About Rick Riordan

Rick Riordan is the multi-award-winning author of the Tres Navarre mystery series for adults and the #1 New York Times bestselling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series for children.

For fifteen years, Rick taught English and history at public and private middle schools in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Texas. In 2002, Saint Mary’s Hall honored him with the school’s first Master Teacher Award.

His adult fiction has won the top three national awards in the mystery genre – the Edgar, the Anthony and the Shamus. He has presented workshops for such organizations as the International Reading Association, the California Association of Independent Schools, the National Council for Teachers of English, the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute and the Texas Library Association. His short fiction has appeared in Mary Higgins Clark Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. In 2003, he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters.

His Percy Jackson series features a twelve-year-old dyslexic boy who discovers he is the modern-day son of a Greek god. The novels draw on Riordan’s experience teaching Greek mythology and his interaction with students who have learning differences. The Lightning Thief was a New York Times Notable Book for 2005. Film rights have been purchased by Twentieth Century Fox and a feature film is in development. The Sea of Monsters was a Child Magazine Best Book for Children for 2006 and a Publishers Weekly and BookSense national bestseller. The most recent title is The Titan's Curse, a #1 New York Times children's series bestseller.

Rick Riordan now writes full-time. He lives in San Antonio with his wife and two sons.

(Most frequently asked question: Rick's last name is pronounced Ryer'-dan. (First syllable rhymes with fire) Click here to hear Rick pronounce his name.)

Press Kit Materials

Click here for a high resolution jpg author photo. (for PC, right click and choose "save target as")

Click here for a high resolution jpg cover of The Lightning Thief. (for PC, right click and choose "save target as")

Click here for a high resolution jpg cover of The Sea of Monsters. (for PC, right click and choose "save target as")

Click here for a high resolution jpg cover of The Titan's Curse. (for PC, right click and choose "save target as")

Click here for a reproducible author bio sheet, compliments of Hyperion Books for Children. (PDF format)

Mr. Riordan's Classroom. Want to see what Rick Riordan did when he was teaching full-time? Visit his virtual classroom.

Check out and support San Antonio Youth Literacy.

Check out Rick's archival materials, which are housed in the Southwest Writers Collection at Texas State University.