We had such a great time on the Wild Zone tour!
US TOUR HIGHLIGHTS
Thanks to everyone who was able to come to an event, and to all the readers everywhere who have embraced the new series and my wonderful co-authors. The book debuted at #1 on the New York Times middle grade bestseller list, and also debuted as the #1 middle grade book in the UK. Demigods, you are a force to be reckoned with!
Each event had a photo-op backdrop for fans to use. Becky and I got our picture at the first event in Milwaukee.
It’s hard to pick favorite events, but there were many highlights. We enjoyed checking out the Milwaukee Art Museum while we were in town. In St. Paul, it was great to work with the Red Balloon Bookshop again and catch up with Brandon Mull, who served as our fearless moderator. Brandon’s new series Guardians is really top-notch!
Boise was entirely new territory for me. Having never been to the state, I told the crowd I thought Idaho was a myth like Camelot or Shangri-La, but turns out it’s real, and a very beautiful place. Our moderator Jan M. Flynn, author of Griffin Speaker, promised us that Boise crowds were enthusiastic and welcoming. She wasn’t kidding!
Spokane was another “first” for me. I loved Auntie’s Bookstore and the cute downtown area on the river. We got to enjoy the outdoor market, and buy ice cream from a couple of adorable dogs.
San Diego was a lot of fun, too! I got to meet my co-author for book 3, Jade Adia, for the first time in person. She was kind enough to be our moderator and did a fantastic job. (No surprise from a classroom teacher.) We had a great time talking about teaching, literature, and Star Trek while getting our Mexican food fix after the show. Thanks for that, San Diego!
In Dallas-Forth Worth (UT Arlington to be precise), we met up with Pablo Cartaya, co-author of book four, who served as our awesome moderator. I wasn’t even aware that Half-Price Books hosted book events, but they did a truly spectacular job organizing everything. It was good to visit Texas again, even if just for a day. Our hotel welcomed us with a little chocolate cowboy boot with golden candy wings, which I now need to put in a book some time.
Cleveland — another first for me! Loved the welcoming crowd, the lakeshore, the grand architecture downtown, and seeing the guardian statues on the bridge in person.
We ended the tour in Portland, Maine, where Random House was kind enough to book the cutest cottages for us to rest at in Kennebunkport prior to the event. Sorry we only got to stay there for a few hours before driving back home to Boston, but it certainly made me want to come back! Special thanks to Kyle Lukoff, my co-author for book two, who moderated the event with a great sense of humor and lots of good conversation.
Some favorite fan interactions:
The young man who said Nico di Angelo helped him in middle school when he came out as gay and was struggling with the backlash. So glad he could see himself in the stories he enjoyed, because all readers deserve that.
The long-time Cherokee reader who told me how much they loved Piper McLean.
The family that drove five hours to come to one of our events and got to meet with us backstage. All smiles, despite the long drive!
The family who told me their son was never a reader and won’t put down his phone until he started the Percy books and is now reading them avidly.
The woman who grew up reading my books and is now a middle school teacher, sharing Percy Jackson with her own students.
So, so many stories like that, each one an honor to hear.
New York Comic Con
After a couple of days in Boston to catch our breath, we headed down to New York City to celebrate CAMP HALF-BLOOD at Comic-Con. While Annabelle and I signed copies of THE WILD ZONE backstage, I heard the Star Trek theme song playing at the panel next door. I was tempted to jump to my feet, shout MY PEOPLE ARE CALLING ME! and run out the door, but I managed to restrain myself.
I loved being on a panel with all four co-authors of the new series — each of them an incredible person as well as a talented author. So much love from the audience for this new endeavor. I am grateful to have a readership that is welcoming and generous, and willing to go on new wild side-quests with us!
Rick, Kyle and Annabelle.
Pablo and Jade.
Jade Adia
Rick and Kyle
The whole Camp Half-Blood authorial team with our moderator Claire from USA Today.
Part of the sold-out crowd.
Annabelle Oh shows off her 3D printed Wild Omada figurines.
The newly revealed cover for book two, The Rite of Aphrodite.
I also had the pleasure of celebrating the 25th anniversary of the amazing Artemis Fowl series by moderating a panel with Eoin Colfer — one of the funniest and most talented authors I know.
That night, Random House arranged a special evening event for influencers. We got to make camp beads, get personalized embroidered camp bandanas, play trivia, and even roast s’mores! I got to meet a lot of wonderful educators, librarians and other super-fans.
