Rick Riordan's Blog

The newest Percy Jackson adventure WRATH OF THE TRIPLE GODDESS will be published in the UK and US on Sept. 24!  More information below:

Summary:

Percy Jackson has saved the world multiple times – battling monsters, Titans, even death himself – so graduating high school should be a breeze, right?

Wrong. Percy needs three recommendation letters from the gods before his final year in high school comes to an end. And one thing Percy knows, the gods on Mount Olympus don’t do anything for free.

Following his first adventure in Chalice of the Gods, Percy must now secure his second recommendation letter. With his friends Annabeth and Grover, he agrees to a new quest – pet-sitting for the goddess Hecate while she’s away over Halloween. They just need to follow her simple rules:

Look after the pets like their lives depend on it (because they do)Don’t touch anything – especially Hecate’s magic potions!See points 1 and 2

But when Grover’s curiosity gets the better of him, the trio find themselves with a giant goat, a destroyed house, and Hecate’s (terrifying and potentially deadly) pets on the loose in New York City.

Now the trio have only four days to find the pets and restore the mansion to order – or face the full fury of Hecate and her horrifying three-heads.

To pre-order the North American edition from your favorite bookseller, check the link on ReadRiordan. 

Barnes and Noble is also offering an exclusive edition with sprayed edges, end paper art, and a special section on the witches of Greek mythology. You can pre-order that edition here.

The UK edition is available for pre-order from your favorite booksellers here.

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Waterstones is also offering an exclusive edition with sprayed edges which you can pre-order here.

There are no signed editions of this book, unfortunately, because my signing hand finally gave out last year.  This also means there are no in-person events for this book. Apologies for that! I hope you enjoy it, nevertheless. It was so much fun to write! As per usual, translated editions take longer, and I do not have any information on when editions may be available in other languages. Your best bet is to ask whatever booksellers are available in your area. Happy reading!

The post One Month Until Triple Goddess! first appeared on Rick Riordan.

An article I recently wrote for the Metropolitan Museum about the birth of Percy Jackson and its connection to the museum: https://www.metmuseum.org/perspective...

Hello, all. It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to write an update, but I hope you are staying healthy and safe and finding many good books to read. Here at Athena House, Riordan headquarters in Boston, life is busy !

WRATH OF THE TRIPLE GODDESS

I have at long last finished my revisions on WRATH and submitted it to my publisher. Hooray! The book will be published on Sept. 24.  This is the second new Percy Jackson adventure after CHALICE OF THE GODS. It focuses on the classic trio, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover, as they try to complete the ultimate heroic quest of finding godly recommendation letters to get Percy into college. Wish them luck! As you may have read, I pitched three ideas for new Percy books when we were initially trying to entice Disney into making Percy Jackson a TV show. It turned out we didn’t need to use those ideas, but once the show was in progress, writing the new books seemed like a good way to celebrate Percy’s ‘rebirth’ with my readers. WRATH focused on the goddess of witchcraft, Hecate, who asks our heroes to pet-sit her supernatural companions while she is away for Halloween. Spookiness ensues.

Sadly, I will not be doing an in-person tour for this book in the fall. We anticipate being back at work producing season two of Percy Jackson and the Olympians by then, if all goes according to plan, and also, to be honest, I kind of want a breather from touring! Last year was incredible with three different media tours — for The Sun and the Star, Chalice of the Gods, and of course the TV show. But this year is going to be more about catching up with projects.

Also, I apologize in advance that I won’t be signing copies of WRATH. One result of last year’s epic touring was that my signing hand finally said, “Okay, I’m done! Enough!” It’s been a wonderful problem and privilege to sign tens of thousands of books every year. I’ve been doing that for over fifteen years now, sometimes for two books a year, but now I have done some real damage to my hand and I need to let it heal. Physical therapy is helping. I just need to be careful.  Thanks for understanding. I hope you’ll enjoy the book regardless!

