Ask the Author: Rick Riordan
Answered Questions (562)
Rick Riordan
In Greek mythology, pretty much every mortal royal family traced their ancestry back to one god or another, so intermarriages between demigods were very common. The children of two demigods were called . . . demigods! The way I interpret it, their godly inheritance might dilute over the generations, making them less powerful, but not always. As to what would happen at Camp Half-Blood, this is very rarely an issue because sadly half-bloods don't often live long enough to have kids. If a second generation demigod did show up, I imagine their placement would depend on which god felt like claiming them as a descendant. Until/unless that happens, enjoy hanging out in the Hermes cabin as unclaimed!
Rick Riordan
I very much doubt there will be any news on that front until season three comes out and Disney+ looks at the viewer numbers and makes decisions, so probably not. At this point, nobody knows anything, including me. Those decisions are made by upper-level execs, most of whom I've never met and who have layers of other executives insulating them from the creatives. At that level, it's all about subscriber numbers, stock value, quarterly profits, etc. As you have probably noticed, they tend to be extremely cautious, which means the decision-making can be very slow.
Rick Riordan
Good luck! Getting published traditionally has always been devilishly difficult, and it's even more so now. I know that's not encouraging, but it is sadly the truth. Here is a blog post I recently wrote that might give you some insights about the publishing landscape: https://rickriordan.com/2025/05/writi...
Here also is a response I wrote to a similar question a few weeks ago:
"I can't offer much in the way of specific advice for your situation, other than to assure you that you are not alone. Every writer I know, myself included, has wavering confidence from time to time (actually, all the time). Many successful writers come from non-literary backgrounds, and many have no platforms for support. Really the main thing is persistence. All successful writers have one thing in common: They didn't give up.
Responses to querying is something you cannot control. 99.9% of the time, the answer you get will be a "no," because agents are overwhelmed by submissions, and most reputable publishers won't even look at a query unless it comes from an agent, not the author directly, because the publishers too are overwhelmed. The thing is: If someone tells you 'no,' it's probably for the best, because unless they absolutely LOVED your work, you wouldn't want them trying to help you get published. They wouldn't do a very good job. That may not be much comfort, but it's true. Agents and editors have to be champions for your work. They have to believe in your work 100% in order to put their reputations on the line for you. You don't want someone representing you who doesn't love what you do.
The main thing you CAN control is your writing. While you wait for those dreaded rejection letters, start on your next project. Finish it, even if you're not happy with it. Then start on your next project. Rinse and repeat. I was an unpublished writer from age 13 to age 30. Tons of rejections. But eventually, I honed my skills with enough years of reading and writing that I got an offer to publish. Even then, my book sales were only okay. It took seven published novels and another ten years before I broke through with Percy Jackson. Persistence and patience. Nothing happens easily. Nothing happens right away. Keep at it. Learn. Practice.
Honestly, looking back on my career now, I am so glad I did not get published when I was a teenager, or even in my twenties, because my writing back then was not great. If I'd gotten published, that early work would have defined my career and possibly killed it before it really began. Your path may be different, but don't be too hard on yourself or feel like you're against a timeline. Just keep writing stories you want to write and develop those writing muscles!"
Here also is a response I wrote to a similar question a few weeks ago:
"I can't offer much in the way of specific advice for your situation, other than to assure you that you are not alone. Every writer I know, myself included, has wavering confidence from time to time (actually, all the time). Many successful writers come from non-literary backgrounds, and many have no platforms for support. Really the main thing is persistence. All successful writers have one thing in common: They didn't give up.
Responses to querying is something you cannot control. 99.9% of the time, the answer you get will be a "no," because agents are overwhelmed by submissions, and most reputable publishers won't even look at a query unless it comes from an agent, not the author directly, because the publishers too are overwhelmed. The thing is: If someone tells you 'no,' it's probably for the best, because unless they absolutely LOVED your work, you wouldn't want them trying to help you get published. They wouldn't do a very good job. That may not be much comfort, but it's true. Agents and editors have to be champions for your work. They have to believe in your work 100% in order to put their reputations on the line for you. You don't want someone representing you who doesn't love what you do.
