History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Weathering Youth Out Today!

| November 12, 2024

Today’s the day! My latest collection, Weathering Youth, is out today! Within its pages, you’ll find younger protagonists and protagonists with a more youthful outlook, regardless of age. The stories range from humorous to dark, within the realms of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror! This is my largest collection to date, with almost fifty stories and poems! […]

The High Priestess in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages

| October 22, 2024

The High Priestess tarot card represents mystery, intuition, and spiritual knowledge. In A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages, this is represented by a haiku and a poem. The poem, “Snakes in Sheep’s Clothing,” is a cautionary poem about those who might deceive listeners, using a variation on “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” It comes from the perspective […]

Coming in November: Weathering Youth!

| October 10, 2024

My next collection, Weathering Youth, will be out on November 12, and it’s a collection of stories and poetry featuring younger protagonists and others with a youthful outlook on the world! In worlds with dragons, starships, and monsters, adults aren’t the only people. Children, teenagers, and young adults are sometimes the heroes of the story … […]

The Magician in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages

| September 5, 2024

The Magician tarot card deals with potential and pure willpower, and I combined those meanings for a focus on creation in the two poems representing that card in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages. The first poem, simply titled “Creation,” explores the magic inherent in creating new things, regardless of the format. The second poem, […]

“Death, in a Fashion” in Unfixed Timelines 3

| August 29, 2024

Unfixed Timelines 3 included one poem, “Death, in a Fashion.” This poem was inspired by my knowledge about fashion trends that are detrimental to the environment and the human body, as a result of the chemicals they use in production or extraction (or the byproducts of those). It dances through time, including arsenic green, radium […]

Poetry in Conceits of Whim and Fancy

| August 22, 2024

Included in Conceits of Whim and Fancy are ten poems, all of which are loosely fantasy poems. Several of them, including “For My Sisters, A Bequest,” “The Sea Sings Back,” and “Old Bones,” were published in other magazines before appearing in Conceits, while others, like “Danse Macabre” and “A Secret in Plain Sight” were new to […]

“Black Thumb” in The Sidewalk Diverges

| August 13, 2024

“Black Thumb” started life as a poem, which I revised into a microfiction piece. The general premise remained the same–scientists looking for a plant that the unnamed protagonist couldn’t kill–but it served as a demonstration of how some free verse (or non-formal) poetry and some very short forms of fiction are closely related to one […]

Review of hortus animarum by Sienna Tristen

| July 31, 2024

Sienna Tristen’s hortus animarum: a new herbal for the queer heart (Frog Hollow Press, 2022; reprinted 2024) is a gorgeous chapbook of plant-related prose poetry with numerous queer themes running through them. While I was a little surprised to find all of the poems in this collection were prose poetry (with the exception of the […]

The Fool in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages

| July 30, 2024

The Fool tarot card deals with new beginnings and innocence, and the two pieces I chose to represent that card in A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages follow that meaning. The opening piece, “Beneath an Unknown Sky,” is a poem about the emergence of sentient life in a new environment. The accompanying flash fiction piece, “Patience,” […]

Recent Fantasy Short Stories and Poetry

| July 11, 2024

I’ve had a handful of fantasy short stories and poetry out since my last round-up post! In November 2023, “Family Tree” appeared in Wyldblood Magazine. This story follows an orphaned teenage girl living with her aunt and uncle and what happens when she tires of their ill treatment of her. My flash fiction piece, “Mutualism by […]