About the Author
Rick Riordan is the #1 best-selling author of the Percy Jackson and Olympus series, along with many more. Riordan was always interested in writing, but after collage he started off as a teacher in San Francisco and Texas; he majored/taught English and History 15 years. Soon he became interested in independent writing while teaching full-time, so he began his career as an author. He currently lives in San Francisco with his wife, two sons, Gold Lab, and two black cats.
His Influence/Purpose
In the beginning, Riordan wrote books that mainly pertained to adults although one day his son asked him to narrate a bedtime story to him about the Greek gods and heroes. Riordan taught Greek myths for many years, but this time he was out of stories. Although he remembered an activity he gave his students as a teacher which was to create your own demigod hero and their story, so off the top of his head he created the famous Percy Jackson. The story took a while to finish, but once he was done his son suggested he turn Percy Jackson and his adventures into a novel. But wait, there's more. When Riordan had a job as a music director in the summer camp, Camp Capers, the idea about Camp Half-Blood came to him.
Riordan's main purpose for writing the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series was because he wanted to try out something new. When he first wrote The Lightning Thief, he realized mid-way of writing it that it was something totally different from what he usually writes. He describes his experience with this series as fun, and interesting.