I always say that the big 3 who brought me to the table, so
to speak, were/are Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald and
Joseph Wambaugh. Reading their books made me want to write. I
think Harry Bosch is the bastard child of all three. I was
consciously taking aspects of Marlowe and Archer and putting
them into a character with a badge, a character who would
have descended from Wambaugh. I think also inspiring to me in
big ways were Cain, Thompson, Woolrich and Willeford. I
simply loved reading those guys, probably Willeford the most
of the four. (I have an extensive collection of Willeford's
work, includng the unpublished Grim Haven) And anybody who
has read my books would see the indelible mark of Thomas
Harris on my stuff. I would say that Red Dragon is the book
I've read the most times of any book in my life. Maybe that
and To Kill a Mockingbird. Dragon was the direct inspiration
for my book The Poet. I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and
as a kid worked various different jobs at Bahia Mar, the
marina where John D. McDonald docked the Busted Flush. I
enjoyed these books, too, largely because of the Bahia Mar
and Florida connection. Many of the Bahia Mar-related
characters in the books were real people I knew from my
working there and I thought it was so cool that they were
included in the novels. It's something i do in my stuff,
putting in many real people whether it is obvious to the
reader or not.
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "cptpipes2000"
<cptpipes@...> wrote:
>
> I wanted to get this in before the end of the
month.
>
> This is about a generic a question for an author as
there is, but I'm
> hoping you'll mention some of your favorite writers,
current or past.
>
> Back in the mid-90s, I remember using some search
engine to find your
> name and--after skipping multiple offers to see
pictures of Jennifer
> Connelly--came across an interview where you
mentioned Peter Blauner,
> who I was not familiar with and whose work I have
since enjoyed.
>
> I have since seen interviews where you mention
Chandler and Ross
> MacDonald. Could you share some other
favorites?
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 31 Mar 2008 EDT