Rick Riordan!

Today, I woke up at 7:30. My parents and I got in the car at nine o'clock and we set off for South Hadley, MA to go see Rick Riordan sign books! It was a two hour drive, but totally worth it! As soon as we got there, we ate a quick lunch and picked up two copies of The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan. My mom, a Mount Holyoke alumni, gave my Dad and I the full tour. I'll post that later...
At 1:20 pm, we were fifth in line to go in. The mom in front of us was had brought her fourth grade daughter and about third grade son; and she hadn't told them what they were doing there. They were bouncing around like little chickadees, trying to solve the mystery.
I'm surprised they didn't figure it out by the fact that everyone in line was holding Rick Riordan books.
At two they let us in, where I got fantastic third row seats. Then we sat there waiting until three, when the Odyssey Bookshop events coordinator came out and talked a little bit on Rick Riordan. She was stammering and reading from note cards, so I figured she didn't talk in front of crowds often.
Then the author himself came out.
He is (no surprise) very funny, and also (still no surprise) very good at talking in front of crowds. It was amazing, seeing my favorite author and the brilliance behind Percy Jackson, just a mere 10 feet away. AHHHHH! Okay, okay, I sound like a crazed fan. But he was very funny and kept the crowd interested, talking about writing books and all that. Then he answered a few questions. Alright, maybe more than a few. It was AWESOME because he called on me to ask a question. I'm not very good at talking in front of people, even if it's just something like this. So as I asked my question, of course I was distracted by the storm of moths in my stomach. Ugh. Anyway, I asked him why he hadn't mentioned Eris (the goddess of strife, she started the Trojan War) yet in a book. He told me that by the end of the Heroes of Olympus series, he would have definitley covered all of the gods/goddesses. He also said that he might have to think about that. Hmm... maybe he'll use Eris in the next Heroes of Olympus book. In response to other people's questions, he said that he can work to up to 10 hours a day, he usually writes 14 drafts for a book, and that he had never been to this part of MA before. Also, The Kane Chronicles is apparently supposed to be a three book series, and The Heroes of Olympus is supposed to be five.
After the questions, people lined up to get their books signed. There was about 250 people getting books signed, and about two books per people, so Rick Riordan had to sign about 500 books! Wow. His hand must hurt. He signed my two books (one for me, one for my friend) and I asked him: "If you were battling monsters, who would you rather have defending you: Percy or Annabeth?" He said Annabeth, becuase she had strategy. I'd say Percy. He's good at defense (like fighting the Minotaur) , and Annabeth is good at strategic war (like fighting Kronos's army). I was very happy that he answered Annabeth, as opposed to "I can't choose." 
Actually, there's a chance he may be reading this, because when he was signing my books, I gave him the blog address. Woah. He could be reading words I wrote, instead of the usual vice-versa.
Well, Rick Riordan, if you are reading this please know that you are by far my favorite author, and that I LOVE the Percy Jackson series. Feel free to leave a comment!
Cheerio!


Peace, Love, and Ridiculously Awesome Authors


Rest of the photos from today:

Me with my Sadie Highlights

Rick Riordan Talking

Rick Riordan signing books