Hundreds of orange-clad Percy Jackson fans united Tuesday in the Buena High School auditorium to hear Rick Riordan speak. 

Riordan, the number one New York Times bestselling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, explained how and why he wrote the books, exhibited international cover art for his books, and answered questions from his fans.

The Percy Jackson series started as bedtime stories for his son, Haley, who loved Greek mythology.  Haley had just been diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD, so Riordan made the heros of the story have the same conditions.

In the Percy Jackson book series, modern life and Greek mythology are intertwined; Riordan writes about a troubled young demigod Percy who faces monsters and the evil titan lord Kronos.  More than 20 million copies of these books have been sold worldwide.

Riordan’s nine day book tour visited New York, Toronto, Boston, and many other locations  before dropping by Ventura.

“I believe there were 900 people [with guaranteed seating],” said Sydney Norch, Barnes & Noble employee.  “We let in probably 100-150 from the standby line.”

For those that did get in, “Camp Half-blood” t-shirts and signed books were sold.

“It’s really close and easy to get to, which makes this even more rare,” said fan Maddy Hood from Camarillo, California. 

Besides locals from Ventura County, many other fans traveled from all over California and even out of state.

Jenny Blattner and her daughter Jackie Blattner came from Chino Hills and waited in line at Barnes & Noble for 19 hours to hear Riordan speak.

“I came to see [Rick Riordan] because he just changed how I thought of reading because I used to hate it,” Jackie Blattner said. “And when I read The Lightning Thief, it completely changed my life, and now I’m reading.  So I owe it all to him.”

Blattner was not the only one waiting in front of Barnes & Noble Monday night.  Melissa Clark and Krista Shirley, two students from UCSB, started waiting in line Monday around 7 pm.

“My mom got there at around four o’clock this morning and she just kept waiting until she was able to get in,” Hood said. 

The overwhelming amount of people that crowded in front of Buena’s auditorium were not disappointed. Riordan delivered an informative presentation packed with humor and amusing anecdotes.  

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Background Photo Credit: Chloey Settles/The Foothill Dragon Press