>> so i think you can also why we have a master storyteller a mischievous measure in the story that he tells. i think we need to create on this throughout the country. we read in our house. i think that is one of the most brilliant taglines that i've heard in a long, long time. don't you agree? i think we should begin that as quickly as we can. and i read that cnn.calm piece that she wrote and i was really inspired by it as a bookseller because their missions are very similar to create the next generation of readers. you gave some tips to some parents, but is there a way to oil them down to three import things they can remember? we read in our house could be one. what other tips my parents get? >> is just kind of anything

goes. if you go and read, you'll see a lot of parents. like i don't mind if my kid stays up later if they are reading. that's okay, yeah, they read till 11:00, so be it. there's worse things to do in life than not. ..

>> i think you can hold them through 11 and 12. that's when it gets tricky with boys. at least if they read well, there's hope. they may pick it up later. they may get distracted. some don't, but a lot do. the key thing is they develop the ability to read pretty well. >> i also know through your work on this whole reading initiative that you have -- i know there's teachers out there as well, and that you have -- >> it's not the schools. >> exactly. [laughter] i know there's programs within the schools you acknowledged as being some that are really quite great. there happens to be -- i happened to see her walking in -- my 4th grade teacher is here, mrs. kay, now mrs. harris. when i was in school, they did something, and it dawned op me they don't do it anymore.

when i was in elementary school, they had the library patrol. i had a button, and i was on patrol. talk about other programs. >> one of the programs i love is drop everything and read where for one period every day or several days a week, the whom school just reads. everybody just -- the teachers including is a great one. the schools in washington, very successful about turning around inner city kids, and the kids in that school have to carry a book at all times. it's neat. funny you mention that. i did a reading at my home town, and my 2nd grade teacher was there. she's like 92 years old. i was signing books, and she said, james, your handwriting is still atrocious. [laughter] >> that's great.

talk a little bit about where you see our culture going. you're doing -- >> oh, my god. >> i don't mean in general, but in terms of reading. are we creating a culture of readers, notary -- non-readers, where are we now? >> i think the worst thing that's happening is we're creating a culture where people don't listen. they don't listen to the other side. there's a quote -- i read an editorial in the "new york times" a couple weeks ago, and it had to do with morality's ability to behind -- bind and blind, and, you know, it binds people, you believe in, you know, you believe in whatever you believe in, abortion one way or the other or whatever you believe about entitlements or whatever you believe about global warming, but you're incapable of seeing the other side at all, that there might be any validity

outside. you take that into congress, and if both sides just sit there, they won't bend or see the other side's point of view, nothing happens. the anger that comes out of that, i mean, a lot of people are just running around so angry because they just have to -- well, this is what i think. this is -- there's no other way other than my way. >> it's funny, i think reading, particularly reading about other people's lives -- >> absolutely. >> creating tolerance as well. >> absolutely, absolutely. that's the great thing about books right now more than any other medium that we have. a television -- a television's getting better, interestingly, movies, i mean, it's a lot of the same, same, same hollywood, you know, cops are bad, mobsters are good, whatever. it's kind of crazy, but books are the one place where there's

such a variety -- as you say, you can see other points of view. other ways of looking at the world. you know, what's really going on, i mean, there's a terrific book about afghanistan called "the forever war," and you read that book, and you get it. you get it or at least you get a really good point of view of what's going on over there. >> yeah, no, i couldn't agree with you more. i also think that what is happening in terms of getting that selection, it's about, you know, most people don't realize there's hundreds of thousands of books printed each year, and you need guides in order to fund those books, and i'm curious to know what you think is and how the world of the library and the bookstore, how that plays into that, and how it's evolving. >> clearly, it's evolving -- there's going to be many more

people reading on to be lets or whatever. that's a done deal. it happened. i think the really horrifying thing right now is it's happened so fast and nobody has taken responsibility for how do we make that transition in a sensible way? how do we continue to get the kind of advice that we can get in bookstores, in libraries, how do we keep that alive? i'm doing an essay right now which has to do with who is going to save our books, who will save our libraries, our bookstores, who is going to be responsible for finding the authors who have created the great american books of the last hundred years or so and in this thing, it lists about 50 books. the light goes off in our heads, right, who is going to do that? is amazon going to do that?

