History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Spooky Reads for October: Volatile Figments

| October 24, 2024

If you’re looking for something to read between trick or treaters on Halloween, or perhaps in the remaining days until the holiday, check out Volatile Figments. It includes six short stories of a darker bent, including stories featuring female protagonists alongside creepy muses, elder gods, ghosts, ghouls, psychics, and witches. Dani finds the new director […]

Dark Contemporary Fantasy in Volatile Figments

| June 1, 2023

Volatile Figments is one of my earliest collections, but I still love all of the stories included in it. It’s six dark contemporary fantasy stories featuring female protagonists dealing with eldritch gods, muses, ghouls, and mad scientists. Dani finds the new director in her college theater department more than a little unnerving, but she has […]

Moms Having Adventures in Cross & Circle

| January 26, 2021

Not too long ago, someone on Twitter was looking for fantasy books that involve mothers as protagonists. Their ask was related to epic/high fantasy, not urban fantasy. If they’d been interested in urban fantasy, I could have recommended Cross and Circle. In Cross and Circle, Evie is pregnant for a good chunk of the book, then […]

Winter Reads: Battling in All Her Finery

| November 14, 2018

Have you checked out Battling in All Her Finery yet? I’m super proud of this book as one of the editors, but also as a reader who loves stories about women leaders! The anthology includes 21 stories along those lines, ranging through fantasy, science fiction, and alternate history. The stories are meant to appeal to all […]

When the Heroine Isn’t 18, Blonde, and a Size 3

| January 25, 2018

One of the panels I was on at Rustycon was called “When the Heroine Isn’t 18, Blonde, and a Size 3.” The topics we talked about were wide ranging, from books to TV to movies, but the primary idea was about writing non-Hollywood style women protagonists. This is a topic near and dear to my […]