History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Urban Fantasy Reading!

| April 26, 2022

If you enjoy urban fantasy books and stories, I’ve got a few books that might fit the bill! For slightly darker contemporary fantasy short stories, check out Volatile Figments. The six stories each feature a different female protagonist dealing with something unusual and sinister. If you’d prefer something novella length with only minor urban fantasy […]

The Owls are Gonna Get You in Intercity Illusions

| April 21, 2022

My story, “The Owls are Gonna Get You,” was a Drawlloween-prompted story, joined by my general dislike of owls. (They do some creepy things with their bodies that I am not fond of, in addition to my fear of birds.) And while the owl in this story is not really all that scary, the title […]

Dakota Travis: Saurallero Extraordinaire in New Moons Under Which to Sleep

| April 19, 2022

“Dakota Travis: Saurallero Extraordinaire” started with a title prompt, which was originally “Call Me a Sissy, But I’m Going to Ride this Dinosaur Side-Saddle.” The original title was perfectly evocative, inspiring me to write the obituary for a man who had died (of old age, mind you), but was known for this delightful utterance (which […]

Have You Checked Out Avatar of Freya Yet?

| April 14, 2022

Have you checked out Avatar of Freya yet? It’s a collection of four fun Cobalt City Universe stories featuring Friday Jones and friends! It’s an honor to be chosen as the avatar of a god, raised to the ranks of superheroes in Cobalt City by their patronage. But for Friday Jones, a fun-loving biochemistry major […]

Doorways in the Gloom Out Today!

| April 12, 2022

Today’s the release date for Doorways in the Gloom! If you’re looking for a collection of horror and dark stories and poetry, check this one out! It’s available as an ebook only, and is only 99 cents! Doorways can lead to many marvelous places. In this collection, however, the scenes they reveal are shrouded in gloom […]

Stephen Fry on Meter, Part 2

| April 11, 2022

As I mentioned previously, I’m working through Stephen Fry’s The Ode Less Travelled very slowly to absorb as much wisdom as I can about writing poetry. This week’s post covers Chapter 1, Section 2, on end-stopping, enjambment, caesura, weak endings, and trochaic and pyrrhic substitutions. This section of the chapter follows on learning the rules […]

March 2022 Publications

| April 7, 2022

I’ve had a bunch of publications in March, and all of them are smaller pieces! “The Fall of Ocrone” was published in Martian last year, but recently, the Superfast Stories YouTube Channel produced an audio and video version of my story! It’s a quick sci-fi listen/watch (it’s only 100 words), and I love how it […]

Steampunk Reads

| March 31, 2022

If you enjoy reading steampunk, I’ve got four books out now, and a fifth one coming soon! First off, I have the Brass and Glass trilogy: Brass and Glass: The Cask of Cranglimmering is the first in the series, followed by Brass and Glass 2: The Long-Cursed Map and Brass and Glass 3: The Boiling Sea. […]

Review of Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria by George Jreije

| March 30, 2022

Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria by George Jreije (Harper Collins, 2022) is an exciting and fast-paced book for kids of all ages who love magic, baking, and suspense! Shad Hadid and his Teta are the remaining members of their family in Portland, Maine, having immigrated from Lebanon. While Shad goes to school and […]

“Senchado in Microgravity” in New Moons Under Which to Sleep

| March 29, 2022

“Senchado in Microgravity” began as a flash fiction piece based on a prompt of a very specific tea set. The image was super evocative, and MANY of the people who saw that prompt wrote stories about the “fishy tea set.” (The set had a goldfish theme, including as small sculpted goldfish at the bottoms of […]