[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] and as you can see come of the room filling up at chop and hall at Miami Dade College and were just waiting for mr. Patterson to get started. This is live coverage running just a few minutes late. Again, a reminder you can follow us on facebook and facebook. Com booktv and we have exclusive updates and author interviews, et cetera on her Facebook Page. Just waiting for mr. Patterson. This should be to shortly ensure that coverage of the Miami Book Fair international 29th year. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] good afternoon. Please take your seats. We are about to begin the session. Thank you so much. I am marilou harrison and many of you have heard from me because he been in this room yesterday and today. I served as a volunteer here, a very proud tiered of Miami Book FairInternational Candidate to recognize is that done before, all of the volunteers come to thousands of volunteers for Miami Dade College as well as the community who come together reach you to think this book fair take place. Id also like to recognize those who are friends of Miami Book Fair international and you are here. I wont make you wait this time. But you know we thank you for your support and being a part of our special group at the book fair. Our sponsors, stephen listed in your fairgoers side. Minislump theres including american airlines, target and florida blew them are very grateful to them as well. We have a very special new program for you. I hope you will stay with for the tire afternoon, but of course they are our many author sessions throughout this fair that you should partake in, as time and enjoy. Your cell phones if youd please turn those off as a standard as you all know so we have no interruption in the author will be autographing books as always in the green area to the right of the elevator. To introduce our author today, im sure you will all be delighted to have the individual who is a founder of Miami Book Fair in your national. Let me see if you can guess who this individual is as they move along. One of the founders of Miami Book Fair international, the owner of books and books. I think i gave it away right there. And certainly someone in this community who has propelled the move went of book selling them publishing and all that encompasses literary work. Please look on mr. Mitchell castle to the podium. [applause] thank you, mary lou. Thank you all for making this a remarkable week weve had so far. Hard to believe that its sunday and we have more going on, but in this very, very special event, which is very special to me personally. Its James Patterson who got my kiss her preschool and are now getting them through college to be frank. Youll understand why in a minute. Time magazine has failed James Patterson is the man who cant miss. Of the new York Magazine times on its cover proclaimed him as having had transformed publishing and heres why. He holds the Guinness Record for the most number one New York Times bestsellers of any author ever. In 2011 it was estimated that one in four of all hardcover suspense thriller novels sold with the bad mr. Patterson. Selling over 300 billion copies of his books worldwide, thats 300 million copies. Hes also the the first other to achieve 5 million ebook sales and by now has probably hit in william as we sit in this room. What is impressive about all of this though is that the successes and based solely on a similar site the ever popular alice crossed in the Womens Murder Club at Michael Bennet series. Hes also the current bestselling author and and a young adult and middle grade categories. Its not just about his success either. Hes won the coveted edgar award, the bca Mystery Guild ruler of the year award from an internist thriller of the year award from the Readers DigestReaders Choice award and the childrens choice but councils childrens choice award. I got through that. It has been said of James Patterson and his work, no writer has ever created so many lasting tiered theres poor grasp the interlocking power of thought and emotion. He pours forth stories that engross, and mays and move readers. At the same time they plumb the emotions we all live with, the power of love, family, friendship, the pressure of work, the inevitability of death, the meaning of good in the presence of evil. Its immortal stuff wrapped in side the highest level of entertainment. I couldnt agree more and as a bookseller and struck by how easy it would be for James Patterson to sit back and rest on his laurels. Instead he garners the gratitude and respect from all of us who love the literary life and care deeply about how we can develop the next generation of readers with his prodigious work over the past decade in championing books and reading. From the James Patterson paige turner ward to his website read kiddo read. Com to his scholarships and regular donations of hundreds of thousands of books to troops overseas has passed on his passion for books and reading that supports those who do the same. And away the hilt essay for cnn. Com he presented a call to action imploring parents to become active participants in changing the Reading Habits of their two. And on a personal note, when we received the news that James Utterson will be with us at the Miami Book Fair this year, i was more than thrilled when i was also not surprised that his primary reason for coming was not to close books, but instead wanted to make celebrating the notion of Family Reading and thats what were going to do this morning. Mr. Patterson is going to come out, say some words and then well sit down and engage in a bit of a conversation. But that will also take questions from the audience, so how