Monday, March 9, 2020

Space Opera Libretti author interview: Dawn Vogel

Good evening, passengers of the good spaceship Space Opera Libretti! This is the part where I usually make an airplane joke, but surely I won't do that this time. Except I will, so don't call me Shirley. (and that, my dears, is what we call a joke for old people!)
We invite one of our authors up to the cockpit every Monday to discuss their story available now in Space Opera Libretti.

Today's guest is Dawn Vogel!

In 10 words or less, how would you describe your story?
Intergalactic pop group saves the day!

What was the inspiration for this story? Be as brief or detailed as you want.
Not quite a year ago now, my husband finally got me to watch some Korean pop videos. He had been interested in K-pop for a while, but he had to find just the right groups in order to get me hooked. K-pop videos are visual spectacles, and some of them are even more spectacular (and weird) than others. Specifically, one of the groups he really likes, Brown-Eyed Girls, has a song called "Brave New World," and the video for that was the first inspiration for "Earworm." I reluctantly moved my band out of a space-travelling car and into an actual spaceship, but I envision the opening sequence of the story as beginning similarly to how the video for "Brave New World" starts. One of my favorite groups, Twice, has a song called "BDZ" (it's short for bulldozer), which also has a sort of odd video, and that inspired the later scenes of the story.

If your story had a theme song, what would it be?
The obvious choices would be "Brave New World" and "BDZ," but I imagine Hafsa's sound as a bit more like "The Diva Dance" from The Fifth Element.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.
I'm an author and editor of short and long speculative fiction (and, recently, poetry). I have a background in history and work with historians and archaeologists as an editor and office manager. My husband and I live in Seattle, where we are owned by five very demanding cats. I also game, craft (mostly crochet and cross-stitch), and attend a lot of local conventions. I have a ridiculously large collection of Funko Pops that prevent me from using a real desk, and I love watching bad historical TV shows.

Do you have anything you want to promote? Other stories or books, your Etsy shop, a cool video you found online of dancing llamas that you think the world needs to see?
The third book in my steampunk trilogy, Brass and Glass 3: The Boiling Sea, came out in October of this year, and can be found on Amazon and through other online booksellers. I've sold a relatively large number of stories and poems in 2019, with some coming out later this year and some coming out next year. I blog weekdays at http://historythatneverwas.com. And you can find my crafty stuff at http://scarywhitegirl.etsy.com.



Every story in the paperback edition of Space Opera Libretti is accompanied by a title page. Earworm's features a mysterious soundwave beaming out into space.


Dawn Vogel’s academic background is in history, so it’s not surprising that much of her fiction is set in earlier times. By day, she edits reports for historians and archaeologists. In her alleged spare time, she runs a craft business, co-edits Mad Scientist Journal, and tries to find time for writing. Her steampunk series, Brass and Glass, is published by DefCon One Publishing. She is a member of Broad Universe, Codex Writers, and SFWA. She lives in Seattle with her
awesome husband (and fellow author), Jeremy Zimmerman, and their herd of cats. Visit her at     or on Twitter @historyneverwas.  


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