Anton asked Rick Riordan:

Hello Rick! Longtime fan here. The Lightning Thief is the book that sparked my love of reading and myths, and I will always be indebted to you for that! As an aspiring author, I would love to know: what was the most unexpected lesson you learned while writing The Lightning Thief?

Rick Riordan I think the most unexpected lesson was that I was supposed to be writing for kids, and all my previous experiences had been leading up to this. Early on, it felt like I was doing a bunch of unconnected things: reading Greek mythology, working at a summer camp, teaching middle school, then writing mystery novels for adults. It seems obvious now, but I finally realized all those things were necessary before I could write Percy Jackson, a novel for kids about Greek mythology set at a summer camp. In the moment, it's hard to see, but in retrospect, all those detours and dead-ends we think we have taken actually can lead to the path we are supposed to take. Nothing is wasted!

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