Author Interview: Little, Brown and Company and...
Little, Brown and Company and The Talk City Network are proud to present our special guest for tonight, Michael Connelly, author of the best-selling new novelMichael_Connelly: Hello, and thank you for having me!
As a boy, when did you first show an interest in writing?
Michael_Connelly: When I was in high school, I was always a voracious reader. About my senior year, I started thinking in terms of writing. I remember writing a short mystery story when I was in high school. It was called "A Perfect Murder."
Effie: Is this the first novel you have written without the character Harry Bosch?
Michael_Connelly: No, actually it's my third time. I've given him a rest. The three non-Harry books all have different protagonists. This is the first time I've written a book with a female protagonist.
Hunter: What was it like writing with a female lead character?
Michael_Connelly: That did not turn out to be the biggest challenge of the book. I decided not to think in terms of male or female, but to try to think of a character who is very good at what she does. To think that her skills and her personal drive would win the day. I did not do research per se into 'how women do things.' I did not think that was the way to do this. But the woman in the story is a criminal. The greater challenge was in making her sympathetic to the reader.
koalahere: When did you develop your passion for crime/police stories?
Michael_Connelly: Also during my high school year. I grew up in south Florida, and in the mid-70's they had a huge increase of crimes and violence related to the drug trade. Consequently, it was in the news and papers all the time. I also was a witness to a shooting, and being taken to a police station and interviewed by detectives opened up a whole new world for me. I became fascinated with detectives and how they do their jobs. I started reading crime novels and that led me to wanting to write them.
Julia: What authors did you read as a child? Who do you read now?
Michael_Connelly: As a child I read a lot of hand me downs from my mother. These were mostly of the English variety like Agatha Christie. I also went to the library and started with the Hardy Boys. In my teens I also discovered people like Joseph Wambaugh, Ross McDonald , and then Raymond Chandler. These are people who really inspired me. Unfortunately I now find it kind of hard to read a lot in the genre because I'm writing it. It's hard to read it for entertainment or escapism. There are some writers I like-- Lawrence Block, James Lee Burke, Jan Burke, Robert Crais.
Sally: Many of your books are set in California. Why the change to Las Vegas?
Michael_Connelly: I guess it's a long answer. My first priority I feel is to keep my Harry Bosch series fresh and alive, so when I take a year off from him I feel like I should explore new things about my writing, as well as subjects and places that I write about. Therefore with Void Moon I spent half of it in Las Vegas primarily because I had gone there to a police convention and was fascinated by the place. I was going to write a story about a thief with themes about money and greed. I thought Las Vegas was an appropriate place to set the crime.
Dean: How did you research the Las Vegas setting?
Michael_Connelly: The setting was kind of easy. I just stayed over there for several short visits and I did a lot of the writing of the book there. Through connections to people in the police and security businesses I was able to take a tour of the back room security sections of a hotel/casino. In the book there is a lot about technology and hidden cameras and so forth. A lot of that came from attending two conferences in Las Vegas. I do most of my research by simple observation and absorption of surroundings. So for me to drive over to Las Vegas and sit in a casino and simply watch people--that to me is research.
koalahere: Do you have set hours in your day for writing (i.e., 9am-5pm) or do you write if and when the ideas start to flow?
Michael_Connelly: It's a little bit of both. Primarily I have a set workday where I try to write from 7am till noon. If I'm having a good writing vibe, I'll obviously go past that and sometimes write all day and into the night. If I can get those 5 hours, I'm pretty happy.
Vonda: Do you have a routine to your writing? A favorite place?
Michael_Connelly: I have an office in my house. It's where I do most of my writing. However, I have found that I can get stimulated and write pretty well in hotel rooms and in airplanes, so I have my trusty laptop. If things aren't going well in my office, I'm quick to hit the road. That's why a good chunk of Void Moon was written in Las Vegas hotel rooms.
Thalia: Is this the first time you have ever written about a female lead character?
Michael_Connelly: Yes, as far as a definite lead. I have written several books with strong or important female characters. This is the first time that I would say the burden of carrying the book, of hooking the reader, is squarely on the shoulders of a female character.
koalahere: What would you say the biggest challenge was in writing this book?