PJOTV

Hopefully you heard the news that Percy Jackson and the Olympians will be back for season two on Disney+. Season one did very well indeed, and we are all excited to continue the story. I can only provide the most general of updates, but we’re making excellent progress. Becky and I continue to serve as executive producers the same way we did on season one. I read every outline and every script, making notes as needed. As I’ve said before, TV is a team sport. It is impossible for any one person to control every aspect of such a huge endeavor. When you watch any show, you are watching the collective vision and creative input of an entire team. That said, everyone involved is committed to bringing the Percy Jackson story to the screen in a faithful way, but also adding value and depth with glimpses into the characters’ lives and backstories so that even fans who have read the books hundreds of times will find new enjoyment and a few surprises. Our job is to build on the solid foundation of season one. I’m a perfectionist. I believe that we can always do better. I think we’re off to a good start with this new season as we recreate The Sea of Monsters. 

Scripts: We are working from an eight-episode outline that I created last year, detailing what each episode will cover from the book. From there, the writers’ room has drawn up a more detailed outline of each episode (with my input). I have read all those outlines and they’re in really good shape. The next step is writing the actual scripts. Half of those are done and the rest are in progress. I am pleased with the results so far.

Artwork: Our team has begun designing sets and creature artwork. Everything I have seen so far looks incredible. I am constantly amazed how our designers can find new ways to bring these scenes to life. If you’ve read the book Sea of Monsters, you already know some of the treats that await you, but I won’t spoil the surprises.

Casting: Our core team of actors is so excited to get back to filming, and so are we!  Regarding new castings, as I’ve mentioned before, that is all handled by our casting director. I don’t get involved until they start sending the producers audition tapes to look at. I know of no plans for open casting calls for any roles, so I would not expect any announcements from me about how to submit for this role or that role.  I can only tell you that all the actors who have made it onto our show got the job because they’ve worked incredibly hard for years learning how to act, committing themselves to their careers with no guarantees of success and many sacrifices, accumulating auditions and rejections, and getting better at their craft. They won the roles by competing against hundreds, even thousands of other actors who have done the exact same hard work. Even the youngest ones are pros, and it shows in their tapes.

Best advice if you want to act: Do what they did. Commit yourself to it. Start small and work your way up. Do auditions as much as you can. Learn how the system works. Eventually, try to get a reputable agent. That is a huge step that tells the industry: “Someone in the business believes I have the talent.” It’s similar in publishing. Getting a deal for a book is very difficult without a literary agent who has pre-screened your work and agreed to represent you. Most publishing houses won’t even consider un-agented manuscripts.

At any rate, we have only just begun our casting conversations for season two. When I know more about which actors have been chosen for what parts, I will let you know, but that is still quite a ways away.

MISCELLANEOUS

As far as other TV/film projects, the industry is presently in a state of contraction. Streaming services are taking a hard look at how much money they spend, and it is getting more difficult to get a film or show made. Many projects that have been in development have been shelved. For instance, I previously wrote that the rights for The Kane Chronicles have reverted to me after being in script development as a feature at Netflix for several years. I’m not sorry we went through that process. There are no hard feelings! I met many talented people and learned a lot about script development. Becky and I are exploring other options for Kane, but there is nothing I can announce yet. We will hold out for the right deal in the right place. Similarly, Daughter of the Deep rights have reverted to me after being in script development as a feature at Disney+. There was no issue with the script or the team. I loved everyone we were working with! It was simply a budgetary call, as I understand it, and Daughter would be an expensive film to make. I know these kind of setbacks are disappointing to fans, but they are common in the film industry, and happen more times than not. Getting anything made, even in the best of times, is monstrously difficult. I have gained a lot of respect for the producers, executives and writers who manage to navigate the rapids and get projects through. I don’t know what the future holds for Daughter. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Magnus Chase I am intentionally holding in reserve, not seeking a deal for that series yet, as I want to have more bandwidth available to do it justice when and if we get it placed somewhere.

Future writing projects for me? Nothing I can announce yet, but there are a few fun things in the works. I love writing, and see no reason to stop as long as there are readers who are excited for new books! In the meantime, check out the latest titles for our incredible authors at Rick Riordan Presents. Happy reading!

