History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

“Just a Dollar” and “Sugar Wars” in Weathering Youth

| March 25, 2025

Because Weathering Youth is my biggest collection to date, I’m grouping the short stories and flash fiction stories in pairs for my posts, based on the way they fall in the collection. This lets me look at the connections between the stories and how I decided to arrange specific stories in the collection! “Just a Dollar” and […]

The Chariot in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages

| March 20, 2025

The Chariot tarot card represents overcoming challenges and forward movement. In A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages, this is represented by a flash fiction piece and a poem. “Refuge” is a flash fiction story about a person fleeing pursuers who finds an unusual location. The story takes place on a river, with the protagonist quite […]

My Latest Horror and Dark Fantasy Pieces

| March 18, 2025

I’ve published a handful of horror and dark fantasy pieces in the nine months since my last post on my spooky reads! Weathering Youth contains stories featuring younger protagonists, but that doesn’t mean the stories are all light and fluffy. In particular, “Remembrance” (drabble), “A Trail of Apples” (short story), “No Fear” (flash fiction), “Someone […]

Patreon Backers Get Perks

| March 13, 2025

Do you back my Patreon? Backers get exciting perks like seeing some of my early draft writing and free ebooks! Sure Shot in Cobalt City: Homecoming (aka Sure Shot 2) is out this week, and backers at the $3 per month or higher tiers get a free copy of that book and my future self-published books! In […]

Sure Shot in Cobalt City: Homecoming Out Today!

| March 11, 2025

Sure Shot in Cobalt City: Homecoming is out today! This is the second installment in my alternate 1950s, superhero, noir mystery series, but each book is a stand-alone story that doesn’t require knowledge of the other books! This book has Sarah Castile returning to her hometown of Cobalt City for a case … or two! […]

Review of Lost Cargo by P. A. Cornell

| March 5, 2025

P. A. Cornell’s Lost Cargo (Mocha Memoirs Press, 2022) is an exciting sci-fi novella with elements of thrillers and personal horror. The shorter length makes the stakes high for the characters but also gives it a nicely compact feeling. Parker and five other survivors crash land on a terraformed moon in a one-in-a-million odds accident. They’re […]

“The Sky is Falling” and “Outrageous Fortune” in Weathering Youth

| February 27, 2025

Because Weathering Youth is my biggest collection to date, I’m grouping the short stories and flash fiction stories in pairs for my posts, based on the way they fall in the collection. This lets me look at the connections between the stories and how I decided to arrange specific stories in the collection! The third […]

My Recent Publications for Young Readers

| February 25, 2025

I’ve published a few new pieces for young readers in the months since my last post on the subject. The main one is “The Storyteller,” which appeared in Bikes, The Universe, and Everything from Microcosm Press. Though the protagonist is a young adult, the story is appropriate for kids as well. “The Storyteller” is also in […]

The Lovers in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages

| February 20, 2025

The Lovers tarot card represents relationships, of course, but also harmony and choices. In A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages, this is represented by a flash fiction piece and a haiku. The flash fiction piece, “The Truth of Their Tunes,” revolves around heartsongs and a witch who can understand them. The prompt for this story was […]

“Little T, Big T” in The Sidewalk Diverges

| February 18, 2025

My flash fiction piece “Little T, Big T” was originally written as a Drawlloween story with a prompt of “ghost,” but it turned into a cute, sweet story about sisters. I’m not sure where I got a secondary prompt for this, but somehow, I got it in my head to write a story about a […]