Hey everyone! So very sorry about not posting Friday, since I know that YOU’RE ALL SO EXCITED to read Broken Reflections. But that didn’t happen. Obviously. Let me explain.

Thurs. through Sat., Mom, Big Sis, Lil’ Bro, and I all went to Nashville (Tennessee).

First things first, I took my school with me. Yes, Big Sis and Lil’ Bro (he’d HATE being called that … mwahaha) didn’t bring school with them, since Mom said it’s vacation. Well, I sure as heck wasn’t going to just sit around watching movies and baking a cake all day. (It was the guy’s birthday and they had cake mix for me to do. Yeah. I still baked it, though.)

That was the reason why I didn’t post. Yeah.

Fine. I COULD HAVE, but that meant that I’d have to RE-go-over the part I was going to post, think up something clever to say at the beginning, and a question to go along at the end. Also I’d have to answer those early-commenters and comment (and read) their most recent post. (Don’t worry guys, you’re not a chore!)

So … yep.

Also, something else exciting happened this weekend! When we were in TN., we got to see friends that we haven’t seen in FOUR WHOLE YEARS. THEIR PUPPIES WERE SO BIG!!! Ahem. Also the children. Yes, yes, that.

And the WHOLE REASON that we were there … well, I get into that in a moment.

Secondly, it was a SEVEN HOUR CAR TRIP with Sister, Brother, and Mother. We listened to the first Harry Potter book. I was the only one who hasn’t read all the books. Well, I read the first before. Whatever. This monster of a ride was TOTALLY WORTH IT. (Yes, I do like CAPS today. Do you have a problem with that??)

Now. The fun stuff.

I got to see Rick Riordan.

REPEAT, I GOT TO SEE RICK RIORDAN.
Yep. The Rick Riordan that wrote Percy Jackson.

I didn’t get to meet him, ’cause there were probably about fifteen-hundred or so people there …. but I got to see him. It was awesome.

Here’s how it happened:

A few months ago, I saw that Uncle Rick (haha, yep, that’s what everyone calls him) was coming to TN. Since we have friends who live there, I inconspicuously asked Mom if there was ANY chance that we could go to TN. in October. Mom asked why. AND SHE STARTED TO TEXT OUR FRIEND AND IT WAS DECIDED. (That is totally not my mom. But eh.)

There were some minor take-backs (such as now only some of us were going, and since our

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The book and a (small) part of the shirt.

only vehicle – other than Dad’s work van – is a 15 passenger van, we didn’t have a car. We also couldn’t find a campground. We ended up borrowing a car from our grandparents, and we stayed with our friends.). But they were all resolved.

When we got to the Memorial place where Uncle Rick would be, THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE. It was ridiculous. (Not really, Rick is awesome.) We stood in line for a few minutes. When we finally got in, we turned in our tickets, and since I bought his newest book – The Hammer of Thor – I got that. It was signed the night before. Hehe, yep.

Since we were AT LEAST twenty minutes early, Sis and I just sat there (we were the only ones to go see Uncle Rick from our family). We actually had some pretty good seats, by my standards. I stared at my GORGEOUS book and got kinda giddy. One of the guys who was with Rick was dressed up as a viking, and was messing around behind the projector. It was pretty funny. But I had a MAJOR headache and was feeling nauseous, since the car trip was SUPER hot, I had had barely any water (it went pretty fast that day), and I was so excited. So that was less than enjoyable.

When it FINALLY started, it was just the viking guy and Rick’s editor (also dressed like a viking) messing around and do trivia-for-prizes and the like. Uncle Rick appeared maybe ten or so minutes later.

If you wonder how funny he ACTUALLY is, it’s just like on his Twitter and in his books. (A lot like Magnus Chase’s, really.) It made it to be enjoyable, even though I wasn’t feeling great.

He talked a bit about the books and his writing and future projects (!!!) and a lot of pictures of his dog, Speedy (The Mark of Athena was dedicated to him). Then was Q&A, which took up most of the time.

Maybe two-thirds of the way through, I was debating raising my hand to ask something. I asked Sis and she shrugged. I thought, What the heck?

I raised my hand. Nothing.

The girl viking (editor) was on the balcony and the guy was on the ground level (me). They were switching with questions.

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Yeah, it’s blurry. But I had to take out the glass from my phone’s camera, and it wasn’t great to being with. So yeah.

When the lady was giving someone the mike to ask a question, the guy stood in my aisle (I was on the very end, because I always am, duh). I was excited … but nothing happened. I figured that he’d ask the girl two seats beside me, who was practically jumping, or the girl across the aisle who’s arm was about to pull out of its socket, or the little (annoying) girl sitting in front of me.

Then the guy came over to me, and held out the mike. I mean, I did’t even think that he could see my hand with how low it was. ACK.

He held the mike RIGHT in front of me. I panicked. Inwardly.

It took me a second, but I said my name and asked my question. This is exactly what  I said: “So, early you said that you write on your computer. And I was wondering, like, what program you use. Like, what you write with.” My face was flushed and I was SOOO nervous. All the eight year olds spoke better than I did! But Uncle Rick answered. He just uses Microsoft Word. Then he went into how everyone is different in what they use.

He was looking RIGHT AT ME. I died. Literally.

And as Rick was finishing, the guy with the mike, covered it up and whispered in my ear (he was a little close … but with all the adrenaline, I wasn’t TOO worried about my five-foot space bubble) to ask about tips for new writers.

So after an awkward moment after Uncle Rick finished, I nervously asked, “And do you have any tips for writers? Um, like, tips for new writers new writers?” in a quivery voice. Still looking in my general direction, Rick said: Read, write, and don’t give up (in a little more detail). Since I was one of the last questions and I got to ask two, and think that the girls near me were more than a LITTLE jealous.

So, yeah, I had a conversation with Rick Riordan. I also spoke in front of fifteen-hundred people with a microphone (which is surprisingly echo-y and made me even MORE nervous).

And to top it off, we all got free T-shirts!! Yay!! (Well, we paid for tickets, so it wasn’t FREE.)

It was an amazing night.

Hey guys! So, sorry for a longer post, but it just HAD to be said. (With all CAPS, obviously.) What’s your favorite Riordan book? Have you ever met an author before??? Tell me below in the comments!!! 😀