A Year on the List

My publicist emailed today to let me know that Percy Jackson & the Olympians will be #5 on the New York Times children's series bestseller list for next week (before Battle of the Labyrinth is published). Why is this significant? Because it marks fifty-two consecutive weeks that Percy Jackson has been on the bestseller list -- one full year. That just boggles my mind. Everybody at Disney/Hyperion is very excited about book four's release next week (especially me) but this series never would've gotten off the ground if it wasn't for all the kids who were passing the books around, recommending them to their friends, teachers and parents. So thanks, young demigods. What you think absolutely does matter!

Special kudos go out this week to Ms. Ward at Trinity Lutheran School in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. A parent of one of her fifth graders wrote to tell me that Ms. Ward issued a reading challenge to her class, and if they get a certain number of AR points by next Tuesday, she will overcome her fear of heights and read them the Battle of the Labyrinth from the roof of the school! I understand the students are very close to reaching their goal! Stay safe up there, Ms. Ward. I've heard of a lot of cool Percy parties planned around the country, but reading from the roof is a first. I've mailed Ms. Ward her own Camp Half-Blood T-shirt and signed bookplates for all her students.

If you're looking for an audio version of Battle of the Labyrinth, they will be available unabridged on CD starting May 13, or if you don't want to wait, it will be available on May 6 as a download from Random House Audio. Here's the link.

In other news, Puffin Books just sent me some amazing promotional materials they will be using to show off the new British covers. UK fans can expect to see a Percy television ad on Nickelodeon, a redesigned UK Percy website, cool bookmarks in the bookstores, their own chance to win a trip to Camp Half-Blood in Austin, Texas, and more, all coming soon. I hadn't realized this, but the artist Chris McGrath who did the new Percy Jackson covers for the UK also does the covers for another series I like -- Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. This is a more adult fantasy series, but the main character Harry Dresden is just awesome, a modern-day wizard in Chicago.

Six days and counting! I'll keep you posted as I get more news.

One Week from Today . . .

We're getting close now. It's hard to believe the day is almost here for The Battle of the Labyrinth!

In the meantime, here's a video that made me laugh. Check out Percy vs. Harry. Just for the record, I'm a Harry Potter fan and I do not advocate violence against young wizards, but hey, the video is still pretty funny. Thanks to Kyle who created it.

Percy on TeacherTube

I've had many requests from teachers, kids and librarians who want to watch The Battle of the Labyrinth video at school but can't access it, since YouTube is blocked on most school district networks. I'm happy to report my reading of the first chapter is now available on TeacherTube, a school-friendly alternative video site. Click here to view. I hope this helps educators who want to share the reading with their students in the classroom!

Tour Dates Posted

The Battle of the Labyrinth complete May tour dates in the U.S. are now available on my web calendar. All dates, locations and times are confirmed. You can find out information about each event by going to May and clicking on the event you want. Some of these appearances require reservations (though all are free and open to the public) so you might want to check with the bookstore in advance. I look forward to seeing you on the tour!

I will be posting information about the UK leg of the tour as soon as I get final details. Stay tuned for that. The publication schedule for the United Kingdom is a little different. The Titan's Curse will be released in paperback on May 3. The Battle of the Labyrinth will be released July 3. Sorry for the longer wait, British fans. The books will have the newly designed covers above. There's been some confusion about these covers, so to be clear: These new covers are only for the UK market. The American covers have not changed.

And another piece of news since yesterday: Another state has reported in. The Lightning Thief just won the Virginia Readers Choice Award for middle school! That's twelve states. Hmm, so how many superdelegates do I have so far?

Percy News Roundup

It's only Wednesday, but it's already been a busy week! On Monday, the new Percy Jackson website launched. If you haven't checked it out yet and signed up to win the trip to Camp Half-Blood, please do!

Also this week, The Lightning Thief continued its amazing sweep of state readers' choice awards. The Mark Twain Award in Missouri was just announced, and Lightning Thief was the winner for grades 6-8. It also won the Sequoyah Award YA in Oklahoma, the Grand Canyon Readers Award (tween category) in Arizona, and the Sunshine State Readers Award for grades 6-8 in Florida. I double-checked that these are all now posted on their respective websites, so I don't think I'm spoiling any surprises! Lightning Thief has already won state awards in Connecticut, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Maine, Utah, Hawaii, and Louisiana and is on the nomination list for several more. (Forgive me if I've missed one!) That's eleven different state awards and counting. Wow. Thanks to all the young readers who voted. As I often say, these awards mean a lot to me, because they are voted on by the people who matter most -- the kids themselves.