Michael_Connelly: As I said before, it is making a story that is essentially about the criminal underworld appealing to the reader. There has to be a bond established between the reader and the protagonist. That becomes difficult to achieve if your main character is a criminal. So the challenge was to make Cassie Black a sympathetic character, although all the while she is breaking the law. I tried to do this by making her extremely skilled at her criminal pursuit, and by giving her a moral code, albeit a code that allows her to commit burglaries.
DeeDee: Should we expect to see more of Harry Bosch or Cassie Black?
Michael_Connelly: At the moment I don't have any plans for Cassie Black, though I am pretty fascinated by her, so she could come back. I never say never about any characters. At the moment I'm working on a book that has Harry Bosch in it, along with Terry McCaleb who was the main character of Blood Work.
Winnie: Does the trick of making the heroine with the dubious background heroic involve making the bad guys WORSE?
Michael_Connelly: Yes, that is a trick of the trade. It helps to make your criminal protagonist more sympathetic to the reader if she is being pursued by someone a thousand times worse. And that's what I did in Void Moon.
Incognitia: Where do you get your ideas for stories? What is your inspiration to write them?
Michael_Connelly: I get ideas from all over the place. I was a newspaper reporter for a number of years and some of the ideas come from that time. I also get letters and email from cops and they often suggest interesting stories. Void Moon began at a bookstore where I was doing a reading of Blood Work. When it was over, a policeman came over and introduced himself and we talked for a while. He mentioned that he was working on a case where a "Hot Prowler" was hitting hotel rooms on the Sunset Strip in L.A. He told me about what this kind of burglar does and it was a fascinating story. Eventually, a year later, that story had bloomed into what would become Void Moon and I started writing it.
Martin: How often does a void moon occur?
Michael_Connelly: It is my understanding that they happen pretty frequently --like two or three times a month. But they can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. If you are a follower or believer of astrology, a void moon is supposed to be a bad luck sign.
Memo: Have you ever suffered from writer's block? How did you work through it?
Michael_Connelly: I've had some difficulties writing but I'm not sure I would call it writer's block. My difficulties have been related to me not being happy with what I've written. It leads to me being kind of stalled out, unable to go forward. I guess that is writer's block. For me it's not a question of nothing coming up in my head to write, but more of a question of not being happy with what's coming out.
koalahere: What would you say are the qualities needed to succeed as a writer?
Michael_Connelly: I don't know. You have to have some sort of inner drive; a desire to tell a story. I think the key to my own success has been following a very simple rule that I learned from a writing teacher at college. That rule is to write every day, no matter what your circumstances are--whether you're sick or you're traveling, you should write something every day. It's a rule I've followed pretty religiously, and I think it's one of those adages that really works. If you write every day you can't help but be thinking about the story every day. And therefore you can't help but be constantly in this process of creating and thinking about what you're creating. The actual sitting down in front of a typewriter or computer is only half of the process of writing. I often do what I think is some of my best writing while I'm lying in bed because I'm always thinking about it.
Kujira: What is your all-time fave thriller novel? And who is your fave writer (besides YOU, of course!)? ;-)
Michael_Connelly: LOL It would be hard to pick one book, but if I had to I'd probably say "Red Dragon" by Thomas Harris. But even though that would be my favorite book, I would say my favorite writer is Raymond Chandler because he wrote seven books that were excellent, and that helped shape the last 50 years of crime writing.
Saturn115: Rachel Walling was such a big part of The Poet. Do you ever feel tempted to bring back supporting characters in later books?
Michael_Connelly: I do all the time feel tempted. Rachel Walling was a good example of that entire book. She remains a character I'm still fascinated with and like the most. At some point I'd like to bring her back in some form. But as I said before, I never say never about any characters. I like to think that they're all moving on the same plane and I can use any of them at some time. In the book I'm writing now, I have dropped in a character who had a small part in my second book, as well as characters from the last 4 books, including the parole officer from Void Moon.
gail39: Are you planning to do a book signing tour any time soon?
Michael_Connelly: This is the first book in 9 books that I did not do a signing tour, so it's kind of been a nice break from that. At the same time, I enjoy doing it, so I'm sure I'll be out on the road with the next book, which will be out this time next year.
Maggiebear: Well, my first Michael Connelly book was The Concrete Blonde and I have been hooked ever since, but I am especially fond of Det. Bosch.
Michael_Connelly: Thank you. It's hard to say since I create them all and they're all in some form like children, but I think overall I, too, am most partial to Harry.
pattyann10: You have an excellent website. I would imagine being an author is a little isolating. Do you feel the website helps you to feel connected to your readers?
