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AUTHOR TALK
 May 2004
Michael Connelly Talks About THE NARROWS
In this essay Michael Connelly talks about his decision to write a sequel to THE POET --- his first stand-alone novel --- and why he chose private investigator Harry Bosch to hunt down a serial killer who returns to unleash his reign of terror.
After Robert Backus headed off into the darkness in the last pages of THE POET my full intention was for him to remain in the darkness, to never return, to always be out there like a killer ghost haunting my fictional world. I started writing the book in 1995. I had recently left my job as a journalist and was still struggling with the idea that as a crime novelist it would be expected that I write stories where good always vanquished evil, where the good guy caught the bad guy, where there were no loose ends-especially a jagged end like a killer left in the wind. I had spent a dozen years as a police beat reporter and I knew that reality was quite the opposite of that. People get away with murder everyday. I had written dozens and dozens of newspaper stories and about murders that had gone unsolved. During the year I was writing THE POET I saw the murder case against O.J. Simpson start to self-destruct and the Los Angeles Police Department vilified for it. And so it was hard for me to turn from the reality of the world I knew and write one more murder mystery in which the sun rose at the end and all was right in the world. So I wrote THE POET with the idea that it would be a thrill ride with enough reader fulfillment at the end to overcome the dissatisfaction of having the killer ultimately get away. Before I wrote the first line --- Death is my beat --- I knew that the book would end with the killer slipping away into the darkness.
Now here I am eight years later, sitting in the same room at the Chateau Marmont where Jack McEvoy encountered Robert Backus, and I am trying to explain to you and myself why I have just written a sequel to THE POET. It is hard to explain, other than to simply say things have changed. That was then and this is now. Just out the window and across the balcony I no longer see the Marlboro Man's steely eyes watching from the billboard. He has been replaced by a vanilla vodka bottle. I am different, too. And so is the world.
In the years since writing THE POET the world has grown more welcoming to me at the same time it's become more uncertain to me. A couple years after writing The Poet I became a father and my life became wonderful and vulnerable in the same moment. As I watched my daughter grow it began to bother me that I had created a fictional world where a killer like Robert Backus could walk free. I started to long for order to be restored in that world. After all, the real world had become a place of increased fears and uncertain safety. I came to realize that the one place where I could control things was in the fictional universe that I had created. So six years after Robert Backus disappeared into the dark I made the decision to go back into that darkness to find him. And I decided to use Harry Bosch for the job. Harry is my best man. He is also a man who has become a father and knows my sense of wonder and joy and fear all at the same time. The story is called The Narrows and my hope is that it shows a bit of what I have learned since the time I decided to let a killer go free.
Yes, in reality people still get away with murder. I don't know if that will ever change. But I have come to realize that the line between reality and the created world of a novel is thinnest when it comes to human feelings and desires. It is easy to take those across the line, traveling from fiction to reality. And so I have learned that it is important to take care in the fictional universe of your own creation. It is important to remember that the darkness into which you may banish a killer can travel. It can cross that line. I don't want that to happen. In that respect I look at The Narrows as a story that is long overdue.
Michael Connelly
Chateau Marmont Hotel, Los Angeles
December 13, 2003
© Copyright 2004, Michael Connelly. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission by Little, Brown and Company, an imprint of Time Warner Bookmark.
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VIDEO
If you'd like to learn more about THE NARROWS and its author, we encourage you to take a look at this 11-minute streaming video. Here, Michael Connelly shares with you locations in Los Angeles, reads excerpts from THE NARROWS and gives you personal insight into the writing of this latest Harry Bosch novel.
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AUTHOR TALK
 April 2003
In this interview Michael Connelly, author of LOST LIGHT, discusses his acclaimed Harry Bosch series, how music influences his writing, and his future projects.
Q: Many fans were worried that Harry Bosch wasn’t coming back after he turned in his badge at the end of CITY OF BONES. Are you happy with the new direction taken in LOST LIGHT?
MC: Yes, I am because he feels fresh to me as the writer and I have to think that maybe that will translate to the reading experience as well. This is the ninth time I've written about Harry and so I think it was appropriate that he sort of go off in a new direction.
Q: You've never written about Harry Bosch in the first person before, why not? And why did you decide to do it now?
