Rick Riordan's Blog, page 2

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!

The post WRATH OF THE TRIPLE GODDESS! first appeared on Rick Riordan.

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!

The post Welcome to New York! (The Gods Have Been Waiting for You) first appeared on Rick Riordan.

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!

https://rickriordan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/PJ_BOLT_MOTION_COMP_4X5_2.mp4

The post A Chalice of the Gods Wrap-up Report first appeared on Rick Riordan.

Cover art by Los Angeles artist Victo Ngai 倪傳婧 

Forbes 30 Under 30, 5XSociety of Illustrators NY Gold, Hamilton King Awardee, ADC YG, BSFA Winner, Hugo Award finalist! 

 

I’m delighted to share my tour dates for The Chalice of the Gods!

WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT?

Chalice of the Gods is the first classic-style Percy Jackson novel, told from Percy’s first-person point-of-view, since 2009. It features Annabeth, Percy and Grover, and follows their adventures during Percy’s senior year of high school as he tries to do something even more dangerous than saving the world — getting into college! In Chalice, Percy and friends must get a college recommendation letter from Ganymede, the cupbearer of the gods, whose chalice has been stolen. This is a big problem since anyone who drinks from the chalice becomes immortal . . .

I originally conceived of the book while we were working to reboot Percy Jackson and the Olympians as a TV show, and I decided to write it as a celebration of that show’s impending release and a ‘thank you’ to fans who have been waiting so long.

 

WHERE AND WHEN?

The book will be published on Sept. 26 by Disney Books/Hyperion in the US and Canada, with a simultaneous release in the UK from Puffin Books, and from Penguin Random House in Australia, New Zealand, and India. As usual, translated editions may take longer. I don’t always get those release dates. You should check with the publisher or a bookseller in your country for the exact release date. 

 Monday, Sept. 25

I’ll start the week doing a virtual media tour from a studio here in Boston. More on this later, but if you see me pop up on your local TV news or hear me on the local radio station, that’s why! We didn’t plan it this way, but Sept. 25 is also the birthday of our very own TV Annabeth — Leah Jeffries! I find that an auspicious omen.

Tuesday, Sept. 26 — Seattle, WA.

Our launch event will be at Benaroya Hall, hosted by Seattle Arts and Lectures (SAL) at 6:30 PM. This is the first time I have done an event in Seattle since 2016, so come on down!

Tickets here: https://lectures.org/event/rick-riordan/ 

 Wednesday, Sept. 27 — Glendale, CA. 

Barnes and Noble will be hosting me at the Alex Theatre at 7:00 PM.  This is the first time I’ve done a tour in the Los Angeles area since 2018! Tickets here: https://www.ticketmaster.com/rick-riordan-celebrates-the-chalice-of-glendale-california-09-27-2023/event/0B005EFA473D5DF1

 Thursday, Sept. 28 — Houston, TX.  

Blue Willow Books will be hosting our event at Pasadena High School at 6:00 PM. It’s always a pleasure to be with my friends in the Houston area and to see the fine folks from Blue Willow. The last time I came through was for Tyrant’s Tomb in 2019. Tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rick-riordan-chalice-of-the-gods-tickets-660680953517?aff=oddtdtcreator 

Friday, Sept. 29 — Austin, TX.

My old friends at BookPeople will be hosting me at the AISD Performing Arts Center at 6:00 PM. Is it possible I haven’t done an in-person event with them since 2014? Yikes, that’s too long! Come through, Austin, and say hi!

Tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bookpeople-texas-book-fest-present-rick-riordan-chalice-of-the-gods-tickets-682410757947?aff=oddtdtcreator 

 Saturday, Sept. 30 — Chicago, IL.  

Anderson’s Books will host our event at Pfeiffer Hall at 2PM.  I was in Chicago last month for ALA, but this is the first event for the general public I’ve done in Chicagoland since 2019. Always a treat!

Tickets here: https://www.eventcombo.com/e/author-event-with-rick-riordanpercy-jackson–the-olympians-c-68651

 Sunday, Oct. 1 — Portland, ME. (Maine, not Oregon!)

