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 in Winona 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.

Meet the 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 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.

Being Anthony Monday

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

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 is now visible at Amazon.