History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

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 […]

A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages Out Today!

| May 14, 2024

My latest fantasy collection, containing stories and poetry and themed around the Major Arcana of the tarot, is out today! A Tarot of Sorcery and Sages has 44 pieces included, two for each card of the Major Arcana. Some were written specifically for this collection, while others were published or unpublished pieces I had that fit […]

My April 2024 Publications!

| May 9, 2024

I had a couple of new pieces come out in April My flash fiction piece, “Mutualism by Any Other Name,” appeared in the April issue of Factor Four Magazine. They’ve published me before, but I was pleased to find this story a home, as it’s an odd one, told from the perspective of a grove of […]

Poetry Form: Haiku Sonnet

| April 22, 2024

I’ve been back in the swing of working on some form poetry, so I’ve got some new-to-me forms to talk about! The haiku sonnet is a combination of the haiku (or senryu) form and the sonnet form. It also has aspect of the tanka form, which I talked about recently. Simply put, it’s four related […]