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" A newspaper is the center of a community, it's one of the tent poles of the community, and that's not going to be replaced by Web sites and blogs. "
Michael Connelly
Center
Newspaper
Community
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" To get a connection to your characters, you have to put them in a situation that you can feel yourself. "
Michael Connelly
Yourself
Situation
Connection
" I connect to the tradition of Irish storytelling. And I think there is something - I can't put my finger on it - something genetic there. Maybe just a need to tell stories. "
Michael Connelly
Think
Storytelling
Tradition
" I wanted to learn about the worlds I wanted to write about in fiction. "
Michael Connelly
Write
Wanted
About
" The books I've written the fastest were the best reviewed and sold the best. "
Michael Connelly
Best
Were
Sold
" I'm one hundred percent Irish, and I'm very proud that I'm Irish American, though I don't know exactly where my ancestors came from. I just know County Cork. "
Michael Connelly
Know
Irish
Ancestors
" I watched 'Kojak' religiously with my father. It was a great bonding time. He loved shows where the stakes were high. Life and death, justice prevailing, things like that. I think that helped set me on the path to what I do now. "
Michael Connelly
Life
Death
Father
" My grandparents were all born in the U.S., but their parents came from Ireland. "
Michael Connelly
Born
Ireland
Parents
" When I write about Mickey Haller as the Lincoln lawyer, I totally see Matthew McConaughey because he took that character when that character was still fairly new to me - only two or three years old - when I knew McConaughey was going to play him. He's also the same age, the right age, in comparison to the book. "
Michael Connelly
Book
Character
Me
" When I was at a newspaper, I knew what an opportunity that was, and I religiously protected my time on the cop beat. "
Michael Connelly
Cop
Time
Opportunity
" Every time I visit Brisbane, I think, 'This is my childhood.' "
Michael Connelly
I Think
Childhood
Think
" What brought me to the table was Raymond Chandler and, to a lesser degree, Ross Macdonald and Dashiell Hammett. I was basically inspired to want to write like the classic private-eye writers. "
Michael Connelly
Inspired
Want
Table
" I have high hopes for Renee Ballard's literary life, and it can't start out better than the top of 'USA TODAY''s best-seller list. "
Michael Connelly
High
Top
Life
" I chose deliberately for Harry Bosch to age chronologically with the books. "
Michael Connelly
Deliberately
Age
Books
" I went into journalism to learn the craft of writing and to get close to the world I wanted to write about - police and criminals, the criminal justice system. "
Michael Connelly
World
Writing
Learn
" Artists are supposed to stay hungry. "
Michael Connelly
Artists
Hungry
Supposed
" You have to write about what scares you. "
Michael Connelly
Scares
About
Write
" Ross McDonald had a greater influence on me than any other writer. His style of writing, the repeated theme of the past coming out to grab somebody, that's very attractive to me as a reader and, now, as a writer. "
Michael Connelly
Me
Style
Past
" I was a police reporter, so I got into the worlds that I write about, and I think many of the details in my books come from those days. "
Michael Connelly
Books
Think
Police
" When I went home at 20 to tell my parents, 'I don't want to be an engineer, I want to try and write books,' I was braced for, 'That's not gonna happen.' But I didn't get that response, and maybe it was because of my dad's experience of having an artistic dream and having to put it aside. "
Michael Connelly
Dream
Experience
Home
" When I write about places in L.A. - like where the best taco truck is or something - it's not about L.A. To me, it's about Harry Bosch, because he's the guy that does these things and has this experience. "
Michael Connelly
Like
Experience
Best
" I admit my reading time is limited because I can write in the situations and places where people usually read. But reading is the fuel - it's inspiring - so I try to keep the tank full. What happens most of the time is I binge read. I will put aside a day or two to do nothing but read. "
Michael Connelly
Nothing
Try
Time
" I write puzzles and mysteries. Nothing too highfalutin. "
Michael Connelly
Mysteries
Too
Puzzles
" I think there has to be an empathic strike between the reader and the protagonist. There has to be something said or known that connects the reader to this person you're going to ride through the story with. "
Michael Connelly
You
Story
Person
" I'd be lying if I said the success means nothing to me. It does. I enjoy it and live a pretty great life. "
Michael Connelly
Life
Live
Success
" I'm just going to write the best books I can. "
Michael Connelly
I Can
Books
Just
" L.A. is a long shot city, and those who make that shot - you can tell. You can see very clearly who's made it and who hasn't. "
Michael Connelly
Shot
See
Long
" There is a prevailing school of thought that something good must take time, sometimes years to create and hone. I have always felt that the books I have written fastest have been my best - because I caught an unstoppable momentum in the writing. "
Michael Connelly
School
Writing
Time
" Many writers learned their craft and work ethic at a newspaper. I benefited from that. "
Michael Connelly
Work Ethic
Craft
Many
" I never write thinking, 'What would a woman do?' any more than I think, 'What would a man do?' It comes down to what would a solid detective do in these circumstances. "
Michael Connelly
Down
Woman
Thinking
" I'm going to have to be impressed and feel confident in the people I'm handing a book to - or I'm not going to do it. Once you hand it to them, you're out. You have no control over it. "
Michael Connelly
People
Book
Control