There were dark circles under his eyes, which were glazed from staring at the computer screen for far too long. His skin had taken on a sallow hue. And he had a serious case of the caffeine shakes.

The interns at BradParksBooks.com were gobsmacked:

Peter, the slothful intern, had been up all night. Working.

"RobertSmithLovesBunnies at gmail dot com. Check," he murmured. "AnchovyFlavoredIceCream at hotmail dot com. Check. ChickenSandwich03755 at mac dot com. Check."

Sarah, the smart intern, hadn't been able to summon a single word since she walked in. The only time she had ever seen Peter this intent on something, he was trying to figure out how to ride a horse in MineCraft.

"SaltShakersForBob at mail dot com. Check," Peter continued. "EdmundMuskieForPresident at juno dot com. Check. BabyDaddyForHire at yahoo dot com. Check."

"Peter, what are doing?" asked Maggie, the clueless intern.

Zach, the silly intern, pulled off the set of headphones he had been using to drown out Peter's mumbling.

"Brad has been nominated for the Library of Virginia's People's Choice Award," Zach said. "Anyone with a valid email address, whether they live in Virginia or not, can vote. One vote per email."

"So?" Maggie asked.

"So Brad has ordered Peter to stuff the ballot box by inventing as many fake email addresses as he can. If Brad wins the award, Peter gets a month off."

Sarah had recovered her senses enough to ask: "But, wait a second, Peter barely does work anyway. What's the difference if he gets a month off or not?"

"Nothing motivates a fundamentally lazy person like the prospect of even less work," Zach said.

Just then Brad burst out of his office, looking even more wild-haired than usual.

"Can I get a status update?" he barked.

"Just passed sixteen hundred," Peter reported.

"Keep up the good work!" Brad said. "The deadline is coming fast!"

Sarah was still confused as she watched Brad go back into his office.

"I don't understand why he cares so much," she said. "I mean, isn't this basically a popularity contest?"

Brad immediately popped back out. "Exactly. That's why I'm doomed if we don't cheat. Keep going, Peter!"

In matters of slightly greater interest, the excitement keeps building across the globe for SAY NOTHING, Brad's first-ever standalone thriller, which is due out in the United States from Dutton Books next March. The book has now sold to the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia, meaning it will be published in twelve languages.

Brad has also had new publicity photos taken. While he was told not to smile in most of them, the interns decided to lead the newsletter with the photo above (for Brad's mom, naturally).

Meanwhile, if you would like to vote for Brad in the Library of Virginia's People's Choice Award, you have until June 30 to do so.

Peter thanks you for your consideration.

Vote Early Vote Often,
The BradParksBooks.com Interns