Gulf Tower

This is my favorite skyscraper in Pittsburgh. It's the Gulf Tower, former head of Gulf Oil. This is the building from which Joss sees sparks flying from her office in the more modern skyscraper across the street, the USX Tower.

I love the Gulf Tower because it's very retro and kitschy. First, it has a stepped top to it, modeled after the mausoleum at Halicarnassas. Next, it has a weather beacon at the top. It shows red if the weather is fair and blue if there's going to be precipitation. In the olden days (my youth), the beacon used to flash if the weather was changing. For example, a flashing red meant the weather was fair now but was expected to change.

The lights are operated by two switches (red/blue, flash/no flash) in a locked cupboard next to the guard desk in the lobby. I convinced the guard one day to let me look. And the guard is the person who runs the lights. The guard just looks up the weather forecast, unlocks the cupboard door and adjusts the lights. Could it be any cooler?

This photo is by Phil Roeser, a very fine photographer.

Rogan's House

The house I gave to Rogan is really Burke's Building. Burke's Building is the oldest extant business office in Pittsburgh, built in 1836. It's not really a home, but it looks like one, a fairly fancy one, which is why I made it the home of Rogan Reynolds, the very sexy millionaire who's trying to help Joss save her mapmaking company at the start of the book.

What I find interesting about the building, however, is that is sits right next to a soaring glass skyscraper, the PPG Building, home to PPG Industries, downtown. I love the contrast between the 19th century building and the late 20th century skyscraper.

By the way, Burke's Building is just down the street from Dollar Bank and its lions.

Tailor Shop

There really is a magical little alleyway across from the USX Building in Pittsburgh. It's called Strawberry Way, though I didn't give it a name in the book. Moreover, there really is a tailor shop on the street. This one is a going concern and it's called Tom James Tailor.
















I've included a look down the slight hill of Strawberry Way to Liberty Avenue. I love the circular parking garage--Pittsburgh's version of the Guggenheim.




















I've also included a look up the hill toward the USX Tower where the Brand O'Malley Map Company is located.

100 Acre Wood from Winnie the Pooh

This is the first map Joss fell in love with. I loved it, too, as a kid. It was drawn by E.H. Shepard. Fantastic.

Map cartouche

Here's an example of a beautiful cartouche from a map.

"Is a cartouche like a legend?" Hugh asked. "Legends, I know. Even nautical maps have those."

"No," Joss said curtly. "A cartouche is different. It holds the title of the map, and it can also tell you for whom the map was made, the name of the mapmaker and even the purpose of the map. It's a story in itself, almost all told through symbols. 'Start with the cartouche,' my mother used to say. 'It's where the story is hidden.'"

Heinz History Center

This is the balcony on which Joss and Hugh share their first kiss. It's atop the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh. The folks at the History Center were kind enough to give me a private tour so that I could get these pictures. It was right before the G8 conference in Pittsburgh, and I have no doubt they were a little concerned about why I needed to see the sightlines from the balcony.

And this is the view they have of the 16th Street Bridge.

16th Street Bridge

This is the bridge Joss points out to Hugh when they are on the balcony of the Heinz History Center. It's a gorgeous bridge--my favorite in Pittsburgh. First the bridge itself is painted a cheery yellow. Second, each pylon holds an armillary sphere and four bronze winged seahorses. It's lovely.

Dollar Bank Lions

So what could be more magical than lions, right? I don't want to give away any secrets but lions play a key role in Aching for Always, these lions in particular.

These are the Dollar Bank lions. They guard the downtown branch of Dollar Bank in Pittburgh. Not only are they adorable, but they are historic. They were cast when Dollar Bank was built in 1871 (look at the detailed facade.) They each weigh 13,000 pounds. How do we know? Because a year ago, Dollar Bank began a big restoration project on them and had them both lifted and taken to a specialty restoration place in Ohio, where they'll be repaired, a mold will be made of them and a new set of lions, carved to match them exactly, will be made from material that can better withstand the elements. The original lions will return to Pittburgh and take a place of honor inside Dollar Bank's current headquarters.

You can read an article about it here.

Tarr Steps

Hugh and Joss get thrust back to the past unexpectedly at one point and find themselves smack dab in the middle of raging rapids. Believe it or not, it wasn't that easy to find raging rapids in merry old England. Apparently, most of its rivers are calm--like its inhabitants. But one place seemed to suit my needs--the River Barle in Exmoor National Park in Somerset, England, the only naturally occuring rapids in England (who knew?)

Unfortunately for Joss and Hugh, their journey in the river is further imperiled by Tarr Steps, an ancient clapper bridge (from claperius, which in Latin means "pile of stones") that sits in the middle of the River Barle, fabled to have been built by the Devil himself. It's made only of slabs of stone sitting on other slabs of stone, with only their weight to hold everthing together. No mortar was used. It's the largest clapper bridge in the world.

Thetford Warreners Lodge

This is the tower that Nathaniel remembers from his youth and ends up serving as an important plot twist. It's actually a place where the man who took care of the rabbits on a wealthy man's estate in Thetford, Norfolk, England, stayed and possibly also occasional hunting parties.

Rockall

Aching for Always begins with a bit of a scary adventure involving a deserted islet in the middle of the North Atlantic, 200 miles from the closest inhabitable place, which in this case would be an island off of Scotland's northwest shore. In Aching for Aching, this island, which--ta da!--really exists, is one of the passageways for time travel.

The island, which is called Rockall, is very steep, has no plants or animal life and the only fresh water it offers is rainwater that settles in depressions in the rock. However, it is technically habitable, which means it can be claimed. As such, it became the final territorial expansion of the British Empire when it was scaled, inhabited and claimed in 1955.

I love rocks, and this is a weird and interesting one, which is why I knew I had to put it in the book.