The main thing you CAN control is your writing. While you wait for those dreaded rejection letters, start on your next project. Finish it, even if you're not happy with it. Then start on your next project. Rinse and repeat. I was an unpublished writer from age 13 to age 30. Tons of rejections. But eventually, I honed my skills with enough years of reading and writing that I got an offer to publish. Even then, my book sales were only okay. It took seven published novels and another ten years before I broke through with Percy Jackson. Persistence and patience. Nothing happens easily. Nothing happens right away. Keep at it. Learn. Practice.
Honestly, looking back on my career now, I am so glad I did not get published when I was a teenager, or even in my twenties, because my writing back then was not great. If I'd gotten published, that early work would have defined my career and possibly killed it before it really began. Your path may be different, but don't be too hard on yourself or feel like you're against a timeline. Just keep writing stories you want to write and develop those writing muscles!"
Rick Riordan
Thanks for reading! The only mythology I have plans to write more about is Celtic mythology, because I am reasonably well-versed in that and have lots of ideas. It's just a matter of having time to get to it! Many other mythologies I am not an expert on, so I think it's best to let authors from those cultures tackle those subjects. That's why I started Rick Riordan Presents: https://rickriordan.com/rick-riordan-... Happy reading!
Rick Riordan
Every writer feels that way, myself included. There is no secret. Just push on and finish it! Don't worry about making any corrections until you have a completed first draft. Good luck!
Rick Riordan
Thanks for reading! I don't have any immediate plans to revisit Magnus Chase. I love those characters but I have a lot of other things I'd like to explore with other worlds, too. Mark Oshiro and I have had some general conversations about what we might do if we did a third Nico/Will book, but we have no definite plan and are both pretty busy with other projects, so nothing is for sure on that front. Right now, I'm revising the third Percy senior adventures book, and then my plan is to set aside Percy's world for a while and write some different stuff.
Rick Riordan
Very glad you'll be able to join us! The event is a conversation with me, Annabelle Oh and a moderator. We will collect questions from the audience beforehand and answer as many as possible, too. All books will be signed ahead of time and given out when you arrive. I haven't been able to do individual meet-and-greet signings for many years, which I miss, but given the size of the crowds we get at these events, it would take roughly five to six hours for everyone to get through the line. That's too long for me, I'm afraid, and especially for younger readers, with many of the events on a school night, it's just not practical. We still have a lot of fun, though. We'll talk about the books, our writing experience, projects on the horizon, hopefully have some laughs, and then everyone gets their book and gets to go home at a reasonable hour!
Rick Riordan
The Chronicles of Narnia has been around so long I remember a classmate in third grade putting on a puppet show about the death of Aslan. (oops. Spoiler) I also remember seeing a local stage production of Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe when I was about eight. So I suppose the series has influenced me, being a fantasy I've known about for so long, but I can't point to specific ways how. I usually do not include Narnia in my list of favorite series. I like it. I don't love it. My favorite C.S. Lewis series is actually the Space Trilogy, starting with Out of the Silent Planet. Christian allegory, but told as science fiction, which I thought was a fun combo.
Rick Riordan
Absolutely. In fact, I got a masters degree in Celtic literature from UCC in Cork and was about to start the PhD program in Celtic studies at Harvard back in 2019, with the goal of writing books about Celtic myths, but then the whole Hollywood thing happened with the Percy TV show, and I couldn't do both. As much as I loved the experience of the TV show, I'm still a little salty that I couldn't do further work on Celtic myths, honestly, but hopefully some day I'll get back to it!
Rick Riordan
As a native Texan, I can tell you that Austin (where I went to college) is a very blue island in a very red state. Most larger Texas cities, actually, lean blue. So I'm not sure that would have affected Will too much one way or the other. The larger truth, in my opinion, is that the whole "blue/red" divide is not as clean-cut as you might think looking at a map or at election results. Every community is a mix of life experiences and viewpoints. Wherever you live, hopefully, you can find your tribe, so to speak, and find the support you need to be yourself.
