Demigod of the Week -- Boo!

Emma from New Hampshire decided to be Bianca di Angelo as a Hunter of Artemis this Halloween. Thanks to her mom for sending the picture, and happy trick-or-treating. Everyone have a fun Halloween and be safe out there! I'm sure the Greek monsters love this time of year.

Three Days in D.C.

Just back from three days in the Washington, D.C. area. I arrived on Tuesday, checked into my hotel in Arlington, and actually had time to watch “House” on television. What surprised me most: political commercials. We don’t get those in Texas, I suppose because neither campaign considers Texas a swing state so they don’t waste their money. Go figure. I’m sure these commercials get annoying for those who live with them all the time, but I have to say I always feel a little ignored, living in Texas, and it was kind of interesting and exciting to be in Virginia for a while, where there is very much a sense that things are “in play.”

Wednesday I visited the Lab School of Washington, a well-established school for children with learning differences. As I’ve mentioned before, I go out of my way to visit such schools because of the Percy series and my own son’s struggle with ADHD/dyslexia, and I was very impressed with the Lab School’s program. They use a ‘club’ system to teach history, social studies and art. At each grade level, students join a club for the year – the Renaissance club, the medieval Lords and Ladies, the Industrialists, etc. The classroom is transformed into a historical setting. The teachers and students wear period clothing and learn about their era with hands-on activities. No textbooks allowed. I got to have lunch with the gods and goddesses club, which focuses on Egypt, Greece and Rome. The teacher was Cleopatra VII, which is the first time I’ve dined with royalty. I met with kids from second grade through high school, and they were all a very enthusiastic bunch.

Thursday I visited another school for learning differences, the Siena School, in Silver Spring, Maryland. This is a smaller, newer school, but they’re off to a great start. Again, the kids had super questions. What I love about kids with learning differences is they ask the most insightful, creative questions. Usually I can pretty much predict which questions I’ll get asked at a school visit. There’s not much variation. But at an LD school, the kids are such divergent thinkers that they really keep me on my toes! Thursday afternoon we did a public event at the Imagination Stage in Bethesda – fantastic venue for children’s theater. Thanks to the local libraries who helped sponsor the visit, along with Siena School. They made beautiful posters for the event, and we had a full house.

Friday, I spoke with the students at Hammond Middle School in Alexandria – a public middle school, also great, but a total 180-degree change, speaking to six hundred kids at a time rather than twenty at the Siena School! The students were very enthusiastic, especially the members of the school’s Club BILI, a boys’ literacy group that had been reading the Percy Jackson books. The club is so successful that there was a teacher from Australia visiting the school to study their program. And I thought I came a long way! Thanks to Elaine the school librarian, the faculty and PTO for putting together the event. And thanks to Sharif and Aaron, my student escorts for the day.

Now I’m back home for twenty-four hours before getting on another airplane (sob). I’ll post an update next week from the road.

Talking with Texas Monthly

The November issue of Texas Monthly magazine features an interview with me, talking about Percy Jackson, 39 Clues, and much more. You can read it online here.

Pottsville Junior High

A tiny school in a tiny town in Arkansas, and yet it’s the only school in the nation that has won Scholastic’s national book fair contest twice. What’s their secret? I found out on my visit Friday.

Last spring I had agreed to do a school visit as the ‘grand prize’ in Scholastic’s contest, with the understanding that this might send me anywhere in the country. “Oh!” the Scholastic staff told me. “The last author went to Hawaii!” When I got the word that I would be going to Pottsville, Arkansas, I must admit I was a little dubious. Do they have beaches there? Palm trees? Snorkeling? However, Arkansas is close to Texas, so at least it was a short plane trip.

I arrived in Little Rock on Thursday night and went to dinner with the staff from Scholastic at PF Chang’s – you know, for a little local flavor. The next morning we were up bright and early for the hour drive to Pottsville. We were treated to a beautiful sunrise over the Arkansas River. The hills, the mist curling off the fields, even the swampy woods were very picturesque, and I had my morning latte in hand, so all was right with the world. Fortunately, our driver, Scholastic manager Jeff, had a map, because Pottsville is not listed on the mileage signs until you are almost to the town limits.

When we exited the highway, a police car (perhaps the only Pottsville police car) was waiting for us. This made me a bit nervous, because the last time I did a small town school visit I was driving myself, didn’t realize I was going through a school zone as I checked my map looking for the school, and got pulled over for speeding right in front of the host school. You can imagine the conversation in the front office:

“Where’s the author?”
“Oh, that’s him in front, getting arrested.”

Actually I just got a warning, but anyway . . .

