Book Alert: 鏡のなかの幽霊

The Japanese edition of the The Ghost in the Mirror (loosely translated as Ghost inside of the mirror) will be published next March.

Evidence of Autumn

Jay Cook passes along word that dummies.com, through their daily travel e-Tips, began running a number of Halloween-themed tips October 11, including the following:

Book Alert: The Whistle, the Grave, and the Ghost

John's legacy continues as Brad Strickland lists the next Lewis Barnavelt mystery's title on his website. The Whistle, the Grave, and the Ghost is due out summer the 2003; for now, The Tower at the End of the World is his latest release, with cover by illustrator S.D. Schindler.  Says Brad:

The next book (The Whistle, the Grave, and the Ghost) will be out, my editor tells me, in the summer of 2003 because Dial's rejiggering its publication dates so that Halloween books come out in summer.  Although John Bellairs' characters have run up against evil sorcerers, animated mummies, and ghosts before, they've never had to deal with a classic monster, like, oh, say, a vampire...until now.

Book Alert: La Pendule d'Halloween

The French edition of the The House with a Clock in its Walls, with cover art by Lalex, is to be published this October. This is the first book in the Kévin et les magiciens series.

Remembrances: Norbert Geier

Recent comments from Norbert Geier:

I knew John during the two years that he taught at the College of Saint Teresa and, if I remember correctly, I was Chairman of the English Department during his second year.

I don't recall that John talked about his family or much about his life in Marshall, Michigan. I do remember that he talked about the nuns in the parochial school, especially how they made the children practice life-saving maneuvers should the Russians deiced to bomb Marshall. The children had to practice hiding under their desks.

Testimony: A Legacy For The Future

by David Jin (Aug. 24, 2001)
(Originally published at the compleatbellairs.com)

It is in the remarkable ways that we tend to perceive things in life. We sometimes, as normal human beings take things for granted. I could start out this testimony stating how great the Bellairs books are and how great of a writer Mr. Brad Strickland is in continuing the work but I believe that all of us already know that is true.

Testimony: Gothic Boys And Literary Greats

by Matthew Richardson (Aug. 16, 2001)
(Originally published at the compleatbellairs.com)

When I was a boy, I was much like Johnny Dixon and Lewis Barnavelt: a pudgy blond boy with a yen for the old-fashioned and the mysterious. While other kids indulged in athletics, I became a voracious reader and video viewer. I loved old black-and-white movies as well as futuristic science fiction. I reveled in the spookiness of old radio show recordings, such as The Shadow, War of the Worlds, and Suspense! I knew what it was to be an outcast among my peers.

Dead Boy Detectives

The Dead Boy Detectives are Charles Rowland and Edwin Paine, two British schoolboys from different eras who are now ghosts. The characters were created by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner during the "Season of Mists" storyline in the Sandman comics. Now the boys are being given their own adventure in Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives by writer Ed Brubaker and illustrator Bryan Talbot:

Who Will Play the Cook?

We knew Professor Childermass liked to bake a thing or two but don't forget there's plenty of food in John's books, including Mrs. Zimmermann's cookies and that German restaurant that Anthony and Miss Eells enjoy visiting.  And drink, too, such as Snake-Year Sherry.

Earlier this year we discovered that Bellairs fan and author Ursula Bielski was putting together a cookbook inspired by the works of John Bellairs. Yum!  At the time the book was still being written and she was in the process of finding a publisher.  She said at the time that she will see the project through to the end and if it comes down to it, she might even publish it herself.

We received word recently from Ursula that her cookbook idea is still being submitted to prospective publishers. Keep your fingers, claws, talons or whatever it is you have, crossed:

Thanks so much for passing along the interest in the cookbook. Frankly, I'm just getting back to my writing projects after devoting the past few months to supporting my husband's completion of his latest book. Ugh. Anyway, I am preparing to send off my query letter to a batch of additional publishers to see what happens. I will definitely keep you posted on my progress. Thanks again and long live John Bellairs!

