Unique Atmosphere of That Time and Place

We're going back through the archives and sharing some thoughts about John and his work that have crossed our path over the years.
Today, some accolades from Douglas Ander and the genesis of The Face in the Frost:

As enjoyable as his children's books are, sometimes I wish that Bellairs had written more adult books, like The Face in the Frost. I grew up in the next town from Mr. Bellairs, and my mom (an aspiring writer) was a friend of his. He once told her that he wrote The Face in the Frost in England, while he was living abroad for a short while in the 1960s. He said the book was a result of the unique atmosphere of that time and place, and that, try as he might, he had never really been able to get back into the same groove. A common phenomenon among creative people, I think, like Coleridge and "Kubla Khan."