After last week’s school shooting tragedy, I found myself grasping for good news. I especially liked the Fred Rogers post about dealing with tragedy by looking for the helpers in a crisis. There are so many good people ready to step up and assist in the midst of a horrific situation, it helped me remember that there are many more heroes among us than there are villains.
I also thought I would offer my own roundup of good news to share from the past week.
First, if you didn’t get to hear my interview with Michele Norris on All Things Considered, do check it out. The letter from my fan Lindsey was especially moving.
This week, the Kane Chronicles returns to the New York Times children’s series bestseller list, along with Percy Jackson & the Olympians and the Heroes of Olympus. The Demigod Diaries is also on the chapter book list. Thanks to my readers, and for all those grandparents and parents who (SPOILER) are buying the books as gifts during the holiday season. I wish you all a happy winter break and hope your time is filled with good reading!
The Serpent’s Shadow and The Mark of Athena were both featured on Barnes & Noble’s Best Books of 2012, for which I’m grateful.
And speaking of Barnes & Noble, I’d like to send a special thanks to Caren Creech, community relations manager at my local B&N store and a longtime friend, who recently began handling the company’s international sales and has been shipping autographed books of mine to fans around the world. Of particular note is my young fan Ксения (Kseniya in English) in Krasnoyarsk City, Siberia, who is getting a signed book for Christmas. (She already knows, so I’m not spoiling the surprise.) As far as I’m aware, Kseniya will have the only autographed Rick Riordan book in Siberia, so she is definitely a special demigod!
Thanks also to my friends at The Twig, my local independent store, who always do a great job taking special orders for autographed books, and kept me busy coming in to sign for this holiday season!
Now the question my fans most want to know: What’s up with The House of Hades? I promise I am working hard on the fourth book in the Heroes of Olympus series. Because of that, I won’t be doing a winter solstice Q&A on Twitter this weekend. I think you’d rather have me writing! Besides, it’s the traditional meeting time for the Olympian gods, and I’ll have to be available to take notes. (When Apollo starts talking, he just goes on and on. Ugh.) If you have questions, however, be sure to check my website. Pretty much all the questions I get asked are answered there (if I can answer them).
I know it’s hard to wait for the next book, but it really does take me a full year to write. It’s not done yet and I promise I’m not keeping any finished manuscripts locked up on my computer just to be mean! You really don’t want me to rush it. That would make the quality suffer, and I think you’d rather have a *good* book than a fast book. I can promise House of Hades will be out on time, October 2013, exactly one year after Mark of Athena. It will not be late, but there is absolutely NO chance it will be earlier. I will do my utmost to make it worth the wait!
In the meantime, have a great winter solstice, Merry Christmas, and winter break from school. Keep reading, and keep being a helper!
