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" There are nineteen Harry Bosch books, and someone told me if you add up the descriptions of Harry from all of them, it would come to less than three pages. He's very elliptically described over the two decades during which the novels occur. I did that by intention. "

Michael Connelly

Two

Intention

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" People like the Bosch books because they like Harry Bosch, not because the plots are fantastic. "

" I love movies. Movies have influenced me as a writer. "

Michael Connelly

Love

Writer

" I get up to write while it's still dark, 5 or 5:30. I start by editing and rewriting everything I did the day before, and that gives some momentum for the day. "

" 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. "

" Deep in my heart it still feels like I'm a journalist even though I haven't worked for a paper and carried a press pass for 14 years. "

" My experience as a newspaper reporter was invaluable in terms of getting me to the kind of writing I do now. It gave me a work ethic of writing every day and pushing through difficult creative times. I mean, there's no writer's block allowed in a newsroom. "

" This next to never happens, but if I had time to sit on a beach and read, I wouldn't read a cozy. But I've read cozies. That's how I got interested in crime fiction: because my mother was a soft-boiled reader. "

" Every time I visit Brisbane, I think, 'This is my childhood.' "

" I think books with weak or translucent plots can survive if the character being drawn along the path is rich, interesting and multi-faceted. The opposite is not true. "

" When I was a teenager, I was a voracious reader of crime fiction, but only contemporary books. I was not interested in reading 'The Glass Key' or 'The Maltese Falcon' - stuff that was 40 or 50 years old. "

" I can't say I'm an expert on public transport. "

" We're all seeking order. We're all seeking control. "

" I chose deliberately for Harry Bosch to age chronologically with the books. "

" When I lived in L.A. full time, I moved often - fourteen different neighbourhoods in sixteen years. "

" 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

Experience

Best

" I want to tell stories that reflect how people are feeling. "

" In the TV world, we are seeing a lot more power going to the writer. I sense it is a writer's medium. "

Michael Connelly

Going

Seeing

" You know that song, 'New York, New York?' If I can make it here, I'll make it anywhere? That's kind of like L.A. "

" I not only read Raymond Chandler but read all the crime fiction classics. I was hooked. "

" 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. "

" I don't think anyone will believe me, but I've never been pressured by a publisher to churn out a book. "

" As far as characters in fiction that I really admire - it's pretty strong to say you would wish that you had created another character - but I'll throw out Will Graham, the protagonist in 'Red Dragon,' a book I've read several times. "

" As a former reporter, I wrote 'The Scarecrow' quickly - I didn't have to think about what the character would do the way I do with Harry Bosch. "

" My whole reputation and creative thought as a novelist is really wrapped around Harry Bosch, so he's near and dear. "

Michael Connelly

Creative

Reputation

" I get into this unfortunate thing when I'm touring for my books. I was in Spain, and the media asked me, 'Who's your favorite Spanish mystery writer?' I'm totally flat-footed. I feel that I'm under-read when it comes to foreign writers. "

" I learned to write crime novels by reading people I hoped to emulate: people like James Lee Burke, Lawrence Block, Joseph Wambaugh, and Sue Grafton. "

Michael Connelly

People

Write

" 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. "

" I write at a pace that suits me, and sometimes it's two books a year, but most often it's one. "

" Artists are supposed to stay hungry. "

" With age comes a greater understanding and a greater worldview. "