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This month The Edge of the Forest sat down for a cyber visit with
Rick Riordan to talk books, writing, and blogging. Rick Riordan is the author of the highly-acclaimed Percy Jackson series.
The first two volumes, The Lightning Thief and its sequel The
Sea of Monsters, are best-sellers and the third installment, The Titian's Curse, will be out in May 2007. Riordan
also runs a blog, Myth & Mystery,where he
talks about his writing and his life. Welcome, Rick!
The Edge of the Forest: What prompted you to start a blog? How does blogging fit with your writing? Do you find it
adds to or detracts from your creative life and writing?
Rick Riordan: Oh, it’s a complete distraction! I started it because I was curious why this new form of website was
so popular. I saw many other writers doing it. I’ve always tried to stay current when it comes to the Internet, so I gave
it a shot. Blogging is terrible for my writing schedule. It’s one more form of procrastination to indulge in. It has no
redeeming value whatsoever in terms of my creative life. And yet, you’ll notice I still do it...
It is an interesting, informal way to share thoughts. It’s sort of a cross between a diary, a travel journal, and an open
letter to friends. What good is it? Darned if I know. But it is fun.
The Edge of the Forest: What about blogging has surprised you as a writer?
Rick Riordan: That people actually read the posts. I still can’t quite get over that. Out of all the blogs in world,
why would anyone bother to read mine? And yet it seems that many people do, judging from the emails I get. The second
thing that surprised me was that I actually found things to blog about. I wasn’t sure I’d have anything to say when I first
started, but once the venue was there, blog pieces seemed to rush out to fill the void.
The Edge of the Forest: Do you have any advice for writers thinking about starting a blog?
Rick Riordan: Don’t do it! Write your book instead. Stop before it’s too late!
The Edge of the Forest: Was the desire to write fiction there from childhood or did it develop later on?
Rick Riordan: Definitely from childhood. I still have my first rejection note from when I was thirteen. I recently
unearthed a huge binder full of my old short stories from middle school—truly awful stuff, but yes, I always knew I
wanted to be a writer.
The Edge of the Forest: You have feet in two writing worlds with your Tres Navarre novels for adults and
Percy Jackson for young people. What interested you in writing for young people? Were there any challenges along
the way as you changed writing hats?
Rick Riordan: I was a middle school teacher long before I published my adult mysteries. I suppose the real question
is why it took me so long to realize I should be writing for the audience I knew best: kids. My students had been telling
me to write YA fiction for years, but I never had the right story to tell. That changed when my son was eight and asked for
a bedtime story based on Greek mythology. Percy Jackson was born, just like that. It was not planned at all. The story
found me. The biggest challenge was learning the publishing business from the children’s side. It’s a very different
world than adult publishing. But the writing itself really isn’t that different. Children expect the same things from a
story that adults do. If anything, children are a more demanding audience. They want a story that gets right to the point
and keeps their attention. They don’t want their time wasted. I can’t blame them.
The Edge of the Forest: How do you schedule your writing/research time?
Rick Riordan: My schedule is pretty chaotic, so it’s difficult to say what I “usually” do. I try to write at least a
little every day. The best times for me are early morning and late evening, the edges of the day. It’s a rare day when I
write more than four hours, however. After that, I start churning my wheels and get diminishing returns. I do a fair amount
of outlining and planning when I’m starting a novel. Then I write the rough draft straight through without stopping. That
takes a couple of months. After that, I revise over and over for about ten months. That’s definitely the hardest part of the
process.
The Edge of the Forest: Where do you write? Do you listen to music while you write?
Rick Riordan: No music. That’s just another distraction. I work on a laptop, so I can work pretty much anywhere, but
usually I vary between my in-home office and the garage, where I have another little office space set up. It depends on
which side of the house is quietest!
The Edge of the Forest: What plans do you have for the length of the series? What has been the impact of the series’
success on you?
Rick Riordan: There will be five books in the Percy Jackson series. Kids are always pleading with me to
make the series longer, but after five books, Percy’s story will be all told. I may find other Camp Half-Blood stories to
tell. I just don’t know yet. I’ll have to wait and see how things stand in a few years. One thing I know: a series needs to
end while the author is still excited about it. We’ve all read series, I’m sure, where you can tell the author is tired
of the characters. The later books just don’t stand up. I don’t ever want that to happen to Percy!
The success of the series has been wonderful, but I measure it in individual anecdotes. Every time I get an email from a
parent telling me The Lightning Thief was the first book their child ever read and loved, every time an
ADHD/dyslexic kid writes and says. ‘Thanks for making Percy like me, so I can feel proud of who I am,’ or every time a
teacher says, ‘Your book changed my curriculum and my classroom,’ that’s the best success I could ask for. That sort of
feedback reminds me why I am a writer.
The Edge of the Forest: Can you tell us about your most current project?
Rick Riordan: I’ve just started work on the fourth Percy Jackson book. I can’t tell you much about it, yet, but I’ve
got the plot all worked out. The third book, The Titan’s Curse, is done and will be out May 2007. It drives kids
crazy when I say I’m done writing it, but it won’t be out for nine months. Alas, the publishing process takes a very long
time even after the writing is done!
Rick Riordan's Books for Young Readers
The Lightning Thief. Miramax, 2005. ISBN: 0-6417-2344-X. (Paperback edition: Miramax, 2006. ISBN: 0-7868-3865-5.)
The Sea of Monsters. Miramax, 2006. ISBN: 0-7868-5686-6.
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