WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — He read every moment he could when he was a kid.
Author Michael Connelly participated in the Love of Literacy Luncheon at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach on Tuesday.
Connelly started his career as a journalist working for a newspaper in Fort Lauderdale, then began writing novels. "When I was 16 I ended up being a partial witness to a crime, a carjacking that went wrong and somebody got shot. And I didn't see any of that, but I saw someone running and I saw them hide the gun," he said.
As he spent time with police giving them his statement, it impacted him. "It was an impactful experience that led me to reading detective stories. I've written the most about a character named Harry Bosch and he comes from many detectives," Connelly said. "I was a journalist for 14 years and I covered crime for many of those years, so I knew lots of detectives and they were influential. In more recent years I've been writing about a female detective named Rene Ballard."
Connelly continues to write novels.
There's an Amazon original tv series based on one of his characters called Bosch. A spin-off will be released soon called Bosch Legacy.
He also does a crime podcast.
"Taking me back to my roots as a journalist because I am telling true stories rather than fiction. And that's what has captured my interest in recent years. I'm reading all of the time to see what's going on to be inspired," Connelly said. "There are many writers out there working today that inspire me, so reading that really takes you where you want to go."