Gordon Korman's Blog, page 11

THE MEDUSA PLOT - Tomorrow, August 30th!!!

39 Clues fans have been champing at the bit for the second series to start, and the day is finally here. Tomorrow THE 39 CLUES: CAHILLS VS. VESPERS begins with my opening shot, BOOK 1: THE MEDUSA PLOT. And the all-new better-than-ever website premieres - check it out at www.the39clues.com!

It's time for the truth to come out. For 500 years, the Cahill family has dominated history, with members like Mozart, Shakespeare, Ben Franklin, and more. But a shadowy group known as the Vespers has been waiting in the wings, waiting for their turn to stomp across the global stage. At the very same instant in different time zones around the world, seven Cahill cousins are kidnapped. Now Amy and Dan Cahill have just days to deliver a bizarre series of high-stakes ransoms, or their family members will die. The Cahill kids have to track down and steal priceless artifacts from every corner of the earth - some of the most famous and valuable objects ever created. And all the while, the question remains: Just what are the Vespers REALLY after?

I can't wait to hear what readers think of the new series. And remember, there are books coming from Jude Watson, Peter Lerangis, Roland Smith, Linda Sue Park, and David Baldacci.

PUMMELED BY HURRICANE IRENE

Right - that's my excuse for disappearing for so long. But we did get walloped by the hurricane up here - well, technically it was a tropical storm by the time it nailed Long Island. We just got our power back, and I'm good to go for the fall - as soon as I rush out and drag 60 tons of fallen tree branches to the curb. Stay tuned …

Sneak Peak at TITANIC

Check it out - the covers for the upcoming TITANIC trilogy![image error]

Happy 2011!!!

Sorry to disappear for so long! Things have been crazy-busy lately, between my travel schedule, and all the projects I've been juggling lately. Right now I've got five different books nominated for dozens of state, provincial, and regional kids and teen choice awards - SCHOOLED, SWINDLE, THE JUVIE THREE, ZOOBREAK, and POP. And of course, THE 39 CLUES express is still barreling along, picking up speed.

Let me take a minute to get you up to date on what's coming out this year:

39 CLUES Book 11: VESPERS RISING. Leave it to THE 39 CLUES to bring out Book 11 of a ten-book series. VESPERS RISING features novellas by the original four 39 CLUES authors, Rick Riordon, Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson, and yours truly. Hitting the shelves on April 5th, it will close out the original series and set the stage for the next one, THE 39 CLUES: CAHILLS vs. VESPERS. More on that later.

The TITANIC trilogy. This is the project that has been obsessing me for the past year and a half. I've always been a huge TITANIC buff, so writing a series about kids on the ill-fated maiden voyage has been a dream come true for me. Book 1 - UNSINKABLE - comes out in May.

RE-RELEASES: A couple of my personal favorites are getting a facelift this spring - with brand new covers and the chance to reach a whole new audience. The first will be THE CHICKEN DOESN'T SKATE, the epic tale of a school, a team, a town, and the chicken that brings them all together. Look for it in March. And in May, I'm delighted to welcome back THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING AT MACDONALD HALL, my very first book, which also happens to have been my 7th grade English assignment. Not many 47-year-olds are still talking about what they did at age 12, but I couldn't be more psyched to have this book gracing the shelves of bookstores once again. Hooray!

Thanks for coming back to gordonkorman.com. Keep watching my blog for all the latest on future projects - including Book 1 of THE 39 CLUES: CAHILLS vs. VESPERS, coming at the end of the summer.

The Future of The 39 Clues

Well, it's official - there's going to be a second 39 CLUES series. It's called THE 39 CLUES: CAHILLS VS. VESPERS. (The Vespers are the Cahills' arch-nemeses over the centuries).

The new series is going to have a prequel and six books. The prequel - VESPERS RISING - will catch readers up on 500 years of Cahill/Vesper rivalry. It contains four novellas by Rick Riordon, Peter Lerangis. Jude Watson, and me - the original 39 CLUES team of authors. It's coming out pretty soon - in April 2011.

And I'll be writing the first of the six CAHILLS VS. VESPERS books. There's no title just yet, but I believe it will be published at the end of next summer - very late August 2011.

I can't tell you how psyched I am to be kicking off the new series!

FRAMED is out today!!!

The Swindle series is officially a trilogy with the release of FRAMED today! I couldn't be more pumped about the third novel featuring the Swindle crew!

Keep watching this space for updates on the progress of #4. But for now, enjoy FRAMED.

39 CLUES TODAY, FRAMED TOMORROW

Hi, all. Just a quick reminder that the 10th and final 39 CLUES novel, INTO THE GAUNTLET by Margaret Peterson Haddix, hits the shelves today. For more on that, "tune" into the 39 Clues "Access Granted" webcast at www.the39Clues.com at four o'clock today. For the first time ever, all seven 39 Clues authors will be interviewed together about the series. Hope to see you there.

And despite all the 39 Clues hoopla today, don't forget that FRAMED comes out tomorrow. (Just look for Luthor the...

Swindle, Zoobreak, and now FRAMED!!!

Many of you are probably still in summer mode, but I wanted to remind all the SWINDLE/ZOOBREAK fans that the third book in the series - FRAMED - comes out on Wednesday, September 1st.

Griffin truly is framed - someone has stolen a valuable 1969 Super Bowl ring from the school's display case, and the blame falls on The Man With The Plan. But here's the thing: He's innocent! So Griffin has to bring his team together one more time to clear his name by bringing the real thief to justice.

When you r...

The All-New 39 Clues TV Spot

Hope everybody's having a good summer. I just got back from the Society of Children's Book Writers conference in L.A. to find this link to the all-new 39 CLUES TV spot. It's awesome! The spots start running on Monday, but you can check it out on youtube right away. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEM4UT...

Thanks for voting

Okay … ZOOBREAK didn't win, but I want to thank all of you for voting. The awards ceremony was a real Who's Who of the kidsbook world, featuring Jeff Kinney, Suzanne Collins, Judy Blume, James Patterson, Katherine Patterson, Mo Williams and his ex-ambassadorship himself, Jon Sciezska.

It was really cool to be a part of it, which is why I didn't start throwing furniture around when ZOOBREAK didn't bring home the hardware.

Seriously, though, it was a blast to be nominated. I'm thrilled that...