History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Camp Haunt, Exclusively at Channillo

| March 30, 2021

Camp Haunt is an unusual novella. It’s an epistolary novel, with the fragments including letters, diary entries, and camp forms. It’s one that I wrote without substantial revision, as I was often writing each section of it about a week before they went live. It’s also the only novella that I’ve published but not via […]

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 […]

“The Actor-Observer Effect” in Unfixed Timelines 2

| March 23, 2021

I work alongside archaeologists and anthropologists in my day job, so it’s no surprise that some of their terminology infects my brain, and thus my writing. I’ve also become keenly aware over the years about just how flawed a lot of early anthropological work was, with the practitioners inflicting their own understanding of how the […]

Barren Available for Pre-Order!

| March 18, 2021

My latest novella, Barren, which comes out April 6, is now available for pre-order! Barren is a post-apocalyptic novella with an older woman as the protagonist. This is an apocalypse caused by climate change and the failure of the ecosystem. Major themes in the book include love and loss, against a backdrop of the struggle […]

Self-Acceptance in What If I’m A Merfolk

| March 16, 2021

When I collected the poems that I’d written for What If I’m a Merfolk?, one of the themes that stood out for me was one of self-acceptance. These poems often revolved around the idea of a person realizing that they were a merfolk and learning to love the changes to their bodies. But there are also […]

Have You Checked Out Promise Me Nothing?

| March 11, 2021

Have you had a chance to check out Promise Me Nothing yet? It’s out in both ebook formats and paperback, so you can read it whichever way you prefer! Here’s the blurb for this young adult contemporary fantasy novel! Supernatural Reform School or Horrifying Death Trap? Dedwydd Academy is meant to be a third chance for […]

New Poetry and Story Out

| March 2, 2021

I’ve got a couple of new pieces that came out in February! My poem, “The Dragon’s Hoard,” appeared at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, and features a dragon with an unusual hoard. This poem was inspired by the idea of a book wyrm as opposed to a bookworm. I also have my flash fiction piece, “Orbit 41,” […]

“A Sixteen Step Plan to Supervillainy” in Coast to Coast Stars

| February 25, 2021

When I’m writing in a superhero universe, I generally write heroes and not villains. But for “A Sixteen Step Plan to Supervillainy,” I decided to try out the other side of the fence. After all, villains believe themselves to be the heroes of their stories, so why not write a sympathetic villain story? “A Sixteen […]

Cover Reveal for Barren!

| February 23, 2021

The next book I’ll be publishing this year is Barren, a post-apocalyptic novella. This novella has been a long time in the making. It started as a short story that many people thought felt like the beginning of something longer. I tried to make it a novel, but novella wound up being the length it worked […]

MoonTree Readers Takeover Day!

| February 18, 2021

Today’s another exciting day for Promise Me Nothing!  I’m taking over my friend Jesikah Sundin’s MoonTree Readers Facebook page to talk about Promise Me Nothing and more! If you’d like to join the fun, request to join the Facebook page now! I promise to kee18p any potential spoilers to a minimum, so you don’t need to worry if you haven’t read […]