Mystery Author Interviews

Michael Connelly & Reed Farrel Coleman
interview each other!

Michael Connelly is the #1-selling author of the Harry Bosch, Jack McEvoy, and Mickey Haller novels. Reed Farrel Coleman is the two-time Edgar Award-nominated author of the Moe Prager mysteries. They will sign their latest books at Murder By The Book, Wednesday, October 21, 6:30 p.m. For more on their new books and the signing event, please go here.

Reed Farrel Coleman: For years I’ve quoted you at almost every event I’ve ever done. You’ve been reported to have said that, “It’s not how the detective works on the case, but how the case works on the detective.” Did you say it? And if you did, was this something you thought of before you began writing mystery fiction or did you always have it in mind?

Michael Connelly: Well, I guess you can now start quoting Joseph Wambaugh. I do say that quite a bit but try to always credit Joe. I heard that this was the edict handed down from on high to all writers working on the old Wambaugh TV show Police Story. I think it really succinctly states what writing in this genre is all about.

RFC: Can you walk me through the evolution of Harry Bosch? Did you know Harry before you started writing him or did he evolve as you wrote the first novel?

MC: I had previously written two books that went nowhere beyond the bottom drawer of my desk. My take on them was that the protagonist in each was not fully realized and therefore would be unable to connect in any meaningful way to the reader. So it was two years before I tried a third time. In that time i did a lot of collecting of character nuances. So when I started writing Harry Bosch in that third effort I had a pretty good sense of the character and what I wanted to say about him. Of course, I got lucky and got to write more books about him so he has continued to evolve.

RFC: How do you keep your writing fresh after so many years at the top of the game?

MC: That is nice of you to say on two different counts. The answer is, I don't know. What do any of us know? My guess is that you can never have the character go static, you can never have him feeling fulfilled, and you must always keep him searching for answers on many levels. I think if you do all of that you give the character momentum. Velocity always wins the day.

RFC: There are obvious ways in which your background as a journalist have been a great benefit to your work, but are there any subtle ways your background helps that a reader or a non-journalist like myself might miss?

MC: I think the entry into the world I write about is the obvious thing. But on a less obvious but very important level, my journalism experience taught me a lot about writing and about the velocity I mentioned above. I write short sentences that generate momentum in reading. I use dialogue that contains information that moves the story forward. These are all tricks of the journalism trade. And lastly, I spent a number of years working at a paper that put out several editions a day. I sometimes had to write the same story four times a day, using the the same facts but telling the story differently so it would look like each edition had something new to say. (Another trick of the trade.) This taught me to embrace and value rewriting. I think the key to whatever success my books have is in the rewriting. I believe nothing I write is sacred. It can always be torn apart and made better. I start everyday by tearing apart what I wrote the day before.

RFC: Do you ever think about your legacy as one of the most enduring and popular mystery writers of the last twenty years?

MC: I don't because I really don't think it's true. I think the world has changed so much and it moves so fast that nothing is permanent. I am not sure there are going to be enduring classics from this era. We live in disposable times. I write very contemporary stories that I hope hit in the time they are published and then can disappear in ten years because they won't be relevant, let alone fifty. Case in point is my book The Poet. Published in 1997, it is already obsolete. In the book they track a bad guy because he uses a rare photographic device—a digital camera. That was cutting edge for about five minutes.

Michael Connelly: While Moe Prager is an original, he is an original within the classic archetype of private detective. What made you choose that road?

Reed Farrel Coleman: It’s difficult to ever get over your first loves. In this case that was Chandler, Hammett, and Lawrence Block’s Scudder series. Truthfully, I began my writing career as a poet. Beyond the masterful ways these gentlemen approached their craft, I saw a beauty and poetry in their language. While I have written other forms of crime fiction, the PI is it for me.

MC: How do you view the state of the publishing industry? Do you think it is a system that sees the very best work and writers published or are we missing out on some great American writers?

RFC: Thanks for teeing that one up there for me, Michael. Sure, I think a lot of great writers are “under-published.” Even some great, well-published authors like George Pelecanos and Daniel Woodrell don’t quite get the respect they’re due—except from other writers. I too have fallen victim to the system, but I’m not complaining. I’ve had a twenty year career and I think I’ve won the respect of my peers. There’s no perfect system and I accepted that a long time ago. I think publishing is now going through a period of re-invention much like the record industry did in the last decade, but we’re going through it during the worst possible economic conditions. I think the new model will include smaller, more niche publishing, and a constant growth in e-publishing of one sort or another. Our basic contracts are bound to be more back end focused than they are now.

MC: What was the time in your life that best prepared you to be a writer and armed you for the ups and downs of the craft?

RFC: That’s a tough question. On an emotional level, it was struggling through years of therapy. In my youth, I wasn’t much of a closer. I started many things, often very well, but had the habit of quitting. I quit the HS football team, college, jobs, relationships. But working through therapy and working to become the person I always wanted to be, showed me that I could finish something I started. As you know, writing isn’t so much about inspiration as it is about perseverance. Therapy taught me how to have a routine, how to deal with highs and lows, and how to finish what I start.

MC: In Tower you had a co-writer. How did you pull it off? I take it your partner was an ocean away when you conspired on this story. Was that a good thing? Did you two ever work in person or by phone, or was it e-mail and shipping the manuscript back and forth on the net?

RFC: Michael, it wasn’t easy. Writing is a lone wolf’s profession and to collaborate and do it well means you have to turn your ego down low. You have to be willing to fight for the stuff you believe in, but to back off less important issues. You can’t argue about every comma, clause or plot point. It really helped that Ken and I have great respect for each other as men and as writers and that we trusted each other. Without trust, forget it. And you make a very good point about being an ocean apart. We weren’t there in the same room, staring over each other’s shoulders. We did it via email and it was the best way to do it. We’re thinking of doing a Western together.

MC: Have you offered your co-writing services to James Patterson yet? In other words, where do you go from here? Back to Moe or something new?

RFC: No, James Patterson hasn’t knocked on my door yet, but I email him my address. I’d write his grocery list if the conditions were favorable. I just finished a new book with a rather interesting protagonist. Doc is an ex-clinical psychologist who suffers from PTSD after 9/11 and returns home after seven years living on the streets in order to solve a crime that’s haunted him for his time away. I’m also writing the next Moe book. It’s working title is Innocent Monster and it should be out in the fall of 2010.

Meet Michael Connelly & Reed Farrel Coleman at Murder By The Book, Wednesday, October 21, 6:30 p.m. Go here for more information on the event.