In other news, I visited Awty International School in Houston yesterday. It was the first time I'd signed as many French Percy Jackson books as I did English! The kids, from grades 4-8, were terrific and very knowledgeable about Greek mythology. Thanks to the eighth grade art class for creating life-size cutouts of mythological characters, and to Lucas and Diana in the middle school library for organizing the visit. As you can see, they dressed up as Dionysus and Artemis in honor of the occasion. Love the leopard-skin shirt, dude!

Today, I got a special treat. I visited my son Patrick's third grade class as their 'mystery reader' at Saint Mary's Hall. My theme was dogs. We talked about our pet dogs. Then I read a poem from Jack Prelutsky's new book My Dog May be a Genius, followed by a short section from Battle of the Labyrinth in which Percy meets a very special hellhound, Mrs. O'Leary. I brought t-shirts for all the kids, but I think they were more impressed with the juice and sugar cookies! That's my son Patrick in the center in the striped shirt.

This weekend I'm off to Los Angeles. I hope I'll see some of you at the L.A. Festival of Books. Happy reading!

PercyJacksonBooks.com!

The new Percy Jackson site, compliments of Hyperion Books for Children, is now live! Check it out for:

1) Exclusive cool artwork of Percy, Annabeth, and the rest of the gang.

2) A previously unavailable selection from Battle of the Labyrinth, chapter 1.

3) An online sweepstakes contest with the grand prize: An all-expense paid trip for you and one friend to Camp Half-Blood in Austin, Texas this summer where I will be appearing in person!

4) More cool information about the tour and the series.

A section with games and activities will be activated in May, so keep checking back!

Chaos and Evil Noodles in Portland

Another whirlwind trip! I flew to Portland on Thursday for a conference of Washington and Oregon librarians. It was a long flight, but just enough time to finish a chapter of Percy 5, so I felt quite productive. Thanks to Angela, Jennifer and Catherine for picking me up and taking me across the state line to the quaint little town of Vancouver, Washington (not to be confused with Vancouver, B.C.) where the conference was held. I do love the Pacific Northwest. It's so beautiful and laid back. The skies were gray, the air was cool, and the train kept sounding in the distance all night (which was actually quite peaceful; I like trains). The children's roundtable group goes by the acronym CAYAS, pronounced 'chaos.' It was a while before I figured out what they were talking about. "You're having dinner with chaos tonight," they told me. "Okay," I thought. "That sounds like dinner every night in my family."

We met in the evening and walked through the town square to a nice little Thai restaurant. The dozen or so librarians were all very welcoming and polite (especially for a group called chaos). I ordered the 'evil jungle noodles' -- I kid you not. That was the name of the dish. How could I not try it? I was expecting boiling, smoking food, but the noodles didn't strike me as evil. Morally ambiguous at best. The highlight of the evening was the committee's welcome present: a signed, framed print of the Unshelved cartoon featuring the Lightning Thief. The cartoon made my day when it first came out, and now I have my own print in my office.

The next morning I spoke at the CAYAS breakfast. Despite the fact that it was seven in the morning and the line to get coffee was quite long, we had a full house and the librarians were very receptive. Believe me, it's hard to get people to laugh at that hour! I gave away some Labyrinth t-shirts and showed off artwork from the upcoming Percy Jackson website. The site should go live next week -- I'll let you know when!

At the signing afterward, I got to meet lots of nice folks. Special thanks to Michael and his mom. Michael got permission from his principal to miss the beginning of his school day so he could come see me at the conference and get his books signed. Thanks also to the Vancouver Barnes & Noble for providing the books. Afterwards I spent some time at the Portland airport, and I want to know why I can't have a Powell's airport bookshop. That place was great, and it was only the airport location! On the plane back, I wrote another Percy chapter. The end is near folks -- for the rough draft, at least.

Next week, on to Houston for a quick school visit at Awty International, and then the LA Festival of Books next weekend. If you're in the L.A. area, I hope you'll come by!

