Ron Bates

I expected a great tale when I opened my mailbox and found a copy of Treasure Hunters: Quest For The City of Gold by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein. What I didn’t expect was the surprise ending–a surprise for me, anyway.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been drawn to epic adventures. Give me a story about a glorious quest and I will follow you to the ends of the Earth. There’s something innately satisfying about a constant, focused, risk-everything journey toward a single goal. It’s the thrill of the hunt, the rush of discovery.

I got that with the new Treasure Hunters book. And then I got more.

There, after the last chapter, was a message. “When there’s something smelly in your bathroom… Who you gonna call?”

It turns out the back pages of the book are devoted to an excerpt from The Unflushables, my upcoming sewer saga. And it was a complete surprise–a great one. Next to it, I found a note from my editor, Aubrey.

“Thought you’d enjoy seeing Sully make a guest appearance in the Treasure Hunter series.”

It really was like finding treasure. And no one at Jimmy Patterson Books had said a word to me about it, they let me discover it on my own, which made it so much more fun.

Anyway, after I finish writing a book, I tend to forget about it and move on to whatever’s next. It comes with the territory. But with this one, I find I’m getting more excited as we move closer and closer to the release date in April. That’s not anything I’m doing, I think it’s because of the team at Jimmy. They keep finding ways to surprise and amaze me, so I’m chomping at the bit to see what comes next.

They’re making this an adventure–and you know how I love an adventure.