Rita’s Comments (group member since Jul 23, 2010)

Rita’s comments from the Unlocking Books group.

I thought it absolutely awesome when I found out who Piper's mother was. Not what I would have expected.



****Spoiler Alert****
Aphrodite has always been my least favorite, but I thought Riordan's depiction of Piper and the rest of the Aphrodite cabin was superb. Piper just might redeem Aphrodite in my eyes.

But there's some things I don't believe--like I never check my daily horoscope. I don't believe the stars can give us advice or predict the future.

I've studied a lot about the Zodiac signs because my husband was interested in it when we got married. If not for him, I'd know nothing about it.

Some Zodiac information I've read has been convoluted and strange, but one book Linda Goodman's Love Signs: A New Approach to the Human Heart by Linda Goodman explains how different signs interact. My husband is an Aquarian, and the possible conversations a female Sag and a male Aquarian may have were actual conversations my husband and I had prior to reading the book. It felt like the author had a camera in our house and had recorded our conversations, changing context slightly for the sake of anonymity.

I've believed that there is some truth to Zodiac signs ever since.

Stephanie, you are a Sag too? Wow, three of us in the same group. If Katrina and Kyle came around more, there'd be 5 of us.

Sags are double signs. That means we have two parts of our nature. Example we're honest to the point of bluntness but prone to exaggeration. We're graceful but trip over our own two feet.

There are actually three double signs: Gemini, Libra, and Sagittarians.

The way to understand our double nature is to compare us with Geminis. Geminis are like two different personalities in one body, but Sagittarians are one personality with two extremes.

I've seen some of your honest Sagittarian nature in how you talk about yourself. You're willing to admit your struggles with writing where some other people would sweep their faults under the rug.

That's something I really like about you.

Who is my godly parent? I'm going to have to think some more about that. I have always liked Athena and Artemis, but Artemis isn't possible.

Though, I will say that I once read that Artemis gives Sagittarians a blessing. Sags are fire signs, but they have a unique affinity to the magic of the earth. I've read that Sags can teach earth signs a few things about the earth.

But then Sags are teachers and philosophers.

So I ask how on earth the gods had so many children, especially ones around the same age, and then today I come across this line:

"...and how Aphrodite had so many children the same age--Never mind. She didn't want to know."

I thought that was hilarious. My hat is off to Riordan for figuring out what questions I would ask and addressing them without answering them. It means he thought it through, but he leaves some mysteries.

NOTE: I hope I got the quote right. I'm reading as an audiobook and I tried to memorize the words to share it with you.

I think roleplaying games are a good tool to becoming a writer. You have to play-act your character's reactions and to remember that some things you know your character doesn't. Prepares you for understanding the rules of POV.

No, I haven't. Could you tell me more about it?

And the adventures could even be relevant to the real world, if you wanted.

Hmm, sounds to me like the Percy Jackson books would make a good role playing game (the paper and dice kind, not the video game kind). It would be easy to create a story with yourself as a hero in the demi-god world.

Some of my brain children (my writing) take a whole lot longer than 9 months. But then I'm not a goddess.

I got a question for those people who are more familiar with Riordan's demigod world. It seems to me that the number of teenage demigods is too many. Take for example the children of Aphrodite. She could really only have one a year.

Now a male god could possibly have two or three or more children a year, but from the Greek myths, I didn't think the number of children born from the gods was that rampant.

I got my audiobook copy from the library and started reading it today on my drive to work. I haven't read the previous series, so I'm a little lost.

But the beginning was fast paced, exciting, and full of mystery. With the whole amnesia thing, I was greatly reminded of The Maze Runner. However, The Lost Hero seems to have a lot less telling than Maze Runner did.

I was wondering if anyone would like to nominate a book by a goodreads author because I could try to invite them in for a Q&A. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

My advice to writers is to hook your reader in the first pages by introducing them to the main character. To do that, you need a strong POV, a character the reader can root for, and a vivid voice.

But Robin McKinley doesn't really do that in her first chapter. I loved the opening line.

"Because she was a princess she had a pegasus."

But then the author launches into details on the treaty, and it isn't until page 3 that we learn our POV's name. Even then, the rest of the chapter focuses on the treaty and the backstory of this world. This is the very kind of thing that I've heard you are NOT supposed to do. It's an amateur mistake.

But Robin McKinley is not a new writer. She has written some bestselling books.

All rules are made to be broken, so how is it that this works for Ms. McKinley? What do you think?

So I've started Pegasus, and I'm already thinking this will be a "savory" kind of read. It doesn't seem like an action-packed story like so many that are popular today, but I think I'm going to like it all the same.

Who is reading The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan with us this month? I'm ordering it from the library.

I finally got Pegasus from the library! I'm going to start reading it this week, as soon as I'm done with Daughters of Rome.

Stephanie, that book sounds really good. I've added it to my to-read list.