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" I think that kids have a greater capacity for processing things than we give them credit for. "
Rick Riordan
Credit
Think
Things
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" The deeper I go into mythology, the more I find. I originally did five 'Percy Jackson' books. I thought that would cover Greek mythology and I couldn't have been more wrong. It's ever-expanding. "
Rick Riordan
More
Wrong
Books
" 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
" I do like to wrap things up and leave some things to the readers' imagination. "
Rick Riordan
Leave
Up
Things
" 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 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
" 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
" It seems like just yesterday my son was hiding under the table to avoid reading. Now, he's writing books longer than mine! "
Rick Riordan
Son
Writing
Yesterday
" I sometimes look at my bookshelves today and wonder which volumes my sons will treasure in twenty or thirty years. Which should I be saving for them? Which will fade with time? "
Rick Riordan
Treasure
Today
Time
" 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
" 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
" 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
" 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
" 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
" 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
" It's always hard to wrap up a series. The longer I spend with the characters, the more they become like friends. "
Rick Riordan
Friends
Become
Always
" I think children love reading, and they will make time for it if we put the right books into their hands. And I hope I get the chance to keep being one of the people that writes them. "
Rick Riordan
Reading
Time
Love
" The Web or card experience is not at all going to replicate the book experience, nor is the book experience going to replicate the Web. "
Rick Riordan
Nor
Web
Book
" I have more ideas than I'll ever be able to write in five lifetimes. "
Rick Riordan
Write
Able
Five
" 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
" 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've been reading Greek mythology since I was a kid. I also taught it when I was a sixth grade teacher, so I knew a lot of mythological monsters already. Sometimes I still use books and Web sites to research, though. Every time I research Greek mythology, I learn something new! "
Rick Riordan
Time
Learn
Reading
" I've always found the second book in a series is the hardest to write. "
Rick Riordan
Second
Write
Hardest
" 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 love Norse mythology - Thor and Odin and Loki - amazing characters. "
Rick Riordan
Characters
Amazing
Love
" I like to have a simple workplace. "
Rick Riordan
Simple
Like
Workplace
" 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
" It's hard enough to be a middle-school kid, because you're dealing with so many facets of your identity - you're changing socially, you're changing physically, you're changing emotionally, everything is in flux, and to put race on top of that as well and have to figure out your racial identity is extremely hard. "
Rick Riordan
Racial
Identity
Kid
" 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 can't actually wrap my mind around it easily - I can't really visualize what 2 million books looks like... So I try to keep it real for myself by focusing on individual anecdotes of how my books have helped kids learn to love reading. "
Rick Riordan
Myself
Learn
Love
" When I write, I'm still imagining a kid reading it on paper. I read e-books when I travel, but in general I still prefer holding an old-fashioned book in my hands. There's a special, tactile experience. "
Rick Riordan
Reading
Travel
Hands