History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

“Brick-Red Love” in Intercity Illusions

| March 24, 2022

My story “Brick-Red Love” came out of a Drawlloween prompt of “bride”. While in the context of Drawlloween, I’m sure it was meant to be a Bride of Frankenstein reference, but I decided instead to write a bit of flash about a pair of brides, one of whom is suffering from some nervousness that she […]

Review of Wistful Ascending by JCM Berne

| March 23, 2022

Wistful Ascending, the first book in the Hybrid Helix series by JCM Berne (The Gnost House, 2020), is an action-packed sci-fi/superhero novel with a fantastic cast of characters and plenty of plot twists to keep you guessing! Rohan is a Hybrid, the offspring of a human and an alien race called the il’Drach. That alien […]

Unfixed Timelines 2 Complete on Channillo

| March 22, 2022

Have you checked out Unfixed Timelines 2 on Channillo? At this point, the entire book has been posted! You just need a Channillo subscription to read my stories and essays, and you can read other books there as well! A Russian pilot using a bit of magic and music to rescue her compatriot. The family impacts […]

Cover Reveal and Pre-Order Information for Doorways in the Gloom

| March 17, 2022

My next collection, Doorways in the Gloom is now available for pre-order! This collection contains short stories, flash fiction, and poetry with a darker vibe. Some of the stories approach horror, while others are just slightly spooky. Doorways can lead to many marvelous places. In this collection, however, the scenes they reveal are shrouded in gloom […]

Avatar of Freya Out Today!

| March 15, 2022

Today’s the day! Avatar of Freya is now live! If you pre-ordered it (THANK YOU!), you should already have it on your device. If not, you can grab a copy for yourself here! It’s an honor to be chosen as the avatar of a god, raised to the ranks of superheroes in Cobalt City by their […]

Stephen Fry on Meter, Part 1

| March 14, 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 1, on spoken English, meter, and iambic pentameter. The beginning of this chapter talks a lot about stressed and unstressed syllables, and how […]

February 2022 Publications!

| March 10, 2022

I had three new pieces out in February, all different sorts and lengths! “Promises Made” was accepted for the Glittery Literary Anthology Four and appeared early in the month. It’s an urban fantasy microfiction story about curses and promises related to the fae. The second one was one of the longest titled stories I’ve had […]

Review of Dark Cheer: Cryptids Emerging Volume Blue

| March 9, 2022

Dark Cheer: Cryptids Emerging Volume Blue edited by Atlin Merrick (Improbable Press, 2021) is a great collection of stories featuring an enormous variety of cryptid characters. With cryptids ranging from the familiar to one-of-a-kind, readers will certainly find stories that appeal to them. I found several stories in the anthology that I enjoyed. The lead […]

Reading Beyond the Apocalypse

| March 1, 2022

If you enjoy reading post-apocalyptic stories, you might enjoy a couple of my books! Scenes from a Quiet Apocalypse is a novella with chapters based the major arcana of the tarot deck. Without warning, most of humanity stopped speaking. Acting in silent unison, they overthrew the world in service to an unknown force. Their takeover […]

Norse Mythology in Old Legends and New Fables

| February 24, 2022

There’s a good deal of Norse mythology in Old Legends and New Fables because in a lot of ways, Norse feels the closest to my Germanic roots. I’ve felt an affinity for it for probably 20+ years, and two of my multitude of tattoos are Norse runes. In this collection, the poems “The Three Roosters of Ragnarok, […]