Source: wired
THE GEEKDAD INTERVIEW WITH RICK RIORDAN
Rick Riordan is a very busy man. Last week saw the release of The Lost Hero, the first book in his new series, The Heroes of Olympus, and he’s currently on a 12 city tour to promote the book and meet his readers. Then there’s the upcoming release of the graphic novel version of his book, The Lightning Thief. Finally, he’s just shipped off the second book in the Kane Chronicles to his editor, in anticipation of a spring 2011 release. Yet, he still found time to sit down this past weekend to talk about children’s fantasy, mythology and The Lost Hero.
GeekDad: As a former teacher, do you intentionally try to impart education in your writing or at least leave the breadcrumbs that lead to deeper reading?
Rick Riordan: First of all, I always want kids to feel like they’re having a good time reading the story, but while I’m doing that I’m hoping that they’ll get into the mythology too.
Read more here…
Source: medinger
RICK RIORDAN CAMP HALF-BLOOD
“I can only tell you that the people who have read “The Lost Hero,” my kids, the editor, my agent actually told me that they like this even better than “The Lightning Thief.”
So says Rick Riordan about The Lost Hero, the first book in his new Heroes of Olympus series and today millions of eager young fans will be able to see for themselves if his kids, editor, and agent are right. For those who don’t yet know, kids really, really, REALLY love his Percy Jackson series and have been eagerly awaiting this new one. Many of them have already checked out the new book’s website, read the first two chapters, are planning to see Rick on his book tour, and be part of today’s series of webcasts (in which Rick promises to reveal some big news).
Read more here…
Source: slwhitman
PRE-ROBERT JORDAN EPIC FANTASY BOOK LIST
I’m looking for a list of PRE-Robert Jordan epic fantasy that appealed to teenagers, whether published for them or not. So that includes Dragonlance Chronicles, which was published for adults, but it also includes Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown, published for young readers. (I’m not sure if the latter two were published for teens or children, but I believe it was teens. I could be wrong.)
What do you all think? Remember, I want pre-Robert Jordan. The Eye of the World came out in 1990, so we’re talking the 15 or so years before that, because Robert Jordan really changed a LOT of things in epic fantasy, inspiring a lot of epic fantasists working today both in adult and children’s. I’m looking for the “before” shot. (It’s not really a before-after—more like a before-after-after-after, but you get the idea.)
Read more here…
Source: inthisweek
STEAM-POWERED VISIONS PEN FUTURISTIC SCI-FI
There’s a bizarre stigma behind online and digital self-publishing of books that a lot of authors are working very hard to get rid of.
In the film world, being independent is a badge of honor, most comic book creators these days get their start there, but for some reason novels and short stories are viewed as unprofessional and amateur if they’re not vetted by a major publisher of some kind. Sure, you can get burned by these editors and crap still gets published, but there’s a whole lot of great material out there that’s never even been seen by one of these big publishing houses. It makes so much sense for writers to be publishing their own material, too, especially with the way royalties to giant publishers go, and since there’s such an impressive push toward digital publishing, there’s no reason any reasonable author who knows his trade needs that middle man.
Read more here…
Source: tor
NEIL GAIMAN’S THE GRAVEYARD BOOK LIVE
Since it’s the Halloween month and all things creepy and wonderful are sneaking about, it seems like a good time to talk about one of the cooler things Neil Gaiman has done for his readers. His middle-grade novel The Graveyard Bookachieved mass critical acclaim, from a Hugo to the Newberry award, as well as audience adoration from kids and adults.
But did you know that you can listen to it, read by Gaiman himself, for free? Right now?
Read more here…
Are you a fan of Neil Gaiman? Will you be listening to him read the book?
Will you be getting the graphic novel version of the Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan?
