History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Fun for Friday: May 2023 Writing Prompts

| April 28, 2023

In the not-entirely-accurate words of Justin Timberlake, “It’s gonna be May!” Okay, yeah, that’s a horrible joke but I love it anyway. And it is nearly May, which means it’s time for one of my favorite monthly challenges, MerMay! And MerMay is the source of the first column of words/phrases. There are a couple on […]

Superhero and World War II Veteran Sarah Castile in Sure Shot in Las Capas

| April 27, 2023

“When you’re washing the dinner dishes, you’re not expecting an explosion. Unless you’re me, in which case you’re more surprised to discover said explosion wasn’t directed at you.” Sarah Castile, part of the Cobalt City Castile family that takes up the mantle of The Huntsman, is a superhero mostly by dint of having gotten out […]

On Kickstarter: Playlist of the Damned

| April 26, 2023

Horror + music? Sign me up! Weird Little Worlds launched their Kickstarter for Playlist of the Damned, a horror and music-related anthology, last week. It’s already filled with luminaries from the horror fiction community, and they’ll be opening to submissions at the beginning of May to fill the other slots in the anthology. In addition to […]

“There Is No I in Heavenly Host” in The Sidewalk Diverges

| April 25, 2023

“There Is No I in Heavenly Host” was 100 percent written on a quasi-dare. The editors for a special speculative fiction issue of Friends Journal mentioned wanting to see a story in which a biblically accurate angel dealt with having their name misspelled on their coffee order. So I wrote it. And they loved it. This […]

Dream Foundry Video Library

| April 24, 2023

Did you know that Dream Foundry has over 150 videos of panels, interviews, and more from previous years of the Flights of Foundry convention? The convention is over for 2023, but you can find tons of writing resources, as well as resources for other creative endeavors, on their YouTube. The videos also have English captions. […]

More DefCon One Writing Prompts

| April 21, 2023

This week, I’ve got another three writing prompts from the DefCon One Instagram account! Write a piece about what lies beyond the stars. Write a piece about what goes on in the clouds. Write a piece about nature infiltrating a place where it shouldn’t be. Follow the DefCon One Instagram for writing prompts roughly every […]

“Unconventional Soulmates” in Conceits of Whim and Fancy

| April 20, 2023

My story “Unconventional Soulmates” came directly from the idea of “what if someone used magic to locate their soulmate, but the soulmate the magic found wasn’t at all who they were expecting?” In this story, which flips back and forth from the POV of the seeker and the found, I also explore how soulmates from […]

Review of The Strange Garden and Other Weird Tales by Alex Kingsley

| April 19, 2023

The Strange Garden and Other Weird Tales by Alex Kingsley (2023) is dark and hilarious in equal parts, weaving seamlessly between the two, sometimes even in the same story. A number of the stories are previously published, but the collection also includes some new stories as well. As with many collections, I enjoyed the majority […]

Droplets from the Universe Out Today!

| April 18, 2023

My latest collection, Droplets from the Universe, is out today! This is a collection of joyful and humorous science fiction stories and poetry. Droplets from the Universe contains short stories, flash fiction, and poetry from the vastness of the universe. Dance amongst these droplets of joyful and humorous science fiction. Not every story starts happy, but […]

Day Off!

| April 17, 2023

I’ve spent all weekend on panels at Flights of Foundry and juggled that with freelance work, so I’m giving myself a well-deserved day off from posting here! Back tomorrow with new excitement, and in the coming weeks with recaps of some of the Flights of Foundry events!