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Rick Riordan Quotes
Rick Riordan Quotes
Rick Riordan
American
Author
Born:
Jun 5
,
1964
Book
Me
Think
Time
Writing
You
Related authors:
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Frederick Douglass
Helen Keller
Henry David Thoreau
Joyce Meyer
Mark Twain
Og Mandino
Zig Ziglar
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
Positive
Attitude
War
Good
Peace
Age
Positive Attitude
Wealth
First
Build
Reading
Enjoy
Every
Books
Worry
Kids
Librarian
Finding
About
Pick
Make
Friends
Child
Taste
Different
Stories
Information
Them
Foundation
Letting
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
People
World
Young
Setting
Other
Thor
Books
Give
Like
Greeks
Did
Gods
Jackson
Modern
Just
Interacting
Want
Stories
Modern World
Urban
Young People
Fantastic
Many
Bring
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
Love
Myself
Try
Mind
Reading
Books
Kids
Easily
Focusing
Visualize
Anecdotes
Wrap
Individual
Like
Looks
Learn
Around
How
Real
To Love
Really
Helped
Keep
Actually
Million
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
Good
You
Book
Worth
Humor
Same Thing
Think
Caring
Kids
Out
Characters
Find
About
Mystery
Adult
Makes
Always
Answers
Surprises
Questions
Same
Want
Story
Turning
Asking
Asking Questions
Pages
Good Book
Keep
Keeps
Fast-Paced
Thing
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
Time
Me
You
Thought
Single
Before
Every
Think
Every Time
Kids
Would
Something
Could
Never
Doing
Surprise
Years
Heard
Question
Questions
Anyone
After
Ask
Four
I like to have a simple workplace.
Rick Riordan
Simple
Like
Workplace
'Harry Potter' opened so many doors for young adult literature. It really did convince the publishing industry that writing for children was a viable enterprise. And it also convinced a lot of people that kids will read if we give them books that they care about and love.
Rick Riordan
Love
People
Writing
Care
Will
Young
Doors
Books
Harry
Harry Potter
Kids
Enterprise
About
Give
Potter
Adult
Opened
Also
Industry
Read
Lot
Did
Viable
Young Adult
Children
Literature
Them
Really
Convince
Convinced
Many
Publishing
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
Teacher
Me
World
Myth
Think
Hidden
Out
Would
Structure
Tend
Myths
Stick
How
Were
Very
Closely
Happening
Modern-Day
Then
Modify
Explore
Use
Play
I come to writing the same way I come to teaching, which is that my goal is always to create life-long readers.
Rick Riordan
Writing
Way
Life-Long
Come
Readers
Always
Goal
Same
Which
Create
Teaching
I loved the idea of making history interesting for kids! When Scholastic approached me about 'The 39 Clues', I immediately started going through the 'greatest hits' from my years as a social studies teacher, and picked the historical characters and eras that most appealed to my students.
Rick Riordan
Teacher
Me
History
Immediately
Kids
Characters
About
Through
Students
Studies
Picked
Scholastic
Idea
Most
Greatest
Making
Eras
Greatest Hits
Years
Historical
Hits
Going
Loved
Interesting
Clues
Social
Appealed
Started
The images from the book you make in your head are always going to be the best images.
Rick Riordan
Best
You
Book
Head
Make
Always
Going
Your
Images
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
You
People
World
Seen
Research
Every
Back
Say
Find
Thousands
Thousands Of Years
Classical
About
Writers
Mythology
Feel
Like
Said
Go
Years
Reference
Off
Text
Greek
Greek Mythology
Than
Get
Modern
Modern World
Them
Might
Average
Much
Richer
Things
Bringing
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
Me
Mistake
Be Careful
Make
Call
Readers
Very
Careful
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
Great Deal
Reading
Sympathy
Would
Rings
Case
Reluctant
Until
Learned
Readers
Because
Deal
Lord
Lord Of The Rings
Discovered
Anything
To Love
Avoid
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
You
Book
Writing
Will
Drop
Lose
Kid
Kids
Stay
More
Adult
Because
Audience
Discriminating
Going
Pacing
While
Might
Pages
Your
Description
Harder
I love Norse mythology - Thor and Odin and Loki - amazing characters.
Rick Riordan
Love
Amazing
Thor
Characters
Mythology
I always love it when I hear back from kids who say they discovered Percy Jackson and now wear their learning difference as a badge of honour.
Rick Riordan
Love
Learning
Back
Honour
Say
Kids
Wear
Badge
Always
Hear
Discovered
Jackson
Difference
Who
Now
I've always found the second book in a series is the hardest to write.
Rick Riordan
Book
Write
Always
Series
Found
Hardest
Second
Writing 'Book 1: The Maze of Bones' didn't feel much different than writing one of my other novels, but I thought it was very innovative to offer the website and trading card components as well for those readers who wanted to go more in depth with the Cahill experience.
Rick Riordan
Website
Experience
Book
Writing
Thought
Other
Innovative
Those
Components
More
Feel
Well
Readers
Trading
Go
Very
Offer
Than
Different
Wanted
Maze
In-Depth
Depth
Much
Who
Novels
Card
Bones
I do like to wrap things up and leave some things to the readers' imagination.
Rick Riordan
Imagination
Wrap
Some
Some Things
Like
Readers
Leave
Up
Things
Kids are the audience I know best.
Rick Riordan
Best
Kids
Know
Audience
Back when I taught middle school and wrote adult mysteries, my students often asked me why I wasn't writing for kids. I never had a good answer for them. It took me a long time to realize they were right.
Rick Riordan
Time
Good
Me
Writing
School
Long
Mysteries
Long Time
Took
Back
Kids
Adult
Never
Students
Had
Wrote
Answer
Were
Often
Taught
Middle
Middle School
Them
Realize
Asked
Why
Right
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
Travel
Experience
Book
Reading
Holding
Paper
Kid
General
Tactile
Write
Read
Still
Hands
Prefer
Special
Old-Fashioned
Imagining
When I was in college, my parents' house burned down, and took a lot of the possessions I'd grown up with. That's probably one thing that made me realize material stuff is not really that important.
Rick Riordan
Me
Made
College
Parents
Important
Down
Took
Possessions
One Thing
Stuff
House
Material
Lot
Up
Burned
Realize
Really
Grown
Grown-Up
Thing
Turkey, Australia, and Japan are three of my top destinations.
Rick Riordan
Three
Top
Destinations
Australia
Turkey
Japan
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
Other
Favorite
About
More
Both
Like
Know
Known
Because
Always
Been
Hand
Exotic
Greek
Survived
Egyptian
Stories
Commonly
Them
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