History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

The Tower in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages

| February 10, 2026

The Tower tarot card is often viewed negatively, due to its association with disasters, destruction, and trauma. However, it also has associations with sudden change, which can be negative or positive. In A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages, this is represented by a haiku and a piece of microfiction. The haiku, called “Fire burning inside” […]

The Devil in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages

| January 13, 2026

The Devil tarot card represents being trapped and negative attachments. In A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages, this is represented by a haiku and a microfiction piece. The haiku, “a strong appeal of” (after its first line), eschews the hoarding of wealth, a theme echoed in the microfiction piece, “Chrysopoeia.” The latter piece features a […]

Temperance in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages

| December 11, 2025

The Temperance tarot card represents patience, balance, moderation, and harmony. However, it also has an association with art and blending opposites. In A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages, this is represented by a haiku and a poem. The haiku, named after the first line, “art that walks careful,” touches on the dangers of hewing to […]

Death in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages

| October 21, 2025

The Death tarot card represents transitions, new beginnings, and change. In A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages, this is represented by a haiku and a flash fiction piece. The haiku, “Scorching summer heat” (titled after the first line), is a fantastical twist on changing seasons. The flash fiction piece, “The Arroyo Fiasco,” follows a geyser […]

Getting Ready for the Spooky Season with Conceits of Whim and Fancy

| September 30, 2025

Conceits of Whim and Fancy isn’t really a collection of spooky stories, but it does involve a lot of supernatural creatures, like witches, familiars, faeries, skeletal warriors, goblins, and liches. The majority of the stories in this collection are kid friendly, as well, which makes this collection a fun one to share with little ones […]

The Hanged Man in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages

| September 18, 2025

The Hanged Man tarot card represents sacrifice, waiting, uncertainty, perspective, and contemplation. In A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages, this is represented by a haiku and a microfiction piece. The haiku, titled “Longing for your lips” after the first line, is a piece that reflects the “waiting” aspect of this card. The microfiction piece, “No […]

Review of The Oblivion Bride by Caitlin Starling

| September 10, 2025

Caitlin Starling’s The Oblivion Bride (Neon Hemlock, 2025) is a gorgeous science-fantasy novella with some Gothic and surreal elements worked into an incredible world. Lorelei is one of a very small number of members of her family who hasn’t been killed by the family curse, which no one has been able to figure out. In order […]

Weathering Youth: “Things My Mothers Taught Me” and “Flapping”

| August 28, 2025

Because Weathering Youth is my biggest collection to date, I’m grouping the short stories and flash fiction stories in pairs for my posts, based on the way they fall in the collection. This lets me look at the connections between the stories and how I decided to arrange specific stories in the collection! “Things My Mothers Taught […]

Justice in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages

| August 19, 2025

The Justice tarot card represents balance, fairness, and truth, with an additional meaning of “maybe” in answer to yes or no questions.  In A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages, this is represented by two poems. The first poem, “Reading Wax,” looks at this “maybe” answer in presenting another sort of fortune telling in the form of […]

My July 2025 Publications!

| August 5, 2025

I had several pieces published in July, all on the shorter side of things! My drabbles “Jrrrr the Summoner” and “Modern Iso Onna” appeared in Shacklebound Books’ Short Fantasy Stories. The former portrays an outcast getting revenge on their gaming group, while the latter shows a Japanese yokai adapting to life in the modern world. Next, […]