History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

“When Science and the Gods Fail” in Dead-Starred Futures

| February 29, 2024

“When Science and the Gods Fail” is a microfiction story about a robot who takes matters into their own hands when calamity strikes. However, since this is one of my darker sci-fi stories … well, I’ll let you guess at the ending, but I won’t say anything more than that. “When Science and the Gods […]

Have You Considered Backing My Patreon?

| February 8, 2024

Have you considered backing my Patreon? It’s a way for my fans to support my writing and learn about what I’m working on! I share updates about my works in progress, including snippets of stories for my patrons! I’m also very open to ideas of what people would like to see there, especially now that […]

“The Experiment” in Unfixed Timelines 3

| February 1, 2024

“The Experiment” is a very brief flash fiction piece in which a young girl conducts a magical experiment during the Dust Bowl era, much to her mother’s chagrin. I can’t say much more than that without giving too much  of the story away. If you’re not familiar with the Dust Bowl era, you can check […]

“Kleptoparasitism” in Dead-Starred Futures

| January 30, 2024

While “Kleptoparasitism” isn’t the darkest of stories in Dead-Starred Futures, it is set in a potential dystopian future in which insects are a widespread protein source. It’s a microfiction story about how a visit to a location where insects are processed might go awry. If you like the idea of this story, check out Dead-Starred Futures […]

“Memento Mori” in Unfixed Timelines 3

| January 11, 2024

“Memento Mori” is an unusual combination of the Old West and science fantasy. It’s a story about Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, and aliens, and it purports a history that isn’t even remotely true. But all that being said, it’s based on some real history, so it fits perfectly into Unfixed Timelines 3. This story was […]

My 2024 Goals!

| January 9, 2024

Time to look at my 2024 goals! I’m primarily focusing on shorter fiction in 2024, as I did in 2023, though I am already brainstorming a couple of of novellas that I might want to write as well. We’ll see if those pan out, though! If I do stick with my focus on shorter fiction, […]

“Good to the Last Drop” in Dead-Starred Futures

| December 28, 2023

“Good to the Last Drop” is a dark sci-fi flash fiction piece that involved research into hydroponics and growing coffee, along with some other searches to pull together the plot. I can’t say much more about that research without giving it away, but suffice it to say that some people will do ANYTHING for their […]

Review of Resurrections by Ada Hoffmann

| December 20, 2023

Resurrections by Ada Hoffmann (Apex Book Company, 2023) is a wonderful collection of speculative fiction stories and poetry, ranging through a variety of themes and lengths. Many of the pieces feature neurodiverse and/or queer characters, either explicitly or implicitly. The collection as a whole is brilliantly assembled, with many of the stories arranged in such […]

Review of Skin Thief by Suzan Palumbo

| November 29, 2023

Skin Thief by Suzan Palumbo (Neon Hemlock, 2023) is a collection of dark and atmospheric stories, the majority of which have been previously published in major speculative fiction magazines. The stories contain a variety of themes including family (particularly sisters, but also mothers and daughters) and Trinidadian culture. Stories I really loved in this collection […]

“Vantablack” in Dead-Starred Futures

| November 21, 2023

My flash fiction piece “Vantablack” was, unsurprisingly, inspired by the ridiculous but entertaining artist’s feud over the blackest black. In this story, I combined that with a newly discovered unusual planet and the weird trend of crowd-sourcing names for things. It’s a shock “Planet McPlanety-Face” didn’t win. (I considered it. But I liked my original […]