Demigods of the Week

Thanks to Ms. Kue's fourth grade class in Fort Worth! We emailed back and forth a couple of times and I sent the kids some Labyrinth t-shirts. In response they've been creating their own Percy fan site. Check it out! Ms. Kue says it's a work in progress but it's looking great. They have a question and answer section, and so here are the answers you asked for -- just for you demigods of the week!

1) Q Mr. Riordan, will Percy and RED become good friends? A RED is Percy-speak for Rachel Elizabeth Dare. I will tell you that RED plays a major role in Battle of the Labyrinth. What exactly -- wait and see!

2) Q Mr. Riordan, will you ever add a griffin to your stories? A Griffins were known to the Ancient Greeks, who called them gryphoi, or gryps. I have no immediate plans to include griffins in the stories, but who knows -- perhaps some day!

3) Q Perseus really cared about his mom. Is that why you named Percy Percy? A Percy's mom named him after the Ancient Greek hero Perseus, even though the original Perseus was a son of Zeus, because Perseus is one of the very few Greek heroes who gets a happy ending (at least, according to some versions). Percy's mom is hoping Percy will get a happy ending too.

Stars for Labyrinth and TLA

It's been a good two weeks for Battle of the Labyrinth, especially considering the book isn't out yet. Last week it received a starred pre-review in Kirkus. This week it received another starred review in Publishers Weekly. This is so reassuring to me, because no matter how many books I write, I always get the jitters before pub date. Is it any good? Will anyone like it? Two reviews like this help calm me down a little bit -- maybe the book is okay after all. In twenty more days, you'll be able to decide for yourself!

I'm writing from the Texas Library Association meeting in Dallas. Yesterday I had the honor of moderating a stellar panel featuring John Flanagan (Ranger's Apprentice), Suzanne Collins (Gregor the Overlander), Cinda Williams Chima (The Warrior Heir), Jacqueline Kolosov (The Red Queen's Daughter), and Libba Bray (A Great and Terrible Beauty). The room was packed with librarians, as you might imagine. My favorite comments: Libba Bray described her series as Buffy the Vampire Slayer goes Victorian. Suzanne Collins told us how she grew up on war movies (Patton) and trips to battlefields (Waterloo for her fourteenth birthday) which inspired the war story of Gregor. John, who has been in the States two weeks now and on a grueling tour, poor guy, said he felt like a broccoli among the roses because he was so tired and everyone was being witty, but he certainly held his own. He told us that his ranger Halt was based on his sixth grade teacher -- now there's an example of how one teacher can change a life! The audience was very receptive, and the gift bags at the end were nice, too, though I always smile at the 'welcome to Texas' souvenirs that they contain. I guess most authors aren't from here, but being a native Texan, I look inside and think, 'wow, chips and salsa. Never seen that before!' But hey, I'm not complaining. They also gave chocolate, so it's all good. Last night, I attended a party (thanks Sylvia and Rose) and then the Hyperion Books for Children folks all went out for dinner. At long last I got to meet Gordon Korman, whose books I admire. Gordon has written the second book in the 39 Clues series, and I'm anxious to read it! It's always great to catch up with the Hyperion staff and see what's going on in the offices.

Today I'll be doing a signing at the conference and then heading home for the evening, then right back on a plane for Portland Thursday morning. And this is 'down time' compared to May! I'll send more reports from the road. Happy reading!

Greek Mythology with Shadow Puppets

Thanks to Helene van Rossum for sharing this cool teaching idea -- shadow puppet projects for Greek mythology! You can check it out on her website.

Harding University

Last week Italy. This week Arkansas. Ah, the glamorous life of an author! But seriously, I just had a very nice weekend at Harding University. It was a reading workshop, and we had about two hundred teachers, librarians and other educators come for dinner on Friday and a full day of sessions on Saturday. I don't do many of these workshops anymore. Most of my events tend to be for kids (which is always my first preference!) but it was a fun change of pace to talk about ideas for classroom reading and writing. I got to walk around the campus this morning, and as you can see, the central courtyard is quite beautiful with everything in bloom. Thanks to everyone who spent the weekend at the conference. I met many nice people and heard some great stories about their kids' enthusiasm for Percy Jackson. My favorite comment: a student was having a rough day at school. His teacher asked him how bad it was. He thought about it for a second, and said, "Not a Percy Jackson day, but almost that bad."
A Percy Jackson day . . . I think he's coined a new term.