We’ll be back on the East Coast with Books-a-Million for an event at the Westbrook Performing Arts Center at 4:oo PM. When was the last time I did an event in Portland, Maine? 2011, folks — when the Borders bookstores still existed. That’s a LONG TIME, so if you’re a Mainer demigod, don’t miss this event! 

Tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/books-a-million-presents-bestselling-author-rick-riordan-tickets-680259052137?aff=oddtdtcreator 

 Saturday, Oct. 14 — Boston, MA

I’ll also be a keynote speaker at the Boston Book Festival in Copley Square, which I haven’t done since 2014. This is not technically part of the tour, but updates will be posted here on the festival’s site when they are available.

 

WHAT WILL THE EVENTS BE LIKE?

Each event is slightly different, as guidelines are determined by our host bookstores. You should check with the store directly if you have any questions. In general, each venue will seat between 1000-1500 people. Tickets must be purchased in advance. Unless otherwise noted, each ticket will include a signed copy of the new book Chalice of the Gods. All books will be signed in advance. I’ll be in conversation with a special guest for about one hour (different guest at each stop). We’ll talk about the new book, what books and projects are coming up next, what’s going on with the adaptations for TV/film (as much as I can say) and I’ll answer questions that are collected from the audience. At the end of the event, there will be no signing line. You’ll just get your signed book and your complimentary tour t-shirt and off you go! The events are always a lot of fun and they tend to sell out, so I would not wait to reserve your tickets.  Ticket prices are set by the host bookstores, and cover the price of the book.

Unfortunately because of the size of the crowds and time constraints, I am no longer able to do a traditional signing line with personalizations, selfies, and signatures on previous books, so don’t bring them from home! Many years ago, I decided that the signing lines were just getting too chaotic and impersonal. People would wait in line for three to four hours to say hi and get a signature, with each encounter lasting about three seconds. If we tried to do selfies or personalizations, the wait time could easily stretch to six hours. Nobody was satisfied with that, including me. I decided it was just better to sign all the books in advance and spend the hour-long event talking to the whole audience together. It’s more relaxed, more fun, more personal, more informative. Plus, it gets you back home in a timely manner, especially for events on a school night.

WHAT IF I LIVE IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY OR A PLACE IN NORTH AMERICA VERY FAR FROM THE EVENTS?

Another unfortunate thing about my schedule is I only have time to do a very short North American tour (which is where I live). I would love to travel the world to meet everyone, but my work schedule makes it impossible. Some of the stores hosting me may be able to take international orders and ship signed books to you wherever you live. I can’t promise that, and it depends on the store, but I will post more info if/when I find out. Occasionally stores also offer the event as a recorded streaming option so you can watch at your convenience from your home country. Again, I can’t promise that, but if I find out any further information about this, I will post it! The same applies if you live in North America but are too far away to attend an event in person. Apologies to all the fans who don’t live in one of these cities. We try to spread things around each year, but with only a week of events, there will always be more places we miss than places we visit!

WHAT ABOUT THE WRITERS’ STRIKE?

As a member of the Writers Guild of America (screenwriters), I support the strike and abide by all the WGA strike rules. These do not affect book events or book launch publicity, as the publishing of novels is not a WGA activity. It does not affect my ability to talk about the TV/film projects while I am on a book tour if I do that of my own volition and not at the request of the studios. Hopefully the strike will be resolved before my book release, but if not, it will not affect the book tour. It MAY affect a number of other events I have been asked to do to promote the TV show, unfortunately. That’s what happened with Comic-Con in San Diego. Neither I nor the actors were able to attend because of the strikes. But there’s only one solution to that: the studios need to listen to their actors and writers and negotiate a just resolution!

Product details: 

Publisher ‏Disney Hyperion; Media tie-in edition (September 26, 2023) Hardcover 288 pages ISBN-10 ‏  368098177 ISBN-13 ‏  978-1368098175 Reading age ‏8-12 years/Grade level 3-7 

 If you are not able to attend an event, you can preorder a copy from anywhere books are sold, including:

Indiebound

Barnes and Noble

Books-a-Million

Waterstones (in the UK)

Indigo (in Canada)

Whether or not I am able to see you on tour, I hope you enjoy the book!