Rick Riordan
It's a good point and I agree there is a lot about Will Solace still to be explored. Mark Oshiro and I have talked about this. We have no definite plans at this point. We're both pretty swamped with other projects, but we've agreed that if we do get to explore another Nico and Will book at some point, we should focus more on Will.
Rick Riordan
Malcolm is one of the many returning characters you will see in the upcoming Camp Half-Blood series. He remains mostly a background character, though, so I'm not sure you'll get the deep dive into details that you're looking for, but I hope you enjoy seeing him again!
Rick Riordan
Absolutely true! In Ester's case, that is her personal choice to talk openly about her diagnosis with her friends, and rather proves the point that all autistic people are different and have different preferences about how they identify and are identified. For Ester, the self-identification is important and empowering, especially with her close friends like Ana, who is our POV and narrator, so we know that information with more certainty. Like so many neurodivergent characters in my books, Ester is directly inspired by real people I know (however loosely based the characters might be in the aggregate). Thanks for reading the books!
Rick Riordan
Our young actors are fantastic people! They are so down-to-earth and real. They support one another and are genuinely kind and loving. I think they will all tell you that the cast has become like a family, and that the show has been an incredible shared experience. It's been one of the great honors of my life to watch them grow into their roles and bring so much talent and dedication to the parts they play. They're simply the best.
Rick Riordan
I mean most of what I do has intentional parallels to Greek myths, so yes, of course Silena and Clarisse were meant to parallel Patroclus and Achilles. That does not necessarily mean I saw a romantic relationship between the two characters back when I wrote the book in roughly 2008. Like a lot of people, I think I first appreciated the romantic interpretation of that relationship in The Iliad when I read Song of Achilles, which didn't come out until 2011, so that wasn't really on my radar back then. I wish I had been more cognizant of it! I think Song of Achilles is amazing.
Rick Riordan
Oh, wow. My family and I are lucky enough to have seen a lot of musicals on Broadway over the years. I have lots of favorites. I have a soft spot for "The Origins of Love" from Hedwig and the Angry Itch, and of course "Time Warp" from Rocky Horror. The new version playing right now is amazing.
Rick Riordan
Good luck with your writing! I can't offer much in the way of specific advice for your situation, other than to assure you that you are not alone. Every writer I know, myself included, has wavering confidence from time to time (actually, all the time). Many successful writers come from non-literary backgrounds, and many have no platforms for support. Really the main thing is persistence. All successful writers have one thing in common: They didn't give up.
Responses to querying is something you cannot control. 99.9% of the time, the answer you get will be a "no," because agents are overwhelmed by submissions, and most reputable publishers won't even look at a query unless it comes from an agent, not the author directly, because the publishers too are overwhelmed. The thing is: If someone tells you 'no,' it's probably for the best, because unless they absolutely LOVED your work, you wouldn't want them trying to help you get published. They wouldn't do a very good job. That may not be much comfort, but it's true. Agents and editors have to be champions for your work. They have to believe in your work 100% in order to put their reputations on the line for you. You don't want someone representing you who doesn't love what you do.
The main thing you CAN control is your writing. While you wait for those dreaded rejection letters, start on your next project. Finish it, even if you're not happy with it. Then start on your next project. Rinse and repeat. I was an unpublished writer from age 13 to age 30. Tons of rejections. But eventually, I honed my skills with enough years of reading and writing that I got an offer to publish. Even then, my book sales were only okay. It took seven published novels and another ten years before I broke through with Percy Jackson. Persistence and patience. Nothing happens easily. Nothing happens right away. Keep at it. Learn. Practice.
Honestly, looking back on my career now, I am so glad I did not get published when I was a teenager, or even in my twenties, because my writing back then was not great. If I'd gotten published, that early work would have defined my career and possibly killed it before it really began. Your path may be different, but don't be too hard on yourself or feel like you're against a timeline. Just keep writing stories you want to write and develop those writing muscles!