MC: It was all part of that desire to refresh the series. Also, in this book Harry is more or less operating as a private detective and so I decided to take a swing at the traditional private detective story which is usually in first person.
Q: What is in store for Harry? If there are more books in this series, do you plan to write from his perspective going forward?
MC: I am writing one now that is a Harry Bosch novel in first person but I don't know if that is the way the books will always be for now on. I kind of doubt it but I haven't thought about it long enough to be sure. I think the only thing I know for sure is that I am not finished writing about him so I suppose there will be at least a few more.
Q: Without giving TOO much away, there is a huge surprise at the end of LOST LIGHT relating to Harry’s ex-wife. Have you always had that storyline planned for Harry? Will it be explored more in future books?
MC: I don't plan too far ahead but usually when I am writing a Bosch book I plant seeds for things that I can use in future books if I want to. I think some of the things that happen in LOST LIGHT were things I planted in previous books. There is something that happens way back in ANGELS FLIGHT that allows for something else to happen in LOST LIGHT. I know that sounds cryptic but I don't want to give anything away either.
Q: You’ve also created a special CD this time around called Dark Sacred Night: The Music of Harry Bosch that is only available in certain stores with a purchase of LOST LIGHT. (Editor's note: Visit Michael Connelly.com for more information on this promotion.) You say on the CD that you listen to jazz when you write a Harry Bosch novel. Tell us a bit more about why you decided to do this. Is there one song that you would say is Harry Bosch’s anthem? Do you have a favorite song yourself?
MC: I just find that jazz adds to the creative process of writing. For me, at least. It is not as intrusive as music with lyrics, which I could never listen to when I am writing. But something about jazz and maybe knowing something about the musicians making it helps me with my work. There is one song that is on the CD that is called "Lullaby" that I think is Harry Bosch distilled into music. It is short and it is lonely and uplifting at the same time. Its been mentioned in three of the novels so far, so I think it is important to Harry. In LOST LIGHT he even tries to play it on the saxophone.
Q: What kind of music do you listen to when you are writing your other books? For example, CHASING THE DIME didn't have the same jazzy feel that the Bosch series has, but could certainly have a soundtrack of its own.
MC: Usually when I am not writing about Bosch I don't listen to jazz and I probably don't listen to anything at all. I fear that if I listen to jazz these books might pick up the same sort of tone as a Bosch book and I usually like them to be quite different. While writing one of the non-Bosch books called VOID MOON I listened to the same Lucinda Williams CD over and over because I thought it informed the book and I wanted the same sort of bluesy, tough but forlorn feel to inform the character of Cassie Black.
Q: You recently commented on your website that you "often think about writing about Harry as a younger man." Can we look forward to a story of that nature in the near future?
MC: I'm not sure what the near future means but I think that one day I will write such a story. I am already gathering string on it and someday I think it will be fun and challenging to write about Los Angeles in say 1970 and Harry Bosch as a young man.
Q: People often ask you what books you like to read, but your books also have a very cinematic feel. What are your favorite movies and have you seen anything lately that has inspired you?
MC: I love movies and as probably can be expected most of my favorites are crime related. Among those I love I would have to point out Chinatown, Bullit, The Long Goodbye, The Conversation, The French Connection, Live and Die in L.A. and L.A. Confidential. Recently I also liked Memento quite a bit. It is hard for me to remember all the movies I like.
Q: What's next for Michael Connelly?
MC: To keep my head down and just keep writing. I'm into the next Harry Bosch story and hope to get it done sometime this summer. After that I plan to write something with a whole new character.
© Copyright 2003, Time Warner Bookmark. All rights reserved.
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AUTHOR TALK
 2002
Q: CHASING THE DIME is a unique book for you because the idea for it stems from an experience you had with a new telephone number. What can you tell us about this? What parts of Henry Pierce are Michael Connelly?
MC: Henry and I don't really share a lot in common. We look at the world differently. But we do share this same telephone experience. Sort of. I moved last year and when I put in a new phone in my office I started getting calls and messages for the woman who formerly had the phone number. The calls were from her mother, friends and other family members. They were trying to locate her and were very worried. It was a sad situation but I couldn't do anything but tell them that I had the number now and I didn't know anything about the woman who had it before me. This sparked the story that became Chasing the Dime. In it Henry has the same sort of experience with a new phone number. But unlike me, he becomes obsessed with the missing woman and tries to find out what happened.