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The next Percy Jackson adventure, WRATH OF THE TRIPLE GODDESS, now has cover art, as first revealed by The Hollywood Reporter. The book will be published in North America and in the UK markets on Sept. 24, which means I really have to finish revising it. Yikes! But don’t worry, I’m pretty much on track compared to my usual writing schedule. As for international markets in languages other than English, as usual the pub date depends on how quickly the publishers can get the book translated and into your hands for your country. I don’t have confirmed dates, but I know all of our partners are working to make that happen asap.

This is the second of three ideas I developed for Percy, Annabeth and Grover-based adventures four years ago when we were initially trying to get Disney to support a PJO TV show, and although I didn’t NEED to write these books, once I had the ideas, they sort of developed a life of their own, as ideas sometimes do, and writing them felt like a good way to celebrate the show with my longtime readers. What’s the second book about? Here’s a little summary:

Percy Jackson has saved the world multiple times – battling monsters, Titans, even death himself – so graduating high school should be a piece of cake, right?

Wrong. Percy needs three college recommendation letters from the gods before his final school year comes to an end. And one thing Percy knows, the Greek gods don’t do anything for free.

He earned his first one by retrieving Ganymede’s lost chalice. Now, to secure his second letter, Percy and his friends Annabeth and Grover must agree to a new challenge – pet-sitting for the goddess Hecate while she’s away over Halloween week. They just need to follow her simple rules:

Look after her pet polecat and mastiff like their lives depend on it (because they do).Don’t touch anything – especially Hecate’s magic potions!

But when Grover’s curiosity gets the better of him, the friends find themselves with a giant goat, a destroyed mansion, and Hecate’s (terrifying and potentially deadly) pets on the loose in New York City.

Now the trio have only days to find the pets and restore the mansion to order – or face the full fury of Hecate and her horrifying three-heads. It’s going to take luck, demigod wiles, and some old and new friends to hunt down the animals and set things right again.

The U.S. edition cover looks like this, with artwork by Victo Ngai:

The U.K. cover looks like this, with artwork by Khadijah Khatib:

I love them both! Both artists are so incredibly talented. Whichever cover you get, I hope you’ll enjoy the story inside!

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Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, demigods!

After four years of work, I am delighted to announce that the first two episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians are NOW streaming on Disney+, and the first episode is also available on Hulu. The early reviews have been incredible. 97% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes? I mean . . . that’s beyond my wildest hopes, but this cast and crew worked very hard to make it this good.

Now Streaming!

Becky and I are just back from an intensive press junket and premieres in New York and London, where we had the pleasure of hanging out with our stellar team to celebrate this show. Here are some photos to give you a glimpse of the festivities!

Becky and I arrive at the Met in NYC for the premiere.

PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS – World Premiere of Disney+ Original series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. (Disney/Heather Sten)
ARYAN SIMHADRI, WALKER SCOBELL, LEAH SAVA JEFFRIESPERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS – World Premiere of Disney+ Original series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. (Disney/Heather Sten)
DIOR GOODJOHN (Clarisse LaRue, representing in Ares red!)PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS – World Premiere of Disney+ Original series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. (Disney/Heather Sten)
CHARLIE BUSHNELL (Mr. Luke Castellan, looking sharp!)

Olivea Morton (aka Nancy Bobofit) arrives at the Met and is NOT pushed into a fountain!

Timothy Omundson (Hephaestus) looking distinguished and powerful!

Jason Mantzoukas (Dionysus) giving you that “I may turn you into a dolphin now” look.

Adam Copeland, Lord Ares himself, bringing his top-tier hat game to the battle (er, premiere).

Glynn Turman (Chiron), trainer of heroes, award-winning rodeo cowboy, acting legend!

Virginia Kull (Sally Jackson) — your mom faves could never!

The squad (Aryan, Leah and Walker) arriving to handle all your monster-vanquishing needs.

Enjoy the show, my friends! This is a winter solstice we’ve been waiting to celebrate for a long, long time.

