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" I have more ideas than I'll ever be able to write in five lifetimes. "
Rick Riordan
Write
Able
Five
Related Quotes:
" I do like to wrap things up and leave some things to the readers' imagination. "
Rick Riordan
Leave
Up
Things
" Because I am kind of distracted, I don't tend to sit at my desk 9 to 5. It can be two hours a day, or, when I'm in the final editing stages, it can be 14 hours a day. "
Rick Riordan
Two
Kind
I Am
" Turkey, Australia, and Japan are three of my top destinations. "
Rick Riordan
Japan
Top
Three
" I think kids want the same thing from a book that adults want - a fast-paced story, characters worth caring about, humor, surprises, and mystery. A good book always keeps you asking questions, and makes you keep turning pages so you can find out the answers. "
Rick Riordan
Think
Book
Caring
" There are days when I'll write for 15 minutes and have to give up and move around, and I'll write another paragraph and give up again. On other days I get intensely - focused on the process, sit down at 8 A.M. and won't get up until 8 P.M. "
Rick Riordan
Down
Process
Days
" I have a great deal of sympathy for reluctant readers because I was one. I would do anything to avoid reading. In my case, it wasn't until I was 13 and discovered the 'Lord of the Rings' that I learned to love reading. "
Rick Riordan
Love
Great
Reading
" No one spoke in terms of children's literature, as opposed to adult literature, until around the 1940s. It wasn't categorised much before then. Even Grimm's tales were written for adults. But it is true that ever since 'Harry Potter' there has been a renaissance in fantasy literature. J. K. Rowling opened the door again. "
Rick Riordan
Children
Door
Literature
" You know, how much order is good? And when does order become too restrictive? Is a little bit of chaos okay, or is chaos always an evil force? I mean, these are questions that any kid who's ever been in a school cafeteria can relate to. "
Rick Riordan
Good
Know
School
" The older I get, the less I obsess about material stuff. In fact, stuff has become the enemy. There always seems to be more of it than I have storage in my house! "
Rick Riordan
Always
House
More
" There are so many fantastic stories and I want to bring Thor and Odin and the other gods into the modern world, just like I did with the Greeks and 'Percy Jackson.' I'll give the books an urban setting and have young people interacting with the Norse gods. "
Rick Riordan
Bring
Young
People
" I stick closely to the structure of the myths. I may have some fun with the mythology by changing the environment to modern-day, but the structure of the myths, the monsters, the relationships of the gods - none of that is made up. "
Rick Riordan
Relationships
Environment
Fun
" I like to have a simple workplace. "
Rick Riordan
Simple
Like
Workplace
" My goal in the classroom was always to make sure they were having so much fun that they didn't realize they were learning. "
Rick Riordan
Realize
Learning
Classroom
" I go back and research, say, every reference to the Gorgons, and I find what the classical writers said about them and it's so much richer than you might get in an average Greek mythology text. I feel like an archaeologist - I'm dusting off these things that people have not seen for thousands of years and bringing them into the modern world. "
Rick Riordan
People
Research
Say
" The Met is such a powerful place for me because it's a natural connection between the ancient world and the modern world. And when you're dealing with ancient mythology, trying to put a modern spin on it, you really can't do much better than to call on the Met. "
Rick Riordan
World
You
Powerful
" If the parents are too busy to read, it's a safe bet the children will feel the same way. Set aside time for family reading each night. It doesn't matter so much what the kids read, as long as you provide them space for reading and a sense that it is a valuable part of your daily routine. "
Rick Riordan
Daily
Family
Reading
" It's not easy. I got lots of rejections when I first started out. If you want to write, you have to believe in yourself and not give up. You have to do your best to practice and get better. "
Rick Riordan
Do Your Best
Believe In Yourself
Best
" I like both Greek and Egyptian. More Greek stories have survived, so we know more about them. They've always been my favorite. On the other hand, I like the Egyptian stories because they're not as commonly known and they have an exotic flavour. "
Rick Riordan
More
Always
Hand
" Kids ask me questions. You'd think after doing this for four years, I would have heard every single question anyone could think of to ask, but no, every time, they surprise me, they ask me something I never thought of before. "
Rick Riordan
Think
You
Time
" I've never been a collector - just a consumer - and these days unless a book is signed to me by another author, I don't normally have any qualms about passing it to a friend or donating it to the library. "
Rick Riordan
Book
Never
Me
" When I was young, my favorite picture book was 'Fletcher and Zenobia,' written by Edward Gorey and illustrated by Victoria Chess. It's long out of print now, but its mix of macabre humor and 1960s psychedelia made it a perfect children's book for the times. "
Rick Riordan
Humor
Picture
Long
" Every child's taste is different. Don't worry if they're not reading 'War and Peace' at age 12. First, build a good foundation and a positive attitude about reading by letting them pick the stories they enjoy. Make friends with a bookseller or librarian. They are a wealth of information on finding books that kids enjoy. "
Rick Riordan
Attitude
Good
Peace
" You have to work hard to get to the top of your game. I think every writer has doubts! I still do all the time. "
Rick Riordan
Time
You
Work Hard
" For me, writing for kids is harder because they're a more discriminating audience. While adults might stay with you, if you lose your pacing or if you have pages of extraneous description, a kid's not going to do that. They will drop the book. "
Rick Riordan
Me
Lose
Book
" I get letters from college kids who have read Percy Jackson when they were younger who tell me, 'I just passed my Classics exam.' The books are accurate enough that they can serve as a gateway to Homer and Virgil. "
Rick Riordan
Me
Letters
Just
" I have to be careful. My readers are very detail-oriented, and if I make a mistake they'll call me on it. "
Rick Riordan
Careful
Be Careful
Call
" I tend to think of a myth and then explore how it would play out if it were happening in the modern-day world. I modify all the myths I use, but I stick very closely to their structure - it is the hidden teacher in me. "
Rick Riordan
Me
Hidden
World
" To a degree, the Greek and Roman mythological heroes are just the first superheroes. They appeal to children for much the same reason. These gods and heroes may have powers, but they get angry and they do the wrong thing. They are human too. "
Rick Riordan
Angry
Children
Wrong
" My problem is never ideas. I've got more than I'll ever have time to write. It's all about how many I can get to, and which ones readers want to see the most. "
Rick Riordan
Ideas
Problem
See
" I think the more you understand myths, the more you understand the roots of our culture and the more things will resonate. Do you have to know them? No, but certainly it is nice to recognise how deeply these things are embedded in our literature, our art. "
Rick Riordan
Culture
Roots
Know