#48 - Michael Connelly's Approach to Writing

Kobo recently held a special event in downtown Toronto for some of its best customers, avid readers and fans of Michael Connelly. Special guests had a chance to meet one another for cocktails and snacks, mingle, get books signed, and listen to an on-stage interview with Michael Connelly, who was interviewed by by Johanna Schneller.

Some of the fascinating things you'll find out in this entertaining interview with Michael Connelly include:

• How Michael's mother gave him his first book to read, how, as a child he was introverted and loved to read and earned the nickname "the book addict"
• The perspective that a writer's job is often being "the observer"
• Michael's role as a journalism and crime reporter, including the months he spent interviewing survivors of the Delta 191 Crash (131 people died and 29 people survived) and the quote from one of the survivors that still sticks with Michael today
• The first two books that Michael wrote, which he considered part of the learning process before crafting his third novel, which was the one he knew was good enough and was sent off to be published (and which ended up winning the Edgar Award for best first novel
• The advice from Michael's agent and editor to keep his head down and write his next novel, which allowed him to have his second novel already turned in by the time the first novel (The Black Echo) came out
• How Michael waited until several novels had been published before quitting his day job
• Michael's thoughts on the 150 newspapers that ran stories on then president Bill Clinton walking out of a bookstore carrying his novel The Concrete Blonde
• Having an iconic actor like Clint Eastwood involved in the creation of the movie Blood Work, based on one of Michael's novels
• The "fourth wall" mention in The Crossing of the movie version of The Lincoln Lawyer
• Reflections on being one of the guest authors (along with Stephen J. Cannell, James Patterson, and Dennis Lehane) who makes semi-regular appearances on the ABC television series Castle as one of Richard Castle's poker buddies
• The mosaic by which Michael's most popular character, Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch is, in many ways, similar to the complex and multi-compositional paintings by the famous painter of the same name
• Michael's approach towards writing every single day, particularly when he is going through the process of a first draft
• The casting of Titus Welliver in the lead role as Harry Bosch in the Bosch series, Michael's role in suggesting him, and the manner by which Welliver may not "look" like the outer Harry Bosch Connelly has written about, but how he definitely looks like the "inner" Harry Bosch and how he very effectively displays the angst and internal turmoil that makes Bosch who he is
• Collaborative writing and Michael's reflections on having done that in the past (both in text writing as well as in working on the Bosch series)
• Where Michael writes most often and the answer to the question of whether he prefers a typewriter or a computer when writing a novel
• How Michael knows the beginning and has a really good sense of the end when he sits down to write the first draft of a novel, and the intriguing discovery process that the writing becomes for him
• The fact that Michael is a major re-writer, who usually writes three drafts of a novel
• How he knows whether a novel will be a "Haller" or a "Bosch" novel
• The aural inspirational process that Michael uses to write.
• How Michael has aged Harry in real time, leading to natural progressions, such as his recent retirement
• The reason why Harry Bosch continues to remain alone and single, despite many highs and lows of relationships over the years

Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre then talks about Michael's mention of one of his sources of inspiration by connecting with lawyers and police officers. He reflects on how a writer who is open to connecting with and listening to professionals not only has the resources to create better writing, but also brings a sense of community to the overall writing and overall proces

Link to Michael Connelly's books on Kobo

Michael Connelly's Website