Things Teeming with Autumn

And in time for the season, here is "The Haunting", written by Brad Strickland (Oct. 2009):

‘Twas late, late in October,
With a sky low, gray, and sober,
And few crisp leaves upon the boughs up high;
When the wind howled low and lonely,
And the air felt chill, and only
Seven stars shone faintly in the sky.

Zoë Archer: Chocolate-chip Cookie Fan

As Halloween fast approaches, USA Today's Joyce Lamb asked other authors to discover what book raises the hair on the back of their neck. In the Oct.28 edition, Lamb asks a number of romance authors, including Zoë Archer, about what's scared them:

Book News: Eden Feint

The third book in the Jim Dallas series has hit Amazon – and perhaps soon your Kindle, too?

Book News: Dallas Times Three

The first three Steve Dallas adventures are now available together in one edition.  Released Oct. 25, readers can now get caught up on the adventures of Jim and Sam in Atlanta Bones, Cuban Dagger, and Eden Feint.

Is There Still Room For Scares...?

We were surprised this morning to read an interesting tribute to John Bellairs and The House with a Clock in its Walls by Erik Adams at the Onion AV Club:

Interview: Sandra Frey

Imagine our surprise when we were approached by someone writing a thesis on John Bellairs. Excellent! Surprise escalated into bewilderment when we discovered it was being proposed by someone living in Germany!  Wie wäre es damit? Sandra Frey lives and works in Heidelberg and last year studied translation for English and Italian with her Bellairsian thesis her final project. She currently works for a translation agency and, in between that and her other hobbies, has graciously answered some questions about her project and provides us in the states with a European perspective on the books.

Presenting Snake Year Press

We stumbled upon a strange celebration of a singular moment from The Face in the Frost in the form a publishing group named for ... ewwww ... snake year cherry.  Author Quentin Dodd has this to say on his new publishing venture:

The Secret of the Enduringly Popular Author

Bellairs fan Daniel McInerny wonders what made Bellairs's books so fun to read:

Where’s There: Rocks Village Bridge

Father Higgins has been relocated from Duston Heights to Rocks Village, described as a tiny cluster or picturesque eighteenth-century houses near a seventy-year-old iron bridge [The Secret of the Underground Room; 8].

10 Reasons Not to Bring Someone Back from the Dead

The subject above should have been written in big, bold, friendly letters on the first page of whatever book Lewis Barnavelt finds in his uncle's study back in 1948.  Write Lauren Davis proposes some of the following examples:

• They Come Back, But Not Quite Alive
• You Bring Them Back Wrong
• They'll Try to Kill You Afterward
• It Makes for Unnecessary Sequels

We did get The Tower at the End of the World, so -- thoughts?

Colin Meloy's Wildwood

Colin Meloy is the lead singer and songwriter for The Decemberists and has completed the second of his books in the planned Wildwood Chronicles trilogy of children’s novels - which are both wonderfully illustrated by his wife, Carson Ellis.

Under Wildwood: The Wildwood Chronicles, Book Two (2012) follows last year's Wildwood: The Wildwood Chronicles, Book 1 (2011) and tells the tale of Prue McKeel and her adventures in the Impassable Wilderness, full of animals, mystics, bandits and more.

Dickens, Schuler & Bellairs V

We’re celebrating the 200th anniversary of celebrated author Charles Dickens’ birth this year. Born February 7, 1812 in Landport, Portsmouth, England, Dickens created a plethora of memorable characters with whimsical names across a dozen major novels and numerous short stories.

Review: Remembering the Best of John Bellairs

Book reviews:

The House with a Clock in its Walls

The Figure in the Shadows

The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring