This week, we’re entering the world of myth. The mythological world of the Maya gods, to be exact. J.C. Cervantes is the author of The Storm Runner, which is one of the debut titles in the Rick Riordan Presents imprint of books that explore the world’s mythologies.

In addition to The Storm Runner, the imprint also explores Hindu myths (with Roshani Chokshi’s Aru Shah and the End of Time and its sequel), Korean mythology (with Yoon Ha Lee’s Dragon Pearl), and a Cuban-tinged sci-fi adventure (with Carlos Hernandez’s Sal and Gabi Break the Universe, due out in March). If you’re interested in learning more, be sure to check out our interview with Yoon Ha Lee over here.

In short, Riordan is using his considerable platform to explore the world’s timeless stories, written by authors who represent or identify with the respective cultures. And that’s awesome.

Cervantes is also the author of Tortilla Sun and the forthcoming sequel to The Storm Runner, which is scheduled to release this fall: The Fire Keeper. On this episode, we chat about The Storm Runner, coming in on the ground floor of the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, underdog stories, mythology, writing for young readers, and reading backwards.

You can listen on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, TuneIn, Stitcher, and YouTube; you can follow the RSS feed; or you can listen right here!

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Connect:

• J.C. Cervantes is on Twitter here and online here.
• The show is on Twitter here.
• Jamie is on Twitter and Instagram as @theroarbots.
• Shiri is on Twitter as @SWSondheimer.