Demigod of the Week, Decatur Book Festival

I'm blogging from the Decatur Book Festival, where I had a great day. This morning about 500 kids from the local schools walked to the festival grounds for an author field trip with me. We had a lively, enthusiastic session and the kids were super. Thanks to Diane and the whole staff at Little Shop of Stories for organizing the event! This evening I got to meet with about 30 of the campers from last summer's Camp Half-Blood at the store, and what an amazing group! They sure knew their Greek mythology. Diane tells me the store will be hosting a camp again next summer thanks to the enthusiastic response.

One of the young campers I got to meet was Jenna, who brought the pictures above from her recent trip to New York. That's her asking the security guards at the Empire State Building for directions to the 600th floor (which of course leads to Mount Olympus). You can see the security guard's reaction in the top picture. Thanks, Jenna! You're our demigod of the week!

Rebel Island and Summer's End

Back-to-school week here in San Antonio!

The boys are grumbling, but not unduly. Haley begins his second year of home-schooling. Patrick is starting third form at Saint Mary’s Hall. They both seem, if not delighted, at least in good spirits. Patrick got home yesterday looking relaxed and cheerful. We celebrated the end of the school day with a swim in the pool, so it still felt a little bit like summer.

Haley’s first day included an additional course – Latin, which I’ll be teaching him. We’re having fun with it so far! During his free time, Haley decided to sit down and start writing a fantasy book. I was surprised and impressed. I wasn’t expecting that, but it’s really amazing to see him writing because he wants to, not because he has to.

His reading has also improved so much since we began home-schooling. We require him to start the day with fifteen pages of silent reading, but frequently he forgets to stop and gets engrossed in his book. I certainly don’t stop him! That’s the beauty of a flexible schedule. He has read more in the past year than in all his previous school years combined, and he’s enjoying it. His curriculum parallels that of Saint Mary’s Hall, where I taught middle school, but it’s so much faster to cover content in a one-on-one situation that Haley is usually done with course work by 2:30.

Patrick’s only complaint is that he wants to be home-schooled too. We’ve explained that his brother had to go through fifth grade in the regular classroom, and Patrick should do the same before we make any decisions. He’s okay with that, and really, he does so well in the regular classroom environment that his needs aren’t the same as his brother’s. But we’ll keep our options open.

As for me, I still have the rhythm of the school year in my blood. After teaching so long, I still feel like I should be in my classroom right now, making seating charts, setting out new markers, and preparing my lessons. I doubt I’ll ever stop missing the classroom. This week feels like the New Year much more than January 1st ever will. I won’t be away from school for long, however. My author visits start up again next week, and I’ll be traveling extensively throughout the year. It’s been nice having a few months at home to write. Now I’ll have to readapt to living out of a suitcase!

Today is the publication date for Rebel Island, my new grown-up mystery featuring P.I. Tres Navarre. I’ll be making a quick trip to Houston this evening for a signing at Murder by the Book. Tomorrow I’ll be signing at the Twig Bookshop in San Antonio. It has been a long time since I’ve done an event for adults! Hopefully I can remember how to talk about suspense and crime rather than Greek mythology. This weekend, I’m off to the Decatur Book Festival, which will be my first appearance in Georgia.

In other news, the title of the fourth Percy Jackson book will be announced in Publisher’s Weekly children’s bookshelf (and on my website) on October 4! Check back then to get the scoop. I’ll post a brief sneak peak of the book as well. John Rocco is working on the cover. As soon as I have more information on that, I’ll let you know.

Have a great Labor Day Weekend, everyone, and a great back-to-school week!

Demigod of the Week

Congratulations to Caroline from San Antonio, who recently attended the National Junior Classical League competition in Knoxville, Tennessee and won first place in the girls' costume contest for her excellent interpretation of Hecate. I met Caroline and her mom at a recent book signing and recommended Caroline try theoi.com for Greek mythology information. I'm glad the site was helpful! Caroline reports she is now working on a Hebe costume.

Raccoon Alert

This is completely random, but I thought it was funny. My mom has a window in her kitchen that looks out on the backyard. A few years ago, we bought her a birdfeeder to hang outside the window. This particular feeder is called a "Yankee Flipper" because it's designed to keep the squirrels from stealing the birdseed. If an animal heavier than a bird, like a squirrel, tries to sit on the ring, the ring spins around and flips them off. This doesn't hurt them, but it does make for some amusing moments around the kitchen table when we go over for breakfast every Sunday. THWACK! Another squirrel hits the window. Raccoons, however, are very smart animals. The one in the photo found a way to stay on the Yankee Flipper and not get flipped. I wasn't there at the time, but apparently he pigged out of sunflower seeds and was not impressed when my stepfather tried to shoo him away. He was quite happy to pose for photos, then went back to pigging out.

Movie News

Recently Becky and I were joking that I should get a button made: “Don’t ask me about the movie.” I get so many questions about the movie every time I do an event. I can pretty much script how each conversation will start. The first question is always, “Is it true they’re going to make a movie?” The second question, invariably, is “How much control do you have over the project?” (The answer to the second question, by the way, is zero, though I’ll get to read the script and make suggestions.)

Unfortunately movie news is scarce and infrequent. Every bit of information is like a drop of water in the desert – it evaporates on contact, and people immediately want more. The most recent tidbit: director Chris Columbus has hired a screenwriter to help with the script and they are apparently deep into their draft. The screenwriter is Craig Titley, whose produced credits include the movies “Cheaper by the Dozen” and “Scooby Doo.” We’ll see how it goes. I’m guessing the script will be done by the fall. This is also when the option expires, so they’ll need to make a decision by that point whether they are purchasing or renegotiating the option. Fox has assured me that the movie is definitely happening and they will purchase the rights. Again, we’ll just have to wait and see. Like writing a book, movies take a very long time. When I hear something new, I will post it here, but news only comes about once every four months, so don’t hold your breath!

Meanwhile, the Percy Jackson series continues its run on the New York Times children series bestseller list. In its thirteenth week, Percy Jackson is #2, right behind you-know-who!