History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Review of Embroidered Worlds

| January 10, 2024

The Embroidered Worlds anthology, edited by Valya Dudycz Lupescu, Olha Brylova, and Iryna Pasko (Atthis Arts, 2023), collects speculative fiction stories from Ukranian and diaspora authors. A number of the stories are translated from Ukranian and reprinted in English for the first time, allowing English-speaking readers to get a taste of speculative fiction from Ukraine they […]

Review of Rosalind’s Siblings

| December 27, 2023

Rosalind’s Siblings, edited by Bogi Takács (Atthis Arts, 2023), is an anthology of stories and poetry about scientists of marginalized genders, inspired by the erasure of Rosalind Franklin’s scientific discoveries and inspirations. The stories and poetry are wide ranging across genres and themes, though all with the central core of science and gender. Favorites of […]

Kickstarter Recommendation: In the Neck of the Woods

| December 13, 2023

If you like spooky stories about camping, check out the Kickstarter for In the Neck of the Woods, an anthology of camping-themed horror stories by LGBTQ+ and BIPOC authors! In addition to the anthology, there are some very cool items along the camping theme included in the highest tier! The Kickstarter runs until December 31st, so […]

Review of A Spoonful of Malaysian Magic

| November 22, 2023

A Spoonful of Malaysian Magic, edited by Anna Tan (Teaspoon Publishing, 2023), is a delightful anthology of short stories by Malaysian authors and featuring the legends and tales of Malaysia as elements of those stories. A handful of the stories are also themed around cooking and food, and others around family, though not all share […]

Review of Robotic Ambitions

| November 15, 2023

I reviewed one of the stories from Robotic Ambitions, edited by Lesley Conner and Jason Sizemore (Apex Book Company, 2023), prior to the Kickstarter for the project. Now I’m back with a review of the whole anthology, filled with stories of mechanical sentience. In addition to Elliot Wink’s “A Still Life,” this anthology collected many […]

Review of Mothersound: The Sauútiverse Anthology

| November 1, 2023

Mothersound: The Sauútiverse Anthology, edited by Wole Talabi (Android Press, forthcoming), is a collection of science-fantasy, shared-world/universe stories set in a universe created by African and African diaspora writers reflecting a combination of worldviews from throughout the African continent. The setting is also described as “Black Panther meets Wild Cards with all the rich spacefaring worldbuilding of Dune.” This […]

Review of Mermaids Never Drown

| October 25, 2023

Mermaids Never Drown, edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker (Feiwel and Friends, 2023), is a wonderful collection of stories of a variety of creatures in the seas, including but not limited to mermaids. The stories range from humorous to dark, but frequently include fraught relationships between mothers and daughters, often as a part […]

Soul Jar Out Soon, Plus Author Appearances!

| October 11, 2023

On October 17, Forest Avenue Press will be releasing Soul Jar, an anthology of stories by authors with disabilities. My story, “The Arroyo Fiasco,” is among the stories they selected for the anthology, and I’m so excited to see this one in print! It’s a flash fiction story about a dragon trying to find zher way […]

On Kickstarter: Playlist of the Damned

| April 26, 2023

Horror + music? Sign me up! Weird Little Worlds launched their Kickstarter for Playlist of the Damned, a horror and music-related anthology, last week. It’s already filled with luminaries from the horror fiction community, and they’ll be opening to submissions at the beginning of May to fill the other slots in the anthology. In addition to […]

New Pieces out in November 2022

| December 8, 2022

This past month saw publication of a short story, a couple of pieces of flash fiction, and a poem! “Chrysopoeia,” a flash fiction piece about a charlatan and the person who reveals him for what he really is, appeared in The Dire Dark, which is an anthology of dark fantasy pieces. My short story “Easy […]