Fortunately, the Pottsville police had not been forewarned of my reputation. The officer was just there to give us an honor escort to the school. That was a first. I felt I like should be waving and tossing candy as we headed through the town, although there would’ve been no one to wave back except a few horses.

We arrived at the school, which is a brand new beautiful building, and immediately the cameras started flashing. I think every step of my visit was documented – me eating a bagel, me washing my hands, etc. The librarian Donna was an amazing whirlwind of enthusiasm, which tipped me off right away as to how the school had won Scholastic’s contest twice. We met the administration, then had breakfast with the student crew that had designed last year’s winning fair. The kids were in 10th grade now, but they got special permission to come back to the junior school for the morning. I got to see pictures of their winning artwork – a big VW hippie bus with the slogan “Peace, Love, and Books.” Who knew Pottsville was such a hotbed of 60s counterculture activity? It was great meeting the kids and signing their award certificates. I also got to meet a lot of younger kids who were children of the faculty. Thanks to Caleb, Alexis, and the rest of you all for joining us!

The school had done an amazing job decorating for the event. The pre-AP art classes had created beautiful giant recreations of the Percy Jackson book covers, and portraits of the characters that were hanging up in the library. They made a welcome banner for me and the English classes had created their own Camp Half-Blood T-shirts, so when I did my presentations I was looking out at a sea of young demigods.

Both morning presentations went very well. The pre-algebra teacher had labeled her camp shirt “Mrs. Dodds,” and of course she asked (good-naturedly) why I had to vaporize the math teacher in The Lightning Thief. I told her the story of the real Mrs. Dodds, pre-algebra teacher at Saint Mary’s Hall, who is not in fact a monster but a friend of mine. I had originally used her name just for fun, although kids everywhere love the idea of vaporizing a math teacher. Don’t ask me why . . .

We had our own DJ between sessions, which was fine until he started playing YMCA, at which point I could only imagine Grover on stage, playing along on his reed pipes. A truly terrifying thought.

After the presentations, we had lunch with the staff, got a tour of the school, and had a reception for the teachers in the library. Then we headed back to Little Rock. The day validated my belief that small towns often do the best author visits, because it’s such a rare event and everyone gets so excited. I met the mayor, the county judge, the superintendent – My wife later asked me if I’d gotten the keys to the city, but I told her Pottsville is so small they don’t need keys. At any rate, I left with a wonderful impression of the town and its residents. Donna even gave me a bag of cookies to take on the plane home! Thanks to everyone in Pottsville who worked so hard to make the day a hit, and to make me feel so welcome. With energy and enthusiasm like that, I would not be surprised if Pottsville wins the contest a third time one of these days! Rachel from Scholastic has promised to send me a CD of pictures, so I will try to post those on the blog when I get them.

As for me, I’m home for the weekend then off the Washington D.C. next week for a series of school visits. In case you’re wondering: yes, I am traveling waaaaay too much. I’m not sure how I did that to myself, but not a lot of writing is getting done these days. Oh well, at least all the events have been great.

On my reading list these days: two wildly different books. I’m finishing up A Feast for Crows, the fourth volume in George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series for adults. Fantastic stuff, but extremely long. I’m also reading Ballistics by Billy Collins, one of my favorite contemporary poets. I’m not usually a poetry kind of guy, but Billy Collins just speaks to me. He is very down-to-earth and has a great sense of humor. I also got to read an advance copy of Jonathan Stroud’s upcoming “Heroes of the Valley,” which presents a cool alternate Viking world and an adventure worthy of Thor and Loki. Check it out when it’s published!

Have a good week, everyone, and keep reading.

Leaving Portland

I’m sitting in the Portland Airport after an excellent two-day visit. This is my third trip to Portland in the last six months, and the more time I spend here, the more I appreciate the city. I can certainly see how it got its laid-back reputation. Everyone I meet is so casual and friendly and nobody seems in a hurry. Last night we had a public event at a downtown church, sponsored by the Multnomah Library. Over six hundred people came. Sara from the library told me it was the largest such event they had ever hosted. Thanks to Nick and Gina, high schoolers from the teen advisory board, who did a great job introducing me. The crowd was very enthusiastic, and afterwards everyone was so patient and polite even though the line for book signing was well over an hour long.

The kids in the audience had some great questions. I couldn’t tell them much about THE LAST OLYMPIAN, as the story is still top secret, but we did discuss the next Camp Half-Blood series quite a bit. My plan is for another five-book story arc, featuring a new generation of demigods, but with several of the original cast from Percy Jackson making appearances. The big question: “Does that mean Percy lives?” Well, I should probably be secretive about that, but as a general rule I do not believe in killing off main characters, especially when I’m using a first-person narrator. “And then I died” just wouldn’t make a very good ending. Special thanks to Nishaa, a young fan who gave me a glass pendant she made and a beautiful portrait of Annabeth (which I would show you if I had a portable scanner). Thanks to everyone who came out for the event – so many great stories about how people discovered the Percy series!

