History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Eight Plus Years of The Trouble with the Tick-Tock Tabby

| November 26, 2024

The Trouble with the Tick-Tock Tabby was one of the first things I self-published, back in 2016. At that point, I’d been writing for publication for more than seven years. And since 2016 was eight years ago (!), that means I’ve been writing for fifteen years, which is a wild thing to think about. But […]

Books and Stories for Younger Readers

| May 16, 2024

I’ve got some recent story publications that are suitable for younger readers, along with several books, including steampunk and fantasy titles! My flash fiction story “Dinosaur Seeds” is written for an adult audience, but kids would very likely enjoy this story, which involves a child planting “dinosaur” seeds and the surprising results! This story can […]

Books for Kids

| September 19, 2023

I’ve got several books for kids, including steampunk and fantasy! The Trouble with the Tick-Tock Tabby is a middle grade book featuring girl detectives Chrysanthemum and Marigold Marsh. The setting is a steampunk Victorian era. The characters are 9 and 12 years old, which skews toward the younger end of middle grade, but the reading level […]

“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 […]

My Steampunk Books

| November 15, 2022

If you enjoy reading steampunk, I’ve got five books, for both adult readers and younger readers! First off, I have the Brass and Glass trilogy: Brass and Glass: The Cask of Cranglimmering is the first in the series, followed by Brass and Glass 2: The Long-Cursed Map and Brass and Glass 3: The Boiling Sea. These […]

“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 […]