But, what if Bellairs had written a character this way, or a book that way, or – those sort of things we’ll never know and while it’s fun to speculate, it only goes so far with me. But that’s me.
Some fans have put some serious thought into speculative histories of the characters, including one such idea by Jason a decade or so ago. What if Bellairs wrote only one single series, instead of three separate ones?
It's interesting to think how John Bellairs might have approached his writing had he only ever wanted to write one series. I honestly think he could have continued writing the Lewis Barnavelt series, and still explored much of the characterizations and stories seen in the other series. In order to explore all the stories he wanted to, as well as incorporate characteristics from other series into the Barnavelt books, would Uncle Jonathan be a less effective magician, a little crankier, and a university professor to boot? Would Mrs. Zimmerman become a librarian who dabbles in magic on the side? Would Lewis become a little more adventurous and less timid? Would Lewis have been named Johnny Dixon, since that's a more marketable, catchy name to sustain a long-running series?
As the post notes, this question seems more thought out than the cliché question about what if the three series had a crossover. Jason provided some interesting takes on both the internal (blending of series characters) and external (more marketable stories) impacts if this had happened.
I found some more “what if” in the archives and I’ll share in the weeks ahead. Take them for what they are, one person’s idea on expanding the Bellairsian characters and settings.
In some way one could interpret these as fan fiction writing prompts. Or situations we may be glad never happened.
What if John had never been convinced to change "The House With a Clock in Its Walls" into a juvenile from the adult title he originally produced?
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