History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

A Series of Small Walls at Fantastic History!

| December 24, 2020

Catherine Schaff-Stump is hosting some of my articles about the real history behind my stories from Unfixed Timelines at her Fantastic History blog. The fifth post, and the last one of my guest posts for 2020, “A Series of Small Walls,” is up now! There’s an old Eddie Izzard bit about how archaeologists are always […]

“Nochnaya Serenada” in Unfixed Timelines 2

| November 17, 2020

The Night Witches were a fascinating and talented group of Russian female pilots during World War II who flew tiny, fragile, slow planes. They made a major impact on the Russian war effort, and they suffered only a small number of casualties in spite of the odds. I’m a sucker for any stories of historical […]

Veiled Prophet Essay at Fantastic History!

| October 27, 2020

Catherine Schaff-Stump is hosting some of my articles about the real history behind my stories from Unfixed Timelines at her Fantastic History blog. The fourth post, “The Veiled Prophet,” is up now! One year at Christmas, while flipping through a book about St. Louis at my mom’s house with Jeremy, Mom and I had to […]

Have You Checked out Unfixed Timelines 2?

| October 15, 2020

Have you gotten a copy of Unfixed Timelines 2 yet? It’s been out for a month now, and I’m looking forward to see what people think about the stories and essays in this volume! In the coming months, I’ll talk a bit more about the various stories and histories I used to write those stories. In […]

“Green-Eyed Phantom” Out!

| September 29, 2020

I’ve got a fantastical history story, “Green-Eyed Phantom,” out in Whigmaleries & Wives’ Tales, which is a collection of stories about superstitions, legends, folklore, and wives’ tales. My story is a take on a legend about a spirit that haunts the Civil War battlefield in Chattanooga, Tennessee. But because I like to do odd things with […]

Pirates of the Mediterranean Essay at Fantastic History!

| September 24, 2020

Catherine Schaff-Stump is hosting some of my articles about the real history behind my stories from Unfixed Timelines at her Fantastic History blog. The third post, “Pirates of the Mediterranean,” is up now! I wrote my story “Salt in Our Veins” based on a call for submissions that necessitated a Mediterranean setting and fae of […]

Out Today: Unfixed Timelines 2!

| September 15, 2020

Unfixed Timelines 2 is out today, with six short stories, one poem, and seven essays about the real history that inspired each of the stories! This volume of stories includes: “Nochnaya Serenada” (reprint) and an essay about the history of the Night Witches “Have You Seen Him?” and an essay about the historical connections between […]

Unfixed Timelines 2 Cover Art!

| September 1, 2020

Much like when I published the first Unfixed Timelines, the cover art for Unfixed Timelines 2 is also a mashup of historical images related to the stories within this collection. Astute observers might recognize a couple of the Romanov Princesses, though most of the other images are fairly obscure (and obscured). While Unfixed Timelines 2 will be, like […]

Unfixed Timelines Lineup Confirmed!

| July 23, 2020

I’ve written and revised the essays for Unfixed Timelines 2, so I now feel pretty confident telling you about what this collection will include. The order remains to be determined, but the stories and essay topics are: “Nochnaya Serenada” (reprint) and an essay about the history of the Night Witches “Have You Seen Him?” and […]

The Nineteenth Kentucky Essay at Fantastic History!

| July 14, 2020

Catherine Schaff-Stump is hosting some of my articles about the real history behind my stories from Unfixed Timelines at her Fantastic History blog. The second post, “The 19th Kentucky,” is up now! The characters in my story, “The Glorious Dead,” were members of the 19th Kentucky, and one of those characters, James J. Ray, was […]