As his latest novel Four Blind Mice is released, we speak to best-selling author James Patterson

At the tender age of 27, James Patterson emerged into the mystery community with Thomas Berryman Number - a brilliant first effort that earned him the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery Novel of 1976. Over the course of nearly 25 years, this celebrated author has kept us on the edge of our seats with thrillers like Along Came a Spider, Kiss the Girls and Pop Goes the Weasel. His latest novel, Four Blind Mice, is due for release in October 2002. Detective Alex Cross has become one of fiction's most memorable heroes and his adventures have captivated us on both the spellbinding pages of his novels and the silver screen (played by Morgan Freeman).

The man behind him reveals his secrets…

Advice for budding writers
iVillage: Mr. Patterson, as an aspiring novelist what bit of advice could you offer a budding writer that you wish someone had given you when you first started fiction writing?

James Patterson: Stop trying to write sentences and start trying to write stories. Stories are easy to write because they flow out of our brains naturally; sentences are extremely hard. There's nothing to be afraid of because you never have to show anyone your work until you're ready. I think if you really want to write, you can't help yourself, and that should overcome any fears that you have. Just remember to outline a good story and tell it as simply as you can.

About Alex Cross
iVillage: How did you come up with the Alex Cross character?

James Patterson: Good question -complicated answer. I wanted to create a larger-than-life black hero. Alex Cross fits the bill. He's the exact opposite of all the stereotypes of black males. He is raising two terrific kids. He has a great relationship with his grandmother, Nana Mama. He lives in a poor part of town even though he doesn't have to anymore. He is a psychologist AND a very good homicide detective. Hard to beat!

iVillage: Were you happy with the casting of Kiss the Girls? What a good movie!

James Patterson: It's hard not to be honoured when actors the calibre of Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd work in your film. Morgan is certainly older than the Alex in my books, but I thought his interpretation was a terrific one.

iVillage: Do you have a police background? You seem to know so much about it. And what made you write When the Wind Blows? It's so different.

James Patterson: I have no police background, nor do I have a record - thank God. But I do have half a dozen detectives and FBI agents that I speak to on a regular basis. With respect to When the Wind Blows, I had wanted to write about a human being who could fly for a dozen years. The advances in biotechnology gave me an idea for a story that I couldn't resist writing. What surprises a lot of people is that When the Wind Blows is my best-selling book pWhen the Wind Blowsrior to Pop Goes the Weasel. Pop Goes the Weasel is topping the sales of all the others.

iVillage: Who are your favourite authors and which of the Cross books do you like best?

James Patterson: My favourite all-time author is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In the mystery field, I like Patricia Cornwell, John Sanford, Dennis Lehane, and I still enjoy Mary Higgins Clark. I don't have a personal favourite of the Cross books, but everyone else seems to favour one or the other. The two big favourites so far seem to be Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls.

The Patterson method
iVillage: What, if any, are your special rituals, what time of day do you write, and what does your working space consist of?

James Patterson: I write first thing in the morning - about 360 days a year. I have very good concentration so I can write anywhere. One of the good things about the tours is that I'm trapped in an aeroplane at least once a day. Aeroplanes are a great place for me to write. I have two work spaces, one in Florida and one in Westchester County, New York. The one in Westchester stares out at the Hudson area. The one in Florida stares out at the Intercoastal Waterway. You can tell that I like the water.

iVillage: How extensive are your character sketches?

James Patterson: I don't get extensive and I don't work with a character sketch. I tell a story and the only thing that the reader gets to know about the character is what's revealed in the story. Just like life, we don't get a long biography about most people that we meet. We learn things over time.

iVillage: What kind of research do you do to 'get into the minds' of your characters? You've written about some pretty scary people.

James Patterson: I did some research at one point when I was writing a non-fiction book. The research involved asking a lot of people about what they thought about, fantasised about, etc. I was amazed at the violent fantasies so many people had, and that gave me the licence to sort of create the villains that I come up with.

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