From the Mailbag

Thanks to everyone who wrote over the summer! Alissa from Goleta, CA sent the picture of Blackjack dreaming of donuts. She says horses actually do love donuts, because she's tested it. I understand sugar is bad for them though, so I advised her to go easy on the experimentation! I like how Alissa envisions Blackjack with hummingbird wings.

Marie from Le Mars, Iowa sent the intricately decorated fan letter above. She obviously took a lot of time with that! Beautiful illustrations, Marie. Thank you for reading the Percy series.

Billy from Medina, OH wrote to tell me that I was his favorite author along with Shakespeare and J.K. Rowling. That's pretty stratospheric company, Billy. I'm honored! I guess I'll have to work on my iambic pentameter now so I can compose sonnets.

Nancy from Atlanta writes to say that she loves the series, but she is probably not my biggest fan because she does not wear T-shirts with my picture on them. We can all be grateful for that, Nancy! T-shirts with my picture would be much too scary. As long as you are enjoying the books, that's all I care about.

That's just a small sampling of the letters I got this month. You can probably tell why I love reading fan mail. I am constantly surprised and impressed by everyone's comments and artwork. Thanks again, everybody, and good luck with the new school year!

Looking Ahead

Happy Labor Day weekend to everyone in the U.S.! This three-day holiday offers me a chance to catch my breath, briefly, before the hectic fall travel season begins.
I’m looking forward to the release of The Maze of Bones on Sept. 9. I have been immersed in the world of Percy Jackson for the past few years and it’s been a while since I’ve published a non-Percy book, so it’ll be interesting to take a temporary side trip into the world of the Cahill family.

A word of advice to readers so you get in the right mindset: Do not expect The Maze of Bones to be a Percy Jackson book. It’s totally, totally different. I’ve even seen some people online calling 39 Clues a fantasy series, and that’s not correct. There are no monsters, no magic, no fantasy elements at all in the series. 39 Clues is a realistic thriller/adventure series. It’s got mystery, action, humor – yes. Will young readers enjoy it? I sure hope so! The early feedback has been very positive. But I don’t want anyone wondering, “Hey, where are the Greek gods?” Just go into the book with the understanding that it will be a different type of story, and I think the Cahills will quickly start to feel like old friends.

I’m only writing the first book in the series, but some dynamite authors have signed up for the other nine books. I’ve already read the top-secret manuscript for book two, One False Note by Gordon Korman, and I can tell you it rocks. Also, don’t worry about the publication schedule for Percy. We are right on track for publishing book five in May 2009. My participation in 39 Clues has not affected my writing for the Percy Jackson series at all.

In other news, I occasionally get emails from people wondering if the campers at Camp Half-Blood are related, since the gods are basically one big family, and if so, how could the campers date each other? This question is actually addressed in book five, but I’ve commented on it before on my blog. In case you missed it, here is a link to my explanation.

Finally, some of my recent reads -- at least the ones I can discuss! I just finished The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. I feel like I’m coming late to the party, since a lot of readers have already discovered this series, but I enjoyed it very much -- great cast of characters, lots of cool puzzles and mysteries. The book made me feel nostalgic, because it reminded me of some of the better children’s books I grew up with, like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Phantom Tollbooth. Stewart’s storytelling has an old-fashioned elegance to it, and yes, I mean that in the best possible way! The second book in the series is now out, and I will definitely be picking it up. I also got to read an advance copy of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. I’ve been a fan of the Gregor series for years, but The Hunger Games just blew me away. It’s a high-octane read that my older son Haley ripped through in two days.

Next on my list: The Magician by Michael Scott, which I’m reading with my younger son Patrick. We read The Alchemyst, the first book in the series together last year, and we’re looking forward to seeing what happens next with the characters. Scott does a great job blending history, myth, and modern-day action. Patrick is also making his way through Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which is a minor miracle. Both my sons have been highly resistant to Harry Potter for years. They wanted nothing to do with the series, probably because by the time they were ready to read it, Harry Potter was so overexposed. There were Harry Potter birthday party decorations, Happy Meal toys, action figures, video games, movies, etc., etc. Every time they turned around, they felt like Harry Potter was being shoved down their throats. As a Harry Potter fan myself, I had trouble convincing them that the books were really good despite the hype. I’m glad Patrick’s finally giving them a try!

