Interview by Michael Connelly with Stacey Cochran for The Artist's Craft on 24 October 2008.
Video is available at youtube.
COCHRAN: Hi there, and welcome to "The Artist’s Craft." I'm your host, Stacey Cochran, and we have an outstanding guest with us in studio. Michael Connelly is on tour for The Brass Verdict, and, uh, he is the New York Times best-selling author of The Lincoln Lawyer, as well as the Harry Bosch series of detective novels. Thank you very much for joining us in studio.
CONNELLY: Glad to be here.
COCHRAN: Well, you’ve been on tour a little bit for The Brass Verdict so far, and I imagine you've gotten a lot of questions, uh, about it. What questions from folks have surprised you the most?
CONNELLY: Um, you know what? I've been on so many book tours, I can't say I'm surprised by anything. But what happens is, in the early part of a book tour, no one's read the book yet, and– and you're kind of explaining things to them, and it's– I think it's much more fun after about a week, uh, you will have a lot of people who have already read the book. And so they're getting specifics into questions like, "Why did you do this?" or, "Is that in character for Harry to do that?" And then, um, sometimes you're even on the defensive, but then you've got to be more, uh, I think more detailed in your response.
COCHRAN: Of course one of the big things, uh, that has played out in the press with this is that you've brought together your two major series' protagonists.
CONNELLY: Mm-hm.
COCHRAN: Why did you decide to do that with this book?
CONNELLY: Um, in a way, it was kind of a destiny. Uh, a fictional destiny, if you will. Um, way back in 1993, I– I mentioned a b– a book– I mean, I wrote in a book, uh, a mention of Mickey Haller, who later became the Lincoln Lawyer. It was a memory that Harry Bosch had. And then many years later I introduce him as a criminal defense attorney in The Lincoln Lawyer, and The Lincoln Lawyer, although it, you know, it should, and I think does stand on its own, um, really set up a meeting, or a collision course, between Harry and Mickey.
COCHRAN: Are you satisfied with– with the way that they interact in the book now that you’ve– now that it's in print, uh, are you– are you satisfied with the way they interact in the book?
CONNELLY: Well, I can say I think I am. Um, I really have two answers to that. One is: when I was writing the book, I think there's about eight or nine, um, sections in the book where they're on the same page together. Where they're in each other's presence, and those far and away were the best times for– in the writing process. I just loved, uh, when I got to a point where I could bring them together, and I hope that, you know, translates into the reading process. I think it does. So I think the indications are I'm satisfied. But my routine is not usually to read a book as a book, um, `til a couple years after it's published. So I'll be– come back in a couple years and I'll answer that question more fully, I think.
COCHRAN: Very cool. So what motivates you as a writer?
CONNELLY: Well, you know, I write, um, crime novels, and they have, uh, components that have to be there. You know, a, uh– a, uh, obviously a mystery, a crime. Um, you want to have thrills and you want to have a puzzle and you want to have an entertainment, and all these things, and they're very important. But at the end of the day, the exploration of the character – the protagonist, most often for me, at least, is Harry Bosch – is really what, um, wins the day for me as a writer. Uh, it keeps me plugged in. And, you know, it takes me about a year to write a book. Um, I don't think I could do that every day, come back in and write and write and write if I was just jumping from plot point to plot point. So for me, it's really about: what am I saying about the character, and– and if I can get into, um, new aspects of character, that's what keeps me back– uh, coming back every day.
COCHRAN: Awesome. Well, if you're just tuning in, the guest is Michael Connelly; the book is The Brass Verdict. Uh, one of the things that I really like about this book is the, uh– this sort of– the life story of this, uh, Hollywood producer, Walter Elliot.
CONNELLY: Mm-hm.
COCHRAN: Um, how much of– of his life story is informed by your experience with Hollywood productions and– and living and working in Los Angeles?
