History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

WriteHive Panel: Breadcrumbs in Fiction: Building a Mystery

| October 30, 2023

One of the panels I watched from the WriteHive online conference was Breadcrumbs in Fiction: Building a Mystery. Having written a mystery novella, and wanting to write more in that series, I was particularly interested in learning how to do it better! The panelists talked about the differences between breadcrumbs, red herrings, and facts, and […]

Review of The Red Palace by June Hur

| February 8, 2023

The Red Palace (Feiwel and Friends, 2022) is the second of June Hur’s historical fiction young adult mystery novels set in Korea that I have read and enjoyed. This book, set in the mid-eighteenth century, again features wonderful characters and a great mystery. And while you might guess the culprit earlier in this book than […]

“The Wearisome Worry of the Wily Waif” in C. & M. Marsh, Girl Detectives

| December 29, 2022

“The Wearisome Worry of the Wily Waif” is the sole Marsh sisters story I’ve written that has not been picked up for publication. But I included it in C. and M. Marsh, Girl Detectives because I think it’s a good story. It’s a little different than the other Marsh sisters stories, which have the girls confronting […]

“The Magnificent Matter of the Mischievous Monkey” in C. & M. Marsh, Girl Detectives

| November 24, 2022

“The Magnificent Matter of the Mischievous Monkey” was technically my third Marsh sisters story, as I wrote it after The Trouble with the Tick-Tock Tabby. It’s also the title in this series I’m most likely to foul up, as it went through a few iterations before I got it to work within my self-dictated naming […]

“The Recondite Riddle of the Rose Rogue” in C. & M. Marsh, Girl Detectives

| October 18, 2022

“The Recondite Riddle of the Rose Rogue” was the first story I had published, so it’s got a very warm place in my heart. It’s the first story of Chrysanthemum and Marigold Marsh and the mechanical garden they live in. The mechanical garden was inspired by a friend’s child mishearing “botanical garden” as “mechanical garden,” […]

Have You Checked Out C. and M. Marsh, Girl Detectives?

| June 16, 2022

Have you checked out C. and M. Marsh, Girl Detectives yet? Chrysanthemum and Marigold Marsh live in a mechanical garden with their family. But when strange things happen, these two girl detectives are on the case! Follow them through their adventures with rose thieves, a misbehaving monkey, and someone sneaking around the garden at night! C. […]

C. and M. Marsh, Girl Detectives Out Today!

| May 31, 2022

Today, the follow up to my middle grade book, The Trouble with the Tick-Tock Tabby, is out! It’s called C. and M. Marsh, Girl Detectives, and it’s jam packed with short story adventures of Chrysanthemum and Marigold Marsh, inhabitants of the mechanical garden! This includes the first story I wrote for publication, “The Recondite Riddle […]

C. and M. Marsh, Girl Detectives Coming Soon!

| May 12, 2022

The very first story I wrote as an adult, with an intent of publication was a sweet little story about two young girls living in a mechanical garden. Because I was very lucky, I sold that story, and then sold it several more times as reprint. It wound up inspiring me to write more, and […]

Review of The Silence of Bones by June Hur

| July 14, 2021

The Silence of Bones by June Hur (Feiwel & Friends, 2020) is a historical young adult mystery set in early nineteenth century Korea, full of rich detail and wonderful characters. The mystery is also phenomenal, and it will keep you guessing all the way to the reveal! Damo Seol is an indentured servant, bound to […]

Tips on Speculative Detective Fiction

| February 15, 2021

Many people like to read mystery stories or detective fiction, but if you’ve never tried your hand at writing it, it can be a challenging genre to tackle, especially when you add speculative fiction elements. Here, author Tyler Hayes breaks down some of the pitfalls and advice for writing speculative detective fiction. It’s a fantastic […]