And now I’m off to spend some time with the kids. They owe me a rematch at Super Smash Brothers Brawl. I’m terrible, but I keep trying! We may even get to go swimming today if the rain holds off. Have a good holiday, everyone.

Today Show appearance

This just confirmed: I'll be in New York on September 8 for a live in-studio appearance on NBC's Today Show, talking about the 39 Clues series, which launches Sept. 9 from Scholastic Books. Tune in that morning to check it out!

Scieszka in the LA Times

In today's LA Times, Sonja Bolle does a great interview with Jon Scieszka, our National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. (Can we call him the NAYPL for short?) Every time Jon talks about reading, I just nod my head a lot and wish I could say it as well as he does. If the administration would only listen to him about this standardized testing nonsense . . . Yeah, maybe that's too much to hope. But hey, the guy has enough pull to get Mo Willems through airport security, so I guess anything is possible! You can check out the article here.

Back to School

This has been the first week back to school for the Riordan household. The boys are both in good spirits so far, although it’s hard to leave summer behind. The last three months, we’ve enjoyed a lot of time swimming, reading, and watching campy sci fi TV programs together. (Just got through the Stargate series and are waiting impatiently for the fourth season of Doctor Who to be released). We traveled absolutely nowhere, which was bliss for this over-traveled writer.

I still get nervous this time of year, because I feel like I should be in my classroom putting up posters, making lesson plans, and running off handouts. This will mark my fourth year as a fulltime writer, but old habits die hard. Just this summer, Becky and I finally cleared out all my old teaching supplies from the garage as I am coming to accept that my days as a classroom teacher probably are over for good. This ‘writer gig’ might work out after all! Even if I do return to education some day, it would probably be in some other capacity and all my old materials would be seriously outdated!

Over the summer I finished up Percy 5 and sent it off to my editor, which I hesitated to mention because people always ask, “If it’s finished, publish it now!” The answer is that ‘finished’ doesn’t really mean finished. The manuscript will still need to be edited for many months. Meanwhile, I’m still finishing up an adult Tres Navarre novel and have started researching for my next project, which is a lot of fun but top secret for the moment. In fact I’ve done a lot of reading this summer, but I can’t tell you the titles because it would give away the subject matter for my next couple of books! At any rate, I have two more weeks of writing time before the fall travel season kicks in.

It’s hard to believe Battle of the Labyrinth came out over two months ago! It seems like yesterday, and I’m still recovering from all the events. You know you’ve done too many book signings when your wife puts the grocery list in front of you and you try to autograph it! Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to the school visits I’ve lined up, and the other public events that will allow me to visit areas I haven’t been to in quite some time. Among these – my first event in Denver in four years, my first-ever public event in Florida, an appearance at the Bath Festival in the UK, two events in Portland, and my first school visits in the Washington, DC and Pasadena, CA areas. And that’s just September and October! As always, you can find the details on my web calendar if you’re curious.

Happy new school year to all the other families out there!

Demigods of the Week

Friend and fellow author Jeff Abbott sent this picture of his sons, Charles and William, at his recent book signing in Austin. The Abbotts attended my BookPeople launch party for Battle of the Labyrinth in May, and the boys have since decided that their Camp Half-Blood T-shirts are their official book signing shirts! They are also flashing the Hook 'em Horns sign for my alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin, so naturally I am naming them demigods of the week. Thanks, boys!

The Secret World of Blurbing

Today's New York Times offers an interesting article on blurbing -- the practice of putting those little quotes on the back of a book to pique your interest: "I couldn't put it down!" -- by _____, bestselling author of _____.

There is much debate in the publishing world about whether blurbs actually help book sales. I suspect most readers take author quotes with a huge grain of salt. We are more likely to decide whether to buy a book based on 1) the cover, 2) the book description, 3) the first page of the book, pretty much in that order. Word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and hand-selling by booksellers and librarians are also critical. What impact do blurbs have on sales? It's hard to know, but I think it's safe to say that blurbs alone cannot change the fate of a book, especially, as the article points out, if writers can now get on-line and buy a batch of 10 blurbs for the low, low price of $19.95. In such a world, maybe a moratorium on blurbs is not a bad idea!

