This message comes from Scholastic with the new novel El Nino, an entrancing adventure from

beloved and award-winning author of Esperanza Rising, Pam Munoz Ryan. Jason Reynolds calls it a

brilliant amalgamation of myth, nature, sport, and loss. I've never read anything like it. El Nino

is available wherever books are sold.

This is fresh air. I'm Terry Gross. My guest, James Patterson, has sold over 400 million copies of his many books. Those books include the Alex Cross detective series, the Women's

Murder Club series, and Maximum Ride. Alex Cross was spun off into three films, two starring

Morgan Freeman and another starring Tyler Perry. An Amazon Prime video series called Cross has been

renewed for a second season. Patterson has co-authored books with Bill Clinton and Dali Parton.

His second collaboration with Clinton will be published this summer.

Patterson's also written nonfiction books about the Kennedys, John Lennon, Muhammad Ali, and Jeffrey Epstein,

as well as books for children and young adults. His new book, the number one dad book,

is addressed to new fathers who need some advice. Back when Patterson was starting to write,

he took a job as a junior copywriter at the J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency. He rose to the top,

becoming CEO and then head of the agency's North America division. If you're wondering how he's

managed to do all this, he typically works with collaborators.

Patterson writes an elaborate outline of the story, the collaborators write the sentences.

He describes this in more detail on his 2022 memoir called James Patterson by James Patterson.

I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention that he's now collaborating on a thriller

with the star YouTuber and influencer known as Mr. Beast.

As you can guess, Patterson is pretty rich.

He's also a generous philanthropist,

donating over $7 million to schools and classroom libraries around the country,

...