I'm always psyched when I hear this blog mentioned in a podcast, see it on a theater marquee or someone tells me about another way the Candy is being complimented.

So when I got an e-mail from longtime Pop reader/author Gabe Baca, I was definitely thrilled and surprised.

"For years I've been a huge fan of Pop Candy," he says. "Early Buzz is how I start each of my mornings with breakfast, and your blog has been an integral part of my life. I can't imagine surviving pop culture without it."

He adds, "I've also been a long-time fan of Austin, especially Fantastic Fest, which I have attended every year but the first. My love for all things Pop Candy and FF were both an inspiration for my first novel: Zombies Ate My Film Fest, where a film fest in Austin suddenly finds itself under siege by -- you guessed it -- zombies.

"I even made sure and plugged Pop Candy in a couple of places. The first is at the beginning, where the protagonist is chided for his love of the blog and its writer:"

"Hey," Manuel intervened, "it's good he's at least admitting his mental problems. At least his crush is about a realistic girl this time, and not some scantily clad NPC or fictional television character for once ... or who's that girl who blogs on the Internet he's in love with?" "The Pop Candy girl," Kiera answered. "I can't keep track of them all. I certainly hope he's not still sending that poor blogger his tirades about the ending of Lost." "I'm sitting right here!" Bill answered. "I'm still connected to this phone call and subsequently this conversation!"

Gabe says, "The second is at the end of the book, where the heroes hear about other zombie resistance groups across the country:"

"There are rumors that some of the cities have started their own resistance forces," Manuel said, looking back at Bill. "That's good news!" Bill nodded. "You're not going to believe this," Kiera said, " but I've even heard that some pop culture blogger from New York teamed up with a bunch of comic geeks and overthrew a queen there. That's the only other success story I've heard about so far. You think that's Whitney?" Bill smiled, glad to know that the nerds were truly inheriting the earth. "Who else would it be?" he asked, and Kiera shook her head at him, laughing quietly.

How cool is that?! I think I need to head over to the book's site and order a copy. Huge thanks for the kind mentions, Gabe!