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Not many
authors on their umpteenth bestseller would relish the
idea of doing an interview from the back nine during a
round of golf. But
Michael Connelly
was not only game, he was relieved.
"Everybody
else has shot into the water on this hole," he said
via cell phone from
Tampa
. "I get to get out of playing it now. After 40
years, my handicap is 28. I don't play enough."
That
might be because he's been busy writing crime novels,
most of them featuring pragmatic
Los Angeles
police detective
Harry Bosch
. Connelly, 53, lives in
Florida
with his wife and daughter. He wrote his first
page-turner while working as a suburban-cops reporter
for the
Los Angeles Times
. Before that, he covered the crime beat for a couple of
south
Florida
newspapers.
In a
crowded pop-fiction genre, his stories stand out because
he combines a journalist's eye for facts with a
storyteller's momentum, keeping his characters fresh and
evolving. He also adds touches of erudition, referencing
painters and jazz musicians.
Steve Stilwell
, former owner of the mystery book store Once Upon a
Crime in south
Minneapolis
and a friend of Connelly's, calls him "shy, but a
little less than he used to be" before his success.
"He's a really good observer, and very self-aware.
There's no pretense. Back 18 years ago when I started
reading 'Black Echo,' his first, I thought he was the
best I'd seen in 25 years. You never know what's going
to make the bestseller lists, but I knew I'd keep
reading him."
Connelly
put his driver down long enough to talk about "9
Dragons," which takes place partly in
Hong Kong
.
Q. You
decided several books ago that you wanted to take Harry
to
Hong Kong
, and planted a seed by having his daughter and her mom
go live there. Why
Hong Kong
?
A. It has
that "you just don't know" factor. I've
traveled all over the world, and not every big city is
exotic enough. I started a story with Harry in
Paris
and abandoned it.
Hong Kong
shares a lot with L.A., the same kind of feeling in that
you think anything could happen. It's a place full of
mystery and has that edge — a place full of people
from somewhere else with a lot of dreams and ideas.
Around any corner you could find riches, or a gun in
your face.
Q. I
understand you went back to
Hong Kong
to do more research, but that you didn't want to get to
know the city too well. Why is that?
A.
Harry's comfort zone is the readers' comfort zone. Now
he's out of his element, and I needed him to make real
mistakes. All of the
Hong Kong
action takes place over one day, with Harry moving
across the city with almost brutal force in pursuit of
something. He flashes his money in the wrong place, with
consequences. I got lost a few times, and didn't know
taking the tunnel was faster than taking a boat across
the harbor. Harry does that, too.
Q.
"9 Dragons" brings Harry to new emotional
territory, dealing with his child. Were you worried
about retaining his authenticity?
A. I knew
it would be a challenge. I had to remain true to the
fact that Harry has no real parenting experience because
he's a fly-in father. After she has a really traumatic
weekend, he sticks her in school. Three editors gave me
feedback that no one who has a kid would do that, they'd
go to a neighbor, and I said, Harry's an institutional
man and that's where he puts his trust. He's not a guy
who knows his neighbors.
Q. Harry
is in his late 50s. Will you continue allowing him to
age in real time?
A. It
would be too jarring to stop now. One of the things I'm
happiest about with this book is that it sets up a
future for him. He's 60 this year, and the oldest guy
working homicide in the LAPD is 63, so I have two or
three years left with him carrying a badge. I thought
I'd have to retire him or kill him, neither of which
appeals to me.
Q. You
left the L.A. Times after they didn't promote you to the
metro-cops beat from suburban cops. Do they regret that
now?
A. I'm
still waiting for the apology. But it gave me a negative
motivation to speed up my book-writing efforts, so I'm
glad about it.
Q. Is
there an award or honor you haven't won that you'd
really like to?
A. Lots.
I won the Edgar for best first novel, but I'd like the
one for best novel overall; it's the top award in the
game. Also one called the Hammett, for literary
thrillers.
Q. You're
an old hand at the 13-cities-in-13-days pace of book
tours. Do you just go into a zen state to get through
them?
A. I
could definitely use that. The late nights and early
mornings are difficult, but you get buoyed by meeting
people who love your characters. There's no way around
saying that ego is involved, listening to them tell you
how good you are. I just try to miss the going out for
the drinks after.
Q. Your
novel "Blood Work" was made into a movie
starring
Clint Eastwood
, but none of the Bosch stories have yet made it to the
screen. Who would you cast as Harry?
A. I've
written about him so many years that he has a solid look
in my own mind that no one in real life has. Of course,
if
George Clooney
wanted to be Harry the film would get made in a minute,
so ... it's looking like 'The Lincoln Lawyer' has a real
shot at getting made, so we'll see.
Q. Having
been in the game a while and also spending a year as
president of the
Mystery Writers Association
, you've probably met a lot of your peers —
John Sandford
,
James Patterson
,
Janet Evanovitch
. Do mystery writers share any personality traits?
A.
Surprisingly, I think to a person, none are competitive.
No one feels that if a reader is buying my book that
they're not also buying theirs. They're very helpful.
When I'm in their towns they'll come to my signings and
offer to take me to dinner. An example: My books always
seem to come out at the same time as your
Minnesota
guy
Vince Flynn's
, and he takes me to Manny's. You'd think to look at the
bestseller charts that we'd be punching each other out.
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