Three of the stories in the book, Jimmy Meets a Frog, Aiming for the Heart, and Robert’s Sabre, take place in rural Illinois. More specifically, much of the stories take place in an area called The Land Between The Rivers.

The land is a peninsula that begins north of St. Louis where the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers converge. The town of Grafton, Illinois, and the entrance to Pere Marquette State Park are near the southern tip of the peninsula. The northern area is bounded by Michael to the east and Mozier to the west. From there, the Mississippi River veers to the west, making its way down from Hannibal, Missouri, and beyond, The Illinois River veers to the east, flowing down from Peoria.

I spent several weeks in the area working and looking for places to include in my stories. This photograph is from Calhoun County, in the area known as The Land Between the Rivers. This old farm is somewhere along Highway 2, The Mississippi River Road, near Brussels, Illinois.

The drive south, when heading back to St. Louis, ended with a ferry ride across the Illinois River into Grafton, or a ferry ride across the Mississippi River into Missouri. Both ferry rides are quick, but the Brussels Ferry is free and the drive down through Grafton and Alton is worth the extra time it takes to get to the airport.