History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

My Steampunk Books

| August 24, 2021

Steampunk is one of my big loves, with it being the genre for my published trilogy and one other book. Brass and Glass: The Cask of Cranglimmering started out as a short story. Then it became a novel. Then, when asked if I had more set in this world, it became a trilogy, with Brass and […]

Coming This Fall: Chrysanthemum and Marigold Marsh, Girl Detectives

| July 1, 2021

If you enjoyed my middle grade detective mystery, The Trouble with the Tick-Tock Tabby, you’re going to enjoy the book I’m putting out this fall: Chrysanthemum and Marigold Marsh, Girl Detectives. This book will collect three Marsh sisters stories: “The Recondite Riddle of the Rose Rogue” (their first appearance, and the first story I ever published) […]

Thinking about Book Gifts for Kids?

| November 19, 2020

If you’ve got kids on your holiday gift list this year, I’ve got a couple of recommendations from my writing! Spiders of the Shifting Swamp is a children’s book, complete with illustrations and large print. It’s a story that can be read to younger kids, but that younger readers can probably manage on their own, […]

The Marsh Sisters and Their Adventures

| October 3, 2019

The Marsh sisters, Chrysanthemum and Marigold, were the first characters I wrote when I started getting serious about my writing. Since then, they’ve dealt with a thief in the mechanical garden in “The Recondite Riddle of the Rose Rogue,” a clockwork monkey acting up in “The Marvelous Matter of the Mischievous Monkey,” and a missing […]

Steampunk Technology, Real and Imagined

| May 16, 2019

The steampunk technology that I write into my novels and stories is often partially real and partially imagined. For The Trouble with the Tick-Tock Tabby, the idea of the clockwork animals was pulled primarily from my imagination–while it’s certainly possible to have mechanical or robotic animals with modern technology, I used a lot of hand waving […]

The Marsh Sisters and Family

| February 14, 2019

The very first short story I had published was “The Recondite Riddle of the Rose Rogue,” featuring the Marsh sisters, back in 2010. This came up recently because I have a second Marsh sisters short story, “The Marvelous Matter of the Mischievous Monkey,” in the latest volume of the Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide. Recently, the editors […]

Winter Reads: The Trouble with the Tick-Tock Tabby

| December 20, 2018

Mystery, steampunk, and clever girls? You’ll find all that and more in The Trouble with the Tick-Tock Tabby! Written for a middle grade audience, folks of all ages will enjoy the investigations of Chrysanthemum and Marigold Marsh, girl detectives who make their home in the mechanical garden! This is the first full-length adventure of the Marsh […]

Winter Reads: Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide Volume 5

| December 13, 2018

If you’re looking for a great read for a younger reader, or if you prefer to read things in the middle grade/young adult genres yourself, Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide Volume 5 is now available in print and ebook! I’ve got a new short story in this volume, “The Magnificent Matter of the Mischievous Monkey,” which is […]

Now in Paperback: The Trouble with the Tick-Tock Tabby!

| October 23, 2018

When I first published The Trouble with the Tick-Tock Tabby, I did my own cover. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the best plan, as it didn’t look good when I got a proof copy of the print book. So I made a plan to have an artist re-do the cover later. That’s finally happened. The inestimable Leigh Legler […]

Now on Kickstarter: Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide Volume 5

| September 26, 2018

The fine folks at Dreaming Robot Press are currently running a Kickstarter for the fifth volume of the Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide. I’ve had stories in the last two, and I will also have a story, “The Magnificent Matter of the Mischievous Monkey,” included in volume 5! My story is a steampunk detective story featuring the […]