those wheels turning in a can of questions you might have to answer. If youre young, dont be intimidated. , not because i know he does to your questions from youtube. So please give a really, really warm, warm miami and Miami Book Fair welcome to mr. James patterson. [applause] hi, im stephen king. [laughter] i was walking in here and this lady said new book much taller in your book jacket photos. [laughter] my boy jack came home from prep school yesterday, that thrill for me. It was devastating when he went away. Where have you been my blueeyed son . What i want to talk about today something close to my heart, which is the power of stories in the way stories can affect the world, the way stories can change things for the better. In just the power of what can happen. A writer friend of mine was walking on burke avenue in new york city and he passed a blind man who was assigned the good please help me im blind. My friend is kind of walked by them and, but then he stopped and he saw this guy only had a couple coins in his hat was so he dropped in a couple of quarters and then he asked the man permission to just change the story a little bit for this guy, which he did and later in the afternoon he came back and pass the guy again and the hut was full of coins of those and he stopped and talked to the guy in a blind man admitted have never had a day quite like this. You have to tell me what she wrote. How did you change my story . And my friend said i just added a couple of words and error please help me im blind and its spring. It just change the whole story for the guy. We all have a story. Maybe a couple stories people use to describe those. Our families have a story about who we are to them and usually are often they involve a nickname we dont particularly care for. My father used to call me skippy. I have no idea why to this day. Do we have many kids here . Kids . A few. Names we are known by in school and our jobs and sometimes just a couple of lines. These stories can either push us forward or hold us back. I think for a while miami has some stories that help i am a bank and no miami has stories moving it forward. Even our selfimages, our personas are just stories that we tell about ourselves for that other hotel about us. About a year ago i met the actor and director tyler perry. Tyler a couple years ago bought Delta Airlines headquarters in atlanta and needed to some its tv shows and movies. One of the Amazing Things about tyler and his story is a 1998 tyler was homeless and Tyler Perry Searcy changed his story. I have kind of an unusual story myself. I was born in a small river town on the hudson, newburgh new york. When i was growing up, look magazine called it the allamerican city and at that time we had kind of an innercity, but then we had a lot of harm kids and there was an air force base of the schools will follow the innercity and harm can and kids whod been around the world. It was an interesting place to grow up. Earlier on my father grew up in the newburgh poorhouse. It was called the poggi. My fathers mother was a charwoman at the poorhouse come which meant she cleaned the bathrooms or the other poor people and they got a room there. So that was our background and thats why feel i should be the next president of the United States. [laughter] [applause] anyway, ive been poor and have been middleclass and then i was poor again and then i was middleclass again and now im kind of bridge. [laughter] i must admit to riches better. But i still believe that the satisfaction in our lives revolves more around who we are at the core. I think its mostly we get comfortable in her own skin. For some it never happens unfortunately. And the bestselling author of the world. I have sold 300,000 300 million books, but im not terribly impressed with that. I had a Birthday Party a few years ago and one of my best friends with all the way back to Grammar School and they said come you know, youre still the same hassle you always were and i like that. I like that. I wouldve preferred that said you revolves to become a little bit more dolt, but to me the important thing is emcees husbands and jacks dad wherever he went. And everyday i try to do the best i can and some days it even works. Heres a story about working for a living, about balancing our working families, which is something most of us are always trying to do. And in the story, once again you imagine life as a game in which are juggling five in the air and you call them work, family, health, friends and charity and somehow you keep them all in the air, which is a struggle as you all know. And maybe at some point you understand and realize the work is a rubber ball and if you drop it, believe it or not, will actually bounce back. But the other four, family, health, friends, charity are made of glass in the future of one of them, they are going to be scuffed or marked or next or maybe even shattered and will just never be the same again and youll never get them back. Once we get that image in our heads for that idea or concept and are hence we strive for balance in their lives they think. I certainly try to do that. Nowadays most of the stories i read her fiction might especially enjoy writing books for kids. My publisher thinks my kids books are the best that i rate. A couple years ago as mitch was singing he is a great voice, disney . I was nominated for author of the year at the childrens choice book award and at that point jock was 12 and they said dont get me wrong, dad. I really like your books, but rick riordan is going to win. So jack and i and my wife went to the awards and i want and jack jumped out of his chair and then they went up on stage and told the story about how jack thought rick riordan