About the Author

Rick Riordan

Richard Russell "Rick" Riordan (/ˈraɪərˌdɛn/), Jr. (born June 5, 1964) is an American author best known for writing the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He also wrote the adult mystery series Tres Navarre and helped edit Demigods and Monsters, a collection of essays on his Percy Jackson series. He helped develop the ten books of The 39 Clues series and wrote the first book in the series, The Maze of Bones. In 2012, he completed a trilogy focusing on Egyptian mythology, The Kane Chronicles, and has published three out of five planned books of The Heroes of Olympus series, the sequel to the Percy Jackson series that focuses on Roman and Greek mythology.

Biography

Riordan was raised in San Antonio, Texas.In middle school, Bernard Evslin's The Greek Gods introduced him to Greek mythology, and Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring "opened up the world of fantasy" for him.Riordan also cited his eighth grade teacher, Mrs. Pabst, as a great influence. He graduated from Alamo Heights High School in 1982 and the University of Texas at Austin in 1986, where he double-majored in English and Social Studies. Riordan taught English and Social Studies in Presidio Hill School in San Francisco for eight years. He was awarded St. Mary's Hall's first Master Teacher Award in 2002.
Riordan has created many successful book series. The multi-award-winning Tres Navarre mystery series for adults follows the fast-paced adventures of an erudite Texan private eye. His Percy Jackson and the Olympians series features a twelve-year-old who discovers he is the modern-day son of the ancient Greek god, Poseidon. Twentieth Century Fox purchased the film rights and released a feature film February 12, 2010. Following the success of Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan created The Kane Chronicles, which features a modern-day Egyptian pantheon and two new sibling protagonists. Its first book, The Red Pyramid, was released May 4, 2010; the sequel, The Throne Of Fire, was released May 3, 2011. The third and final book in the Kane Chronicles, The Serpent's Shadow, was released May 1, 2012. Riordan also created a sequel series to the Percy Jackson books, The Heroes of Olympus. Its first book, The Lost Hero, was released in the U.S. October 12, 2010; the sequel, The Son of Neptune, was released October 4, 2011, and the third book in the series, The Mark of Athena, was released October 2, 2012. Riordan expanded both series simultaneously; while he has completed The Kane Chronicles trilogy, he continues to write The Heroes of Olympus, a pentalogy. Riordan also helped create the children's book series The 39 Clues; he authored several of its books, including The Maze of Bones, which topped the New York Times Best Seller list on September 28, 2008. Riordan plans to publish another series based on Norse mythology in 2015.
The San Diego Comic-Con International 2010 featured Riordan as a guest. Rick Riordan lives in San Antonio with his wife and their two sons Patrick and Haley, who inspired his Percy Jackson series by telling stories of their dreams.