seriously, who is doing that? same thing with the internet. i mean, who -- if we chase all of the magazines and networks out of journalism ultimately, right now, a lot of these blogs and whatever, they are just picking stuff out of the news stories. who pays for the journalists, who pays for the reporters? how does that happen? how do we get information? nobody's sort of taken that to the next level, the issues there. >> any answers that you might have thought about? >> i think a piece of it is i think the people at the head of this thing have to take responsibility. amazon, they really need to get in and take more responsibility for what happens to books in this country, and i think it would be nice -- i'd love to see the president, first lady, whatever -- i like that the first lady is out there, you know, reminding us that it's

good to exercise and not overeat, which is a huge issue, but i'd like to see, you know, more in washington, who is protecting books? i mean, in europe, they do protect books. they protect bookstores and they protect libraries, and they protect books. that's good. in germany in particular, netherlands, scandinavia. they really protect it because they know, you know, that's a basis of the culture and civilization. i don't know that that's happening here, and i'm not sure what's going to happen. i don't know that it's going to happen in this state. it could. it could. >> well, thank you for raising that. in france right now, they are actually giving grants to endangered book shops in order to keep going because they realize that the culture is transferred through books. >> the interesting thing here is it doesn't even come up. >> right. >> it just doesn't come up in

discussion which is nuts. you know, i did a book with lisa markland, a popular writer from sweden, and i went over there, and for three days in stockholm, we did 50 interviews with newspapers and magazines. you write a book here, you can't find a journalist here. is there a journalist here? okay, god bless you two. [laughter] interesting difference in the cultures. in sweden, 8 million people, her books sell over a million copies in a country with 8 million people. >> wow. amazing. >> well, along those lines, tell us about -- some of you in miami know there was a thing called world book night. mr. patterson is the co-chairperson with ann of the 2013 world book night. want to talk a little bit about that? >> yeah. this, as far as i know, started in england, and it's very

effective in england bought the government got involved in addition to the book sellers, and it really got well-organized to the point where basically every kid in the country get money to go in and buy a book, and the bookstores sort of, you know, price them in a nice way. this won't be as big yet, but i think we're giving away a half a million books. >> right. >> it's a start, and you know, once again, we just -- what we really need more than anything else is for the government to wake up or the various governments whether it's going to be handled at -- whether you're states person or a federal person, it's got to be dealt with somewhere, and education same thing. i mean, we're not figuring it out right for some reason. >> let me ask you on a personal note, were you a strong reader as a kid? >> i was a strong reader, a very good student, but i was not a big reader. >> when did that --

>> i grew up on comic books. >> did you? >> yeah. >> when did the book thing start? >> the book thing, really -- and i was a good student, but the book thing really happened by accident. i was -- i worked my way through school at a mental hospital outside of cambridge, massachusetts, and i worked a lot of night shifts, and i read like crazy. it was serious stuff. at that point, i was not interested in commercial fiction, and i read everything i could get my hands on, and then i started scribbling, and i loved it. i just loved writing stories. >> and for the kids out here, i'm sure a lot of them are wondering, i'll try to ask the questions, and then we'll turn it over to the audience, but of all the characters, which one do you think you're most like? ray or max or alex cross? >> i think i'm most like alex.

we're both african-american -- [laughter] no, i think there's a sense of family. it's so strong with him. he's very compassionate, and he's a problem solver. i mean, that's -- he's a character i identify with the most. >> and the movie thing? >> the movie thing? oh, look, you take your shots. i -- my feeling -- interesting thing about the movie is it got really clobbered by a lot of critics, but then they do, you know, polls on people who leave the theater, and it got an a. to give it perspective "cloud atlas" got a c, "flight" got an a-minus. my best friend called up, and he and his wife going to the movies, and said, you know, we really liked it, but i got to tell you, i read the review in the new york norksz, and i was afraid to go.

