History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

My 2020 Story Publications

| November 24, 2020

I feel like I haven’t published a lot of stories this year, but then I put together a post like this, and I realize I’m incorrect in that assessment. 2020 has seemed so long that some of the stories that came out in January and February feel like they were released a lifetime ago. But […]

Thinking about Book Gifts for Kids?

| November 19, 2020

If you’ve got kids on your holiday gift list this year, I’ve got a couple of recommendations from my writing! Spiders of the Shifting Swamp is a children’s book, complete with illustrations and large print. It’s a story that can be read to younger kids, but that younger readers can probably manage on their own, […]

“Nochnaya Serenada” in Unfixed Timelines 2

| November 17, 2020

The Night Witches were a fascinating and talented group of Russian female pilots during World War II who flew tiny, fragile, slow planes. They made a major impact on the Russian war effort, and they suffered only a small number of casualties in spite of the odds. I’m a sucker for any stories of historical […]

“The Sea Sings Back” at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly

| November 10, 2020

I’ve got a new poem out this month at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly titled “The Sea Sings Back.” While I write a lot of things from the perspective of things that live in the water that want to murder you, this poem personifies the sea, reminding readers that the sea, too, is capricious. And wants to murder […]

Sure Shot Out Today!

| November 3, 2020

Today’s the day! Sure Shot in Las Capas: The Case of the Absent Star is out! And while I probably couldn’t have picked a worse day to launch it into the world, my hope is that folks can take some solace in a good read while they await American election results. An explosion in the bay, […]

Spooky Reads for All Ages: Spiders of the Shifting Swamp!

| October 29, 2020

It’s almost Halloween! Do you have your copy of Spiders of the Shifting Swamp on hand to read? I call it a spooky read, but it’s not really all that spooky. It is, however, a fun book for kids that adults will also enjoy. It features spiders, ogres, and lizards in its pages, but it’s […]

Veiled Prophet Essay at Fantastic History!

| October 27, 2020

Catherine Schaff-Stump is hosting some of my articles about the real history behind my stories from Unfixed Timelines at her Fantastic History blog. The fourth post, “The Veiled Prophet,” is up now! One year at Christmas, while flipping through a book about St. Louis at my mom’s house with Jeremy, Mom and I had to […]

At What Cost? now out!

| October 22, 2020

I’ve got a new story out this week! “At What Cost?” is included in the second volume of the House of Zolo’s Journal of Speculative Literature. The inspiration for this story came from the week-long stints I used to do for work, where I would drive into a former limestone quarry known as “The Cave” […]

What If I’m a Merfolk?: Big Fish

| October 20, 2020

The new story that appears in What If I’m a Merfolk? is “Big Fish,” which is a very short flash piece. It’s told in an unusual style for me, in that it’s a first person story in which the narrator responds to unstated questions from an unseen and unheard second character. But for this story, […]

Have You Checked out Unfixed Timelines 2?

| October 15, 2020

Have you gotten a copy of Unfixed Timelines 2 yet? It’s been out for a month now, and I’m looking forward to see what people think about the stories and essays in this volume! In the coming months, I’ll talk a bit more about the various stories and histories I used to write those stories. In […]