The post And so it begins! Percy Jackson is streaming NOW! first appeared on Rick Riordan.

Hello, all! One week to go until the Percy Jackson TV show premieres on Disney+, Dec. 20, and Becky and I are in New York for the red carpet premiere with the cast and crew! The excitement is real.

We loved hanging out with our cast at the Empire State Building yesterday and taking a trip up to the secret 600th floor. Yes, I know the secret of getting up there. Nope, I’m not telling! Here I am behind the security desk, entering my personal access code:

The cast had a couple of busy days doing press interviews and photo ops.

Tonight, I can’t wait to see the cast and crew at the red carpet premiere and celebrate this series. It has been an incredible experience! Tomorrow, we all jet off to London for a premiere there this weekend.

Before all that, however, I wanted to thank all of you who submitted questions for the Instagram Live session yesterday. Since we only got to answer five of them on line, I thought I would pick a few more and answer them here!

I heard that the character Argus was being removed from the show. Was there any particular reasoning as to why?

Well, partly it’s because it would have been super expensive to create Argus’ eyes all over his body and we had to be mindful of our budget (even though we had a great budget), but the bigger issue was that the episode at camp was already so crowded with so many characters and scenes that we decided having Argus there also would be too much. The scene where he would have appeared is a really serious emotional moment, and his presence would have sort of stepped on the dynamics. Hopefully we’ll get to see him in a later season if we get more seasons!

Were there any changes that you all made to the plot/details from the source material while adapting the book to show format that you were excited (or not excited) to make?

When you adapt a book for screen there have to be some changes because it’s a different medium. For instance, in the book you are in Percy’s POV the entire time and his voice is constantly in your head. You can’t really do that the same way in a TV show. Even with eight episodes, you can’t show every single description of action or line of dialogue from the book, because it wouldn’t translate and feel the same. It’s weird, but you sort of have to change things to make the story feel the same. I think, though, that when you watch the show, it will feel like the book, and you will say, “Yes, that is the story of The Lightning Thief.” That’s the most important thing for me.

How did you balance managing comedy and still making the show scary for younger audiences?

We had a lot of conversations about this. We want it to be a show everyone will enjoy. I think the humor helps with that, because it does balance out the scary stuff. It’s a tough thing to do, but I think we got it right. Tell me what you think when you watch the show!

Are you working on A heroes of olympus TV series or movie?

Way too early for that. I want to get Percy Jackson adapted first, because that story comes first, right? Whether or not we get to Heroes . . . if it happens, that would be many years in the future.

Are you nervous about the reviews that are coming soon?

The only thing that is certain whenever a book or a show comes out is that everyone will have an opinion! That’s fine. Some people will love it. Some people won’t. The thing I care about most is that Percy Jackson book fans are happy with it, and early indications have been extremely positive. I think, though, that it’s a show anyone can love even if you don’t know the books. Sure, I get nervous waiting for reviews to come in, but after writing books for twenty years, I’m also kind of used to it.

Which was the scene you were most excited to see adapted and your mind finally blow up when you saw the kids/actors playing it finally?

My mind blew up a lot during this process! I love the St. Louis Arch scene. You’ll see what I mean in episode four. The three main actors did an amazing job. Walker is a lot braver than I am. He had to deal with a fire-breathing Chimera!

From my 11 year old son who is so excited for the TV series: will we see the zoo truck scene?

Let me put it this way: the title for episode six is “We Take a Zebra to Vegas.”

What was the biggest challenge you encountered? (LOVE the casting, btw)

The whole process was a challenge! Making a TV show is hard! I guess the biggest challenge was the sheer amount of time it took to get the scripts written. It’s a very long and detailed process, but hopefully the time and effort paid off.

Give us some blue food recommendations to make on the premiere day!!

Don’t look at me; I can’t cook! Whenever I try to make blue food, it turns out either purple or green. I don’t know . . . Skittles?

Can Riptide run out of ink?

