Um, Dues Ex Machina Anyone?

My Eighth Grade Teacher, Mrs. Pabst, Had Done Her Master's Thesis On Tolkien. She Showed Me How The Trilogy Was Patterned After Norse Mythology. She Was Also The First Person To Encourage Me To Submit Stories For Publication. The Idea Of Writing A Fantasy Based On Myths Never Left Me, And Many Years Later, This Would Lead Me To Write Percy Jackson.

I Knew Dionysus Must've Filled It Out, Because He Stubbornly Insisted On Getting My Name Wrong: Dear _______peter Johnson__________.

Right," She Said, "we're Going To The Land Of The Dead And I Shouldn't Think Negative.

Families Are Messy. Immortal Families Are Eternally Messy. Sometimes The Best We Can Do Is To Remind Each Other That We're Related For Better Or For Worse...and Try To Keep The Maiming And Killing To A Minimum.

Staying Silent, Staying Away From Him... That Was The Hardest Thing I've Ever Done.