CONNELLY: Well, I have a fair amount of experience with both, and I've met some, uh– a lot of big-time producers in LA, um, and had good and bad experiences of all– with all of them actually. And, um, you know, it's– it's not an experience that everyone gets to have, so I– I think I take away from that, "Hey, they might not have made my book into a movie, but I– I spent some time with them, and maybe there's something that can be used in that." And so I took some of my own experience from, um– uh, working out there, um, and put it into this book, but a lot of it is– is– is fictional. Um, a lot of it is almost like a, uh, generic sense of entitlement that I kept encountering when I would make my f– uh, limited forays into Hollywood.
COCHRAN: And why do you think that is?
CONNELLY: Um, I think because, um– take the city, for example. Los Angeles. It is the center of, uh, of that town, or that society, is the, um, the business of Hollywood, and so I think maybe that kind of breeds it. But they also have a, uh, knowledge that what they're putting together there is the entertainment that goes around the world and I think that really has a, uh, you know, a– a heavy feel to it, and that– and that sometimes can translate into people, uh, not really seeing the big picture of what's going on in the world. Just seeing their own world.
COCHRAN: Another thing that I'm really impressed by in this book is, um, the intricate knowledge of the Los Angeles judicial system. As I was reading this – as– as a legal thriller, uh– I don't know how you feel about that label on it – but as a legal thriller, I was just– I literally was blown away by your acumen with the knowledge of how– sort of the inner workings– and it's not just the little things. It's sort of the– the motivation that– that a defense attorney has in contrast to a judge presiding over a case, in contrast to the prosecutor. Uh, and I guess the question is have is: is your writing process for writing a legal thriller, where you really have to draw on facts and– and kind of a knowledge base– is your writing process any different than writing a detective novel?
CONNELLY: Yeah, it's quite a bit different. Um, I'm not a, uh, lawyer. Never practiced law, and some of the titans of the legal thriller all practiced law. You know, John Grisham, Scott Turow, they all have this experience. So I kind of was somewhat intimidated when I decided to write, um, the predecessor to this book, The Lincoln Lawyer, um, because I did not, uh, know the ins and outs of– of practicing, or– or taking a case to trial. So I really called on the reporter in me. I spent a lot of years as a newspaper reporter, some of them on the courts. And, um, I wish I could tell you I'm like the– so creative that I made up everything in there, but it– what it is– this is a product of, uh, reporting. I spent time with criminal defense attorneys; I spent time with judges; I sat in court rooms. And I kind of picked up, I guess you could say, a, uh, mosaic of anecdotal knowledge and, um, experience, and little stories, and– and where any kind of creative, uh, thing comes into it is where I– I– how I figure it– how to fit it all together. Um, but, presiding over everything was this idea that, you know, I have to be accurate, because, uh, a big part of the, um, reading populace that go for legal thrillers are lawyers, and you can't fool them. If they– if it's there world, they'll know, um, if I'm an amateur, you know, crossing their path. And so I really tried to make the books, um– the two books that have Mickey Haller in them as accurate as possible.
COCHRAN: Has John Grisham or– or Scott Turow read the– The Lincoln Lawyer? Have they commented on the book?
CONNELLY: Um, I've heard backhand about, uh– uh Grisham liking the book. Um, Turow, um, read the first– the Lincoln Lawyer and– and sent a wonderful note of endorsement that they of course plastered all over that first book, uh, and kind of was giving me, uh, the okay, you know? Um…
COCHRAN: Awesome.
CONNELLY: Uh, and, that was c– quite helpful in– or quite generous of him.
COCHRAN: How does that feel to actually have, you know, these guys who are practicing lawyers have– who have written legal thrillers, you know, kind of confirm that– that you did it right?
CONNELLY: It– the– well, it feels great. It takes a, uh– an enormous pressure, uh, you know, as a book's coming out and being published, you know, you really don't– you know, you can feel as comfortable and confident in your book as possible, but you never know what's going to happen when it gets out there in the real world. And, uh, to have that kind of response almost right from the start, really kind of– was kind of like my breath, you know: "ahhh, okay, we'll see what happens now." But at least I made this one hurdle, where I don't think I'm going to be potshotted by the people who, uh, really know this world.