Michael_Connelly: The website definitely helps connect me to readers. But by the same token, I don't really feel like I'm isolated. I think the actual writing of a book is a solitary mission. I have a family life and a social life with friends, and other than this year I spend a lot of time on the road in bookstores and at mystery conventions, etc. So I really don't feel like a hermit.
koalahere: Would you describe yourself as a perfectionist when it comes to your writing?
Michael_Connelly: Yes. And that is what can lead to the kind of writer's block I mentioned above. It comes from being very demanding of my work, from myself.
Saturn115: For someone who has never read any of your books, which one would you suggest to read first, and why?
Michael_Connelly: That gets back to the "they're all my children" answer. It's hard for me to choose one to read. I have personal favorites, but they would probably not be the best ones to start with because they are the fourth and sixth Harry Bosch books. So it would be hard for me to make that recommendation. If you're interested in the series character and you'd like to see that character develop over several books, try the first Bosch book, The Black Echo. If you just want to see if my writing style is something you'll like, try any of the stand alones--Void Moon, Blood Work, or The Poet. I like them all.
koalahere: Would you like to see your daughter follow in your footsteps as a writer?
Michael_Connelly: If she wants to. I've been pretty fortunate. It doesn't happen to every writer. It can be a difficult career. She can do whatever she wants, as long as she's happy with it.
gail39: How long does it usually take to write a book?
Michael_Connelly: They've taken a variety of lengths, ranging from about seven months to write The Poet to about eighteen months to write Angels Flight. I find that writing the Harry Bosch books take the longest time. I think that is because I have written so much about him that it becomes increasingly difficult to come up with new things to say about his character.
koalahere: How long did you research the premise of a "Hot Prowler"?
Michael_Connelly: I didn't spend a whole lot of time. As I said before, I spoke to the police about the real case and then from there I just started constructing the fictional story that I planned to use. One of my practices is to write and ask questions later. I have a pretty decent knowledge of police procedure. So what I usually do is write it the way I think it would happen, and then give the book to a police detective who I trust will correct me where I'm wrong and offer opinions and advice.
David: Did you find the "business end" of writing disillusioning once exposed to it? Or did you embrace that side of the profession?
Michael_Connelly: No, I did not find it disillusioning. I guess I was pretty cognizant of the business aspect before I got in. That is, I knew it was a business in that books had to sell in order for the writer to sustain a career. That's the bottom line of the business. I found it to be quite basic rather than disillusioning.
Paul: If you weren't writing today, what would you be doing as a profession? And have you ever included that profession in any of your novels' characters?
Michael_Connelly: Good question! I guess it's akin to what I'm doing now. I was a newspaper reporter and I have written about that in The Poet. If I weren't writing, there's an outside chance I would still be in the book business as a seller of books, or there is a chance that I might be a policeman. I've long been fascinated with that work.
Saturn115: Your lead characters are clever. Do you associate intelligence with power more so than physical make up?
Michael_Connelly: Yeah, I think so. I think this dovetails with what I was saying about the character with Void Moon. By making the character clever and very skilled at his/her work no matter what it is, you are really delineating that character and strengthening him/her in the eyes of the reader.
pattyann10: I love the descriptions of Los Angeles in your books. Would you say that setting helps create the mood you want to achieve in your books?
Michael_Connelly: I think so. I know that the setting has a lot to do with myself getting invigorated and charged about writing a scene. I really hope that Harry Bosch is sort of a reflection of his community. Therefore I pay a lot of attention to setting and the places where he goes or transverses in the novel.
Mary: Does it ever worry you that people seem to have less time to read these days? Or prefer other media over books?
Michael_Connelly: To some extent it does. I know in my own life I have little time for reading. It's always a concern. At the same time I think storytelling is a bedrock part of our culture; actually, of all cultures. I think there will always be a need for storytellers. Stories will take many forms, and one form will always be the book or the written word.
Our time has just flown by, Michael. Thanks so much for being with us. Any final thoughts for our audience?
Michael_Connelly: Thanks for having me. Just cueing off that last question, the fact you were here and engaged in this chat is a hopeful sign for storytellers and storyreaders. Thanks for coming tonight.
Many thanks to our audience and especially to our special guest, Michael Connelly.
Posted with permission by Talk City, Inc. © 2000 All rights reserved.