iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

I'm going to start every book I write with an apology for writing the book from now on. From 1892. If you think the book market was oversaturated in 1892, buddy I got bad news for you... #writesky #authorsky

In view of the already overcrowded state of the book-market, the author of this little work feels that some apology is due to a much-enduring public for his temerity in adding yet another drop to the stream.

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

Check out my appearance on BBC Secret Kent. I talk about the Battle of Goudhurst, the high water mark of the Hawkhurst Gang. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... #kent #c18th 🗃️ #smuggling

bbc.co.uk

Secret Kent - Shootout at the Goudhurst Corral - BBC Sounds

A story of smuggling, violence and the Hawkhurst Gang.

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Really enjoyed meeting everyone at the #HWACrowns25 yesterday. A great evening with great writers!

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

The Carlisle Indian School digital archive has a lot of great primary material for the first federal Indian boarding school. carlisleindian.dickinson.edu

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Thrilled to be Highly Commended in this year's HWA short story contest! My story this year has some elements based on an old family story about a hobo working for a traveling preacher. Thrilled to be able to keep that little story alive through fiction!

Announcement of highly commended stories. "Poacher turned Gamekeeper" by Alex Edwards. "We Bring Miracles" by Joseph Dragovich.

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Really pleased to be long listed again this year. I don't usually write fiction and the Dorothy Dunnet competition is a great opportunity to do it!

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Grimma Wormtongue is a Lord of the Rings character that sounds like a Harry Potter character.

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Thanks! That's one of the most surprising things I learned while researching this. The cola wars were partisan, especially when Carter was very close to Coca Cola.

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Check out my piece in the @nytimes.com about the 1980s cola space race. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/s... Worked with some great editors and a spoke with interesting people while I was working on this. Really pleased to see this published. #space #nasa #spaceshuttle #challenger

nytimes.com

When Coke and Pepsi Fought for Soft Drink Supremacy in Space

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

As a writer, you're going to do things that are a waste of time. Do them anyway. Send that pitch, write that piece outside your niche, research that crazy obscure subject. It will probably come to nothing, but you'll learn something and it might be amazing. #writingcommunity

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

It's a real honor that Lou Ferrante endorsed my book! When a former mobster and bestselling author likes your book, it really means something! amzn.eu/d/h1tPRU1 #booksky #histbookchat 🗃️ #kent #sussex #smuggling.

Meticulously researched with a brisk writing style that does not allow you to put the book down. It should be made into a television series.
- Lou Ferrante. Bestselling Author and Broadcaster

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

Still time to get the book delivered for Christmas!

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

Hey thanks! Glad you enjoyed the podcast. It's interesting because that was recorded before the election and Bluesky got big. Little did I know how popular this place would get!

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

I get it, you don't know what to buy your dad/uncle/grandpa for Christmas. Get him my book if he likes crime!* *Reading about crime, not doing crime. Actually, get it for him if he likes doing crime too. www.amazon.co.uk/Hawkhurst-Co... 🗃️ #histbookchat #smuggling #kent #sussex

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

My book is in an archive. The historian circle of life is complete. Really great to see it stocked so close to where it takes place! #booksky #histbookchat #authorsky

Screenshot of tweet showing my book in the Kent Archives.

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

My stupid fan theory: #tropico is the Anno game that can't be made because none of the years in the 20th century add up to 9.

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

I had never heard of that one before. Thanks for the tip! I'll grab a copy.

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

I was in the UK ten years before I realized the Pudsey had nothing to do with Remembrance Day. Like I thought he was some sort of friendly cartoon war wounded.

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Anyone in the #writingcommunity know of a good lit mag that takes historical fiction submissions? I've got a story: 3500 words, takes place in 1910s, book-club fiction. Long-listed for the Dorothy Dunnet award. Not necessarily looking to get paid, just to get a clip. #historicalfiction #writing

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 11/11/2024

Starting a #tropico game and playing a leader where I try to make people's lives better, even though I don't have to, feels like an act of rebellion right now.

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 20/10/2024

I did a straw poll on my other account on where people found their last history book. The takeaway for me is: A book finds you, you don't find a book. Marketing is important for authors. Who knew? #booksky #authorsky

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 12/10/2024

Two satellite images of Eastern Ukraine: August, 2022 and August 2024 The brown streak in the second picture is the front. The war's destruction is visible from space. #ukraine 🇺🇦 from the NOAA JSTAR mapper. www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/mapper/

satellite image of eastern Ukraine, August 2022

satellite image of eastern Ukraine, August 2024, showing brown streak of destruction from the fighting.

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 25/09/2024

My short story, Purity, got long-listed in the HWA Dorothy Dunnet Short Story Competition Really honored to be there with some great #histfic writers! #HWADDSS24 www.historiamag.com/hwa-dd-ss-20...

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 18/09/2024

Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #409,951!

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 23/08/2024

Jenkins' Quality Barbecue, Jacksonville, FL 1979 I kinda want to eat there just for the cool building. LOC flic.kr/p/2225vgm

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 23/08/2024

That sounds awesome. I grew up loving the beaches on the US east coast, but the beaches in #wales really capture my imagination. It's like I'm 12 again.

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 22/08/2024

Miniature rock arch that could be a fantasy landscape.

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 22/08/2024

Bracelet Bay, Wales. We got there at low tide which revealed an array of miniature landscapes among the rocks. 📸 More in 🧵

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 11/08/2024

The backup dancers at the closing ceremony have strong Power Rangers putty vibes. #olympics #paris2024

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 18/06/2024

You're welcome! I think 1200 words a day is a good pace. I'd be happy with that over the long term. I've found I'm more productive when I've got my materials (electronically) to hand with specific notes and citations that I can easily reference. Nothing slows me down like looking something up!

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 18/06/2024

The best I ever did was 2000 words a day when I was writing my book. But that's during a period when I took off from my day job and had all day and had spent weeks organizing and preparing the sources in my citation manager. Other days, 300-500 words in a few hours.

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 01/06/2024

I'm thinking about applying to be a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Are there any current fellows out there willing to sponsor an independent scholar who's recently published a book (i.e. me)? 🗃️ #c18th

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 23/05/2024

"All those public service cuts will be lost in time, like tears in the rain..."

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 03/05/2024

These aren't the snacks I would choose while reading my book, but if my readers enjoy them, I'm not going to judge...

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 02/05/2024

I've been reading a bunch of short stories researching a project and I know that I'm almost 30 years late for this but... The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is an amazing collection!

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 01/05/2024

I'm writing an article about the 80s and I lost a whole evening trying to solve my daughter's rubik's cube. It's not procrastination, its method #writing!

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Joe Dragovich @joedragovich.bsky.social · 30/04/2024

I love it when a news article references EP Thompson and food riots. Great article in The Economist on #inflation www.economist.com/finance-and-...

economist.com

Is inflation morally wrong?

Workers think so. Economists disagree

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