COCHRAN: So why do it? I mean, you've got this successful series with Harry Bosch. Um…why– why– is it just that you wanted to challenge yourself?
CONNELLY: Well, it's a number of reasons. One is the challenge. Um, you know, I don't think you're going to– you know, whatever you do in life, you should get better at it, you know? The more you do it, the– the better you get at it, and another way of getting better at it is to, you know, challenge yourself. So, yeah, there is a challenge. Also, I, um– one of my earliest inspirations in the road towards being-coming a writer was reading, um, To Kill a Mockingbird, and of course that's a Great American Novel, but in its essence, it's also, in many ways, a legal thriller.
COCHRAN: Mm-hm.
CONNELLY: And I think that got me interested in reading legal thrillers. So even though I've been writing Harry Bosch for years, I've loved to read some of those books, uh, by the authors we were already talking about: Turow, Grisham, and so forth. And– and so it's been this challenge out there that I wanted to do. The other aspect was the idea of, um, Mickey Haller, uh, nicknamed "the Lincoln Lawyer." He's a guy who works out of the backseat of a Lincoln Town Car. That fell into my lap. It's kind of based on a real attorney who works in Los Angeles, and, uh, when I met him and heard how he operates, the– you know, the light bulb goes off over your head, and you think, "well this could be a very interesting book if I did it right." And so, you know, it was something I felt like I had to do, and– and had to challenge myself with.
COCHRAN: Was the, uh– was the second book a little bit more comfortable to you than the first book?
CONNELLY: Yeah, I mean, you know, once you establish the parameters of a character, it– you– it allows you to look at other things. Uh, you know, it– on one hand, it's great to– to write about a character for the first time and come up with all the new things. "Is he married? Is he divorced? Does he have kids?" All that stuff. And– and those are kind of easy choices to make. And so a first book in a series is always, um, got some– some stuff about it that– that's easy to do. And then when you come in– come back into it, you– you're stuck within whatever you said, and– and then you've got to kind of work a new story into that box. And so there's a bit of a challenge there, but, um, on the other hand, uh, as I said before, this– this series really comes out of me being a reporter, and when I was researching The Lincoln Lawyer, I got so many good stories from real defense attorneys that, um, the– the main plot, uh, device in this book was something left over from, um– from, uh, my research into writing The Lincoln Lawyer.
COCHRAN: That's awesome. Well if you're just tuning in, the guest is Michael Connelly; the book is The Brass Verdict. Uh, it's the second book to focus on Mickey Haller, right?
CONNELLY: Mm-hm.
COCHRAN: The first one being The Lincoln Lawyer. Uh, I'm curious how– what your perception is of how your audience has changed from the early Bosch books going back, you know, eighteen years now, or sixteen years now. How has your audience changed from the early Bosch books to– to these books now?
CONNELLY: Well, it's hard to put a finger on. The one thing I would say is that in this– and it's not really, uh, `cause of the books, it's, uh, what– `cause of marketing. Uh, my– I came out of the blocks with, um, four straight Harry Bosch books, and these were, uh, certainly marketed as male fiction. And, um, I– I had some limited success, and I went out and I started doing book tours, and when I would come to a bookstore or a library, I would see that the majority of the people sitting in front of me were women. And so I was thinking, "I think my books are not really being marketed, um, to the full audience." And so I think, um, I was able to convince my, um, publishers to kind of change their look. You know, they– the early books had guns and badges and stuff on the covers, and that– those are things– those are iconic things that are geared towards attracting the male reader. And I think, um, we opened that up, and, you know, if I go to a bookstore now, um, I– I see an audience that is– is quite diverse, and is quite satisfa– satisfying to me to see– see young people, uh, old people, male, female, um, many different races. Um, and it's– it's– it's quite wonderful.
COCHRAN: Are you thinking about that audience as you're writing, or are you a writer that sort of writers for yourself?
