Back to About the Heir Chronicles

Places in the Heir Chronicles

They say you should write what you know. I don’t entirely go along with that, since I haven’t known any wizards or sorcerers in my life (that identified themselves as such.) Yet using places you’ve been as settings or models for settings in your writing can enrich it. Below are some places in the Warrior Heir, some fictional, but based on real places, and some real places.

Cleveland Flats and Warehouse District

Whereas the first three Heir books were set in Trinity, OH, a fictional Midwestern college town, the New Heir Chronicles are true urban fantasies—contemporary stories set in downtown Cleveland.


Much of the action in the New Heir Chronicles takes place in two Cleveland neighborhoods. The industrial Flats is a gritty district of steel mills, factories, and maritime businesses that line the crooked Cuyahoga River all the way to the Lake Erie waterfront.

Located on a bluff overlooking the Flats, the Cleveland Warehouse District has in recent years become a major residential and arts district. Its historic buildings have been converted to loft apartments, condominiums, and offers a vibrant mix of clubs and restaurants. See the following links for more information about the Warehouse District.
http://www.warehousedistrict.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warehouse_District,_Cleveland
http://www.cleveland.com/warehouseguide/

Cleveland has played an important role in the history of rock and roll, and continues to host an active live music scene. It is also the Home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and its library and archives.

Magical Cleveland Map

Trinity, Ohio

Trinity is a fictional college town, modeled after the town of Oberlin, Oh, home of Oberlin College. This is a photo of the Baldwin Women's Collective at the college. Here is a link to the Oberlin College web site. http://www.oberlin.edu/ Oberlin College

I love visiting Oberlin, walking its downtown streets, shopping in its off-beat stores and eating in the restaurants there. I’m a handweaver, and I have friends who offer their work in a gallery there. It seems like a great place to grow up in. Here is a link to the Oberlin Chamber of Commerce Web site with lots of photos. http://www.oberlin.org/ Oberlin Chamber of Commerce

	Although Oberlin is 12 miles inland I took the liberty of placing Trinity on the shores of Lake Erie. I’ve always wanted to live on the water, and these are my books so I can do this.
	And believe it or not there are huge salt mines under Lake Erie. The mines play an inportant role in Dragon Heir, but you'll have to read it to find out what!

	My mother was born in southern Ohio, and my ancestors were pioneers in Jackson, Scioto, Adams, and Pike Counties. They farmed and worked in coal mines and iron furnaces in that area. My grandfather was a coal miner for a time, and my uncle was killed in a slate fall. The town of Coal Grove is a fictional place, but it is based on the county seats in those counties in the Appalachian Mountains.
	Just like Linda, Jack, and his friends, I have done genealogical research in the courthouses of those counties, leafing through Death Book A for my family names (though always during the daytime, and I never broke into any.) This is a photo of the Jackson County courthouse. Here is a link to the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce. http://www.villageprofile.com/ohio/jackson/03his/main.html
	I love to walk around in old cemeteries like this one, Evergreen Union Cemetery in Pike County, OH. Old Methodist Cemetery in Warrior Heir is modeled after cemeteries like this where my ancestors are buried.

St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster, London

	St. Margaret’s is where Jack and Linda take refuge when being chased by Jessamine Longbranch and her henchmen. It is a real church in Westminster, London, between Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. It is the parish church of the House of Commons.
	I am a real Anglophile, and love everything British. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Britain several times, the first time when I was a college student. When I visited Westminster Abbey in London, I was fascinated by St. Margaret’s Church, standing in its shadow, small and perfect. The day we visited, there was a Maypole dance going on in the churchyard.

Raven’s Ghyll

Raven’s Ghyll is a fictitious valley in the Lake District of Northern England, just south of the border with Scotland. When I was in college, I traveled throughout England on an English literature tour. We saw Diana Rigg in MacBeth at the Old Vic Theatre in London, and saw Shakespeare’s birthplace and Ann Hathaway’s cottage in Stratford. We drove up to the Lake District and visited Grasmere and stayed at a hotel called the Dungeon Ghyll. Although the Lake District has too many visitors to really accommodate a hideaway, wizards can do pretty much anything they want. I never lost my love for that part of the world.

Here are some photographs of the Lake District, including the Langdale Pikes and the Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, where I stayed years ago. Below is a link for the Dungeon Ghyll Hotel.
http://www.dungeon-ghyll.co.uk/

Carlisle, England

This is where Will and Fitch encountered Leesha near the train station. It’s a historic town near the border with Scotland. It was once the prison of Mary, Queen of Scots, and was briefly held by Bonnie Prince Charlie during Scotland’s revolt against British rule.

Here are photos of Carlisle Castle and the Carlisle train station, and a web site with information about Carlisle.
http://www.historic-carlisle.org.uk