Being Anthony Monday

Can you imagine the thrill of going through life having the same name as one of Bellairs' characters? Yes, the thought of calling one's self "Brewster the Rooster" does have some perks...here's Anthony Kyle Monday and the story of his realization:

Book Alert: The Tower at the End of the World

S.D. Schindler's cover art for Strickland's The Tower at the End of the World can now be seen at Amazon.

All Eyes on Gorey's Prize

Edward Gorey's original art for The Eyes of the Killer Robot is available in an online sale from Bromer Booksellers. The original watercolor, tastefully matted, glazed, framed and signed by Gorey is sold with an extremely fine copy of the published work...only $7500.00.

Book Alert: 魔法の指輪

The Japanese edition of the The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring (loosely translated as Ring of Magic) will be published in November.

Book Alert: 闇にひそむ影

The Japanese edition of the The Figure in the Shadows (loosely translated as Lurking in dark shadows - or something like that...) will be published later this August.

Book Alert: The Tower at the End of the World

According to Amazon the next book in the Lewis Barnavelt series, The Tower at the End of the World, will be published in September of this year. The artwork will be in the capable hands of S.D. Schindler.

Book Alert: Return of the Shuffly

It looks as though John Bellairs’ long lost classic, The Pedant and the Shuffly, will see the light of print once again thanks to the efforts of the Mythopoeic Press.

And unlike the recent reprint of The Face in the Frost, Pedant will indeed feature the original artwork of Marilyn Fitschen - which only makes sense.

Movie News

The Muse Entertainment Enterprises webpage {archive} reads as follows:

"Muse is also entering the children's entertainment market. It is co-producing The Never Ending Story, a live-action, special effects TV series based on the internationally acclaimed feature film franchise. It is also co-producing The House with a Clock in its Walls, a TV movie based on Ron Bellairs' classic novel."

We received an e-mail reply from Betty Palik, a spokesperson for Muse Entertainment Enterprises, regarding this passage. She tells us that the project is still in the early development stages - scripting, financing, and that sort of thing - so they are apparently quite a ways off from the actual shooting stage. Unfortunately, they give credit on their site to "Ron" Bellairs rather than "John."

Betty said they were going to correct that.

Interview: Jonathan Abucejo

The Defender of the Faith speaks! The webmaster of the Compleat Bellairs, Jonathan Abucejo, sits down to discuss his vast creation, its history, and his Bellairsian interests.

Book Alert: Specter and Wrath in Paperback

New Puffin paperbacks by Brad Strickland are now available! Fans can get their mitts on copies The Specter From the Magician's Museum - staring Lewis Barnavelt and his tangled-up-in-a-web friend, Rose Rita - and The Wrath of the Grinning Ghost - staring Johnny Dixon and featuring the return of two long-quiet characters, his father and a certain bird-brained-like statue.

Read on, fans!

Book Alert: 壁のなかの時計

The Japanese edition of the The House with a Clock in Its Walls (loosely translated as Clock of inside of a wall - ?) will be published later this April.

There, Then, That Izard!

A woman named Donna recently shared this bit of trivia with us after stumbling upon a particular – and most peculiar, at that – name:

I had assumed that Bellairs had invented the name Izard for his villains Isaac and Serena in The House with a Clock in its Walls, but today I ran across the name Izzard in The Guinness Book of Names by Leslie Dunkling (6th edition). It's in the chapter on the history of surnames, under the section "Henry Guppy's 'Peculiar' Names" [118-21]. Here's Dunkling's explanation:

Book Alert: Tower & Pedant

Brad Strickland, writing at the Compleat Bellairs:

In The Many Eyes Of Fans

This article about the way the Internet is affecting the voice of fans comes from the November 13, 2000 issue of The Wall Street Journal. It speaks of John Bellairs as an author who wrote "pioneering Gothic-suspense novels targeted to young-adult readers, but followed cultishly by grown-ups too." Don't have a clue what they mean by that. What next Jonathan Abucejo? The New York Times? Keep up the good work!

Excerpts follow.