>> right. >> if i was going to write a fair review, i would say it is -- it is a flawed movie that is sillier than it needed to be, but entertaining. >> we'd agree, not with the first part of it, but i found it entertaining. i'm sure some of you out there did too. here's another sort of question that i thought of. if you could live inside the world of one of your books for a week, which would you choose and how come? >> if i could be in it for a week, guaranteed i could come back, "maximum rise," flying around for a week, i'm there. i don't want the wings full time. the kids are retractable, they could be in the audience, and you wouldn't know it, and then all the sudden -- >> and what's your favorite part

of being an author? what's the most amazing thing you've seen or done because you're a writer? >> oh, i don't know. somebody said you're lucky if you find something you like to do in life, it's true, it's not the easiest thing, and it's a miracle if somebody pays you to do it. are you going to retire? you don't retire from play, you know? it's -- i don't work for a living. play for a living. >> well, we're glad that you do. going to throw it open to questions. >> don't be a afraid, come up to the microphone. >> i want kids to come up too. >> we're going to bite, we're like twilight, yes. >> speak into the microphone as well. >> okay. so you made this graphic novel which is cool, and then you did just the regular novels. i really enjoyed it and everything, but my main question is are you going to do another

daniel novel or any other graphic novel? is that in the plans or anything? >> i actually started with it as a book series, and the graphic novel came later. i don't know. you know, there's actually -- it's not a daniel x, but there's one that's just, i think it's in the stores now or close to it called zoo -- check it out if you're in the storement take a peek and see if you like it, but i think it's a cool graphic novel. >> okay, thank you. >> you're welcome. >> hi. >> hi. >> yesterday, we heard a gentleman by the name of michael sandell, and he spoke to us about what money can't buy, the moral value of markets, and he was giving us an example of four people in the country, offering the kids a dollar or two dollars to read a book, and then he asked the the audience how they

felt about it, and it was about 50/50 that half of them felt it was a great idea; it was not a good idea at all. i wonder what you thought of the idea. have you read about it? >> i haven't, but i think creativity is what's needed to get kids reading. there's a woman i read about, a teacher in texas, and she has a bubba, a book club for boys, and they read gross books. they love it. they call themselves bubbas, and they make fun of themselves. >> she doesn't pay them? >> no, she doesn't. i hope that's the last thing you'd have to do, but, you know, i can't say i'm against it, but maybe there's more imaginative ways. >> okay. >> the key is not really that they read a book. the key is that they build a habit so that they continue to read stuff.

it's just not enough to get them to read one book. >> thank you. >> i have two questions, actually. first one what inspired you to write "suzanne's diary"? >> what inspired me is my wife takes a gazillion pictures -- there's one -- and we have these books full of pictures of jack, you know, when he was a baby and whatever, and i was staring at it, and, you know, we were older parents, and it struck me that it would be -- it would be sad one day for jack to be, you know, reading or looking at this book of all the pictures, and we were not around anymore, and then for some reason, it hit me how devastating it would be if we were looking at the pictures, and he was not around, and that's where the book came around. >> also, too, i know i'm from west palm beach, and i know

you've spoken at several at the schools. how do we get you? >> little ground. contact them. i am doing some middle school stuff up in west palm beach now, jfk, and, yeah. >> actually, one of my students at school met you at jfk, she's in the school i work in now. i work in a library. >> okay, all right. one of the things -- a school of the arts there, i saw their holiday concert one year, it was mind boggling, the music, and we're actually going to do it at the crowder center this year. we paid to have it in there. that's going to be spectacular. >> yes, ma'am, yes, sir, somebody. yep? hi. >> is the book middle school -- >> [inaudible] [laughter] >> bring the microphone down.

