Author’s note from the urban fantasy novella Braden Hawk

Braden Hawk is the Sirius Black of the Terrian Chronicles. But he might just snag the reprieve Black was never lucky enough to get.

Note: I’m going through all of my original short stories, novelettes, and novellas four years after I first wrote and released them. Once they’re all updated, you’ll know, and you’ll have a plethora of cool freebies from me at your disposal. If you’re a libertarian looking for fiction that doesn’t include much (or any) woke nonsense, you’re in the right place.

Of all the book series I planned on writing starting way back in 2021 – all of which take place in the same universe – the Terrian Chronicles is by far my favorite. For one, it hits home because so many locations, settings, and places pertain to my own life.

I grew up on the outskirts of Pittsburgh and spent a lot of time working and living in nearby Weirton, West Virginia, an old mill town about 25 minutes from the Fort Pitt Tunnels.

Marland Heights is also a real sector of Weirton, and it provides arguably the most breathtaking view not only of the town, but of Brooke and Hancock Counties in West Virginia, Browns Island, plus Jefferson County in Ohio.

In the final scene, Lenny mentions Pottery Addition, which is a tiny, tiny, tiny town at the base of the hill where I grew up. Also, the City of Toronto (Ohio, not Ontario), also mentioned in the final scene, is nearby.

James, Jeffrey, Greek restaurants, and warehouse parks

James and Jeffrey weren’t in the initial draft of this novella. Instead, they popped into my head after reading the first scene of Dark Witch by Tarah Benner, one of my favorite authors. In it, supernatural hunter Gabriel Pierce breaks into a home and confronts two boys in the same age group as James and Jeffrey. He called one of the boys Froot Loops, which inspired Braden’s Fruity Pebbles references toward Jeffrey.

I also made a blurb about a Greek Restaurant in Chapter Eight. This restaurant actually exists, and it’s arguably the hottest place to hang out in Weirton. And yes, I order their gyro salads at least once a week. Especially when my writing schedule demands it.

The warehouse Sokol lives in is an addition to a real-life warehouse park located off an exit on I-576. I actually worked in a steel packaging warehouse in that park to pay the bills when I transitioned from my former career in fitness to full-time writing.

Arizona sports forever (except in hockey)

While I grew up around the Pittsburgh area and their sports, my, like Braden Hawk’s, sporting heart often resides in Phoenix, Arizona. Like Braden, I am a die-hard fan of the Arizona Cardinals, Diamondbacks, and Suns. I liked the Coyotes to an extent, but knew they’d never stick around the area. And in case you don’t know, the Yotes are now the Utah Mammoth.

And in case you’re wondering, I did name Professor Ray Fitzgerald after Cardinals great and former University of Pittsburgh wide receiver, Larry Fitzgerald.

As noted in the text, I put Celestial U in Columbia County, hidden deep within the forests of the Appalachian Mountains. I always pictured its location somewhere around the near-ghost town of Centralia, Pennsylvania, where an underground mine fire burns.

Enter the Elder Futhark

You may’ve noticed the odd titles for my chapters, taken from runes in the Elder Futhark, which I became interested in after an ancestry test revealed that a massive portion of my ancestry came from Scandinavia. The runes that I picked as chapter titles come from their meanings in Runic Divination. So if you’re familiar with it, you can probably tell that they foreshadow what each chapter is about.

Thanks again for reading, and in case you’re wondering, I unleashed Book I in the Terrian Chronicles, Tarja Titan, in March 2022. If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, odds are you’ll love Titan. it’s a young adult/new adult/college version of the legendary series with a darker fantasy/elemental magic twist with an Appalachian and libertarian flair that includes a certain lab leak.