HAHA. I haven’t checked. Percy doesn’t like to write, so I doubt he would ever test that theory. But no, I think it has infinite ink because it is magical.

Do you think post production has gone well? The effects and the music, are they to your taste or was there higher authority over their choice? Like, I love Riptide as a song, but might we be getting some 2010s music, just for nostalgia?

Post-production is at least as hard as actual production, and so many people spent so much time on this show. I think the final product looks and sounds fantastic. I can’t take credit for the music. I didn’t even know Riptide was going to be in the trailer until I saw it! But I agree, it’s a perfect choice. The series isn’t meant to be set in the 2010s. It’s meant to be a sort of timeless ‘modern day’ vibe, so we aren’t trying to capture a certain decade. Bear McCreary did the music for us, so most of what you hear will be new music from him!

Tell us more about on-set shenanigans by leah, walker and aryan pls.

My favorite memory from the first day of production: Aryan and Walker had just wrapped filming and they were in such a good mood and so full of energy that they started, like, ballroom dancing in the parking lot. They were just goofing around, but it made me so happy to see them so happy. I also remember when we were prepping to film, the stunt team asked the kids what they wanted to do to get started and they said they wanted to do an “Avengers”-style combat scene. So the team gave Aryan, Leah and Walker swords and hooked them into harnesses so they could do these flying leaps. They launched themselves into the air and came down into battle against the stunt trainers. It was amazing. I still have the footage on my phone. Maybe someday if I get approval, I will share it. Finally, I found out that Leah loves dogs, so we bonded talking about our own pets and we spent a lot of time taking care of the dogs that hung out at the offices: Zoe, Dexter and Chili, who were there almost every day. It made the production office a great place to be!

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Hello, all. Just a quick post to say hooray for the actors’ strike coming to a successful resolution. Good job, SAG-AFTRA! I am delighted that our actors for Percy Jackson will now be able to talk about the show, attend publicity events, and of course, get back to work when/if we get going for a second season. No further news on that front, but fingers remain crossed, as always. I can’t wait to catch up with these fine heroes, who recently graced the cover of Variety.

The first two episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians are scheduled to premiere on Disney+ on Dec. 20. I hope you’ll enjoy! All the feedback from those who have seen early clips has been incredibly positive. I have gotten so many comments that basically say, “Finally, a faithful adaptation!” I agree. I think you’ll be pleased.

While on the subject of Percy Jackson, we just received this strange communication from Mount Olympus. Do you think the numbers on the clock mean something? Hmm. Messages from the gods are always mysterious. I guess we will have to wait and see . . .

https://cdn.rickriordan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/10163955/Clock_IG_TT.mp4

 

The post A Weekend Update first appeared on Rick Riordan.

If you haven’t been keeping up with the newest releases from Rick Riordan Presents, I understand! We’ve been publishing so many great books by so many amazing authors, it’s sometimes hard to keep track of them all. Not to worry: here’s a rundown of what is most recent and what is coming up . . .

Sarwat Chadda’s second Mesopotamia-inspired adventure came out Aug. 1, and it’s somehow even better than the first. I mean what do you expect when there are dragons involved? Get your copy here!

Rosh Chokshi returns, this time with a new adventure exploring Filipino folklore! It’s hard to pick, but I think this may be my favorite Chokshi book yet! The book was published on Sept. 6, and you can order a copy here!

Published on Sept. 9, Roseanne Brown takes us back to the world of Ghanaian mythology in SERWA BOATENG’S GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAYHEM — all the humor, all the fun, all the amazing monsters!

Published Oct. 10: I just love the world J.C. Cervantes has created, drawing on Aztec and Maya mythology. The Shadow Bruja series has been an absolute delight, and the newest volume, Dawn of the Jaguar, is out now!

Another chance to explore the Thousand Worlds? Yes, please! Yoon Ha Lee takes us back to the stars, with another incredible mix of Korean mythology and science fiction in Fox Snare, published Oct. 17.

From our YA series, A DROP OF VENOM is a fantastic mix of the Medusa myth and Indian mythology. This one is coming out Jan. 16, and has already garnered two starred reviews. Preorder yours today!

