(Originally published at the compleatbellairs.com)
Sometime in the mid-seventies I was rummaging through a discount book bin at the K-Mart in Mishawaka, Indiana. Being a natural tightwad, I seldom pay full price for a book if it can be located any other way! So here I was checking out the books when my eyes fell upon a familiar name -- Bellairs. Bellairs? I had often fantasized about being a popular author but this was the first time I had seen my name in print on a book. A second look told me the author was John Bellairs. Although my name is not John (having the actual birth name of Jack), I still felt a sense of identity with the writer. Picking up the book in my hands, the first thing I did was turn to the flyleaf to find out who this writer was. After reading that information, I glanced again at the cover. An intriguing title, The Face in the Frost, caught my attention, then I read the short blurb about the tale - Prospero, Roger Bacon, two kingdoms, magic and wizardry, talking mirrors and scary cellars! I bought the book for around $1.98!
