The Boxed Set Arrives, and other news

I got a present in the mail on Friday: the first, hot-off-the-press boxed set for the Percy Jackson series. It looks so awesome! It has all five hardcover books in a special camp chest with a secret compartment inside featuring a Camp Half-Blood map and other fun goodies. The boxed set will be available in stores starting Oct. 13. The Last Olympian paperback won't come out until the spring, so a paperback boxed set of all five titles is probably still another year away, but if you're looking for a very cool collector's item, the hardcover set is awesome.

Other exciting news: Disney-Hyperion is releasing a deluxe limited edition hardcover of The Lightning Thief on Nov. 3. You can see it above in its fancy blue slipcover. This edition features brand new full-color illustrations by our gifted cover artist, John Rocco, and they are fabulous!

Looking farther down the line, Disney-Hyperion will release the Ultimate Guide to Percy Jackson in February to coincide with the Lightning Thief movie. The Ultimate Guide is a compendium of information and full-color illustrations of Percy Jackson's world, including a bestiary of Greek monsters, and scrapbook of Percy's life, a guide to life at Camp Half-Blood, a tour of the Underworld by Nico di Angelo, a trip through the Labyrinth, and much more.

Many of you have asked about a Percy Jackson graphic novel, and I'm pleased to announce it is in the works too. The tentative release date is 10/19/10. I've seen some preliminary artwork, and it looks awesome. I think you'll be pleased with how Percy's world comes to life in pictures.

Final bit of news: my Egyptian mythology book now has a release date -- May 4, 2010! I can't share the title quite yet, but that should be coming soon. John Rocco, who created the art for Percy, is busy designing a series logo and a cover for the Egyptian book right now, and I'm very excited!

Speaking of the Egyptian book, I did my first 'sneak peek' reading yesterday at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. It was a rainy day but we had thousands of people brave the weather. We had one hour for the signing time, which was not nearly enough to get everyone through the line, and unfortunately because of security concerns and the tight schedule of the festival, they couldn't let me stay longer to accommodate more signing. I apologize to the fans who waited and didn't get a book signed. I tried to catch as many of you as I could between the signing time and my presentation, but unfortunately I had to race to catch a plane after the presentation, and I wasn't able to get to everyone. I really appreciate everyone who showed up, though!

We had a great time during the presentation. The tent was dangerously overcrowded, but everyone was super polite and no one got hurt as far as I could tell! The kids asked great questions. I read the first page from the Egyptian book, and the response was super enthusiastic, even though the sound cut out on us at the last sentence. How dramatic! Sorry I couldn't spend more time with the thousands of fans who attended -- you were all fantastic -- but I enjoyed my brief trip to Washington. If you haven't attended the National Book Festival, I highly recommend it.

Now I'm going back into writing mode. I have cleared this school year of most travel, since I want to finish the new Camp Half-Blood book as quickly as I can. My only other appearance this fall will be at the Texas Book Festival on Halloween, Oct. 31. You can check the TBF website for details. Hopefully I'll be able to share that sneak peek at the Egyptian book, and I'm also going to bring something special for show-and-tell, but I'm keeping that a surprise.

Happy reading, everyone!

Pictures from Camp Half-Blood '09

Greetings from cool and rainy San Antonio. After three brutal months of dry heat, it’s nice to have a wet cold spell – well, in the 70s, which qualifies as fall weather for us.

Above are some pictures from BookPeople’s Camp Half-Blood Austin 2009. Thank you to Topher for sending them, and to Kyle Kurlick, who took the photos and gave us permission to post them. From all reports, the camp was amazing this year and every session was sold out. The campers went up against a nefarious group of villains known as the League of Machines and Monsters. The Austin branch shared information by Skyping with the branches in Wichita Falls and Decatur. Pretty cool! It takes a huge amount of time and energy to plan and run a camp. Once again, I raise my sword in salute to Topher and all the other counselors for doing so much to make the summer memorable for young demigods.

