Messages and Brainwashing and Graffiti, Oh My!

Welcome back to blog tour! I am so excited to be presenting you with CANDOR by Pam Bachorz today! I "met" (online) Pam probably a year ago . . . maybe a year and a half . . . and ever since I found out what CANDOR was about, I have been dying to read it! I was very glad to get an ARC of it shortly after BEA (thanks Elizabeth Law!!) and dove right in! Here is a bit about CANDOR: Oscar Banks has everything under control. In a town where his father brainwashes everyone, he’s found a way to secretly fight the subliminal Messages. He’s got them all fooled: Oscar’s the top student and the best-behaved teen in town. Nobody knows he’s made his own Messages to deprogram his brain. But then Nia Silva moves to Candor, and Oscar falls in love. He must choose whether to let Nia be lost to brainwashing—or to sacrifice himself.

And look at that cover. Isn't it awesome?!?!

Okay, and here is a bit about Pam, who I actually got to meet at BEA, and she has as lovely a personality as she does a face! Pam Bachorz grew up in a small town in the Adirondack foothills, where she participated in every possible performance group and assiduously avoided any threat of athletic activity. Pam attended college in Boston and finally decided she was finished after earning four degrees. Her mother is not happy that Pam’s degrees are stored under her bed.

Pam lives just outside Washington, DC with her husband and their son. She likes to read books not aimed at her age group, go to museums and theater performances, and watch far too much television. She even goes jogging. Reluctantly.

As far as she knows, Pam has never been brainwashed. Or maybe that’s just what she’s supposed to say.

Pam was kind enough to cyber-sit down with me to do our Feasty Five! So here we go!

AP: My dear Pam, welcome to the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Pam: *blinks*

AP: Oh sorry, wrong cue card. Welcome to Apparently! Let's talk about Oscar. What kind of soda would Oscar drink?

PB: Soda? No soda allowed in Candor, Florida! It has no nutritious value! Oscar gets six ounces of OJ every day at breakfast; his father marks the side of the OJ container with a pencil to make sure Oscar doesn't sneak extra.

AP: Okay, I admit that I have been waiting to post that answer for ages, because the reason my main character drinks soda is because, for her, it does have nutritional value.:D But Oscar has to be forgiven for being human, I guess.;) What is Oscar's favorite kind of flower? How about yours?

PB: Oscar loves lilacs because that's the scent his love, Nia, wears. I picked lilacs for Nia because they're one of my favorite flowers, and also because they don't thrive in Florida (just like Nia). When I moved from Florida to Maryland, we planted a lilac in the backyard!

AP: I adore lilacs. Does Oscar believe in magic? Do you?

PB: We've never talked about it, Oscar and me, but I don't think he's a big believer in magic. He's a believer in himself and his cleverness, more.

Me, I'm a big believer in magic. Someday I'm going to write a big exciting book filled with magic. Or maybe a small creepy paranoid one. Either way... there WILL be magic.

AP: *laugh* Nice. Okay, let's move away from Oscar and focus on the really important issue: Superman or Batman?

PB: Batman. He's cool because he does all his superhero stuff with zero super powers. Plus I like all the broodiness.

AP: Fair enough. Give us one line from your book. You don't even have to give it context.

PB: A little something from my main character, Oscar:
"But I’d seen his bank balance—all the buyers have to give that information to my father, including their kids’ accounts—and I knew he could be worth my time. "

AP: *squeals* I love that line! Pam, thanks for being here, readers, this is an awesome book and it is one of the first wave of books out from Egmont, a publisher that recently started up in the US (it has been popular in the UK, IIRC) and is off to a flying start with novels like Candle Man and an awesome book I will be spotlighting later next month, The Dark Divine, by Bree DeSpain. I've been impressed by them, and CANDOR certainly didn't let me down. You don't often see present-day dystopias, but this is a good one. And though Nia is not the point-of-view character, you will love her!

You can visit Pam at her website, it's lovely and orange!! And something extra fun, you can visit the Candor, FL website and see what kind of advertising Oscar's dad may have used to woo parents into moving to his town! Check it out HERE!

Ciao!!