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post The Chalice of the Gods tour dates! first appeared on Rick Riordan.

Yesterday, Becky and I celebrated our thirty-eighth wedding anniversary, which was also our mutual 59th birthday. We got married June 5, 1985, on our 21st birthday, and every year I am more grateful that I have my best friend as my life partner. I asked her yesterday if she was ready to try for 38 more years, and she said yes! Relationships are not all roses and Valentines. It takes hard work to make a marriage work as a true partnership. But what an amazing payoff, to have someone who knows you so well, has been with you through all the changes, knows you and puts up with you even at your worst, and still loves you! I often compare a long marriage to a mature apple tree. The trunk is sturdier. The branches provide the best shade. And the fruit is sweeter. In honor of our Birthaversary, here is a selection of photos of us over the years:

Circa 1980, on campus at Alamo Heights High School, San Antonio, TX. (The pink stains on the print happened at some point over the years.) As this indicates, we’ve been dating since high school, so really, we’ve been together longer than our 38 years or marriage.

 

Circa 1981, at Becky’s parents’ house. We were on our way to a senior party. Alamo Heights did not have proms back then. Instead, there were approximately four ‘senior parties’ a year. Why were we holding peacock feathers? I’m not entirely sure. 

1985, our wedding night at the Southwest Crafts Center, downtown San Antonio.

Same night. Of course, we had to have birthday candles on our wedding cake!

Circa 1988, at the Frio River near Concan, TX.

1989, Sonoma, CA, our ‘scouting trip’ to Northern California to see if we wanted to move there. We were ready for a change, and ended up moving there the next year. (The llama was not included.)

1990, shortly after we moved to Oakland, CA, we had this picture taken on the bay in Berkeley. We spent most of the 90s in the San Francisco area and had some wonderful adventures there!

1994, Oakland CA, Becky was pregnant with our first son Haley in this picture. We had no idea what to expect from parenthood, we were terrified, but we were very glad we’d had a number of years to establish our relationship as a couple before we had kids.

1998, New York City, the night when I won the Edgar Award for my second adult mystery novel The Widower’s Two-Step. I was still teaching full-time, but this was one of the first moments I thought, ‘Okay, maybe this writing thing will work out.’ Becky never doubted it and always supported me.

1999, back in San Antonio where we raised our kids. That’s Haley in my arms. Patrick our second son had recently been born, but he’s not in this shot. This was when a Barnes & Noble sign for my events was still a very new experience!

2003, Saint Mary’s Hall, San Antonio, TX. This was my farewell party during my last year of teaching, when I had sold The Lightning Thief and had decided to try being a full-time writer. Again, I was terrified and had no idea what to expect. None of it could have happened without Becky!

2015 Delos, Greece, during a cruise, we stopped at the birth island of the god Apollo. It seemed appropriate! By this time we had moved to Boston and were able to take lots of fun trips with the kids.

2016, at our apartment in New York, which we bought in 2014. We were on our way to the Authors Guild dinner to honor Suzanne Collins.

2021, St. Johns, U.S. Virgin Islands, where I did some diving to research for Daughter of the Deep.

2023, County Cork, Ireland, just last month!

We still are having great adventures and I look forward to many more with this wonderful woman. Whatever people you choose to have in your life, I hope that those relationships are as meaningful and long-lasting as ours has been. May your roots grow deep, your trunk always be sturdy, and your fruit be sweet!

 

 

 

The post 38 Years with the Best Friend first appeared on Rick Riordan.

We have just returned from a productive week in Los Angeles, but before I get into that, a big thank you to everybody who came out for the virtual Daughter of the Deep tour. COVID-related supply chain problems delayed the production of the books, including the signed editions, but those should all be shipped now, and the new official publication date for the North American edition of the book is this Tuesday, Oct. 26. Apologies again for the delays, and thanks for your patience. I hope you will enjoy the story of Ana Dakkar! Again, this is a standalone novel, completely unrelated to my other series, so you don't need to have any knowledge of my earlier work to read Daughter of the Deep. 

I will be doing a media tour (also virtual) this Monday, Oct. 25, so you might see me or hear me on your local TV or radio station soon!