CONNELLY: Yeah, I'm– I'm an audience of one. I– I think that, uh, my instincts as a reader are, um, shared by many. I'm– I'm kind of an Everyman when it comes to reading, and so I– I have this instinctive sense that if I write something that I would like to read, I'll do okay. And I think that's the best way to write. You really gotta kind of keep your head down and write a story for yourself. Um, the– I think the minute you're like, you know, licking your finger and putting it up into the winds to see, you know, what do they want out there…you know, what would be a commercial hit or whatever, I think– I– I don't think that's the right way to go. I think you get lost.
COCHRAN: Does your publisher push you at all in one direction or another when you have conversations with your editor?
CONNELLY: Well, uh, I'll tell you a story about this specific book, um, but for the most part, the wide, uh– most part– uh, I don't know if that's the right phrase, but, uh, I get to do what I want, and, um– you know, initially in my career, I would sign book contracts where they would specifically say, um, "two Harry Bosch novels," so I would have to write a Harry Bosch novel. And I'm– I'm past that now. I can pretty much write what I want to do. They just want to know what's coming down the pipe. And, um, I, uh, recently– a couple years ago, I had signed a– a new contract for three books, and I was sitting in the publishers office, and we were kind of like, uh– uh, not really celebrating, but– but being happy that the negotiation was over…
COCHRAN: Sure.
CONNELLY: And– and my publisher's happy that I was going to be around for at least three more books, and the conversation came up, like, "What"– you know, the– the deal was that you can write whatever you want, but they said, "What will you want to write? Uh, any ideas?" And I said, "Well, I want to– at some point in this three-book span, I want to write about when, uh, Mickey Haller meets Harry Bosch." And so for the first time ever, my publishers said, "Is there any way you can do that as the first book of this– of this three-book deal?" And that's what I ended up doing. So, um, I didn't feel pressured to do it. I mean, it was a story I knew was out there, and that I wanted to tackle, and I think they just kind of focused me on getting to it sooner rather than later.
COCHRAN: And they know your work just as well as anybody.
CONNELLY: Yeah, I've been with– I'm a ra– quite rare, I think, in the publishing business. I've been with the same publisher, uh, my entire career.
COCHRAN: How do you account for that, when so many people are flipflopping and moving all around?
CONNELLY: Well, I– I– a lot of it is serendipity. I, um, didn't know anything about this publisher when my agent placed me there and they took the first book, but, um, I ended up with an editor who had a long view, which is becoming increasingly rare in publishing. A lot of publishing is about hitting it big right away, and, uh, the numbers you get in chains and so forth. I somehow ended up with a publisher– I mean, an editor and a publisher who didn't really care about that in the early stages of my career, and I was able to kind of grow, um, at my own pace, and they were patient with my growth. And– and so that really instilled a lot of loyalty, um, in me, and, uh, so I've just been happy there from, you know, book to book to book. Uh, my editor has gone up the ladder; he's now the publisher of the company. So I really have, um– um, people in high places watching out for me.
COCHRAN: Mm-hm.
CONNELLY: It's– it's really a situation you really can't, um– uh, you can't be.
COCHRAN: That's great. Now prior to publishing your first novel, you had been a crime reporter for a number of years.
CONNELLY: Mm-hm.
COCHRAN: Is being a crime reporter pretty much the best education that a crime novelist can have prior to publishing a novel?
CONNELLY: Well, I– I don't want to speak for everybody, but I'll tell you, Stacey, I would not be sitting here if I had not done that. I– I– I think my years as a crime reporting– as a crime reporter inform everything I do now, on many levels. Um, one was: it got me into the world I wanted to write about. I didn't want to be a policeman, I don't think I have the temperament to be a policeman, but I wanted to write about them. I wanted to write about detectives. So my little press pass got me past the gates and into police stations, and I got to spend– every day I was talking to detectives. Um, and so it immersed me in the world I wanted to write about. And on top of that, uh, you write a lot when you're working at a newspaper, especially a crime– if you're on a crime beat. I was writing four, five stories a day about crimes, `cause I worked in places like Los Angeles and South Florida, where there was no shortage of crime, no shortage of interesting crime. So I was writing a lot, and it really taught me the craft of writing. So these two things are really– have been indispensable in, um, making me the writer that I am today.
