June 17th, 2023 I am beyond thrilled to be able to wish my pal Shaun Thibodeau a very happy Book Release Day today! I am so proud of him and what he’s accomplished with his debut; he’s one of the kindest dudes I know, which makes complimenting him as an immensely talented writer so easy.Continue reading “Happy Release Day to Mad Uncle McGillicuddy!”
Author Archives: dennisvogen
Cold World: Faith & Spirituality
June 16th, 2023 “It’s not that I don’t believe in anything. I just haven’t found the thing that makes sense to me yet.” That’s how I usually answer the question of whether I’m religious or believe in God. The formal term is agnostic; I learned that the difference between being agnostic or atheist is thatContinue reading “Cold World: Faith & Spirituality”
Cold World: Loss & Grief
June 14th, 2023 Cold World was the first time I explored the loss of my mom in fiction. I do it here, on the internet, all the time. Your responses to that type of writing has ranged from “this is exactly how I feel, thank you for writing this” to “this makes me very uncomfortable,”Continue reading “Cold World: Loss & Grief”
Building a Cold World
June 8th, 2023 I am not God, but I do spend a whole lot of damn time creating life. Sometimes I’m constructing the lives of animals, or inventing superheroes with superreal problems, or dreaming up a boy who feels more alive when he sleeps, or designing the future on a planet that never thaws. SoContinue reading “Building a Cold World”
How To Be Kind & Think For Yourself
June 7th, 2023 I was going to write about something else today, but Elliot Page has a new book coming out and I’ve been watching his insightful interviews and I want to talk about how we decide to be decent people. Sometimes, more than often than I’d hope, somebody around me will say something disrespectfulContinue reading “How To Be Kind & Think For Yourself”
MinnesotaCon ’23 Recap
June 4th, 2023 My brain is like wet cotton candy (colorful and structurally unstable), but I want to thank everybody for this weekend, and tell a sweet little story about how what we do, every day and anywhere, matters. First, the gratitude: two high fives and a giant hug to everybody who came out toContinue reading “MinnesotaCon ’23 Recap”
SKP 2023: Cold World
June 1, 2023 A year ago, I released a novel about Earth, 200 years in the future, that has only one season: winter. This month, we talk all about it. Cold World has a science-fiction lens, but that’s not its focal point at all. It’s a story about a whole lot more, including spirituality, loss,Continue reading “SKP 2023: Cold World”
61
May 31st, 2023 The older I get, the less I try to use the word “hate,” but today is the worst day of the year, and I hate it. It’s my mom’s birthday, which is worse than her death day, because that day was something that happened and is done, while her birthday is aboutContinue reading “61”
Football is Life (and Death)
May 30th, 2023 I’m posting this absolute thirst trap to talk about my two favorite shows right now which, like this photo, are about soccer and not about soccer at all. Yellowjackets and Ted Lasso couldn’t be more different on paper, but they share more than their European football connection; they compliment one another, andContinue reading “Football is Life (and Death)”
The History of The Next Step, Part VI: Unreleased Work, Legacy, and The Future
May 29th, 2023 Like a person, The Next Step isn’t and never was all good or all bad. And it was never a boy band. But it made me who I am today. Before I get to how, however, let’s talk about the stuff that never got made (or got made and then buried somewhereContinue reading “The History of The Next Step, Part VI: Unreleased Work, Legacy, and The Future”
The Den 