Signing in Portland

Another 39 Clues event just confirmed: I'll be at A Children's Place Bookstore in Portland on Monday, Sept. 15. This is the first public event I've done in Portland in many years, so come on out if you're in the area. FYI, I will also be in Portland on October 13 for an event with the Multnomah Public Library. More details are on the web calendar.

Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades

I'm pleased to announce that an original Percy Jackson story, "The Sword of Hades," will be published for World Book Day in the UK next spring, back-to-back with Terry Deary's Horrible Histories: Groovy Greeks. The goal of World Book Day is youth literacy, and specially selected double titles are made available to British schoolchildren for £1 tokens. The idea is to get more high-interest books into the hands of more young readers. The Percy story is not a novel, but is quite long, over fifty pages, and takes place between The Battle of the Labyrinth and Percy Jackson book 5. For the time being, the story will be published exclusively in the UK -- sorry, everyone else! -- although you may see "Sword of Hades" published in a different format in the U.S. some time in the future. More information about that as it becomes available.

What Makes Something a "Boy Book"?

Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal, mentioned in today's Publishers Lunch. It should come as no surprise to anyone in publishing or education that getting boys to read can be tricky, partly (as the researcher suggests) because the books we tend to push on them in school are heavily skewed toward girl readers. The fact that publishing and education are both fields where women outnumber men 9 to 1 doesn't fully explain this subconcious bias, because I've been guilty of it as a teacher myself. One year for my sixth grade class I inadvertently picked all novels featuring young girl protagonists, and didn't realize what I'd done until a parent pointed it out. I'm not sure I agree that a "boy-friendly" book has to be gross. I think plot, humor and action are a lot more important, although as a male reader, I certainly don't mind a little grossness now and then. Still, this article is definitely worth a read!

A Visit to Colorado

Scholastic just informed me that I'll be doing a public event at the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Highlands Ranch (a suburb of Denver) on Tuesday, September 16 at 7 PM as part of the tour for 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones. This will be my first public appearance in Colorado since The Lightning Thief was published three years ago, and it's my only scheduled event in the state this school year, so if you're in the Denver area, I hope you'll come by! More details will added to the web calendar as they become available.

Demigod of the Week

Thanks to Noelle, who sent this demigod profile she created for a character named Lucia, daughter of the ancient moon goddess Selene, shown here with her half-sister Pandia. Good job, Noelle! Selene would be proud.

Lucia White Profile~

-Name: Lucia (derived from the Latin word ‘lux’ meaning light.)

-Age: 26 (In the Lightning Thief)

-Nationality: American and Half-blood

-Love Interest: Chiron

-Description: Lucia has long silver-blonde hair that seems to emit a faint glow under the night sky; it hits just past her thigh and is slightly wavy at the ends. Her eyes are a very deep blue a reflection of the ink colored sky, seeming to hold the flickering orbs of the stars in their depths. Her skin is very pale with rosy cheeks, and often appears with vibrant red lips. She is 5” 4’ and has an hourglass figure with noticeable curves.

-Personality: Lucia is a very meek woman who is very awkward in social situations; due mostly because of her father’s severe over protectiveness. She has a hard time showing her feelings and often ends up in embarrassing situations. Although, she is a demigod she loathes battle and most of the times finds herself running away from violent confrontations unless one of her friends, family members, or resident of camp Half-Blood is in absolute trouble will she succumb to lopping off limbs. Despite her innocent appearance her lonely childhood made her turn to a profound way of thinking.

-Family: Her father is Jude White, a divorce lawyer, who tried his best to bring up his only daughter. He is very protective of Lucia even though she is hitting near thirty and doesn't approve of her being associated with any gods, goddesses, creatures, or even other half-bloods for that matter and holds a grudge against her mother. Her mother is the lunar deity, Selene, who is the daughter of titans Hyperion and Theia.

-Camp Half-Blood: At Camp Half-Blood Lucia is part of the staff, almost like an aide, helping out around the residence.

-Powers and Abilities:
~Lucia is able to emit light from herself under a night sky or any other place that is swallowed in shadow.
~Lucia is able to see well in the dark, but her eyes are very sensitive in sunlight.
~Lucia can manipulate moonlight to heal her wounds.
~Lucia is excellent with a bow and arrow.