Interview with Michael Connelly, Author of The Overlook - Page 2

Your book jacket says you originally created this as a 16-part serial for The New York Times Magazine but “this edition has been expanded and revised substantially beyond that initial serialization.” Can you elaborate on that? What changed? Major plot points? If someone read it when it was serialized what would they gain by reading the book?

Without giving too much away, I think there are two main additions. One is a new character who is an LAPD captain in charge of their own department of Homeland Security. I wanted this character to sort of embody the fear and even borderline paranoia you see in society these days. I think the guy is a bit over the top at times but that is intentional. I was also able to add in some Harry Bosch history. This is a 12-hour story but it also moves backward in time, even going back to a scene with Harry in Vietnam.

What is the best part about being a best-selling author? What is the worst part?

It gives me a lot of freedom. I don't need to tell anyone what I am planning or writing. I have a lot of latitude and trust from my editors in this regard. I am not sure there is a worst part. I guess the part that is most difficult to deal with is the demands on my time. There is a sense of duty to kind of keep the fire burning, so that often entails more travel on book tours, more interviews, more things that take me away from what brought the success in the first place.

A friend wrote the other day that if you want to read good writing you should avoid reading the books on the bestseller list? Do you agree with that? I said that there were exceptions to that including books you, Laura Lippman, Robert Crais and Ian Rankin write.

That is a generality that has been around for years and I did not believe it before I hit any lists and I don't believe it now. The problem is in believing or following generalities. Sure there are books on the lists that lack in editorial quality and they are there because they had struck some formula that appears to the common denominator in reading tastes. But the opposite is true as well. I think if you looked over time you would see that there are many books on the lists that are there because of great writing and social meaning. I remember I first came upon Ross MacDonald's work after seeing it on a bestseller list.

Article Author: Scott Butki

Scott Butki was a newspaper reporter for more than 10 years before making a career change into education.

He is an in-house media critic, a recovering Tetris addict and a proud uncle.

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