I can’t wait for Feb. 6, when we get to return to the magical world of Winston Chu, the San Francisco Bay Area mixed with Chinese folklore and mythology!

And put this one on your long-range radar! Coming May 14 is this young adult title from Sarah Dass, who offers up a thriller infused with Caribbean folklore! Preorder and prepare to be thrilled!

The post The Newest from Rick Riordan Presents first appeared on Rick Riordan.

Becky and I are just back from a busy weekend with events at the Boston Book Festival and New York Comic-Con.

Before I get into that, however, some words to acknowledge the ongoing horrors in Israel and Gaza. As many of you may know, I am no longer on social media. My accounts post only updates on my books and related projects. I do not read posts, reply to posts, or share my thoughts about world events on those forums. That doesn’t mean I don’t have strong feelings and reactions. It means I am offline as completely as possible, except for the occasional blog post like this one.

I will say this: Over the last eighteen years, I have received many fan letters from young readers, both Israeli and Palestinian, who often told me that my books helped them escape the fear, grief and anxiety they were dealing with at the time. Some had lost family members to violence. Some were writing while in the distance they could hear explosions, gunfire, and the launching of rockets. They used my books as a way to escape into another world, where the monsters were fictional, and where demigods usually saved the day. While I am always glad that my books can help young readers find joy during difficult times, my heart breaks every time I hear about the things they have to deal with. I am grief-stricken by the horrific events now unfolding, especially because I know that they are part of a long historic pattern that has been robbing too many children of their childhood and perpetuating hatred for far too long.

I am also quite aware that when anyone, myself included, tries to speak about this issue, the reader is waiting to pounce, thinking, “Yes, but whose side are you on?” That is exactly the wrong question. If there are two sides to this issue, those sides are not Palestinian/Israeli or Muslim/Jewish. The two sides are humanitarian and dehumanizing. Dehumanizing has a long evil history. It is appealing and easy to buy into, because humans are tribal animals. We are hardwired to think in terms of ‘us’ versus ‘them.’  We are the real humans, the good guys, the ones with God on our side. Those other people are evil monsters who don’t deserve empathy. Hate mongers have thrived on dehumanizing for as long as there have been humans. It provides them with a purpose, a way to rally support, power, and scapegoats. It is  easy to point to atrocities committed by our enemies, while justifying or minimizing the atrocities committed by ourselves or our allies.

Humanitarianism is a much harder sell. It requires us to empathize, to see other groups of people as equally deserving of dignity and quality of life. It requires not always putting ourselves and our needs first. But in the long run, humanitarianism is our only hope. If violence could end violence, if we could put an end to “those other people” once and for all, human history would read very differently than it does.

So yes, I am appalled by the Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians. I am appalled by the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Both things can be true. Both things must be true. My thoughts are with all the people who have died, who have lost loved ones, who have had their worlds and their lives shattered, especially the children. More death and violence will not break this cycle, which has been going on for generations. There is no military solution. Even since I first wrote the post, only twenty-four hours ago, the Israeli government’s brutal retaliation against the entire population of Gaza has reached genocidal proportions. This is not only an atrocity. It is folly. Answering misery with misery only creates more fertile ground for extremism, dehumanizing the “other side,” letting hate mongers thrive, stay in power, and reduce us all to our most monstrous impulses. The only real solution is treating each other like equally worthy human beings, and negotiating a peace that allows all parties a chance to live in security and dignity, with hopes for a future that does not include bombs and rockets and gunfire. This means security and support for Israel, yes. It also means a secure Palestine which is allowed to get the international aid and recognition it needs to build a viable state.

Do I think that will happen? Unfortunately, no. Humans are simply too selfish, too ready to blame “the other” for all their problems, too ready to dehumanize, though I also believe, perhaps paradoxically, that most people just want to live their lives in peace and have a chance for their children to have a brighter future. The problem is when we don’t allow other people to have those same hopes and dreams — when it becomes a false choice of us versus them.

