History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

“Blind Tasting” in Intercity Illusions

| September 13, 2022

My story “Blind Tasting” grew out of a prompt, a color, and a music video. I can’t recall exactly what the prompt was, but the color was indigo, and the music video involved two people in an otherwise deserted wine bar. My story involved a blind date in a similarly deserted wine bar, which lent […]

“A Burrito is not a Sandwich” in Intercity Illusions

| August 9, 2022

The title of my story, “A Burrito is not a Sandwich,” was absolutely meant to be a reference to the ongoing battles over what is and what is not a sandwich. Personally, I subscribe to the cube theory, by which a burrito absolutely is not a sandwich. But what started for me as a story […]

Review of Daughter of Maat by Sandy Esene

| August 3, 2022

Sandy Esene’s book, Daughter of Maat (Blue Benu Press, 2018), is an intriguing look at a world in which the Egyptian gods have persisted throughout the centuries, and the ways in which their machinations and schemes impact the modern world. Alex Philothea, an archaeologist, is swept up into this world because she signed up for […]

“One, Two, Three, FOUR!” in Intercity Illusions

| July 14, 2022

My collection Intercity Illusions is full of urban fantasy stories, and “One, Two, Three, FOUR!” is no exception. The original idea for the story was a young bunch of wizards forming a rock band at their wizard school, where electric instruments were strictly prohibited. Along the way, they realize that their instruments are just the tools […]

“Yokai Hunters” in Intercity Illusions

| June 23, 2022

“Yokai Hunters” started with a Drawlloween prompt of “yokai,” which are spirits or entities from Japanese folklore. Many of them might be viewed as “monsters” from a Western perspective, and the one in my story certainly falls into that category. In fact, this was a story that I wasn’t entirely sure if I should classify […]

Review of The Devil Walks in Blood by David Green

| June 15, 2022

The Devil Walks in Blood by David Green (Eerie River Publishing, 2021) combines the first two books in this supernatural private investigator series into a single volume, giving the reader a fuller picture of the fascinating world and characters. Nick Halloran died while on a case, but the intervention of a passerby made sure he […]

“The Gift” in Intercity Illusions

| June 7, 2022

“The Gift” began as an attempt to write a non-Halloween story during Drawlloween and instead coming up with a winter holiday story. The prompt was the goblin market, so I came up with a single dad needing to get a gift for his young daughter, but paying for it in an unusual (not scary!) way. […]

“Safe Haven” in Intercity Illusions

| May 10, 2022

“Safe Haven” came out of a very specific prompt for an anthology: write a story that takes place in a hotel and only covers five minutes of time. That anthology was Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove, and I was super excited to place “Safe Haven” in it! My story involved a werewolf who needed to find […]

Magic Awakens StoryBundle Ends Tomorrow!

| April 27, 2022

Tomorrow is the final day for the SFWA “Magic Awakens” StoryBundle! For a minimum payment of $5, you’ll get four books, including Promise Me Nothing. If you pay $20 or more, you unlock ten bonus books, for a total of fourteen books! That’s a pretty nice deal! Promise Me Nothing is a young adult contemporary […]

Urban Fantasy Reading!

| April 26, 2022

If you enjoy urban fantasy books and stories, I’ve got a few books that might fit the bill! For slightly darker contemporary fantasy short stories, check out Volatile Figments. The six stories each feature a different female protagonist dealing with something unusual and sinister. If you’d prefer something novella length with only minor urban fantasy […]