Small-town fantasy in the Terrian Chronicles strikes a chord
No other book series I’ve written strikes a chord more than the small-town fantasy elements shown in the Terrian Chronicles.
While the Renegades Epic spans five worlds and shows us at least a dozen foreign lands, one hits home. My small-town fantasy books, Liza Fury, and Liza Fury: Catch 22. Every time I go back and read them – you know, so I don’t screw up the plot 1,000 times over – I can’t help but feel goosebumps of nostalgia similar to what I’m sure John Steinbeck felt when he reminisced about the Salinas Valley in East of Eden.
Oh, and isn’t that nice? Those nostalgic chills hit me when I wrote that line. While I’ve based places on my hometown and home region in the Epic, like Oslo’s Port, Nordica, or even outside the Epic, which is what you’ll get if you dive into Arcane Elemental Academy, the towns and landscapes depicted in Liza Fury and Liza Fury: Catch 22 actually exist.
Pottery Addition is a real place. Liza’s quip that the towns and the entire area are something, and I’m paraphrasing, “outta a Bruce Springsteen song,” she ain’t kidding. Just go “down to the (Ohio) river,” and drive the so-called scenic highway, better known as State Route 7, and treat your eyes to towns whose respective heydays reside somewhere in the past.
Which is why Liza nicknamed Pottery Addition as Poverty Addition. The census-designated area sits right on the Ohio’s shores. From it, you can see Browns Island, and beyond it, the hills of wild and wonderful Weirton, West Virginia.
Locations mentioned in my small-town fantasy put the Upper Ohio on the map
Well, technically the Upper Ohio’s always ‘on the map,’ per se. But you know what I mean. Ask the Average Joe or Plain Jane about the Upper Ohio, and they’ll give you a blank stare unless they have ties to the area. So, if you don’t know where the heck this place is, I’ll give you a rundown.
- Eastern Ohio
- Southwest Pennsylvania
- Northern Panhandle of West Virginia
- Think west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania if you’re still stumped
There, you got a picture? Of the bounding hills and valleys? Lush trees that please the eye in the fall months when they turn brown, gold, red, and orange. Anyway, before I get too off-topic, let me give you a rundown of some of those small towns and places mentioned.
I already covered Pottery Addition, so let’s talk about Browns Island
The island sits quietly in the Ohio River between Weirton and the Ohio towns of Toronto and Steubenville, and it’s a reminder of the Upper Ohio Valley’s industrial legacy. Once a major part of the Weirton Steel operation, the island was the site of coke ovens—important to the steelmaking process that fueled the region’s economy through much of the 20th century.
Though now overgrown and abandoned, Browns Island once thrived with purpose, employing hundreds and helping drive prosperity on both sides of the river. While critics will tell you its past left behind environmental scars, many here in the Valley view those remnants with pride.
Those “scars” are a nod to a time when the valley’s steel mills roared and the working class helped build the backbone of a prosperous, modern America. Today, Browns Island stands as both a historical marker and a symbol of blue-collar resilience—quiet, forgotten by many, but still carrying the echoes of an era when industry and community walked hand in hand.
Mingo Junction
Liza will give you an outstanding overview in Catch 22, so I’ll fill in the blanks that she didn’t mention.
Mingo Junction, or simply Mingo, sits on the Ohio River just south of Steubenville. Like so many places in the area, steel and hard labor built the town’s identity. For decades, the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel plant dominated the skyline and drove the local economy. Families worked in the mills, poured iron, and built lives around the industry. The work was tough, but it paid off.
The town’s name comes from the Mingo tribe, but its identity belongs to the men and boys who lived in those manufacturing furnaces. Hollywood even took notice when The Deer Hunter was filmed here.
Today, the mill long since lost its hum. The structures still stand, rusted and hollow, but its ghosts tell a story. Mingo never vanished. It endured. In Liza Fury: Catch 22, the town’s character matches Liza’s own—scarred, resilient, and battered, but not broken. Bruised, but feeling no pain.
Weirton
Weirton sits on the West Virginia side of the Ohio, directly across from Steubenville via the Veterans Memorial Bridge. For most of the 20th century, it too thrived as a steel town. Weirton Steel was its heartbeat, one of the few fully integrated mills in the country. It took raw ore and turned it into finished steel, all within city limits.
The city grew around the mill. Homes sprang up and businesses served the workers and their families. Kids grew up knowing the sound of shifts changing and the glow of blast furnaces lighting the sky.
Like many towns in the Valley, Weirton took a hit when steel declined. Parts of the mill shut down and that’s mainly the case today. Some buildings fell into disuse. But many people stayed. They adapted.
Unlike Mingo, Weirton’s been on the comeback trail for a while, hosting a slew of new businesses, especially uptown. That said, the steel industry is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear Weirton.
Steubenville
Steubenville sits right on the Ohio River, a few miles north of Mingo. It’s one of the oldest cities in the state, once known as the Gateway to the West. Built on river trade and industry, Steubenville boomed early. It had mills, railroads, and a downtown that stayed busy day and night.
The city is famous for its grit and its roots. Dean Martin grew up here. So did generations of steelworkers and riverhands. The aging streets still carry the rhythm of that past. Red brick buildings, the old Market Street Bridge, and weathered storefronts tell stories without saying a word.
Like many towns in the region, Steubenville struggled when industry declined. But it held on. Artists moved in. Local businesses opened. Restoration efforts brought life back to the riverfront and historic district. It’s a city with history, but it doesn’t live in it.
Wintersville
Wintersville sits just west of Steubenville, along U.S. Route 22. It’s quieter, more residential, but it has deep roots. Once called Nineveh, the town dates back to the early 1800s and carries that old frontier feel beneath its modern surface.
Over the years, Wintersville grew into a close-knit community where people knew each other by name. It didn’t rely on heavy industry like Mingo or Weirton, but it supported those who did. In fact, many of its residents were mill workers who commuted just a little farther.
Today, it’s the kind of place where families settle, where local diners still hold onto their regulars, and where life moves at a slower, steadier pace. But that quiet exterior makes it a perfect cover for Liza. She can pass through unnoticed. She can meet a contact, lie low, or use its unassuming charm to her advantage.
Or, maybe, our seventeen-year-old wonder girl just thinks she can…
Tappen Lake and Laceyville, Ohio
The old town of Laceyville, Ohio, now sits beneath the waters of Tappan Lake in nearby Harrison County. Major John S. Lacey founded the town, which once housed a post office, general store, school, blacksmith shop, and a stagecoach stop.
The small community thrived until the 1930s when the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District issued a flood control initiative. They dammed the area, which led to Tappan Lake’s creation, and the end of Laceyville.
While they compensated residents to relocate, some didn’t move all their belongings before the flooding began. Today, remnants of the town remain underwater, offering a haunting glimpse into Ohio’s submerged past.
Laceyville plays a role in Catch 22. In the small-town fantasy, Liza visits Tappan Lake, not knowing that an all-Elemental version of Laceyville resides under the lake. And by under the lake, I mean under the actual earth that the lake resides on.
They access the town through a secret chute in the dam, climbing down it until their boots hit cement. But the town itself doesn’t look like it’s underground. Instead, one would think they were outside, as the sky and even the sun are present via an ancient magic spell.
But what does Liza discover in Laceyville?
