History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

“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 […]

Sure Shot in Las Capas cover art!

| October 13, 2020

I’ve been posting my book covers on my main page before I talk about them here, so that super fans can get a little sneak peak! But now I’m revealing the cover for Sure Shot in Las Capas: The Case of the Absent Star. “Sure Shot” is the new superhero identity of Sarah Castile, who formerly […]

Spiders of the Shifting Swamp!

| October 6, 2020

Today is the official release date for Spiders of the Shifting Swamp, though it’s been out in the wild for a couple of weeks now! I talked a bit about the background here. I’m excited that I’ve got a children’s book out in the world, even if most of my niblings are a little too old […]

Coast to Coast Stars: Happily Never After

| October 1, 2020

When I first developed the character of Gray Dawn / Cassidy Sweet, I had some loose ideas about her history as a pop star. Though the peak of her career was later than the peak of the late 80s and early 90s pop stars, once of the iconic things that I thought was essential for […]