>> a wimpy kids t-shirt on. >> why -- [inaudible] >> i'm not going -- let's not get into this because this is hard to imagine or believe, but not everybody in the room has actually read the book yet. [laughter] i don't want to give away stuff. are you going to be around at the book signing? >> yeah. >> okay. we'll talk about it privately. >> okay. [laughter] >> also -- also -- >> don't give away what happens in the book. okay. >> i'll have to strangle you. [laughter] not really. >> also, when did you first write your first book, and what was it? >> i wrote the first book -- i published it when i was 26, about ten years ago -- [laughter] it was called the thomas number -- i was very lucky.

it was turned down by 31 publishers, and then is won an edgar for best mystery. come see my privately, that's two -- >> also -- >> okay. are you telling the ending again? we'll talk you and me, me and you. >> i think we have a journalist, like a white house correspondent. >> all right. [applause] >> i'm asking the question for my girlfriend who is very shy. >> okay. >> what she'd like to know what is the process of getting like a story she's written to be published, what would it be like? >> it's. so long since i went through that, i don't really have -- there are books in the library, like, -- >> getting published, there's a book called "getting published" -- >> cleverly titled.

that's a place to start. i tell you one thing is the second part of it is you finish the story or book, start another one. start another one. just keep doing them. you get better and better and belter, and pick up a book like "getting published," and they tell you where to send stories. i don't know what she wrote, but, okay p. >> huge fan, huge fan. >> you're not that big. [laughter] >> my question is what advice do you give to an apyring writer that's a huge fan of your books and also loves to write? >> don't write like me. [laughter] you know, write, write, write, write every day if you can. get into that habit. if you love it, you will find it's not that hard to do it, even if you just write a page. you write a page a day, at the end of the day, there's 365

pages -- i'm george bush -- [laughter] write, write, write. read, read, read, try not to imitate somebody else's style. develop your own style and voice. >> okay. you're welcome. >> hi, big fan, big reader. bear with me. i get nervous. for the series -- i love the characters, you gave us a little of a -- i remember in the last book, you gave us a little -- [inaudible] a little insight -- [inaudible] >> it's find. it may seem goofy, but the sound is okay. >> insight on the one who is the one, and i'm wondering if you're going to let us in on the whole

history of him because, well, i'm a little curious about him. it's a little darth vader moment. >> did you hear it? >> yeah, as we continue, we'll get more on that. how many of you read that series? a few, okay. not how many -- >> how many of you read the series? as you read more you'll get more. >> all right, thank you. >> okay, thank you. >> hi. >> hi. >> i was wondering, i read "where the wind blows," and i wondered where you got the idea? >> i'm not sure exactly. you know, the whole idea of flying to me is a wonderful fantasy. you know, lifting off, whatever it is so i've always had that

fantasy, and i remember actually going to a southeast book association -- book sellers association, and they had it somewhere in the swamps, and i think it was in georgia. there were all these marshlands, and i saw birds there, and i was thinking how cool it would be able to fly over the marchlands, and, you know, from there, i just wanted to write flying scenes, and then that fantasy of being able to fly. i think that's what started it. i just wanted to write a book about flying. >> okay, thank you very much. >> you're welcome. >> hello, i'm actually very grateful to be with both of you, a fan of both. >> me too. >> yes, i live in palm beach county, and i miss having books and books nearby and the event. i hope there's a location out there soon, and i have many of your books, mr. patterson, on the book shelf, but i'm here on behalf of south books florida, where a board for the national

county of the national course, and we just got started in may and have a lot of wonderful events planned for early 2013, and would love to see if there's any way we can get your support. >> i've been giving to that forever, we give a hundred thousand books to first book, great involvement. >> great, thank you. >> yeah, yeah. >> well, do we have one more? i see one more little one coming right up to the microphone. >> actually, we've cut off the line already -- >> one more -- >> there were many in front of her. >> she's so smart, she figured it out. [laughter] >> i don't know how this thing works so okay. i really liked the witch and wiz a-rod series and read the books and graphic novels, dupe if

there's another graive novel. >> yeah, the graphic novel, it will continue through the end of the series, and there's going to be another witch and ward aired in i think february called "the kiss." >> well, jim, i want to tell you this was a charming morning. i couldn't think of a better way to spend