History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Fantasy Stories and Poetry Out Recently

| April 17, 2025

Since my last post of recent fantasy stories and poetry, I’ve had a few new fantasy pieces come out! My Weathering Youth collection spans many genres, but the core of it involves fantasy stories, including some that are in the “traditional” (or non-contemporary) fantasy genre, like “Charming, Not Useful,” a somewhat ridiculous flash fiction take on […]

Coast to Coast Stars: Tales of Cobalt and Cerulean City

| April 15, 2025

My collection, Coast to Coast Stars, came out almost five years ago! It’s got five short stories set in Cobalt City and Cerulean City, with the former on the East Coast and the latter on the West Coast. Four of the stories are set in Cerulean City, but one of them, “Happily Never After,” features a […]

My Latest Horror and Dark Fantasy Pieces

| March 18, 2025

I’ve published a handful of horror and dark fantasy pieces in the nine months since my last post on my spooky reads! Weathering Youth contains stories featuring younger protagonists, but that doesn’t mean the stories are all light and fluffy. In particular, “Remembrance” (drabble), “A Trail of Apples” (short story), “No Fear” (flash fiction), “Someone […]

The Heroes We Need

| December 24, 2024

Heroes of Necessity includes four of my short stories about women with minimal superpowers helping out the world on a small scale. Though their powers aren’t the big, flashy kind, they are the ones those women need to solve the problems they face. “Fortissimo Possibile” features a mom with minor powers dealing with a teen […]

“Easy as a Bag of Cookies” in The Sidewalk Diverges

| December 17, 2024

“Easy as a Bag of Cookies” in The Sidewalk Diverges was inspired by a meme about Greek gods in the modern day. While I can’t remember the entirety of the meme, it involved Cerberus in some way. So I combined Cerberus, Hades, and Persephone into a contemporary story where Cerberus escaped his leash and found a […]

Review of Breath of Life by LH Moore

| December 11, 2024

LH Moore’s Breath of Life (Apex Book Company, 2024) is a gorgeous collection of Black-centered stories and poetry, with a substantial amount of horror and historical fiction, often in the same story! Most of my favorite stories were, of course, the historical ones. “A Little Not Music,” set in 1939 in Washington, D.C., is a dark […]

My 2024 Publications for Awards Consideration

| December 4, 2024

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, like the Nebulas, Hugos, and more. I’m including word count, because different awards require different word counts, and it’s easy for me to grab those so you don’t have to […]

“Under the Bed” in The Sidewalk Diverges

| October 15, 2024

My short story “Under the Bed” was one that took me a long time to get just right. I had the idea for a young girl whose family had fallen victim to a horrific monster that spared her for some time. It wasn’t until I figured out the second character in the story, the now-teen […]

Revision Process: Short Fiction

| July 22, 2024

Last week, I talked about my revision process for very short pieces (drabbles, microfiction, and flash). This week, I’m talking about my revision process for short stories. First, I always try to finish the first draft before tinkering with it. The struggle is real, because I’m an editor, so I’m always tempted to start revising […]

Short Stories at WriteHive Online Conference

| June 17, 2024

During the WriteHive Online Conference this a couple of weekends ago, I was one of the panelists for “Making Each Word Count: A Short Story Master Class.” We had a great conversation about writing and publishing short fiction, from our individual perspectives and offering advice to authors who are interested in that length. The other […]