COCHRAN: That's a great story. Now, can you remember, uh, the specifics of when you first found out that you had been short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize?
CONNELLY: Um, yeah, there– I worked– at the time, I worked for, uh, a fairly small paper in Fort Lauderdale. They'd never won any kind of prizes of national stature, and, uh, I had worked on a f– a big, long, magazine– Sunday magazine story with two other writers, and we were cut loose for a year to write on this– uh, that– write this one story. And so there was a lot, um, riding on it. Um– uh, you know, we were tr– we were trying to make a name for the paper, and so when we got the word that, um, we were in the final three, it was an exciting time, and, uh– ah, you know, we didn't– we didn't ultimately win the Prize, but– but it did put the paper on the map. It certainly put me on the map, because, uh, I got hired by the L.A. Times shortly after that. So I had moved up into a different level. And, uh, that was great coming to Los Angeles, `cause that seemed to be the creative, um, thing I needed. I had been writing fiction, uh, in Florida, but when I moved to Los Angeles, it seemed to all come together to– for me.
COCHRAN: What was it like working with Clint Eastwood?
CONNELLY: Well, you say "working with," so I– that's a bit of an exaggeration.
COCHRAN: Well, how much did you work with him?
CONNELLY: Well, I mean, he– he's a great guy, he was...what's– what I remember from the whole experience is– was how absolutely honest he was with me, in telling me what he was going to do, even telling me stuff that he knew I would not like to here, or– or I'd be disappointed by. So he kept me informed of the whole process, but he told me from the very beginning, "If you sell me your book, I'm going to go off and make it, `cause I have people I work with, and– and I– and I want– I'm going to work with them again. You're not going to be involved. I'll tell you what's happening, but you're not going to be involved." And so I wasn't. And, um, you know, I didn't see a script `til about a month before they started shooting the movie. Um, I thought that was just a courtesy, but he did end up calling me and asking me what I thought. He made some changes based on my thoughts; he didn't make any of the big ones I thought he should've made. Um, but the process, because of, I think, it was grounded in him being open and honest about everything, was– was a pretty neat process. I mean, you know, it's an exercise in egotism, um, you know, and– and it ends up with you sitting in a dark room and a big motion picture screen in front of you, and some guy who's been an icon your whole life is– is, you know, saying words that you wrote in– in your little work area five years before. So it's an amazing thing to have happen, and, uh, so I only have positive, um, thoughts about it.
COCHRAN: Was it a little bit intimidating midding– meeting Clint Eastwood?
CONNELLY: You know, he– it's...
COCHRAN: Or not?
CONNELLY: It's interesting. I think he knows how intimidating he could be, and so he takes measures to, um, make you feel relaxed. Uh, when I was calling– you know, the first time I met him, I went to, uh, a studio in Los Angeles, and he has, uh, an entire house that's kind– it's weird, it's like you have all these studios and so forth...you come to a house that looks like a house in a residential neighborhood that's on the studio lot, and that's his offices. And it's much like a house: you go into the living room and there's offices instead of bedrooms. Um, but he was in there, like, playing piano when I walked in, you know, just kind of noodling around on a piano that's in his office.
COCHRAN: Mm-hm.
CONNELLY: And then he was like, "Hey, come on in." And, um, we sat around, talked about, uh, you know, my book, and how he saw it, and how he– he saw things having to be changed for– for Hollywood reasons.
COCHRAN: Mm-hm.
CONNELLY: And, um, it was just not an intimidating situation at all from the beginning.
COCHRAN: That's awesome. Well, if you're just tuning in, uh, the guest is Michael Connelly; the book is, uh, The Brass Verdict. For you personally, what would you say is the purpose of writing fiction?
