that some might consider to be heroes with “useless” powers. But no powers are “useless,” when it comes down to it. Leila’s power […]

Fun for Friday: Superhero Writing Prompts

| April 16, 2021

I’ve got superheroes on my mind lately, as I’ve been working on some Cobalt City stories and proofreading a friend’s Cobalt City-adjacent novella. So for today’s Fun for Friday, check out these superhero writing prompts. They’re in the form of first sentences/paragraphs, so you may want to make some changes to make your story a little […]

The Cobalt City Roots of Sparx and Arrows

| March 25, 2021

Of the five stories in Sparx and Arrows, only three of them take part entirely in Cobalt City, the home to many superheroes, and where each of the heroes in this collection got their start. “Big in Japan,” as the name might suggest, is one of the two stories not entirely within Cobalt City. This story […]

“Say a Little Spell” in Coast to Coast Stars

| December 15, 2020

A few of the stories in Coast to Coast Stars feature characters that I created for “Happily Never After” and wanted to explore further. “Say a Little Spell” takes magic-user Preethi back to her childhood, when she was still learning the limitations and requirements of the magic that she and her grandmother share. It’s a very […]

Coast to Coast Stars: A Pale Imitation

| November 12, 2020

“A Pale Imitation” is a story about the daughters of a hero in “Happily Never After,” but it was also my response to a list of prompts related to superheroes who were twins and they ways they could use that to their advantage. By giving a pair of sisters the same powers, they could easily […]

Sure Shot Out Today!

| November 3, 2020

Today’s the day! Sure Shot in Las Capas: The Case of the Absent Star is out! And while I probably couldn’t have picked a worse day to launch it into the world, my hope is that folks can take some solace in a good read while they await American election results. An explosion in the bay, […]

Sure Shot in Las Capas cover art!

| October 13, 2020

I’ve been posting my book covers on my main page before I talk about them here, so that super fans can get a little sneak peak! But now I’m revealing the cover for Sure Shot in Las Capas: The Case of the Absent Star. “Sure Shot” is the new superhero identity of Sarah Castile, who formerly […]