Michael Connelly: Influences and Favorite Books

The Sunday Book Review of The New York Times has an interesting interview with Michael Connelly in its "By the Book" feature. We discover, for example, that Connelly has an eclectic taste in books from historical non-fiction to Stephen King's Doctor Sleep. 

Connelly has some interesting observations to make about writing. He refers to the "momentum" that carries an author through the writing process rather than the time spent writing a book. In fact, Connelly thinks that his best novels are the ones he wrote quickly when he had an "unstoppable" momentum.

He also talks about how his mother introduced him to crime fiction and how he became "hooked" once he began reading John D. MacDonald. And of course he has very strong words of praise for Raymond Chandler, whose work was the impetus for Connelly himself to become a crime fiction writer.

For the full text of the interview, please click here.

Judging Books Written under Pseudonyms

A rose by any other name...

There is an interesting article in the Sunday Book Review of The New York Times about why authors choose to write under pseudonyms and how we should judge such books.

One of the writers of the article makes the point that if she discovers an author she likes, she will read everything by that author, regardless of his/her name. This is a refreshing attitude at a time when big-name recognition frequently determines who gets publicized and promoted.

For the full text of the article, please click here.

One of the main examples in the article is J.K. Rowling's use of a pseudonym to publish her first crime fiction novel. If you'd like to read my "Open Investigations" blog on this subject, please click here.