This week, I'm off to two library conferences -- first in Dallas, then Portland! Percy Jackson is getting kind of fed up with me. I keep leaving him mid-chapter as I dash from plane to plane!

One Month Countdown

We’re getting close, campers. One month from today, The Battle of the Labyrinth will be released.

My first stop, on May 6, will be BookPeople in Austin – which has become Percy Jackson World Headquarters over the last few years. All are welcome to join the celebration. I hear rumors that a centaur will be there from Camp Half-Blood, along with all kinds of food and games to keep you happy so your whole time will not be spent in a signing line! The event will be held outside so we have lots of room. Just keep your fingers crossed for good weather.

After that, I’m off on a nationwide tour – details available on the web calendar. I can’t wait to meet everyone at the events. As usual, we’ll have T-shirts to give away and all kinds of Greek mythology fun. Most of all, I’m looking forward to finally revealing what happens in The Battle of the Labyrinth. Kirkus Reviews just gave the book a starred review and called it the best one yet in the series. My fingers are crossed that you will agree.

A few other newsy tidbits: Next fall, look for a paperback boxed set of the first three Percy books, and also a deluxe hardcover edition of The Lightning Thief with brand-new illustrations. Later this month, the new Hyperion Percy Jackson site will launch, with awesome illustrations of characters from the series. Have you always wondered what Percy and Annabeth might look like? Well, you will get one possible version when the website goes live. Percyjacksonbooks.com will be the address. It’s not up yet, but check back later in April. I think you’ll be impressed.

This month, I’ll be doing quite a few library conferences, but one public event you shouldn’t miss: If you’re in Southern California, I’ll be at the Los Angeles Festival of Books on Saturday, April 26. At 11:30, I’ll be on a panel with Erin Hunter (the Warriors series) and Cornelia Funke (Inkheart, Thief Lord). It should be a fantastic event, and wow – I’ll be sharing the stage with two of my sons’ favorite authors! More details are available on the festival’s website.

Until then, keep reading and keep your armor polished. The battle is drawing near!

The News from Italy

I’m back in the States after my whirlwind trip through the Bologna Book Fair. The big news Tuesday: the first printing of Battle of the Labyrinth will be one million copies.

I just about passed out when I heard that. I still can’t quite get my mind around it. In the publishing business, anything over 100,000 is considered a huge first printing for a hardcover title. 250,000 is a blockbuster. But one million? Holy Hephaestus! It’s all thanks to you readers, who have been so enthusiastic about Percy. So many of you have already preordered the fourth book that Disney keeps bumping up their expected first printing number, until we now stand at seven figures.

News that is just as big: I’ve signed a new two-book deal with Disney. The first of these books will come out in 2010. It will not be a Percy book, but will be the beginning of a new action/fantasy series that I hope you’ll love. I can’t tell you anything about it yet, but I’m very excited about the idea and have wanted to write it for a long time. The book after that, which will come out in 2011, will return to the world of Camp Half-Blood, and start a new series about the young demigods who train there. As I’ve been saying for a while, Percy’s main story, which began in the Lightning Thief, will wrap up in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book five. However, there are many other stories to tell about Camp Half-Blood. Will Percy himself be back? Which demigods will be the heroes of the story? It’s too early to give you any hints, but stay tuned. I will say that the end of Percy Jackson 5 (which I’m writing right now, by the way) will give you a pretty good idea what will happen in subsequent books!

The Disney staff, my agent Nancy and I had a celebration dinner in Bologna on Tuesday night. One important person couldn’t be with us: My editor Jennifer Besser was back in New York, holding down the fort, but major thanks to her! She’s played a huge part in championing the Percy Jackson series. And of course, she edits the books and makes sure I’m doing my absolute best!

I also had a great time promoting my upcoming Scholastic project, The 39 Clues. We had a dinner for the foreign publishers on Monday, and the response was extremely enthusiastic. Between Percy Jackson and 39 Clues, 2009 is going to be a busy year. I got invitations to visit Australia, Turkey, Korea, Israel, and Scandinavia. Not that I will have time to do all that – I can’t even accommodate all the U.S. requests I get – but maybe one of these days I’ll get to visit those places. For the moment, I’m just gearing up for May, and the huge travel involved in the release tour for Battle of the Labyrinth.

And now, it’s back to writing Percy 5. I’m afraid I left our friends in a dangerous situation, but what else is new?