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Hey, Aro, Hello Aro,
How are you guys doing today? Doing

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well? This is Rick, This
is Mark. Very good to talk to

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you. Well, I'm so happy
to talk to you guys, because Rick,

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I swear this is the first time
that you've collaborated, is it not?

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Because you and I have talked so
many times in the past, So,

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I mean, this is so special
for me and my listeners because we're

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huge fans of what you have brought
to the world. Well, thank you.

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Yes, it is the first collaboration
I've ever done, and I think

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I started at the top because this
didn't been just a great process. Mark,

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What was it like, Because when
you start collaborating with other people,

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that means sharing ideas and relinquishing different
thoughts. Oh. Absolutely, And you

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know this is my first time collaborating
with anyone as well, and I could

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not imagine a better collaborative partner.
It has been a lot of fun.

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First of all, it's a Percy
Jackson fan to get to Jackson books get

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made, but then also to be
given so much creative freedom from Rick his

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team at Disney, to add to
the canon, to tell a story that

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I want to tell in a universe
that made up like this, whole thing

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was so magical. What is it
like to be inside your imagination? Rick,

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Because I mean what you're doing here, this is a standalone book based

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on two of the most popular characters
of Percy Jackson. You're taking this to

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a completely different level for readers.
We are, I mean, at least

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that is certainly the hope that Nico
and Will are some of the most popular

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characters in Percy Jackson's world, and
I think they deserved a novel that was

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more than I could give for them
a loan. So I had to open

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up my imagination and really share that
with Mark and see what together we could

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bring to these characters. And I
do think that the whole is greater than

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the some of the parts. It's
a really special novel. Now, when

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you talk about Nico and Will,
I mean, did you guys take each

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other's roles, I mean the roles
from these guys and bring it forward.

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That's a great question. Yet No, I think I do think it took

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us both some time to kind of
up our minds around what is Nico's voice

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versus will voice? How are they
as a couple, how do they function

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especially under pressure? I don't know
what do you think. I Well,

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I personally found writing Niko is easier
than writing Will. Part of that was

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There's just more of him in the
series before, and I'd read the books

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multiple times. And then I also
just have a very personal recognition with this

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character, so finding his voice was
easier. But yeah, I don't think

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we it wasn't. I think some
people might think that, like, oh,

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I wrote Nico, you wrote Will, And I think it was more

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that we wrote them both together and
figured them out together. Yeah, did

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it feel like you guys had a
split personality here, because I mean to

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go into both characters like that,
I mean that really had to gel together

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somehow. I think it was more
that we have different things that we are

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good at. Rick is so good
at that fast paced energy, the action

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and humor, whereas my side is, you know, especially with my young

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adult and middle grade books, I
write very introspective, heavy books. And

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so it was, yeah, finding
how do you mix those two things?

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How do we respect both our styles
but then create a book that just feels

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like a weird meld up the two
of them. Yeah. Yeah, Mark

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was really really great about taking Nico
and Will's backstory and developing it in such

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a beautiful, nuanced way that they
felt to me more real than they had

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in any previous book. And that
was really beautiful to see you guys are

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going out on a speaking tour.
This has got to be fantastic for listeners

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as well as readers, because I
mean, to be able to read it

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on a page is one thing,
but then to see you both in person

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is mind blowing. That's where dreams
start, new writers on their journeys,

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I mean, that's what we're hoping. I love getting to interact with readers

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in general, but I also know
that so many prisjects and fans have been

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waiting for a Nico book for so
long. We're just happy to be in

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the same room with them, and
very very excited about Cilangelo, very very

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much supporting men. Yeah, it's
there, really is an air of celebration,

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and I think this tour is going
to be really important and special.

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I can't wait to get back out
there a story about first love. Young

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adults love this kind of stuff.
This is the kind of stuff that they

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pass forward, they do, and
there's an interesting spin on that actually that

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Mark just pointed out to me today. Do you want to talk about Yeah,

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you know, I think it's very
common in young adults and sometimes in

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middle grade two where we talk about
how characters are to get together. There's

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the meet cute, how do they
meet? How do they fall in love?

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You know, especially in recent years
young adult books, they're capturing the

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breakup, what happens after a relationship
ends. But what we really tried to

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capture was, well, they're already
in a relationship at the start of this

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book. How do you maintain it? What is required to stay with someone,

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especially when you're in tartarus of all, like literally the worst place for

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anything to be to your inspiring period. But I really think we enjoyed exploring

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that the idea that relationships our work
and how do you learn to empathize with

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another person and understand where they're coming
from. This collaboration between the two of

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you. Was it on the golf
course, it was at a business meeting

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over a conference table, because you
guys really do communicate. It's like your

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friends from from a different generation.
Yeah, it was all virtual, weirdly,

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all to email, a couple zoom
calls, you know. Our editor

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Steph Lurie helped facilitate this. There
was a lot of conversations in the notes

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of Microsoft Word as we're like sending
notes back and forth. Do you foresee

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this going onto Disney Plus because it
may come on What your words and the

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magic you put on a page are
just unbelievable. Well, thank you.

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I mean, we're in the process
of getting the original Percy Jackson series on

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Disney Plus as a TV show,
and I think what happens next will really

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depend on how that's received, how
the fans love it. I hope they

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will. I think they will,
but so who knows. I mean,

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maybe someday we'll be talking about this
going to TV, but we'll have to

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wait and see. I'm blessed with
the opportunity to go to a lot of

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middle schools and high schools, and
I love it when while I'm in their

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class, I'll see one of your
books on either in their book bag or

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I'll see it on their desk.
Well, how do you react when you

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see your work of art in somebody
else's hands. I just so, I

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just spent a week doing visits in
middle schools and high schools in New York

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City where some of these kids read
my book multiple time. Yes, you

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know, it never stops being surreal. It never stops being an amazing thing,

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particularly because growing up, I don't
think we read very many modern authors,

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and certainly none that came to visit
us. And I know, both

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of us, we do want to
inspire young people to not just read,

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but to consider, you know,
pursuing art as a career. So I

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love any opportunity to show them like, this is what a successful author looks

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like. You can do it too, Yeah, absolutely, it's it's amazing

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to have a conversation with readers and
to show readers that writers are just people,

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and some of them are actually still
alive. You know. That's something

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I never knew when I was in
middle school. I assume they were all

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just dead from the eighteen hundred.
So then you guys are open on the

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idea that these little neighborhood library boxes
or homes that they have where people can

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just share the book. That's okay
with you guys, then, oh I

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love Lutie, I love those.
We love our libraries. We constantly are

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telling people, you know, that
is a great resource, you know,

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and I know, especially for young
people maybe they can't afford a book,

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the library is such a great play
where you don't have to spend money and

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you can, you know, experience
these wonderful stories. Absolutely, Rick,

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you picked a good guy to team
up with. My god, oh my

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god. I'm blessed with the opportunity
to talk with a lot of the people

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that you support, Rick, But
this guy right here, you picked a

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good one. Well I think so
too. Thank you, Thank you.

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I appreciate that. Please come back
to this show anytime in the future.

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The door is always going to be
open for you. Thanks Sarah. It's

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great talk to you. Thank you
so much. Be brilliant. You guys,