History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Writing to Prompts

| January 6, 2020

Last week, I talked about writing to a theme. This week, I’m talking about writing to prompts. The two things are related, but not entirely the same. Writing to prompts comes up frequently if you’re looking to challenge yourself to write a daily, weekly, or even monthly story, when you don’t necessarily have an end […]

Setting Goals for 2020

| January 2, 2020

Now that it’s 2020, it’s time to start looking at my writing goals for this coming year! Top of my list for this year is looking for an agent. I’ve got a young adult book that is pretty close to being ready to query agents with, so that’s going to be at the top of […]

“A Sixteen-Step Plan to Supervillainy” out now!

| December 10, 2019

My flash fiction piece, “A Sixteen-Step Plan to Supervillainy,” is now out from Flash Fiction Magazine! And though it may not be entirely apparent if you read this story alone, this story is Cobalt City adjacent! I came up with the character of Gray Dawn thanks to online friends and a cool pair of leggings […]

2019 Awards Eligibility

| November 26, 2019

It’s the time of year when folks start posting lists of their stories and books from the past year that are eligible for award nominations. And here are mine! Flash Fiction: “Coffin Coffee Table,” The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts (March 2019). “Brick-Red Love,” The Arcanist (April 2019). Also available in The Arcanist: Year Two. “Safe Haven,” Five Minutes at Hotel […]

Now Out: “Despite All My Rage” in A Punk Rock Future!

| October 8, 2019

A Punk Rock Future is out today, and it includes my flash fiction piece, “Despite All My Rage.” I wrote this piece mostly in a single night–I drafted up what I called an angry rant, only my friend Torrey misheard that as “an angry rat” … and I ran with it. I revised the story […]

Recent Stories

| May 30, 2019

Two of my stories have come out recently! “I Believe,” which is a flash piece about imaginary friends, is out now at The Future Fire. It’s very short and very sweet, and won’t take you long at all to read! I’ve mentioned the Bargains anthology from Pine Float Press before, but it’s now available at […]

Volatile Figments: Darkness, Light, and Muses?

| May 28, 2019

One of the stories in Volatile Figments, “Terpsichore,” started out when I realized how creepy a dance studio looks when it’s dark and there’s only a small source of light reflecting off the mirrors. From there, it spun into a ritual performed in a dance studio, and the creepy aftermath. At only 928 words, “Terpsichore” is […]

“Safe Haven” Now Out!

| May 7, 2019

Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove released today, and I’ve got a flash fiction piece, “Safe Haven,” included in this anthology. The premise for the anthology was that your story had to take place during a specific five minutes in the history of this unusual hotel, which has been around for as long as anyone can […]

“Brick-Red Love” out now!

| April 16, 2019

My flash fiction piece, “Brick-Red Love” went live on The Arcanist on April 12th. You can check it out here! This was one of my Drawlloween stories, based on a prompt of “bride.” In the context of Drawlloween, I’m sure it was meant to be Bride of Frankenstein, but I took a lot of my […]

Upcoming Story Releases!

| April 4, 2019

I’ve got four stories coming out in April and May, three of which are in anthologies, and the fourth of which (which actually comes out first) is a quick read! On April 12, you’ll be able to read my story, “Brick-Red Love,” at The Arcanist. This is one of the stories I wrote during Drawlloween (using […]