Quotes by Michael Connelly

I don't profess to be an expert. I know what I like. I never saw Miles Davis, but wish I had. I'd like to see him, Coltrane and Art Pepper playing at the Hollywood Bowl.

I knew as I was writing City of Bones that this had to be the end of him as a cop and possibly even a character. But the bottom-line feeling when I was finished with that novel was that there was more I could do with Harry, things that would keep me plugged in and interested.

I may sound facetious but I really think these stories are all interrelated and therefore really only one series.

I realize now I could have gotten a whole book out of that and so I think that was a big mistake. But the truth is you write in the moment and with your head down and there is no way back then that I could have conceived of Harry having the longevity that he has had.

I think Harry and jazz go together for a lot of reasons. For the most part, he listens to artists who had to struggle to make their music, whether because of their personal demons and ills or those of society. They had to fight to make their music, and that is the bridge to Harry. In his own way, he has to fight to make his music.

I think I would spend the first 30 weeks not writing, just clearing my head and seeing parts of the world I haven't seen and going back to places I have seen and love.

I think the only boundaries are individual and personal. A writer should be free to write about anything he or she wants to, including the twin towers. I have made small references to 9/11 in my past two books.

I would change very little because I have been very, very fortunate. A lot of things fell into place for me simply by happenstance. When that happens you don't really want to change anything, even if you could. Editorially my regrets are few and for the most part minor. I look back on my first published book and think I held on to it too long, babied it too long.

I wrote a book about a child killer once and part of the narrative is from his point of view. There was/is nothing wrong with that book. In fact, it's one of my most popular. But now that I am a father, I would not do that again.

In a daydream sort of way, I think it would be pretty cool to direct a movie. But I have been on movie and TV sets and know it is hard work. I like directing it in my mind. It is easier.

It seems that in a lot of foreign countries the crime novel is placed on a higher shelf and recognized more as a method of holding up a mirror to society. In the US there is more of a sense that these are entertainments or puzzles first, social investigations or character studies second. Consequently, when I have traveled overseas the questions I tend to get from media and people at book signings tend to be more in regard to the deeper themes and subjects of the books.

The bottom line is that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. And I have to believe from past experience and knowledge that some of the links in Homeland Security are weak. Part of the story in Lost Light is about a weak link in the chain.

To write more from memory and to be more creative - I think - because I am still writing about Los Angeles but I can't walk out my door and immediately drive to places I am writing about. So I think it has been a very good change for me after 11 books to start writing this way.

We want our government to protect us, to make sure something like 9/11 never happens again. We quickly moved to give law enforcement more power to do this. But that now begs the question, did we move to fast? Did we give too much power away? I don't have the answer.

What is overriding that and most important is that readers generally are interested in a good character. They might be more comfortable with Harry because they think they know him, but they always seem willing to give somebody new a chance.