James Patterson Quotes

• I have a number of writers I work with regularly. I write an outline for a book. The outlines are very specific about what each scene is supposed to accomplish.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Accomplish, Supposed

• You know, I remember watching Morgan Freeman when he did the two Alex Cross movies, and he’s so confident that he’s going to knock the scene dead. And I’m really confident that I can tell a good story now, so I just don’t worry about things.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Watching, Remember

• With my adult books, for the first six weeks or so, it’s about 60 percent ebooks in terms of sales. The kids’ books, it’s like 5 percent. Which means that the parents, the ones that aren’t going into stores now, they’re no longer buying books for their kids, which is not great.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Means, Percent

• When I was 26, I wrote my first mystery, ‘The Thomas Berryman Number’, and it was turned down by, I don’t know, 31 publishers. Then it won an Edgar for Best First Novel. Go figure.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Publishers, Mystery

• What I’m really addicted to is getting people to understand that if their kids aren’t competent readers coming out of middle school, it’s really going to be hard for them in high school.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Competent, Addicted

• Ultimately, a great thriller is a roller coaster ride. I like to think that’s a promise I have never failed to keep, and one that I’d say has served my books well.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Ride, Ultimately

• This is what I believe is most important: getting good books into the hands of kids – books that will make them want to say, ‘Wow, that was great. Give me another one to read.’

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Believe, Read

• There is a lot to be said for collaboration, and it should be seen as just another way to do things as it is in other forms of writing, such as for television, where it is standard practice.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Collaboration, Practice

• There are terrific models for success with reluctant readers, but many school systems and state governments need to set aside their ‘not invented here’ and ‘we have more important problems than education’ attitudes.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Terrific, Governments

• There are reasons people seek escape in books, and one of those reasons is that the boundary of what can happen is beyond what we do – or would want to see in real life.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Boundary, Escape

• There are a lot of things we as individuals can’t do much about. We can’t solve global warming as individuals, or health care problems, but as individuals, most of us can get our kids reading. We can do that.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Individuals, Problems

• The subject for a lot of non-fiction is very emotional, but if you read it, it’s the most boring, dry stuff. I wanted ‘Torn Apart’ to be extremely accessible and readable.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Accessible, Emotional

• The fact is that our kids aren’t reading books – or frankly, much of anything lately. Schools are under funded, some schools even closing their libraries. Parents have to realize that it’s their job, and not the school’s job, to get kids into the habit of reading for fun.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Libraries, Realize

• Schools and parents can team up to find books that kids will really get excited about – that will make them say, ‘That was a great experience. Now I know why people get excited about reading.’

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Schools, Excited

• People like to talk more than they like to act. They like to sit there and complain and vent. Somehow they think that changes things, when it doesn’t.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Somehow, Complain

• One of the nice things about books as opposed to television and movies to some extent is it’s not a passive entertainment. People really do get involved, and they do create, and they do have their own visions of what different characters look like and what should happen. It’s great – it means their brains are working.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Entertainment, Opposed

• One of the interesting things about YA books – I don’t know about Percy Jackson, but I do know about ‘Twilight’ and ‘Maximum Ride’: There are a lot of adult readers. In fact, we released ‘Maximum Ride’ both as a paperback for kids and as a mass release for adults.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Paperback, Ride

• Let’s face it: Most of us don’t realize it, but we are failing our kids as reading role models. The best role models are in the home: brothers, fathers, grandfathers; mothers, sisters, grandmothers. Moms and dads, it’s important that your kids see you reading. Not just books – reading the newspaper is good, too.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Newspaper, Reading

• Life is hard, and a lot of people come home tired from work. If they’re gonna spend half an hour reading, they want some entertainment and a sense of achievement. So that’s what I give them. That’s all I’m trying to do. Is that really so wrong?

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Entertainment, Reading

• Kids say the No. 1 reason they don’t read more is that they can’t find books they like. Freedom of choice is a key to getting them motivated and excited.

  James Patterson

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Motivated, Freedom

James Patterson (81)

Birth:	22nd March, 1947
Nationality:	American
Profession:	Author, Novelist

About

James Brendan Patterson was born in Newburgh, New York, USA. He is an American author and novelist. He is largely known for his novels about fictional psychologist Alex Cross, the protagonist of the Alex Cross series. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English from Manhattan College in 1969 and summa cum laude with an M.A. in English from Vanderbilt University in 1970. He was an advertising executive at J. Walter Thompson. He also wrote the Michael Bennett, Maximum Ride, Daniel X, Witch and Wizard, and Private series, as well as many stand-alone thrillers, non-fiction and romance novels. Patterson's awards include the Edgar Award, the BCA Mystery Guild's Thriller of the Year, the International Thriller of the Year award, and the Children's Choice Book Award for Author of the Year. He has pledged to donate £250,000 to independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland.

Related Authors

• Cecil Williams
• Arthur Schnitzler
• Robert Fritz
• Alan Lakein
• Mary Ellen Chase
• David Amram
• Stephen G. Haines
• Alan Cumming
• Terri Guillemets
• Robert Lynn Asprin

Advertisement

Today's Anniversary - 21st November

Births

• 1989 - Rene Francois Ghislain Magritte
• 1937 - Marlo Thomas
• 1929 - Marilyn French
• 1971 - Michael Strahan
• 1870 - Alexander Berkman

Deaths

• 1999 - Quentin Crisp
• 2000 - Sir Cyril Astley Clarke
• 1945 - Robert Benchley
• 1996 - Mohammad Abdus Salam
• 1958 - Mel Ott