was going to win. But then i held up the award and said this is for you, jack. I knew he would always have that memory for the rest of his life according to new york with his dad and mom and his dad say this award is for you. So those are very cool moment for all of us. Jack is a born storyteller. At four he wrote and illustrated his first novel called death of the butterfly catcher and in his story, the butterfly catcher gets on a plane, travels halfway around the world, doesnt catch a butterfly. Then he gets on a boat and travels the rest of the world, still is a catch a butterfly. And then he gets on a train. Jack loves trains. Catches a butterfly. The train stops to make it the train and not really looking from the gets hit by a train going the other way. Death of the butterfly catcher, butterfly flies away. So is god it. Beginning, and, title, will ball of . I love to write. Im very passionate about it. But the main reason i write books for kids and i have a bunch of serious about some kids who fly and hopefully universal is going to make a movie. They have a script a great producer. Who knows. Write them a letter. Thats Universal Studios tell them what a great Amusement Park ride it will be. Who would want to go on not . And middleschool, the worst years of my life, if you have kids or grandkids or nieces and whatever, its a really good series for kids i say may be seven to 13 or so. Its funny and theyre illustrated and im really proud of those books. This december of another book of middleschool age called unfunny. Its also illustrated in its about a kid who decides he wants to be a standup comedian so he memorizes every joke in the history mankind and studies every comedian and its a pretty fun book. The reason i write books for kids is as individuals coming in no come as individuals we can solve the Health Care Crisis and we cannot solve global we are dean or whatevers going on, but we can get our kids reading. We can do that. And i try to write books that kids will love and that are also good for kids that theres always something going on in my book but hopefully the kids turn a Little Something in their brains on. Its important that parents get into their heads and i think i have been in my head now. Its not the schools job to go and find books for your kids. Its not the schools job. [applause] its your job, its my job. Its our job to find books for kids. Your kids dont need another cell phone with her first cell phone. They need books. They really need books. [applause] the nice thing is books are free at the library. How cool is that . And books are available at stores like books and books in coral gables. Is that where this . And they are available online. You should go to the bookstore. And i have to say. I dont sell books but i have a site called reid could have read this a good place to go. Theres hundreds of books on there and they are of age categories and their only books that will turn your kids on, not to drugs, to reading. Parents come up all the time and say i cant get my kids reading. And i say, with all due respect, and you get them to the dinner table . You have to make it as a rule your house. We read in our house. We read in our house. Thats the coolest thing because if your kids cant read well, if they cant read well, high school is going to be a lot tougher than it needs to be. Whatever, science, history will all be harder. Maybe you get to nap without reading and maybe not. If your kids cant read well, some of them will not get through high school. If your kids cant read well, choices and opportunities in life will be limited. Theyre not going to have as many choices. But the cool thing about looks, the great and terrific thing is theres so many really good books out there for them to read. Theres a lot of books that will absolutely blow the minds of your kid. You know, harry potter, terrific series. When the kids come and terrific illustrations. Books about sports, fine. If you have boys, let them read anything. , looks, great, graphic novels, almanacs, cut books, share, why not. As long as they are reading because to get better at it. Ill go to schools and say who play soccer . Who love soccer . The outcome of the. You better know . Would play a lot. Same with reading. He read more, get better at it. It gets easier. You read better books. You have something that you love. So i though the will to get that in your hands that notion we read in our house. Its really cool that your kids see you reading. Thats nice, but the most important thing that got to have books in their bedroom. I got to read the darn things. When jack was a, sue and i thats number the holidays are another good time, the three, four weeks they have. But they said you can read everyday. He said do i have to . Assembly, unless you want to sleep in the garage. But we are going to find cool books for you. So we went out with us and Percy Jackson series, read time. At the end of the summer, jack was a bright guy, but was not a big reader and a goodlooking kid his mother must be very, very pretty. But by the end of the summer, he had read a dozen books. About nine of them he liked a lot in his reading skills have gone to remove. So he went from eight yourself or he didnt like to read two when he took his sats, which they take, he got 800 reading, which is the highest score you can get. So thats what can happen. Its unimportant whether they get 800 or harvard or vanderbilt , the support they get through high school and they have options when they get out. So yeah, mitch, where are you . , now, were going to shoot the breeze and awesome question. What happened with that movie, et cetera, et cetera. [applause] 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 c