CONNELLY: Well...I think it's the– to explore something about yourself. I mean, I write about Mickey Haller and Harry Bosch for the most part, and on one hand, they have nothing to do with me. They're– even calling them alter-egos is an extreme. But, you know, you're exploring things about– or– or maybe hopeful things about yourself, you know? Uh, take Harry Bosch for example. Most of the books put him in extreme situations. Sometimes they're physically dangerous, but sometimes they're– they're emotionally dangerous, and he has to make choices of a– and he has to kind of, uh, be cornered, and it has to be tough for him to make the right choice. And, you know, I think whether we're talking about me as the writer behind that or the reader, it's all the same thing. I write the same– for the same reason people– people read these books. I think we want to know how we would act when, you know, the chips are down and– and– and we have a tough choice and– and doing the right thing is going to be tough to do. Um, and– and in a way, the books kind of reinforce that, and I think, you know, that's what I'm doing as a writer as well. Now whether that speaks for all of fiction or the value or the purpose of fiction, I don't really know. But it's really kind of my purpose.
COCHRAN: Now you built your career really writing series fiction, at least the first four novels. Um, and all of these books kind of operate in a sort of Faulknerian world, if you will, um, where characters come into one novel and then sort of move into another novel on– it's all part of the landscape of Los Angeles really. Uh, what advice would you give to a young crime writer today who is thinking about writing series fiction or trying to write stand-alone after stand-alone.
CONNELLY: Um...I would go back to what I've done, you know? I mean, two things I would say...one, I already said: keep your head down. Don't put your finger up into the wind. If– if you feel that you want to write about a character and– and everything you want to say about that character can't be contained in a– one book, then you've got to write a series. If you can cover it all in one book, and– and something– and you know yourself that you'll be creatively inspired by trying something completely different next time, then that's what you have to do. Um, the– you know, I don't– I don't think publishing is, like, at– in a place where– "Oh, we don't want any more series," or "We don't want any more stand-alones." That– that kind of stuff changes all the time, and one publisher will say, "We got enough series"–
COCHRAN: Mm-hm.
CONNELLY: And the s– other one will say, "We don't have enough." So I don't think you can worry about that. You've got to wor– write what– what feels, um, you know, correct to you. Uh, when I wrote my first book, in the back of my head, I was hoping to keep exploring this character, and I put some hooks in the first book, um, that I knew I could pull forward if I got a chance to write another book about that character. But, you know, I had no idea if the thing was even going to get published, let alone, you know, seventeen, eighteen years later I'd be sitting here with you. Um, so you– you write in the moment, and you do the best you can to keep your head down, and, um, believe me: if you get a book published, you're going to have people telling you – editors, agents, and so forth – "Try something new," or "Can we ca– get another one out of this character?"
COCHRAN: Mm-hm.
CONNELLY: You know, that kind of thing.
COCHRAN: If a thirty-year-old Michael Connelly walked into this studio after we're done and said I want to buy you lunch, and you sat down with him knowing what you know now, what advice would you give him about your career publishing, and what he should do in the next decade?
CONNELLY: I think the biggest thing I would say is, "Trust the system." Or, "Trust your editors. Trust your publisher." Because my early books I babied too long. I– I kept rewriting them, not knowing that I could trust my editors. I came from newspapers, where the relationship of an editor is more often, um, difficult rather than easy, and you see stuff changed, like, on the run and half-hazardly and so forth. That doesn't happen in the book business, but I didn't see that coming. And so, like, my first book, I spent at least, um, close to two years longer than I needed to on it, because I didn't know that once it got in the hands of, uh, a good editor, it would be improved. And– and– and so I look back on my career and think– at this point in my life, I think I've written 19 novels. I think I could have written 21 by now if I had known early that I can trust the– the system –that I can give a manuscript that– that has some faults in it, or needs some work, or that I just can't figure out what it's– what is missing – I can– I now know I can hand that to my editor and she'll come up with what I need. Back then, I didn't know, and it cost me a lot of time.
