My son and I have been really excited to meet Rick Riordan now that he moved to Boston. Our first opportunity was at the MegaAwesome Author Event one town over. Rick was speaking along with three other authors: Ridley Pearson (Kingdom Keepers, Peter and the Star Catchers), Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl), and Jonathan Stroud (Bartimaeus).
We were clearly here for Rick Riordan but the marketing genius of Disney was such that we would walk away in love with three more authors. (Percy Jackson is published by Hyperion which is owned by Disney). Because the other three authors truly were Mega Awesome as promised, I am going to do a four-post series on each of them. Today, I want you to meet Ridley Pearson as I did.
Yes, here we are together in the long line in order to get our books and enter the auditorium. Ridley walked up and down the line to introduce himself to the kids in line, apologizing that he, in fact, was not Rick Riordan. What a nice thing to do. There wasn’t a book signing line, so this was the only personal interaction with all four authors at the event. Kudos to Ridley for taking the time to meet the kids!
His books were on display and signed copies of Kingdom Keepers sold out that day.
Kingdom Keepers VII: The Insider by Ridley Pearson
Kingdom Keepers VI: Dark Passage by Ridley Pearson
Kingdom Keepers V: Shell Game by Ridley Pearson
Kingdom Keepers IV: Power Play by Ridley Pearson
Kingdom Keepers III: Disney in Shadow by Ridley Pearson
Kingdom Keepers II: Disney at Dawn by Ridley Pearson
Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson
In truth, because my two oldest are girls, I had only heard of Peter and the Star Catchers which Grasshopper and Sensei had read in 5th grade and loved.
Peter and the Starcatchers by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry
Peter and the Secret of Rundoon (Peter and the Starcatchers) by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry
Peter and the Shadow Thieves (Peter and the Starcatchers) by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry
Peter and the Sword of Mercy (Peter and the Starcatchers) by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry
Now, let’s meet Ridley Scott!
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Awesome event! Ridley should not have apologized:) Your audience is what it is all about. Or at least should be! Another great share! Thanks, Mia.
Hi Jim,
Ridley just strikes me as the nicest and most humble person ever! You are right! He’s a rockstar in his own right! He was so kind to come out to meet the kids! He’s on Instragram too and I’m having fun following him! He’s been doing a huge book tour.
http://instagram.com/ridleypearson
Wow! What a thrill! I didn’t realize Rick Riordan lived in Boston either–and what a great gathering of awesome writers.
Hi Asakiyume,
Rick is from San Antonio and I think his stint is Boston is temporary. I heard he was here to research is latest series on the Norse gods but we are hoping that he stays here! Everyone in Boston is thrilled to have him as there are many more opportunities to meet him! Fingers crossed that the miserable winter this year did not turn him off Boston!!!
LOL, this was NOT the winter for a Texan to experience if he wants to contemplate putting down roots in Boston 😛
Hi Asakiyume,
I know, right? He’s probably making plans to return asap to Texas after this winter. But I hear the new series is set in Boston!
Ah, what a GREAT event. Being huge Disney fans, when we discovered the Kingdom Keepers and Peter and the Starcatchers a few years back, my daughter was hooked!
That was so very kind of Mr. Pearson to visit with everyone in the line – what a smart and nice thing for him to do.
You probably know how we feel about Mr. Riordan. We were lucky enough to catch him on his House of Hades Tour (so funny) and then what will most likely be a highlight of my daughter’s life – she was on HuffPost Live with him and Erik of This Kid Reviews Books. Mr. Riordan is as nice as he is funny. Great guy!
I love that you are sharing with us. Thank you.
Hi Cool Mom,
NO WAY! How fun to meet him with Erik of This Kid Reviews Books!!! That is so awesome! My son would love to meet him. Ridley Pearson just sent me the nicest thank you email as well for blogging on him. He really is such a nice person! What a great role model too!
Ridley was smart to interact the kids standing in line, because he showed them that he cared about them. Great way to gain readers. But, his books are popular among the tweens. Loved the pictures.
Hi Patricia,
I honestly think that Ridley is enough of a rockstar that he didn’t have to greet the kids in line but did it out of kindness and thoughtfulness. I didn’t think we read his books but then I remembered that my oldest loved his Peter and the Starcatcher series in 5th grade. I think he is just a old fashioned gentleman with very good manners!
Good for Ridley to interact with the kids! I love when authors do that. Do you know Laini Taylor? She is one of my favorite YA authors (DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE series), and she will be at the Children’s bookshop of the Brookline public library this Wednesday (4/23) at 7pm if you are interested. She will be speaking about the newly released third book of the series DREAMS OF GOD AND MONSTERS. I’ll be there 🙂
Hi Laurence,
I don’t know Laini Taylor but Brookline is nearby and I’ll see if my kids will come with me. Thanks so much for the heads up!!!
Are there a bunch of cool kid authors that live in MA? Or do you just hit the traveling ones? I love that there was a whole event!
What a great event and a neat concept that these books take place at Disney! Also LOVE the cover art of his earlier series.
Hi Ann,
We were so lucky to be able to go! It was a great event! I’m trying to get my son to give his books a try…
You are so good at meeting authors – I love that you find these opportunities for your kids!
MaryAnne
Thanks MaryAnne,
Selfishly, it’s more for me. I really get so much out of meeting authors and I noticed that it makes my kids more interested in reading so it’s a win-win!
Wow, what an all star event, Eion Colfer and Rick Riordan as well as Ridley. I know the first two but not the latter, so we will have to check him out. What a dream it would be to included in an event with authors that you truly admire. I would be happy to be the lesser known in an event like that, just to have the experience, he he. Thanks so much for a fab rundown on the event and for joining us on the Kid Lit Blog Hop
Hi Julie,
Their publisher, Disney Hyperion, pulled that Mega Awesome event together but I bet you can pull one together as well by reaching out to the authors at your publisher or just local children’s book authors with new book releases. I think the more the merrier! A panel is great though you need a moderator to move it along. I went to one event where a local librarian did the Q and A.
What a treasure that picture will be.. the one with RR! I can honestly say that you look thrilled to be there!! 🙂
-Reshama @ Stackingbooks
Hi Reshama,
It was a real pleasure to meet Ridley Pearson in the flesh but I only was able to see Rick Riordan on stage. That was fun too though!
I know, it was AH-mazing. Rick gives tips to young writers in the program, too. The post below links to the program in case you/your son would like to check it out.
Thanks for the link Cool Mom! Heading over right now!
What an amazing event! To have all those guys together in one place?! I probably would have gone all fangirl and cried with excitement! Very cool of Ridley to talk to the kids in line.
Hi Sherrie,
It was a wonderful lineup!! The auditorium was really hot but everyone stayed because the authors were having so much fun that it was impossible not to want to hear more!