Responses to querying is something you cannot control. 99.9% of the time, the answer you get will be a "no," because agents are overwhelmed by submissions, and most reputable publishers won't even look at a query unless it comes from an agent, not the author directly, because the publishers too are overwhelmed. The thing is: If someone tells you 'no,' it's probably for the best, because unless they absolutely LOVED your work, you wouldn't want them trying to help you get published. They wouldn't do a very good job. That may not be much comfort, but it's true. Agents and editors have to be champions for your work. They have to believe in your work 100% in order to put their reputations on the line for you. You don't want someone representing you who doesn't love what you do.
The main thing you CAN control is your writing. While you wait for those dreaded rejection letters, start on your next project. Finish it, even if you're not happy with it. Then start on your next project. Rinse and repeat. I was an unpublished writer from age 13 to age 30. Tons of rejections. But eventually, I honed my skills with enough years of reading and writing that I got an offer to publish. Even then, my book sales were only okay. It took seven published novels and another ten years before I broke through with Percy Jackson. Persistence and patience. Nothing happens easily. Nothing happens right away. Keep at it. Learn. Practice.
Honestly, looking back on my career now, I am so glad I did not get published when I was a teenager, or even in my twenties, because my writing back then was not great. If I'd gotten published, that early work would have defined my career and possibly killed it before it really began. Your path may be different, but don't be too hard on yourself or feel like you're against a timeline. Just keep writing stories you want to write and develop those writing muscles!
Rick Riordan
Good luck with your writing, but I would also say give yourself some grace, because you have a lot going on! Try to find a time of day when you can write effectively, even if it's just journaling or a few lines of dialogue, but don't beat yourself up if you can't do as much as you'd like. Just keep at it as much as possible. All writing is good practice.
Re. TV, I don't know of any plans for adaptations beyond Percy. It's just not possible to know that right now. As I've said before, TV is a tough business these days, and even getting five seasons of ANY show is a miracle. A series that spawns a spin-off series is even rarer. That's not a "no," it's just a "I have no idea, we'll have to see what happens."
I like animation, too. Again, no plans to explore that but who knows? One thing I learned over the last few years is that animation is even more expensive and takes even longer to make than live action. I had no idea.
Re. TV, I don't know of any plans for adaptations beyond Percy. It's just not possible to know that right now. As I've said before, TV is a tough business these days, and even getting five seasons of ANY show is a miracle. A series that spawns a spin-off series is even rarer. That's not a "no," it's just a "I have no idea, we'll have to see what happens."
I like animation, too. Again, no plans to explore that but who knows? One thing I learned over the last few years is that animation is even more expensive and takes even longer to make than live action. I had no idea.
Rick Riordan
Best advice for dialogue: Read it aloud after you write it. You will find out quickly whether the lines sound natural. Often, improving it is a matter of just cutting out a few words, because people don't tend to talk in complete sentences.
If you tag dialogue ('he said,' 'she said,' 'John exclaimed,' etc.) only do that when you have to, when it would be confusing for the readers otherwise.
Prefer the simple 'said' to too many synonyms, because those can get distracting. Also, try putting the tag as early as possible in the dialogue. If it's at the end of a long speech, it's not really helpful.
Finally, try just using an action as a tag. It helps build in pauses. For instance:
Clara rolled her eyes. "Not in a million years."
With that, you don't need 'she said.' It's very clear Clara is speaking.
Hope that helps, and good luck!
If you tag dialogue ('he said,' 'she said,' 'John exclaimed,' etc.) only do that when you have to, when it would be confusing for the readers otherwise.
Prefer the simple 'said' to too many synonyms, because those can get distracting. Also, try putting the tag as early as possible in the dialogue. If it's at the end of a long speech, it's not really helpful.
Finally, try just using an action as a tag. It helps build in pauses. For instance:
Clara rolled her eyes. "Not in a million years."
With that, you don't need 'she said.' It's very clear Clara is speaking.
Hope that helps, and good luck!
Rick Riordan
Thanks for reading! It's very difficult to answer "Will I ever...." questions because I just don't know. I don't have a master plan and simply write whatever project appeals to me at the time, which is quite a privilege, I confess. Yes, I'd love to write more books outside the Percy-verse. I have many potential ideas. I need to get through the Camp Half-Blood series and PJO senior year 3, and then we will see!
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