Columbus, Ohio — In the Virtuosi Chronicles
The Columbus in The Day the Whimsy Died is close to the real one. The geography is right. The neighborhoods exist. The general disposition of the city is accurate.
Some specific places are real. Some are compressed or slightly moved for convenience. The Short North is the Short North. German Village is German Village. If you know Columbus, you'll recognize the bones of it.
The Columbus Conservatory does not exist. Probably. IIt occupies a location that, in reality, doesn't know what it's sitting on. Tim accepts no responsibility for anyone who finds it plausible.
A note on Royal Arts Fencing Academy
The Royal Arts Fencing Academy, the Italian Village Branch, in the novel is fictional. The real Royal Arts Fencing Academy is in Columbus, Ohio, and is where Tim and Julia teach Olympic fencing. The two share a name, a city, and a general attitude toward footwork. The fictional version has considerably more classified paperwork and at least one employee whose job title cannot be disclosed.
If you train there in real life, you have Tim's apologies for any confusion and his assurance that the basement is not used for what the novel implies. And sometimes when he leads drills, you might wonder if he killed Whimsy.