This morning I did a school event at Parkrose High School. A lot of local middle schools were invited and again we had a crowd of over six hundred kids. Thanks to Ian, another teen advisory member, who wrote a great introduction for me, and to the Multnomah Library for sponsoring my visit. Hopefully I’ll get back to Portland in May for the release of THE LAST OLYMPIAN, though no tour plans have yet been announced.

Now it’s back home for a day, then off to Arkansas to visit Pottsville Middle School, which won the Scholastic Books national contest to get a visit with me!

The Demigod Files

Coming Feb. 10 to a bookstore near you: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: THE DEMIGOD FILES!

If you can't wait for THE LAST OLYMPIAN to arrive in May, this is the perfect book to tide you over. ("Tide" you over, get it? . . . little Poseidon humor there.)

The Demigod Files feature three Percy Jackson adventure stories to fill you in on what Percy does during the school year. You will see Thalia, Nico, Annabeth and all your favorites, plus cool new monsters, titans and godlings.

The Demigod Files also contain top secret exclusive interviews with characters from the series. What does Annabeth really think of Percy? Who would Clarisse most like to pulverize? What was the Stoll brothers' greatest prank? What magic item would Percy most like to have if he couldn't have Riptide? What is Grover's favorite song to play on the reed pipes? You'll find out the answers to these questions and more only in The Demigod Files.

You'll also get to see pictures of the major characters, a map of camp, and many other cool graphics and games.

Look for The Demigod Files on Feb. 10, and of course remember that Percy 5: THE LAST OLYMPIAN, will be released May 5!

A Few Last Pictures from England

The top two photos were taken at the Hawthorne Preparatory School. The bottom photo shows me with young fan Thomas at the Bath Festival for Children's Literature. I'd emailed with Thomas and his family last year, and it was great meeting him in person!

UK Wrap-up

It’s Friday evening and I’m sitting in the Malmaison Hotel, Reading, waiting for my last event of the UK tour.

The last two days have been really good. Thursday, we drove from Cheltenham to Gloucester for an event at King’s Junior School. It was a smaller crowd of years 5 and 6, but they were very excited and I signed lots of books. Gloucester has a beautiful cathedral (see above). The spires can be seen from the school. I’m told that large parts of the second Harry Potter movie were filmed at the Gloucester Cathedral. It definitely has a Hogwart’s feel to it.

From Gloucester we drove to Worcester and had lunch at the Oak Apple pub – a true slice of British life I doubt many tourists ever see. The pub advertised 24-hour curry, but I played it safe and ordered the fish and chips again. After lunch, we walked to Nunnery Wood Primary School. Of course it rained again, so I arrived soaked for my event. Two classes of students crammed into a classroom and we had a very nice (very cozy) assembly!

This morning we drove to Alexandra House, a conference center outside Swindon, where I addressed a teachers’ conference. Some students were also there from Swindon Primary, and they’d prepared lots of great questions. My favorite: “Being a writer is like being a god because you can create a world. Is it hard giving up control when your book is made into a movie?” Very intriguing idea. I would say, however, that this “god” is only good at creating books, and if I tried to make a movie, I would royally mess it up, so I’m happy leaving that to others! The students were all great, and I enjoyed meeting so many teachers. Many of the concerns they talked to me about are the same things we struggle with in the States – engaging reluctant readers, getting boys to read, helping kids with learning differences, and trying to teach under the pressure of all-important high stakes tests.

After the conference, I did one last school visit at Highworth Warneford School. As it turned out, the school was having an out-of-uniform day, and the librarian is an American from Indiana, so I felt like I was walking into an American school. Very disorienting, but once again the kids were a fabulous audience. The school has a wonderful view of the surrounding countryside, and is very close to the White Horse of Uffington, a Bronze Age carving in the side of a hill. We took the train to Reading, where I am now waiting for an evening event at the Abbey School. I understand Jane Austen attended school there! Tonight it’s back to London, followed by some stock signings on Saturday, and finally home on Sunday. Phew! It will be great to be back in Texas after two weeks away.

More later -- including exciting news about the upcoming Percy tie-in book, THE DEMIGOD FILES. Stay tuned!

Thursday in Cheltenham

I’m writing from Cheltenham in . . . (quickly consults map) . . . Gloucestershire, western England. The last few days have been incredibly busy, leaving little time for blogging or email, much less writing.

