Fantasy literature, according to Rick Riordan
Rick Riordan, the author best known for writing Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, turns 50 on June 5.
Before the demigod with dyslexia and ADHD became part of popular culture, there was no such thing as Fantasy literature. "His Dark Materials" could be classified under that genre, but Philip Pullman didn't write his books for children. There's a connection between Fantasy literature and Young-adult fiction, the most obvious of which is the main characters, or most of them, are teenagers. The heyday of fantasy came after the release of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".
Riordan, who grew up in San Antonio, Texas, taught English and Social Studied for eight years. His first book was "Big Red Tequila" (1997), a crime story, which spawned the Tres Navarre series. His debut novel earned him honors, but it would be Percy Jackson that gave him fame and fortune. It was his son, Haley, who inspired him to do a modern update on Greek mythology.
"My son was studying the Greek myths in second grade when he asked me to tell him some bedtime stories about the gods and heroes. I had taught Greek myths for many years at the middle school level, so I was glad to comply. When I ran out of myths, he was disappointed and asked me if I could make up something new with the same characters. I thought about it for a few minutes. Then I remembered a creative writing project I used to do with my sixth graders - I would let them create their own demigod hero, the son or daughter of any god they wanted, and have them describe a Greek-style quest for that hero," he said.
"Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" was released in 2005, followed by four more books. "The Heroes of Olympus" was different, continuing the story from where it left off in "The Last Olympian", the final novel in "Percy Jackson" series. Riordan also penned “The Kane Chronicles”, which was based on Egyptian mythology. He also helped developed "The 39 Series", adventure novels collaborated by different authors. (He wrote "The Maze of Bones", the first in the series.) A new one, based on Norse mythology, would be next. In spite of the good reception, the Texan sees his readers graduate to the classics.
"It is totally fine with me if some of my readers eventually outgrow the books, particularly if they move into reading Homer. With me, that was the way it worked. I started out with 'The Lord of the Rings' and then moved into higher forms of literature at university. Having said that, some of my readers are in their 20s," he said.
His tips to aspiring authors? "Read a lot. This is where you'll get your inspiration. Write a little bit every day. Writing is like a sport. Don’t get discouraged! Rejection is part of writing, but if you stick with it, you will succeed."
