Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Rick Riordan started writing as a young adult. He wrote short stories, unsuccessfully submitted a few of those stories for publication, and edited his high school newspaper. But he didnamp;#039;t take writing seriously until after he graduated from college and was teaching in San Francisco. On an impulse, Riordan decided to try his hand at a mystery novel, which he set in his home town of San Antonio. Featuring a private-eye/English Ph.D. named Tres Navarre, Big Red Tequila was published to rave reviews in 1997. Today, Riordanamp;#039;s Tres Navarre series has won the top three awards for the mystery genre-the Edgar, the Anthony, and the Shamus. #xd;#xa;#xd;#xa;Rick Riordan is the award-winning, bestselling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and the creator of a new series The 39 Clues.#xd;#xa;