The people at Audi seem to be picking up the brainwashing waves from CANDOR... I wonder if all these people have been listening to the same Messages? :)

I don't want to spoil CANDOR's ending for anyone, so I suggest that you skip this post if you haven't finished the book! 

Zee Avi's song "Honey Bee" is a song that some CANDOR fans might think Nia would sing to Oscar after the book ends... check it out here:

What a fantastic way to start 2010--CANDOR is a finalist in the Cybils Award category of Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction! The Cybils are awards given by the community of bloggers who review books for children and teens.  The award is aimed at books with the "highest literary merit and kid appeal".

What amazing company CANDOR is in--fellow Debutante Sarah Rees Brennan's THE DEMON'S LEXICON, A.S. King's THE DUST OF 100 DOGS, Kristin Cashore's FIRE, Laini Taylor's and Jim Di Bartolo’s LIPS TOUCH, Kathleen Duey's SACRED SCARS, and Antonia Michaelis's TIGER MOON. The winner of each category will be announced on February 14...check out the finalists in all categories and go congratulate your favorites!

Thank you very, very much, Cybils!

I love carving jack-o-lanterns. This year I decided to make a tribute to CANDOR. I mean, c'mon, pumpkins are ORANGE, after all!

I started by carving a surprised face. Then I got out the drill and used dots to write a message (or should I say Message?) across the back of the pumpkin: U R WHAT U HEAR. If you've already read CANDOR, you know where that came from.

A favorite naughty, naughty CANDOR snack found its way in front of my jack-o-lantern, too. Is that pumpkin shocked? Or is it just making a move on the M&Ms?

This week I launched a free audio podcast that is an extension of CANDOR's world. The villain of CANDOR, Campbell Banks, narrates his personal diaries at the time that the town of Candor, FL was built. I'm really excited about these podcasts; I think they're an interesting way to promote the book while also giving fans a fun extension to the world they've already experienced in CANDOR.

But I feel very guilty saying I launched these podcasts. This project has been an amazing collaborative effort. I wrote the scripts--something entirely new to me--after brainstorming series ideas with my agent, Elana Roth, and e-guru Dan Patterson. Then Dan hooked us up with CC Chapman, who did a most excellent job recording the podcasts and bringing Campbell Banks to life. But no podcast is complete without some rocking music, so Dan also reached out to musician Matthew Ebel. Finally, Dan mixed, posted and promoted the podcasts.  And of course none of this would have been possible without support and enthusiasm from my publisher, Egmont USA.

I would love to see other authors play with podcasts that extend their book's world. I am indeed very lucky to have Elana, Dan, CC and Matthew collaborating with me, but I think it would be possible to do a one-woman or one-man show too. I also wonder if some of us YA authors ought to get together and make podcasts with our own characters interacting--kind of our very own fanfic!

Number three ("Runaway Mom") just went live late last night, and there's more to come, so I hope you'll stay tuned or subscribe to the podcast.

And authors, if you want to play in podcast land with me, get in touch...