The Biography of Rick Riordan
Rick Riordan (1964-)
Rick Riordan was born on June 5, 1964, in San Antonio, Texas. Not much is known about his childhood, although he states that his first influences in reading and writing were the Lord of the Rings books, as well as Greek and Norse mythology interesting him as a child, but he had gone to Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio when he was old enough. He first started writing in high school when he published an underground newspaper practically making fun of the school (he was later found out publishing it, which prompted many to hate him, including the football team, who egged his car).
He first went to North Texas State because he wanted to be a guitar player, but he later transferred to the University of Texas in Austin to get a degree in both English and History. Later in life, he would get a license to teach English and History from the University of Texas in San Antonio, and spent his first full-time job as a middle school teacher in New Braunfels, Texas, and taught mythology every year. When he married his wife (and still married) he moved to San Francisco and started teaching there at Presidio Hill School. When they had their kids, Haley (the inspiration for the Percy Jackson series) and Patrick, they moved back to San Antonio, where he taught for another six years at Saint Mary's Hall before going into writing full-time.
Today, you can find Rick Riordan's work all over in bookstores. He is most famous for his Percy Jackson series, and is well immersed in the Greek mythology in the books. He is still writing today, with three-five books still in production and being released within the next two years, including books from his sequel from the Percy Jackson series. He is also working on a trilogy series called the Kane Chronicles, which actually deals with Egyptian mythology instead of his normal Greek mythological works. He still lives in San Antonio, Texas, with his wife and two kids, along with a few pets (one dog and two cats).
He first went to North Texas State because he wanted to be a guitar player, but he later transferred to the University of Texas in Austin to get a degree in both English and History. Later in life, he would get a license to teach English and History from the University of Texas in San Antonio, and spent his first full-time job as a middle school teacher in New Braunfels, Texas, and taught mythology every year. When he married his wife (and still married) he moved to San Francisco and started teaching there at Presidio Hill School. When they had their kids, Haley (the inspiration for the Percy Jackson series) and Patrick, they moved back to San Antonio, where he taught for another six years at Saint Mary's Hall before going into writing full-time.
Today, you can find Rick Riordan's work all over in bookstores. He is most famous for his Percy Jackson series, and is well immersed in the Greek mythology in the books. He is still writing today, with three-five books still in production and being released within the next two years, including books from his sequel from the Percy Jackson series. He is also working on a trilogy series called the Kane Chronicles, which actually deals with Egyptian mythology instead of his normal Greek mythological works. He still lives in San Antonio, Texas, with his wife and two kids, along with a few pets (one dog and two cats).
Works Written by Rick Riordan
"Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series
"The Heroes of Olympus" series
"The 39 Clues" series
"Tres Navarre" series
"The Kane Chronicles" series
- The Lightning Thief (2005)
- The Sea of Monsters (2006)
- The Titan's Curse (2007)
- The Battle of the Labyrinth (2008)
- The Demigod Files (2009)
- The Last Olympian (2009)
"The Heroes of Olympus" series
- The Lost Hero (2010)
- The Son of Neptune (2011)
- The Demigod Diaries (August 14, 2012)
- The Mark of Athena (October 2012)
- Book 4 (2013)
- Book 5 (2014)
"The 39 Clues" series
- The Maze of Bones (2008)
- The Black Book of Burned Secrets (2010)
- Vespers Rising (2011)
"Tres Navarre" series
- Big Red Tequila (1997)
- Widower's Two-Step (1998)
- The Last King of Texas (2000)
- The Devil Went Down to Austin (2001)
- Southtown (2004)
- Mission Road (2005)
- Rebel Island (2007)
"The Kane Chronicles" series
- The Red Pyramid (2010)
- The Throne of Fire (2011)
- The Serpent's Shadow (May 1, 2012)
Awards Won
- 1998: "Shamus Award" and "Anthony Award" (Big Red Tequila)
- 1999: "Edgar Award" (The Widower's Two-Step)
- 2008: "Mark Twain Award" (The Lightning Thief)
- 2009: "Mark Twain Award" (The Sea of Monsters) and "Rebeccas Caudill Award" (The Lightning Thief)
- 2010: "School Library Journal's Best Book" (The Red Pyramid)
- 2011: "Children's Choice Book Award"--Author of the Year, "Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year" (The Red Pyramid), and "Wyoming Soaring Eagle Book Award" (The Last Olympian)
Endnote: For my first genre, I chose to learn more about Rick Riordan both as an author and as a person. Who was he? What has he done in his life? There were questions I wanted to answer, and I found them on his personal website. I think it's important that readers know who the author is, to get a feel of what kind of a person the author is, and what they have written in general. If the reader likes the kinds of stories the author has written, then they can certainly search for more works done by the author. Any age of a reader should investigate authors, and it shouldn't be subjected to just one age group. Young and old readers alike should be able to know what the author has written, as well as what kinds of stories and themes the author likes to use in their stories. As for using sources and integrating it enough so readers can get a sense of his work, I had looked around Rick Riordan's own website, and had watched interviews he had done for younger readers. It came from his mouth, and he talked about himself personally, and spoke to the readers so they could understand who he was himself instead of perhaps hearing it from another source of some kind. I felt as though integrating his works would add to his appeal, as he is so devoted to mythology, whether it is Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian--and a reader should see that.