For the Journal

POCATELLO - After nearly a solid hour of autographing his books at the Pine Ridge Mall on Thursday evening, author Brandon Mull still drew steady lines of people of every age, all of them toting copies of his "Fablehaven" series.

"I love creating the story and I love when I get reactions from the readers to the story," said Mull, as he returned a freshly signed book to one of his readers.

The second and third books in Mull's series have reached the New York Times best-seller list. His fourth book in the series is due out in March.

"It was a huge relief to hit the best-seller list. As a new writer, you're trying get credibility, and selling that many books helps you gain credibility," Mull said.

Mull's series has also won the Young Reader's Choice Award in the intermediate division, which means young students like Cameron Loper, a 13-year-old student at Irving Middle School, will be reading the books in class.

Although popular with adolescents, Mull said his readership isn't relegated to just children.

"It's basically 10 and up," Mull said. "A lot of the readers are kids, but a ton of them are teens and adults, too. If you go on my Facebook or my MySpace (Internet sites), it's mainly adults on there that are digging the books."

Mull said he is glad his books appeal to adults because one of his goals as a writer is to create stories that adults can also enjoy.

A self-described dreamer, Mull has turned his love of fantasy into a unique writing process.

"I daydream about the story until I see it like a movie in my mind. Then I just break it down into scenes and I write it all in order. My wife reads it chapter by chapter as I write it," Mull explained.

Mull concluded the Pocatello portion of his signing tour on Thursday, and visited American Falls on Friday.

"I open up an e-mail and I go where it tells me," Mull said.