Monday was a gorgeous day in the London area. In the morning I took the train to Redhill with Louise from Puffin Books. Terry from Bookworms met us at the station and took us to Redgate Priory School. The students were very enthusiastic. I signed many Percy Jackson books and quite a few autograph books as well. Turns out the assistant head at the school had just returned from several years working as a guide in the Florida Everglades, and as I had just visited Florida, we chatted about that state. Small world.

Terry, Louise and I had lunch at a local pub and I got my obligatory serving of fish and chips. Eating fish and chips, strangely, reminds me of my childhood in Texas. That’s because my mom, who was raised partly in England, used to search out fish and chips shops in San Antonio when I was young. It’s odd sitting in an English pub, taking a bite of fish and chips, and getting nostalgic for San Antonio, but there you go.
In the afternoon we visited the Hawthorne Preparatory School – another good audience. The old Jacobean building was under construction, so I couldn’t admire the façade, but the interior was everything an ancient English school should be – dark portraits above the wood-paneled fireplace, uneven floors, narrow hallways. The students had just finished filling shoeboxes for Operation Christmas, so the place was piled with boxes and decorations.

That evening we had a nice dinner with booksellers and Puffin staff at the Charlotte Hotel. Special thanks to John and Vivian from Newham Books, who brought me a review by Robbie, age 11 – one of their patrons. Robbie had bicycled over to the store to deliver the review and his books for signing, and although I didn’t get to meet him in person, his glowing review meant a lot to me! Congratulations to Tamara and Georgina from Tales on Moon Lane. The store won an award for independent bookseller of the year. I got to visit their Herne Hill location last May, and I can certainly see why they won the award.

Tuesday the weather became cold and rainy again, but I will enjoy it while I can before heading back to steamy Texas. Tania from Puffin Books met me at Ravenscourt Primary in north London. The school was buzzing with activity, so I felt like one act in a three-ring circus, but the students were great. Thanks to Chantel from Waterstones for handling the book sales.

From there, Tania and I headed south of the Thames to Dulwich, a quiet and pretty neighborhood. We had lunch at the Dulwich Picture Gallery and checked out the art. As Tania said, we have now seen enough portraits to last a lifetime. The gallery had a special exhibition called “What Are You Like” featuring artwork by famous people, describing their interests. I must admit I didn’t know most of the British celebrities, but I did find Phillip Pullman’s picture. Apparently, Mr. Pullman’s favorite food is toast and dripping, which I’m told means the fat drippings from a meal. To each his own, I suppose. Shudder.

We had an afternoon presentation for the boys at Dulwich College – beautiful school, very receptive audience. We then headed back to the Puffin offices on the Strand for a meet and greet with the staff.

I was about ready to collapse at that point, but there was more to come. We took the train to Bishop Stortford College in Hertfordshire for an evening presentation. I’m always a little nervous about public events in the UK, because I’m not as well known here as in the States, but I needn’t have worried. Rosie the school librarian had done an amazing job getting the local kids excited about the event, and we had a full house.
I made it back to London very late that night and collapsed at the Waldorf, tired but very pleased with the day’s events.

Yesterday, Wednesday, was my busiest travel day so far. I met Reetu Kabra from Puffin at Euston Station (yes, in case you’re wondering, I stole Reetu’s surname for the Kabra siblings in 39 Clues). Fortified with much coffee, I boarded the train for Manchester. Our first event was at Bury Grammar School for year seven boys. They had also invited year seven girls from a neighboring school, so it was an interesting audience – boys on one side, girls on the other. I felt very schizophrenic by the end of the speech! We then took a long cab ride in a taxi that smelled like an ashtray (not recommended) to Bramhall, south of Manchester. Our hosts, Sue and Andrew from Simply Books, made us very welcome in their store. Sue took us to an event at Lady Barn House School in Cheadle. The English rain was pouring down, so I arrived for the visit completely soaked, but the students were a fabulous bunch and their enthusiasm more than made up for the weather. We had an afterschool public signing at Simply Books. Again, I wasn’t really expecting anyone to show up, but we had a constant stream of fans and I found myself signing books for the entire hour.

I certainly have noticed a change since I was here in May. More young readers are aware of the series. More fans show up at events, often with all four books in hand. Many people say they just found out about the series in the last six months, which is about when Puffin issued the new covers. Whoever said ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ clearly knew nothing about books. Everyone judges books by the covers, and apparently the new look has made a huge difference. Whatever the reason, Percy Jackson seems to be building steam in the UK, and I couldn’t be happier.

Now I’m at the Hotel du Vin in Cheltenham. Today we’re off to events in Gloucester and Worcester. I’ll let you know how it goes!