What can I do? I will continue to write books that I hope will give young readers some joy. I will resist the urge to demonize entire groups of people. I will call for less violence, not more violence. And when asked whose side I am on, I will tell you I am on the side of humanitarianism.

So with that said, I return to the world of books . . .

The Boston Book Festival on Saturday was my last publicity event for The Chalice of the Gods. It was great to celebrate the book in my hometown on a beautiful October day. Special thanks to the Henry family for introducing me, to Harvard Book Store for supplying our books, and to Liz Phipps Soeiro, director of Boston Public School Library Services, for moderating our Q&A. Any time we can get several thousand people together to share their excitement about reading, it’s a good day.

Be sure to check out this great illustrated article by Sage Stossel in the Boston Globe!

A favorite moment: During a VIP meet-and-greet backstage before the event, I showed a young visitor a small clip from the upcoming TV show on my phone. This was one of the scenes that would be shared at ComicCon the next day, where Percy is surrounded by Clarisse and her cronies during capture-the-flag. This young man’s sister, also present, was a big fan of the books, but he himself had not read Percy Jackson and didn’t know much about it. He watched the clip, became outraged on behalf of poor Percy, and pointing to Clarisse’s crew, demanded, “Who are these people?” I couldn’t help but laugh. I said, “Yeah, Percy is asking himself the same thing right about now.” I think our visitor was convinced to check out the book, and to watch the show.

On stage at ComicCon

Later that afternoon, Becky and I took the train to Manhattan. We were not scheduled to appear at ComicCon, but we thought it would be fun to surprise the fans at the panel for the Percy Jackson TV show. Becky and I — as executive producers for Mythomagic, Inc. — appeared on stage toward the end of the panel on Sunday and introduced the last clip: the same capture-the-flag clip I mentioned above. We were so honored by the huge welcome we received from the crowd. Becky thanked all the demigods in their orange T-shirts for coming out, braving the many monsters at ComicCon in order to make the panel. I think it’s safe to say the exclusive footage from the TV show was well-received. I am not allowed to share that footage with the wider public — you’ll have to wait until the show airs on Dec. 20 — but I think you will be pleased!

In the meantime, here is some character art that was shared online by our show’s account @percyseries, showing our amazing cast in costume!

The late great Lance Reddick as Zeus. Power personified.

Toby Stephens as Poseidon. Truly a god of the sea.

Jay Duplass as Hades. Would you buy a used afterlife from this man? Think carefully!

Adam Copeland as Ares. War and violence, delivered with panache.

Megan Mullally as Mrs. Dodds (aka the Fury Alecto). You’d best do your homework, kids.

Jessica Parker Kennedy as Medusa. Putting the ‘gorgeous’ into ‘gorgon.’

Jason Mantzoukas as Mr. D (aka Dionysus). Where does he get those marvelous shirts?

Glynn Turman as Mr. Brunner (aka Chiron). A gentleman and a scholar, also half a stallion.

Charlie Bushnell as Luke Castellan. Amazing as either a friend or enemy! (And the scar is there. You just can’t see it under the helmet.)

Dior Goodjohn as Clarisse LaRue. Pure menace never looked so good!

Timothy Omundson as Hephaestus. The god of machines and fire shows himself, if ever so briefly, from behind the curtain!

Lin-Manuel Miranda as Hermes. Just wait until you see him play the part. ‘Nuff said!

Virginia Kull as Sally Jackson. The mom we need, not the mom we deserve.

Timm Sharp as Gabe Ugliano. Yes, he’s actually smiling in this picture, but that’s probably just because he’s dreaming of sandwiches and get-rich-quick schemes.

Suzanne Cryer as Echidna. How can such a lovely person embody such an icily sinister, primordial power like the Mother of Monsters? You will be terrified when you see . . .

Now Becky and I are back home in Boston, and I am back to writing my next book, WRATH OF THE TRIPLE GODDESS. Stay safe, keep reading, and see you on December 20 for the Percy Jackson premiere on Disney+!

