Shimmr

"Our species is the only creative species, and it has only one creative instrument: the individual mind and spirit of man," writes John Steinbeck in East of Eden. "Nothing was ever created by two men. There are no good collaborations, whether in music, in art, in poetry, in mathematics, in philosophy."

UK literary festival organisers face an uncertain future after losing the funding provided by investment group Baillie Gifford, with many paying tribute to the group's "commitment to the industry" pointing to the security the money offered to smaller book events.

Diana Urban is the author of several YA thrillers, including All Your Twisted Secrets and the upcoming Paris catacombs survival story, Under the Surface (Putnam, Aug. 13). In this essay, Urban reflects on why young readers are so enthralled by murder-centric stories, making mysteries and thrillers such hot genres in YA publishing today.

If you ever want to feel a sense of awe, try standing near an erupting volcano. The late author Michael Crichton was fascinated with volcanoes for most of his life. And even now, 16 years after his death, among the countless books and papers at his office in Santa Monica you'll find stacks of volcano research.