History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Very Short Fiction and Poetry in Wreathed in Steam

| April 18, 2024

I included one very short piece of fiction, “Paint Pots,” in Wreathed and Steam, which is a gaslamp fantasy style piece of microfiction about a magical painter. I also have a number of poems in this collection, which vary between steampunk and gaslamp fantasy. Some of my personal favorites are two involving ghosts: “My Josephine” and […]

Poetry and Microfiction in Droplets from the Universe

| March 28, 2024

In addition to the short stories I’ve talked about previously, Droplets from the Universe contains a number of joyful sci-fi poems and a couple of very short fiction pieces. The fiction pieces include “Explore Savois,” a microfiction piece written as a tourism enticement for an out-of-the-way planet, and “Life on Pluto,” a very tongue-in-cheek drabble (exactly […]

“Light for Life” in Dead-Starred Futures

| March 26, 2024

“Light for Life” is a microfiction story that looks at a world in which growing plants has become a difficult proposition and the sorts of trades a person needs to make to be able to grow food. It’s certainly a dystopic world, but it also reflects places in our world in which climate change has […]

“When Science and the Gods Fail” in Dead-Starred Futures

| February 29, 2024

“When Science and the Gods Fail” is a microfiction story about a robot who takes matters into their own hands when calamity strikes. However, since this is one of my darker sci-fi stories … well, I’ll let you guess at the ending, but I won’t say anything more than that. “When Science and the Gods […]

“Kleptoparasitism” in Dead-Starred Futures

| January 30, 2024

While “Kleptoparasitism” isn’t the darkest of stories in Dead-Starred Futures, it is set in a potential dystopian future in which insects are a widespread protein source. It’s a microfiction story about how a visit to a location where insects are processed might go awry. If you like the idea of this story, check out Dead-Starred Futures […]

October 2023 Publications

| November 9, 2023

I had three new pieces out in October this year! My flash fiction piece, “The Arroyo Fiasco,” was published in Soul Jar, an anthology of authors with disabilities. My very neurodiverse geyser pterosaur story fits right in with the other stories in this anthology, and I’m so excited to have been included in the anthology and […]

Dead-Starred Futures Out Today!

| August 15, 2023

Today’s the day! Dead-Starred Futures is now available! If you like your science-fiction on the darker and dystopian side, this is the collection for you! It’s also all bite-sized fiction–nothing longer than 1,000 words, and quite a few pieces that are closer to 250 or 100! Visions of the future aren’t always gleaming starships and utopias. […]

Dead-Starred Futures Cover Reveal!

| July 18, 2023

My next collection, Dead-Starred Futures, is out August 15, 2023, and it’s time to reveal the cover! This collection is all tiny pieces–flash fiction down to drabbles and poetry, so it will be a quick read but bursting with all sorts of dystopian and post-apocalyptic science fiction. It’s a darker counterpart to Droplets from the Universe. Visions […]

Fun for Friday: Micro Stories?

| February 17, 2023

If you’re looking for a potentially very quick writing prompt, check out this idea to write a micro story by filling in the blanks with an excuse. It may seem a little silly at first, but if you read through the post, it links to another post that explains this exercise and how it works […]

Recent Spooky Stories

| October 27, 2022

If you’re looking for some spooky reads of short stories, here are a few of my recently released dark and horror stories! “Memento Mori” appears in Queer Weird West Tales. This story involves Calamity Jane and the detritus of Wild Bill Hickok’s life, along with some surreal and spooky events related to the two. “Dangers […]