Eggs, toast and James Patterson

"ChClick" is the sound my GT Express 101 machine makes when its pre-heated and ready for cooking.

 Focusing on a dietary suggestion in Bill Phillips' Body for Life, I crack open a couple of eggs,  pour whites and all into this handy little cooking machine, toss a piece of whole wheat bread into the toaster, sit down and start reading the morning newspaper.

Leaving the eggs to their wonderment and waiting for the toast to pop, I crack open a diet coke ( not a suggestion by Bill Phillips', but hey, I need my caffeine), and thumb through the paper.  Grabbing the specially equipped spatula, I scooped the eggs out of  Mr. Express, and lathered the toast with some butter  ( another suggestion that Bill doesn't like) I continue my morning reading ritual.

One Reuters' story caught my eye as the yoke oozed out of my first egg. James Patterson topped the Forbes List of the world's highest paid authors, with a cool $84 million.  Reading the article as I finished my second egg, lapping up the remnants with my piece of toast, I was quite impressed by the contract Patterson signed that helped catapult him to the top of the Forbes list.

Sharing  this eye brow raising news later in the day with a couple of great friends,   we wondered, 'What's up with all the collaboration?' 

Seems more and more authors these days are collaborating.  Tom Clancy over the past several years has either lent his name or collaborated on, Op-Center, Net Force, Power Plays, Splinter Cell and others. Then most recently, he picked up the Jack Ryan series in Dead or Alive with Grant Blackwood and started a new character in Against All Enemies with Peter Telep.

Patterson has collaborated with several as well, Andrew Gross for Judge and Jury, The Jester and Lifeguard along with the first three of the Women's Murder Club: 2nd Chance and 3rd Degree.

Maxine Paetro  has also joined Patterson on: Swimsuit, Private and Women's Murder Club:10th Anniversary; 9th Judgment, 8th Confession, 7th Heaven, 6th Target, 5th Horseman, 4th of July,  and  while Michael Ledwidge accompanied him on Step on a Crack, Now You See Her, Tick Tock, Run for Your Life, The Quickie and Worst Case.

Are they truly collaborating or am I being a cynic to think they're just lending their name? I guess if whatever method works and it certainly "ain't" broke based on the numbers, why fix it?

So whatever your nutritional reading supplement may be, breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack, and you eat solo or in this case, collaborate with others, Reading is not only fundamental, it's a key to ingredient for everyones diet.

Look for more collaboration to come as Clancy and Patterson release more books and Gross writes more of his own.

   For more on the highest paid authors, visit Jeff Bercovici's article at:   www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2011/08/17/the-worlds-highest-paid-authors/