History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Coming in June: Coast to Coast Stars!

| May 28, 2020

If you’ve been perusing my site recently, you might have noticed a new book cover on the front page! With the cover by Luke Spooner, Coast to Coast Stars is a collection of superhero short stories primarily set in Cerulean City, but with ties to Cobalt City. Cerulean City is my creation, the West Coast’s answer […]

Story Arc in a Triology

| May 26, 2020

The nice thing about writing a trilogy or other series is that you can have a story arc that lasts longer than a single book, allowing for a much larger story arc. Taken individually, the books in the Brass and Glass series each have their own arcs: 1) find the Cask; 2) find the map; […]

Short Superhero Stories in Sparx and Arrows

| May 21, 2020

Do you like superhero stories? Do you like stories with female superheroes who keep their city or people safe? You might enjoy the stories of Kara Sparx, Eleanor Castile, and Sarah Castile (with a brief appearance by Marcus Castile). Sparx and Arrows contains five stories featuring these heroes! Cobalt City is home to super heroes and […]

“Charcoals from an Unidentified Chicago Artist” out now!

| May 12, 2020

I’ve got a new story out in Community of Magic Pens, “Charcoals from an Unidentified Chicago Artist.” This story was born out of a trip to Chicago and a realization of just how many fires have ravaged that city. The “magic pen” in my story is a box of art tools that remain tied to the […]

“Senchado in Microgravity” Out Now!

| May 7, 2020

For one of the online writing contests I participate in, one of the photo prompts was a fancy celadon colored tea set with goldfish at the bottom of the cups. The image caught the attention of many of the participants, and we wrote a lot of “fishy tea set” stories that week. My “fishy tea […]

On Kickstarter: Geek Elders Speak

| May 6, 2020

Geek Elders Speak is a planned anthology of interviews and essays by older women in fandom, collecting the history of fandom and the role women played in that community. It looks like it will be a neat collection and a wonderful way to collect stories and wisdom from, as the Kickstarter puts it, our “fannish […]

Urban Fantasy Reads!

| April 30, 2020

If urban fantasy is your jam, I’ve got several options for you! Cross & Circle is an urban fantasy novella, in which magic is real and becomes a part of Evie and Carlotta’s lives as they prepare for the birth of their son. Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse is a little more slipstream, but still […]

“Origin Story” in Heroes of Necessity

| April 28, 2020

“Origin Story” is one of the few stories I’ve written where the first few lines of the story popped into my head and made it onto paper, at which point I realized I loved them and couldn’t possibly change them. Seattle is a city of runners. Every other car has a “13.1” or a “26.2” […]

“The Cobbler’s Daughter” in Denizens of Distant Realms

| April 23, 2020

The concept behind “The Cobbler’s Daughter” started with the idea of magical shoes, of the sort you see in fairy tales. But I wanted to write a story about magical shoes that hadn’t been told before, and a story of two characters falling in love over a span of years. And thus, “The Cobbler’s Daughter” […]

“The Sky Rock” at Centropic Oracle!

| April 21, 2020

Sometimes you start writing a story and aren’t sure where it’s going to end up. And when your main characters are a pair of birds, the answer to that could be “just about anywhere.” And that’s how I wound up with a story in which the punchline is … Well, you’ll have to listen to […]