My resolve, my anger, even my grief gave me confidence

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.

Otis barreled towards them empty-handed, before apparently realizing that a) he was empty-handed and b) charging towards a large body of water to fight a son of Poseidon was maybe not a good idea.

I don’t define myself by the boys who may or may not like me.

"It's him," I said. "Typhon." I was seriously hoping Chiron would say something good, like No, that's our huge friend Leroy! He's going to help us!

Annabeth’s shoulders ached. The elevator’s easy-listening music didn’t help. If all monsters had to hear that song about liking piña coladas and getting caught in the rain, no wonder they were in the mood for carnage when they reached the mortal world.

Maybe being home schooled, Carter didn’t realize that “test” is normally a bad thing.