Above, you can get a taste of life at the camp, though these twenty pictures can only capture a small bit of its awesomeness. We have phalanx training with mock spears and shields, marching practice, and javelin throwing. The Hunters of Artemis represent! There's the swimming hole, though I don't know if those are naiads or campers in the water. The fellow with the fearsome red mohawk is Thomas, son of Apollo or Ares (Depending on who you ask). Then we have Topher leading campers through the woods, no doubt on the lookout for machines and monsters from the evil League. You can see campers working on their rock climbing, archery, and chariot skills, and of course lots of time for hanging out with friends. Thanks to everybody who participated in the camps -- Percy would be proud to call you his friends.

In other news, it’s been a busy few weeks, as I’ve started work on the next Camp Half-Blood series. Can’t give you any details yet, I’m afraid. I appreciate all the suggestions people have sent, but the series is already all planned out and the first manuscript is off to a good start. Hopefully, the book will be published next winter, 2010. Stay tuned for more details!

News Roundup

If I’ve been quieter than usual on the blog, it’s because I’ve been feverishly finishing a manuscript. This is the Egyptian mythology book, which should be out in May if all goes according to plan. It is not connected with the Percy Jackson series or Greek mythology, but like Percy Jackson, it is a modern-day adventure and it was SO fun to write. I just sent the manuscript to my editor.

People often ask, “Well, if it’s finished, why isn’t it in the bookstores?” Alas, it takes several months and several more revisions to get everything just right, and then the process of proofreading, typesetting, and publishing takes several more months, plus printing, taking orders from booksellers, etc. That’s why it won’t be out until spring 2010. I can’t give you any more details about this book yet – not even the title – but hopefully I will be able to soon. Meanwhile, I’m launching straight into my next project – the first book in the new Camp Half-Blood series. It’s pretty much planned out already, but I can’t give you any hints. It will be a while before I release more information. I’m excited though. It’s going to be a lot of fun. That book (fingers crossed) will be out winter 2010.

In other news, I just got back from a signing in Nashville, wrapping up the Barnes & Noble summer reading program. Before the event, I got a tour of the reconstructed Parthenon, which is quite amazing. The statue of Athena must be seen to be believed. I understand the film crew for the Lightning Thief movie was there the week before I was. Why? Well, you’ll have to wait and see, but as I said, you should expect the movie to be different than the book.

The Barnes & Noble event went very well. We had well over a thousand people, but everyone was very polite and patient in the signing line. Thanks to all the kids who gave me letters, stories and pictures. We even had one family that drove all the way from Toronto. Holy Hera! Thanks to the store’s staff for making the event go smoothly.

I’ve intentionally kept this school year free of travel so I can finish the Camp Half-Blood book without making you guys wait any longer than you have to, but I do have two more appearances this fall. I will be at the National Book Festival in Washington, DC on Sept. 26, and I’ll be attending the Texas Book Festival in Austin the weekend of Oct. 31.

The kids have been back in school for two weeks and seem to be enjoying the school year – not as much as summer break of course, but it’s going well. Some of our family’s favorite reads this summer: Patrick, Becky and Haley all got caught up on Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy, including the new third title, The Faceless Ones. They thought it was the best one yet. Patrick also read through book five of 39 Clues. Haley read one of my favorite classic fantasies, The Wizard of Earthsea. Becky read through Angie Sage’s Septimus Heap series, which she loved, and highly recommends Anne Ursu’s conclusion to her Greek mythology series, The Immortal Fire.

As for me, I just finished The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Despite their similar titles, the books have nothing in common except for being well written. The Name of the Wind is a fantasy about Kvothe, legendary adventurer and jack-of-all-trades, who is looking back on his life now that he has settled down (supposedly) as an innkeeper. If Charles Dickens wrote a fantasy novel, it might sound something like this. Imagine Great Expectations with magic. I loved the main character’s voice and will look forward to the sequel, though I don’t envy Mr. Rothfuss his task of following up such a brilliant debut. Zafon’s Name of the Wind is about a Spanish boy who stumbles across the works of a mysterious author, Julian Carax, only to find that someone is out to burn all remaining copies of Carax’s novels, and the protagonist’s life begins to take some disturbing turns that parallel Carax’s own life. The book is well translated and features an incredibly vibrant cast of characters.

That’s it for now. I hope everyone who went back to school – staff and students alike – is having a good year so far!

Demigod of the Week

Thanks to Jean-Paul for sending in this picture of Percy. Nice job! Jean-Paul is our demigod of the week.