History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Don’t Forget About Bounty of the Atoll!

| June 16, 2026

Have you checked out Bounty of the Atoll? It’s a fantastical history novella that mashes up bits of two fairy tales, plus a couple of essays about the setting and history. And it’s got gorgeous cover art from Kloudinthesky! Far from Spain, there are rumors of a beautiful princess held prisoner by a witch and […]

Fun for Friday: The Big Pink Book of Prompts, Magical Books

| June 12, 2026

On Monday, I shared the blank version of this page, and today, you get to see what I did with it! Here’s what my notes say: Hymnal of Transformation (with an arrow pointing to the books) music as magic = lyramancy RyA theme -> predicament what if you have to finish a hymn if you […]

May 2026 Recap

| June 9, 2026

By the numbers: Stories out at the beginning of the month: 53 Acceptances received: 2 Rejections received: 29 (+3) Stories withdrawn: 0 Resubmissions: 33 New Submissions: 0 Stories out at the end of the month: 53 My May numbers are a little late, because I had thyroid surgery at the end of May and have […]

Bounty of the Atoll Out Today!

| May 12, 2026

My novelette, Bounty of the Atoll, is out today, with cover art from Kloudinthesky! Far from Spain, there are rumors of a beautiful princess held prisoner by a witch and islands that possess innumerable wealth. Three captains set out to rescue the princess and claim the treasure, but what they find is not entirely what […]

April 2026 Recap!

| May 7, 2026

By the numbers: Stories out at the beginning of the month: 36 Acceptances received: 3 Rejections received: 20 (1) Stories withdrawn: 0 Resubmissions: 34 New Submissions: 7 Stories out at the end of the month: 53 My numbers for April are looking the best they have this year! I worked to get a bunch of […]

Cover Reveal for Bounty of the Atoll

| April 16, 2026

I’m so excited to reveal the cover for my next novelette, Bounty of the Atoll! The artwork was created by Kloudinthesky, who did an exceptional job of translating my “I dunno, a wrecked Spanish galleon?” into this stunning work of art! Far from Spain, there are rumors of a beautiful princess held prisoner by a witch […]

March 2026 Publications

| April 9, 2026

I had four new pieces out in March this year, which definitely deserves its own post! My story “Give Me Back My Moon,” which was inspired in part by a song from my favorite female K-pop idol, was published in the spring issue of The Colored Lens. It’s a short fantasy story in which a […]

March 2026 Recap

| April 7, 2026

By the numbers: Stories out at the beginning of the month: 40 Acceptances received: 2 Rejections received: 25 Stories withdrawn: 0 Resubmissions: 22 New Submissions: 0 Stories out at the end of the month: 36 My March submissions were in decent shape for the month, especially given that I was traveling for almost a full […]

February 2026 Recap!

| March 5, 2026

By the numbers: Stories out at the beginning of the month: 33 Acceptances received: 2 Rejections received: 14 Stories withdrawn: 0 Resubmissions: 23 New Submissions: 0 Stories out at the end of the month: 40 February turned out pretty good on the resubmissions front, as I managed to send out more pieces than I received […]

December 2025 Recap and Publications

| January 6, 2026

By the numbers: Stories out at the beginning of the month: 30 Acceptances received: 3 Rejections received: 12 (+2) Stories withdrawn: 1 Resubmissions: 20 New Submissions: 6 Stories out at the end of the month: 38 My December numbers are up a little from November, as I worked on getting some submissions out into the […]