History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

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 […]

Other Historical Fiction

| October 29, 2019

If you’re a fan of the stories I included in Unfixed Timelines, here are some other stories of mine you might want to track down. Wild Musette‘s Vegetable Pulp issue includes my Night Witches story about a Russian opera-singing witch rescuing her pilot and killing Nazis in World War II Germany, “Nochnaya Serenada.” The title is […]

“A Dark Place” in Denizens of Distant Realms

| September 24, 2019

“A Dark Place” was the first story I sold at semi-pro rates, back in 2014. At that time, it was the most money I’d ever been paid for one of my stories. It originally appeared in a magazine called Fictionvale (which has since closed up shop), and it later reappeared in Disturbed Digest in 2016. This story […]

She Puts the Sparx in Sparx & Arrows

| June 20, 2019

Kara Sparx was a character in Cobalt City that I attached myself to early on. She was mostly a minor background character in some of the initial Cobalt City books, but I wanted to do more with her. After all, she was a nerdy techie with a cool robot, and who did a lot of […]

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 […]

The Marsh Sisters and Family

| February 14, 2019

The very first short story I had published was “The Recondite Riddle of the Rose Rogue,” featuring the Marsh sisters, back in 2010. This came up recently because I have a second Marsh sisters short story, “The Marvelous Matter of the Mischievous Monkey,” in the latest volume of the Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide. Recently, the editors […]

I Didn’t Break the Lamp Story Thoughts

| February 12, 2019

As the Kickstarter for I Didn’t Break the Lamp: Historical Accounts of Imaginary Acquaintances continues, I’ve started thinking about the kinds of stories that we may see in the slush pile. Because our authors always end up surprising us with their imaginative takes on our anthology themes, it’s a little difficult to pin down our expectations, […]

If At First You Don’t Succeed …

| January 28, 2019

In recent weeks, I’ve had a couple different stories that I’ve started writing, and then realized that I was approaching it the wrong way. Either the plot was going off the rails, or it was too close to something else, or it just wouldn’t really get to the meat of the plot in any sensible […]

Winter Reads: Battling in All Her Finery

| January 17, 2019

If you’re looking for short science fiction and fantasy stories about women leaders who run the gamut from military or nobility to CEOs and musicians, you should check out Battling in All Her Finery. Within, you’ll find twenty-one such stories of varying lengths and on varying topics, but all with women leaders. Whether you prefer your fantasy to be […]

Winter Reads: Seasons of Horror by Lucinda Gunnin

| January 9, 2019

I’m surrounded by tons of talented writers, both in Seattle and across the world (nearby through the power of the internet). My best friend lives almost as far across the country as she can from me (because we both want excuses to visit the opposite coast now and then). She’s also a writer who got […]