Q: In addition to investigating a strange crime, Henry Pierce also runs a successful technology company and is "chasing the dime," seeking to make a supercomputer smaller than a dime. What can you tell us about the research that went into writing this book for both the technology aspect and the world of escort services?
MC: I have been fascinated with this technology for a long time and gathering reports on it for years. When it came time to actually write a book in which it plays a significant part I took the easy way out. I hired a researcher and she was able to pull together much more information on this fascinating research and get me a visit with one of the leaders in the field in his lab at UCLA. It was wonderful. As for the internet sex aspect, it is again something that i have been fascinated with because I believe there is always going to be a dark or underground side to the great advances of our time. The internet is an example of this. Getting to know something about this world was pretty easy. You let your fingers do the work. I went online and started surfing. This stuff is not that hard to find. The people behind it are not that hard to find.
Q: Henry Pierce has good intentions for the technology that he seeks, but there are obviously ways to use this kind of technology for sinister purposes. Have you thought about this at all? What are the real-life ramifications for this technology?
MC: Sure, that's what makes it fascinating and what makes it share a kinship with the underground internet. Technological advances are as good as the people who make them and handle them. For every good use there can also be a bad use. The technology in the book is real and it is coming. It will change the world for good and probably for bad in some ways. But I think the good things will outweigh the bad. Just the medical applications--in which diseases can possibly be attacked and cured from within--seem to make it worth it, let alone all the applications it will have to computing and electronics.
Q: In the book, a number of websites are mentioned, including www.la-darlings.com, www.pinkmink.com and www.fetishcastle.net. Do these sites actually exist? What would happen if we went to them?
MC: They exist because websites are sort of the proprietary addresses on the internet. I couldn't make use of sites without permission. Check them out.
Q: I hear that the film rights to this extremely cinematic book have been snapped up by MGM. What can you tell us about the film? Does it have a director or writer attached to it? How do you envision the film? How do you feel about having your books turned into movies having gone through the process with BLOOD WORK?
MC: I am not very involved in the film aspects of this book. The deal was just made recently and so the project is in its infancy. There is a screenwriter attached to it and once the producers have a script they will try to attract directors and actors. I think it is a cinematic story. The science aspect and the lab and so forth could be very interesting and then of course there is an erotic element to it that would probably be better served in a movie than in a book.
My experience with BLOOD WORK was all good. The movie is different from the book but I am accepting of that and knew that would be the way it would be when I made the deal five years ago. What was important to me was that the character of Terry McCaleb remain intact in the transfer from page to screen. I think that happened and so I am happy.
Q: Two characters in CHASING THE DIME are reading, one is reading HELL TO PAY by George Pelecanos and Henry's ex-girlfriend, Nicole, is reading IGUANA LOVE by Vicki Hendricks. Why did you mention these specific books and authors?
MC: It's been a long practice of mine to mention books I have read and enjoyed, or that might have a significance to my story. I don't like answering questions about who my favorite authors are because there are too many and I would leave people I might know and respect out. So I don't usually answer that question. I just put my recommendations into my own books.
Q: There's also a Hieronymous Bosch poster in the Amedeo Technologies office. What can we infer from that?
MC: All of my books are moving on the same canvas. So I look for little ways of tying them together hear and there. I think the coolest tie-in in this book is that Henry Pierce is the brother of a woman who was the victim of a killer called The Dollmaker. That killer is referenced in my first book. Harry Bosch killed the Dollmaker, so there is a link there between Henry and Harry. But you'd have to be reading along all these years to know that.
Q: What's next for Michael Connelly? And will Henry Pierce ever meet Harry Bosch or Terry McCaleb?
MC: I'm finishing a Harry Bosch book now for next year. It's written in the first person, which is new for Harry. And because, as I said before, these stories are all part of the same big canvas, it is entirely possible they could all meet someday. In fact, Harry and Henry already met once, about 12 years ago when Harry was on the Dollmaker case and he had to deliver bad news to Henry's family.
© Copyright 2002, Time Warner Bookmark. All rights reserved.
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