 

The post From Boston to New York and Back Again first appeared on Rick Riordan.

 

Back from a whirlwind U.S. tour for the new Percy Jackson book: The Chalice of the Gods! We had six sold-out events from Seattle to Portland, Maine, and every one was an amazing celebration of the return of our favorite Seaweed Brain narrator, Percy Jackson. Thanks to all the readers who were able to attend, and especially to our special guests from the Rick Riordan Presents imprint who joined me at stops along the way: Stacey Lee, Yoon Ha Lee, J.C. Cervantes, Daniel José Older, and Roseanne A. Brown. It was so nice catching up with friends and colleagues!

Thanks for you, dear readers, The Chalice of the Gods debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, and was the #1 bestselling book in the country according the USA Today.

Here’s a photo montage collected by my editor Steph Lurie (who appeared in the events as Coach Gleeson Hedge) . . .

Hard to pick my favorite moments, but some of them were seeing Topher Bradfield again, founder of Between the Pages and organizer of Camp Half-Blood Austin; catching up with Cathy Berner and the whole team at Blue Willow Books in Houston; meeting Stacey Lee and Rosie Brown for the first time (!) in person; and seeing my friend Aryan Simhadri (Grover Underwood) and family at the event in Glendale, CA. Aryan was just there as a fan, by the way, not participating in any SAG-strike-restricted activities.

While I was on tour, we got word that the WGA was lifting its strike restrictions after reaching a tentative deal with the studios. Kudos to WGA and its entire membership for fighting the good fight and getting a better deal for writers! Now hopefully SAG-AFTRA will also be able to come to a fair deal so the actors can get back to work, too. This means that I, as a WGA member, can start working once again on the various adaptations we have in development, but it may take a while for all the industry wheels to get turning again. Everyone is scrambling to catch up and reactivate projects that have been dormant for the last five months. That’s a lot of time to lose, yes, but it is what it is. The strikes were necessary, and we will move forward as best we can from here! And a reminder: We are not yet green-lit for any future seasons of PJO, though we are hopeful that if viewers like the first season and it does well, we will be able to move ahead. How do you help make that happen? Tune in and watch on Disney+ when the first episodes air, Dec. 20!

A few other pictures from the tour, if you missed them:

Blue milk and cookies which the hotel in Houston gifted me. So thoughtful, and also yummy!

In Glendale, Steph asked me to take a selfie with the audience to give her a little time to get into costume as Coach Hedge. I did that, then decided I couldn’t post it on social media because my weird grin makes me look like an axe murderer. Now that all the audience members are safely home, I present the photo below. Decide for yourself: would you buy a book from this man?

Also in Glendale, where the lovely staff of the Alex Theater helped us organize books and give-away items, I was greeted with my name on the marquee. On the side it said RICK RIORDAN – SOLD OUT.   Wow, I thought, everybody’s a critic. Nevertheless, we had a fantastic time!

At each stop, we found these photo-op stand-ups, provided by Disney Publishing.

Nice to see my friend Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson) on the poster, looking very heroic and demigodly!

So what did you miss if you weren’t able to join us on the tour? Here are a few random tidbits I revealed along the way:

The quest for Percy’s college acceptance letters will continue with WRATH OF THE TRIPLE GODDESS, coming out next September. It seemed cruel not to see Percy through all the way to college, given that I had already sketched out three adventures, one for each letter of recommendation. This will be the second!

I confirmed that I do have a cameo in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV series. It’s a ‘blink and you miss it’ moment, but I’m sure some of you eagle-eyed fans will find me!A whole batch of freshly baked YA and MG novels are coming soon from Rick Riordan Presents. Check on readriordan.com for more details!We shared the recently released trailer for the PJO TV series. It was an incredible rush to experience it with a crowd of fans. If you haven’t seen it yet, it is here:

Now I am back home in Boston, just in time for fall — my favorite season. The squirrels in the park say, “Decorative gourd time? Yum!”

I imagine you will hear from me again before too long, since we are now gearing up for the release of the TV show. Keep reading and happy October!

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