What are you working on next?

I am in the very early stages of a book with no name as of yet. It is about the return of Mickey Haller of The Lincoln Lawyer in a story that will have him cross paths with Harry Bosch. Mickey takes over the law practice of an attorney who was murdered. Harry is the investigator on the murder case. So far, it's going well.

I saw you wrote a powerful column for The Los Angeles Times, your former employer, about the cutting of book reviews? In fact, I linked to it from a couple of sites I write for. What sparked the piece, and do you think it's a fight that's winnable given today's newspaper business climate?

I wrote it mostly out of the overwhelming sense of how lucky I was to sort of get in when the getting was good. The book reviews were a huge part of putting me on the road I am on now. Back then there weren't book bloggers and an internet presence as related to book publishing and selling. There were two ways for an unknown writer to get known: the book review sections and the independent bookstores. Both have fallen on hard times. Their numbers are dwindling.

I wrote The Times piece just to voice that opinion and as a reminder of what I always viewed as a no-brainer, that newspapers supporting books are ultimately supporting themselves by promoting reading. I think that has been lost in the efforts of newspapers to stave off losses. No one disputes that newspapers are in difficult circumstances but it seems that the short term gain from cutting back on book coverage will lead to long term losses.

Since I wrote that piece there has been a lot of reaction in the blogosphere that holds that the role of the disappearing newspaper book review can be filled by the blogs. I don't agree. I view these things as ancillary and separate means of preserving the culture of books. I would not want to lose either one from public discourse on what is available on the book shelves.

Thanks again to Michael Connelly for the interview and all of his great books.