One highlight was revealing the cover of THE RITE OF APHRODITE with Kyle Lukoff. The book will come out March 30. We will be releasing the four books in the series at six-month intervals. Originally this was because we were trying to keep to a tight schedule that would allow the simultaneous development of a TV series for CAMP HALF-BLOOD. As I shared on tour, however, publishing is A LOT faster than TV. All four books are now done, while the TV idea is still just being discussed. We’ll see what happens. In the meantime, at least you won’t have to wait long between books!
Other highlights:
Hearing Annabelle Oh describe the writing process for THE WILD ZONE as being like dessert at the Melting Pot. I provide the chocolate, she provides the tasty ingredients to dip, and then I follow up with a layer of peanut butter. I have never been to the Melting Pot, but her analogy definitely left me hungry!
Listening to Kyle Lukoff describe his work on RITE OF APHRODITE to an audience for the first time. To paraphrase, his POV character, Harper Rush, is a young trans son of Aphrodite who, thanks to his good looks and charisma, went from being the most attractive girl in school to the most attractive boy is school with a minimum of difficulties. And yet Harper has a lot of other problems to deal with: the mysterious fate of his mortal father, a phobia that sometimes paralyzes him, and a yearning to be seen for his personality, not just his looks, which becomes especially important as he begins to fall for another camper. When you’re a child of Aphrodite, love is COMPLICATED.
Jade Adia’s comments about her character, Zuri Chapman, daughter of Apollo, and exploring what it was like for a Black demigod to be at Camp Half-Blood at a time when there just weren’t many Black kids there. That’s part of her background, but her story is all about the adventure at hand: How she can get revenge for something terrible that happened in her past, how she can make friends in a place where she feels alone and misunderstood, and how she can figure out what powerful force is causing problems out in the woods at camp.
Pablo Cartaya’s thoughts about his character Benny Garcia, who is an unclaimed demigod — and whose story will blow your mind when all is finally revealed in book four. Pablo says he uses Spanish in his books to feel connected to his abuela and his Cuban culture, and talked about how powerful that is for both him and for Latinx readers. He always includes one character that is based on his abuela, and when you meet that character in CAMP HALF-BLOOD . . . well, excuse me. I need to get a box of tissues. It’s so wholesome and beautiful.
A note about the CAMP HALF-BLOOD books, while I’m at it. The action of the entire series takes place between THE LIGHTNING THIEF and THE SEA OF MONSTERS. This is a story Percy never knew about. There are reasons for that, which you will discover when you read. And yet, the story of these demigods is just as important to the coming war with the Titans as what Percy and his friends did. All four books feature all four characters. It’s just that the POV changes from book to book as each co-author brings their chosen hero to the front of the narrative.
Someone asked me what the most surprising thing has been, working on this series. I answered immediately: How much I still have to learn. It has been wonderful learning from my co-authors and watching how they tackle dialogue, humor, pacing, character development. I’ve learned a ton! It’s been a challenge creating these books, but an important, rewarding and hugely FUN challenge.
Off to the United Kingdom
Later this week, Annabelle Oh and I will take THE WILD ZONE tour to the UK! This is the first proper tour I’ve done over there in about fifteen years and I can’t wait. Most of our events are now sold out, though last I checked there were still tickets available for our evening event at the York Barbican on October 20. If you’d like to come join us, that’s your best opportunity! If you can’t, Waterstones has a lovely special edition of THE WILD ZONE available, and may have signed copies still available as well.
What’s Next?
Of course, the third season of the Percy Jackson TV show airs next month. I think it’s the best one yet, so definitely tune in if you can!
I have returned to revisions on the third Percy Jackson Senior Year Adventure, which will most likely be the last Percy Jackson book. I try to never say never, because I make this stuff up as I go along, but I have no plans to return to Percy’s POV after this. I will try to make it a solid send-off. On the other hand, I remember going to The Who’s farewell concert tour in 1982, and last I checked they are still doing farewell tours forty years later, so . . . nothing is 100% certain.
As I mentioned above, because of scheduling issues, I had to put the third new Percy book down and turn to the four CAMP HALF-BLOOD books (which I was glad to do, don’t get me wrong!) but those are all done, so I am now back with Percy and having a blast. I should be able to finish my revisions by the end of the year, fingers crossed. No solid pub date yet, but my best guess is late 2027. Will update when I know more, and thanks for your patience!
As always, keep reading!
