History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Kickstarter Recommendation: The Bell Ringer and Other Holiday Tales

| October 4, 2023

My friend Raven Oak is currently running a Kickstarter for The Bell Ringer and Other Holiday Tales, a collection of art and short stories with a holiday theme. The art is absolutely gorgeous, and having read some of Raven’s stories in the past, the stories are certain to be equally great! This Kickstarter is a very […]

Review of Parallel Worlds by Addison Smith

| June 28, 2023

Addison Smith’s Parallel Worlds: Science Fiction and Fantasy (2023) is a collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories, flash fiction, and drabbles. Though some common themes emerge amongst the stories, there’s also a great amount of variety, ensuring that most readers will find stories they thoroughly enjoy within this collection. Of the stories included […]

Review of The Strange Garden and Other Weird Tales by Alex Kingsley

| April 19, 2023

The Strange Garden and Other Weird Tales by Alex Kingsley (2023) is dark and hilarious in equal parts, weaving seamlessly between the two, sometimes even in the same story. A number of the stories are previously published, but the collection also includes some new stories as well. As with many collections, I enjoyed the majority […]

The Stories of Denizens of Distant Realms

| March 28, 2023

Denizens of Distant Realms is a brief collection, with only six short stories. All of these stories have stuck with me over the years, though, and I’ve even recently been writing another story that fits into the same tangentially shared world of these six stories. If these stories were placed in chronological order, I think […]

Review of Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance and Other Stories by Tobias S. Buckell

| March 22, 2023

Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance and Other Stories is the latest collection from author Tobias S. Buckell (Apex Book Company, 2023), and it’s filled with a wonderful collection of previously published sci-fi stories. Several of the stories in this collection share the same setting, one in which oxygen use is monitored and paid […]

Cover Reveal and Pre-Order Information for Doorways in the Gloom

| March 17, 2022

My next collection, Doorways in the Gloom is now available for pre-order! This collection contains short stories, flash fiction, and poetry with a darker vibe. Some of the stories approach horror, while others are just slightly spooky. Doorways can lead to many marvelous places. In this collection, however, the scenes they reveal are shrouded in gloom […]

Avatar of Freya Out Today!

| March 15, 2022

Today’s the day! Avatar of Freya is now live! If you pre-ordered it (THANK YOU!), you should already have it on your device. If not, you can grab a copy for yourself here! It’s an honor to be chosen as the avatar of a god, raised to the ranks of superheroes in Cobalt City by their […]

My Patreon in 2022!

| January 13, 2022

Did you know that I have a Patreon? I do! It’s a way for my fans to throw a small amount of money my way to support my writing and learn about what I’m working on! Backers at the $3 per month level get ebook copies of my self-published books, and I’ve got at least […]

Coming This Fall: Chrysanthemum and Marigold Marsh, Girl Detectives

| July 1, 2021

If you enjoyed my middle grade detective mystery, The Trouble with the Tick-Tock Tabby, you’re going to enjoy the book I’m putting out this fall: Chrysanthemum and Marigold Marsh, Girl Detectives. This book will collect three Marsh sisters stories: “The Recondite Riddle of the Rose Rogue” (their first appearance, and the first story I ever published) […]

“A Sixteen Step Plan to Supervillainy” in Coast to Coast Stars

| February 25, 2021

When I’m writing in a superhero universe, I generally write heroes and not villains. But for “A Sixteen Step Plan to Supervillainy,” I decided to try out the other side of the fence. After all, villains believe themselves to be the heroes of their stories, so why not write a sympathetic villain story? “A Sixteen […]