RARA-AVIS: Re: One More Question for Michael Connelly

From: michaelconnelly187 ( michaelconnelly187@yahoo.com)
Date: 31 Mar 2008


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 (I have an extensive collection of Willeford's work, includng the unpublished Grim Haven) And anybody who has read my books would see the indelible mark of Thomas Harris on my stuff.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?
>



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