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" When I was in college, there were dollar movie nights. I went to see 'The Long Goodbye,' which was based on one of Chandler's books but was contemporary and set in Los Angeles in 1973. I loved the movie, which motivated me to read the book. "

Michael Connelly

Loved

Long

Goodbye

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

" 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. "

" I've crossed the Mexican border and gone to Tijuana a few times over the years, but I've never felt comfortable there. "

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

" 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. "

" I don't miss being a reporter as a job, but I do miss the everyday interaction with the front line of law enforcement. I still have a cadre of cops who keep me up to date, but I don't have the access I used to. "

Michael Connelly

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" A movie is like a city. There's, like, 150 people working, and it's all because of something that came out of your head. "

Michael Connelly

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Head

" When I was at a newspaper, I knew what an opportunity that was, and I religiously protected my time on the cop beat. "

" The fulfillment I get from a good day of writing is addictive and will always bring me back the next day. "

Michael Connelly

Good Day

Writing

" I wanted to learn about the worlds I wanted to write about in fiction. "

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

Michael Connelly

Love

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" Eight to ten years in a patrol car? I didn't have that in me. "

Michael Connelly

Eight

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" I feel I'm functioning at some level as a journalist because even though I write fiction, I'm trying to get the world accurate. "

" I first discovered Tampa in my 20s when I met my wife, who was living there, and I instantly fell in love with the city. It's somewhere between a big city and small town, so you get the feeling of both. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" Being a journalist always makes you a quick study of wherever you're at. You're out all the time and seeing places that normally you wouldn't get to see. It gives you an unusual level of insight into any place. "

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

" As soon as I got to L.A., there was this big crime where these guys tunnelled underneath a bank on a three-day weekend and went right up to the vault and emptied everything out. "

" 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. "

" It's about being fair. It's about Black Lives Matter. Yes, they matter. Everybody counts or nobody counts, and I think if more cops had the philosophy of Harry Bosch, we'd have less of these situations happening. "

" Many writers learned their craft and work ethic at a newspaper. I benefited from that. "

" 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

" 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. "

" I used to tape over the top corner of my computer screen so I couldn't see what time it was. I like the idea that I'm just with the words and not knowing what's going on with the world, when it's lunch or dinner. "

" The criminal defense attorney is misunderstood if not despised by most of society. It doesn't matter if we believe in our adversarial system and the ideal that everyone charged with a crime is entitled to a vigorous defense. Ideals give away to reality - defense lawyers working loopholes and angles to get their clients off. "

" I think the best way to sell a made-up character is to plant his feet into the real earth. "

" 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. "

" 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. "