Piotr: The Music of John Bellairs in the Wild: Five Field Recordings

We've interviewed musician and historian Derek Piotr, but we're turning over this week's post to him this time.

Something About Extended Library Fines

Ex library.

Something About March 8

Day 67, for those keeping track.

Something About Word of Mouth Promotion

Getting the word out.

Something About References to Lewis Carroll

Dream is a life.

Something About Showing vs. Telling

Will he tell us what this show meant?

Something About Bobbleheads

I shake my head back and forth (just shake it)

Something About the Colour Out of Books

Add another hue.

Something About 2021

Happy New Year!

Something About Fatty-Fatty Two-by-Four

The bully of the bulge

Something About Millhorn’s Michigan

If you seek a strange encounter with whosis, look about you!

Something About Gender Stereotyping

Writing about the women

Something About Leitmotifs

This note’s for you!

Something About Red Idols

Babylonian Idol: the search for a superstar!

Something About the Mood of Bellairsian Autumns

The teeming autumn....

Something About National #Chess Day

Check and mate!

Publishers Weekly Celebrates "House"

Matia Burnett at Publishers Weekly provides some background on John Bellairs and the forthcoming movie:

Before there was “The Boy Who Lived,” there was Lewis Barnavelt, a 10-year-old orphan who brushed shoulders with wizards, witches, sorcerers, ghosts, and his share of occultists. With the film adaptation of John Bellairs’s 1973 novel, The House with a Clock in Its Walls, releasing on September 21, a new generation of readers will have the opportunity to discover Bellairs’s storytelling. The film stars Owen Vaccaro (Daddy’s Home), Jack Black (Goosebumps) and Cate Blanchett (Ocean's 8), and is directed by Eli Roth (Cabin Fever), marking the horror director’s first “family-friendly” film.

In 2011, Bradley J. Fischer and James Vanderbilt of Mythology Entertainment approached screenwriter Eric Kripke (creator of "Supernatural") for the film project. As a child of the 1980s, Kripke was very familiar with Bellairs. Kripke recently told Entertainment Weekly that “when I was 10, I fell in love with this book.” In fact, the only fan letter Kripke ever wrote as a child was to Bellairs.

Thanks, Matia!

B&N: Opening the Doorway for a Generation of Dark Fantasy Readers

Here's a rare post this week not about the upcoming film adaption of The House with -- you know the rest.  Jeff Somers praises John Bellairs at the Barnes and Noble Sci-Fi and Fantasy blog, noting the novels:

...recognize that kids can handle being scared, and don’t need to be coddled. They capture the spirit of youth without condescending to it, and have continued to do so even as the middle grade and young adult markets have matured—for many in a later generation of readers, Bellairs’ books filled the Potter-sized hole in their hearts after that series ended.

Somers goes on to give his take on a Bellairs top ten ... with the book the adaptation is based on leading the way at number one. What books make up your ten favorite John Bellairs books?

#HousewithaclockReadalong Happening This Month

Author and blogger and Richard Denney is celebrating John Bellairs again this month.  Richard and friends are reading - what else? - The House with a Clock in its Walls to celebrate the upcoming film in just a mere 15 days.  That's around 1,296,000 ticks to go! Not that we're counting - or reusing that joke again.  Share your thoughts with Richard and friends...happy reading, all.

The Day Caroline Vandriel met John Bellairs

We sense columnist Caroline Vandriel may not be alone in some of these thoughts:

A few weeks ago, while online, I happened upon a movie trailer for “The House with a Clock in its Walls”. While I was intrigued by the casting (Jack Black and Cate Blanchette), I was thrown by the visual styling of it. The music track, title lettering, and overall tone was reminiscent of the Harry Potter films, and I assumed it was a knock off, which irked me. Knock offs are rarely as good as their original counterparts, and, to my way of thinking, it’s cheating. I decided to check out the book it was based on, fully anticipating being bored and annoyed. I was wrong.

Read more of her "creepy cool" comments in the Aug.7 edition of the Eckville Echo.