History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

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, […]

Weathering Youth: “Charming, Not Useful” and “Flora, Alone”

| July 22, 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! “Charming, Not Useful” and […]

Wheel of Fortune in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages

| July 17, 2025

The Wheel of Fortune tarot card represents changes in fortune, the cycle of life, and destiny. In A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages, this is represented by a haiku and a poem. The haiku, titled “spiraling pattern” after its first line, is a brief reflection on fractal patterns appearing across natural things. This haiku is […]

Weathering Youth: “Family Tree” and “A Trail of Apples”

| June 26, 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! “Family Tree” and […]

The Hermit in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages

| June 10, 2025

The Hermit tarot card represents solitude, introspection, and the seeking of internal wisdom. In A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages, this is represented by a haiku and a short story. The haiku, with the first line “a witch’s cottage,” deals primarily with the solitude part of the Hermit’s meaning. The short story, “Architect of the […]

Strength in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages

| May 15, 2025

The Strength tarot card represents strength, as is to be expected, but also courage, persuasion, and patience. In A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages, this is represented by a haiku and a poem. The haiku, “rippling waters” (after the first line of the poem), being very brief, mainly deals with the “face value” of the […]

Fantasy Stories and Poetry Out Recently

| April 17, 2025

Since my last post of recent fantasy stories and poetry, I’ve had a few new fantasy pieces come out! My Weathering Youth collection spans many genres, but the core of it involves fantasy stories, including some that are in the “traditional” (or non-contemporary) fantasy genre, like “Charming, Not Useful,” a somewhat ridiculous flash fiction take on […]