The News from LA

Becky and I had some great meetings with our partners on our various adaptation projects this past week. First exciting news: We got to sit down in person for the first time with my co-writer for the upcoming Disney+ feature film adaptation for Daughter of the Deep, Aditi Brennan Kapil.



An accomplished playwright and screenwriter, Aditi brings a wealth of talent, experience and personal insight to this project. Becky and I knew right away she was the best writer for this adaptation, and getting to meet her in person only confirmed our confidence. Aditi has previously worked on "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan" for Amazon, "Away" for Netflix, and "American Gods" for Starz. Her award-winning plays include "Orange," "Imogen Says Nothing" and "The Displaced Hindu Gods Trilogy." We will be equal partners on this screenplay, and I am thrilled to work with her to bring Ana Dakkar's story to the screen! The last of the rights contracts should be finished up soon, at which point we can get down to work. As soon as I can announce more, I will. Once you've read the book, though, be thinking: Who would you like to see cast in the roles for Daughter of the Deep?

The Red Pyramid



We also had some great conversations with our production partners for this Netflix feature adaptation as we look to identify the best screenwriter for a second pass on the screenplay. We have some excellent leads, and should be moving forward with a re-write soon. Again, this is pretty normal for the screenwriting process. Different writers bring different strengths to the project, and we want to be sure we have the script in the best possible shape before we go out to directors. We remain very excited about the possibilities, as do our partners at Netflix!

PJOTV



Possibly the coolest thing we did this week was visit Industrial Light and Magic's "Volume" stage, where Star Wars TV shows like The Mandalorian are filmed. This trip was just to see how the technology works and what it can make possible for a show like Percy Jackson. To be clear, this is not where we will be filming. But the hope is that when we do film, we will be able to use a similar process and learn from ILM's cutting-edge expertise. If you're not familiar with the Volume and how it works, there is a short YouTube documentary publicly available here. It is pretty incredible stuff that puts you in the middle of a 360-degree virtual environment. They even plopped us in the middle of deep space at one point and let me punch the button "enter hyperspace." Suddenly, we were doing the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. The effects are so real we were warned to be careful if we had motion sickness, and they weren't lying.

If all goes well and the full green light happens as expected, we could begin filming in June, but as always, this is my own personal estimate and should not be taken as official word or 100% certain. Having said that, all signs are positive. The excitement is high at Disney+, at the 20th TV studio, and with the production team. We have just delivered the second episode script to the studio and are forging ahead with outlines for episodes 3 and 4, with the expectation that these will be done and approved by January, at which point, fingers crossed, we will get approval for full green-light. In the meantime, though, we are not waiting, and are proceeding forward on all fronts.

The casting department started gearing up again this week, though I don't yet have any contact information on open casting to share with you yet. As soon as I do, I will. The general casting call information for the talent agencies has already been shared on social media, however (Becky informs me) and includes some basic information which I can confirm: the plan is to film in Vancouver (again, assuming all goes as planned, which I think it will) and our pilot director will indeed be James Bobin, who is both a terrific person and an incredibly talented director who checks all the boxes we were hoping for in a partner. He recently directed the pilot for Mysterious Benedict Society, which I loved and found very true to the source material, and he has worked on everything from creating Borat and Ali G with Sacha Baron Cohen to Flight of the Conchords to Muppets to Dora and the Lost City of Gold (which the Riordans found an incredibly fun adaptation of our beloved Dora the Explorer cartoon from the kids' childhood.) James knows the Percy books well. His kids are fans. His humor is wonderful. We are in good hands, demigods, and lucky to have him joining our team.

We are also working with visual effects artists to find the right "creature work" look for the show, and hiring more members of our core "behind-the-scenes" production team. It was great to see our colleagues in person again and get excited together about all the possibilities for this show. You know me: I am always cautious and doubtful about adaptations, but I am growing increasingly confident this project is going to move forward as planned, and it's going to be awesome.

I know information will never come fast enough for excited fans -- I get that! But the process takes time. Lots of time. And we want to get it right. As best I am able, I will continue to update you all as we move forward. In the meantime, there are some great books to read while you're waiting. Check out ReadRiordan for some ideas!