COCHRAN: What's the toughest thing about being on a book tour for a couple of weeks?
CONNELLY: The early flights. Uh, you know, you– you never want to miss– you– you never want to miss something, so they put you on the very earliest flight they can possibly get– get you on, even if it means you get into town, and you have three hours to kill. They don't want to risk, um, you know, you landing and– and having to be somewhere in a half-hour. So it's– the nights end up being late, and the mornings come too soon.
CONNELLY: How has fatherhood changed your perspective on writing crime fiction? Or has it?
COCHRAN: Oh, I think it certainly has. Um, and I think you can see, uh, a division in my work, uh, where you can tell I became a father. And what it is is the same with any parent: you have greater hope or, uh, a new-found hope for the future, for the world. You want the world to be a better place `cause you're going to leave a kid behind. And I think that got into my characters. Uh, it certainly got into Harry Bosch, because I kind of reflected my own experience in him. About the same time I had a child, Harry Bosch found out he had a child, and I think it made a less cynical and more hopeful guy.
COCHRAN: Well, we're just about out of time here. Maybe time for about one more question. Uh, if you're just tuning in, the guest is Michael Connelly; the book is The Brass Verdict. Uh, a couple years ago, I actually read The Poet, and I was going to try to get an interview with you then, but I was just a little bit too young and new at the point, but I have a question from The Poet that I want to ask you.
CONNELLY: Okay.
COCHRAN: Uh, in your novel The Poet, Jack McEvoy has to go against his journalistic instincts in holding back on a story in order to help the FBI. Did anything like this ever happen to you when you were a reporter? Did you ever have to sit on a story for ethical reasons?
CONNELLY: Yeah, I did. And I sat on stories also– I made deals, um, that, you know, you have this sense of the greater good. If you– I had detectives say– I found out something, for example, through court records, and I knew there was a big, celebrated– um, not celebrated, but a big, um, time news, uh, case involving a murder in Los Angeles. And, um, I found out– I got a hold of some, um, search warrants that named their suspect, and so that's a big story.
COCHRAN: Mm-hm.
CONNELLY: And I– I would be ahead of everybody, and, um, the detective– the head detective knew I found out about it, and he came to me and said, "If you hold off– if you– first of all, if you print that, you're going to tip the guy that we're onto him. That's not a good thing. If you can hold off, when we do get to this guy, you'll be along for the ride. You'll get your exclusive then." So it– in a way, it was like trading one exclusive now for one later that could be bigger. And I– I took that deal, and– and then on level– lower incidences where, like– where the stakes weren't as high, I would take those deals. So it's– you know, it's a, uh, it's a day-by-day thing, and, yeah, I– I reflected that in Jack McEvoy as best, that of all my books, that's probably the one that's most, um, autobiographical.
COCHRAN: It's all about walking the line.
CONNELLY: Mm-hm.
COCHRAN: Well, I want to thank you very much joining us here in studio today, Mr. Connelly. Uh, for those who have been watching, of course, this is Michael Connelly, New York Times best-selling author. I've been reading The Brass Verdict; I highly recommend it. Go out and check it out. It's a great book, as well as The Lincoln Lawyer, and– and all of his other wonderful novels as well. For all of us here at, uh, the Raleigh Television Network, and specifically for "The Artist's Craft," I thank you very much for tuning in. Thank you. And thank you very much for joining us.
CONNELLY: I'm glad to be here.
[CREDITS ROLL]
CONNELLY: It's pretty interesting, how it goes by pretty fast.
COCHRAN: It does. I still have about seven more questions about, you know...
Credits[]
| Director | Marnie Cooper Priest |
| Technical Director | Michael Graziano |
| Audio Engineer | Michael Graziano |
| Cameras | Marnie Cooper Priest Michael Graziano |
| Lighting | Stacey Cochrane Marnie Cooper Priest Michael Graziano |
| Character Generator | Michael Graziano Marnie Cooper Priest |