Court TV Host: Chat with author Michael Connelly, whose latest book, Crime Beat, is a collection of the real-life articles Connelly wrote when he was a reporter - before he turned to bestselling novels. Discuss his greatest true-crime stories - and ask him how they've informed his fiction, including his series of mysteries featuring LAPD detective Harry Bosch. He was just on Catherine Crier Live, and he's joining us here now.

Court TV Host: Oh, and if you'd like to take a look at his website, just click on http://www.michaelconnelly.com/index.html

Court TV Host: Mr. Connelly, welcome, thanks for being our guest online today.

Michael Connelly: Hello. Thanks for having me here. I am glad to be here.

Court TV Host: Over the past two hours or so, we've been concentrating very heavily around here on the Moussaoui verdict...any thoughts?

Michael Connelly: My first thought was that I was lucky to get on the show because of the breaking news. But as far as the verdict goes I have to admit I was surprised. I agree with the verdict, but I just didn't think it would turn out that way. 9/11 is such a hot button topic. I thought that the desire for ultimate retribution would prevail.

Question from Meems: Hey, Mr. Connelly - thank you for your books!

Michael Connelly: Thanks for reading them.

Question from Jeff: Mr. Connelly, I am a 31-year-old that you turned on to reading, recently...I haven't stopped reading since, thank you. Why do you suppose LA is such a special backdrop to good mystery, whether real or fiction?

Michael Connelly: I think primarily because its a destination city. Most of the people who live there came from somewhere else, looking for something. So it is a place with a lot of unrequited hope and dreams. It spawns good fiction, I think.

Question from maggiemay: Will there ever be another Mickey Haller book ?

Michael Connelly: Yes, there will. I started writing The Lincoln Lawyer thinking it was a one-shot deal. But then I started liking the character and went so far as to plant a few seeds in that story that I could explore if I ever came back to him. I am pretty sure I will. I just am not sure when.

Question from Jeff: Do writers "get into character" much like you hear of actors doing the same? Do you have to "get into Harry's mind" to make him come alive?

Michael Connelly: I think I do a little bit. But at the same time Harry Bosch is quite different from me. But what happens is that during the research phase of the book I will hang out with some detectives who help me and become really inspired to start writing. I start seeing the story and the action and Harry's place in it. To me, that is getting into character.

Question from gadgetgirl: I just read The Closers - was there a real-life case about an unsolved murder of a young girl that inspired you to write it?

Michael Connelly: Sort of. The elements of the investigation of the case in The Closers is very similar to the investigation of a long unsolved murder of a woman who was a bit older. It was the Elaine Graham case and she disappeared when she was 23 years old. Her bones were later found on the same mountain as in The Closers. The case went almost 20 years unsolved before the LAPD cold case squad put it all together and got a conviction. I was privy to the investigation and used parts of it for The Closers.

Question from goldengirl: Are most of your books based on true stories?

Michael Connelly: Yes, but some are more reliant on a real case than others. It just depends on what inspires me. In the book Crime Beat we picked stories that have an 'echo' -- that is, something about these stories comes up later in my novels. In some cases it is quite obvious, as when a news story obviously provided the plot moves of a book. Other times it's more subtle.

Question from Meems: Was Harry Bosch based on someone you'd met?

Michael Connelly: Harry is a composite of many detectives I have met as well as characters in books and movies that have inspired me.

Question from writersblock: Do you plot or outline the whole book first, and then fill in the details, or do you write it as it comes to you, without an outline?

Michael Connelly: I don't like to use an outline because I like to improvise and to me having an outline is like having a boss telling you exactly what you will write each day. So for the most part I think about what I want to do, come up with the inciting incident (the murder that starts things off) and a general idea of an ending. And I take off from there. That leaves at least a few hundred pages in uncharted territory where I can improvise and have creative freedom.

Question from peak: Were you happy with the ending change in the movie BLOOD WORK?

Michael Connelly: Well, my ego dictates that I wish they used my ending, of course. But I can't complain about the overall Hollywood experience. Yes, the story is different from my story but I liked how the character of McCaleb was presented. And the movie brought many new readers to my work. I can't complain about that.

Question from marygee: Question - is it difficult living in Florida and still writing as if you are based in California?

Michael Connelly: Not at all. I have a place in LA and go there quite regularly. If anything, I think my take on the city has improved because I am hyper-conscious of wanting to get the city right. So now I actually spend more time researching in the aspects of place. I don't want anybody to read these books and think, 'Hey, he has to get back out to LA.'

Question from Rope: Hello, Mr. Connelly, I too enjoy your books, with Blood Work being my favorite. My question is whose books do you enjoy reading?

Michael Connelly: I like to jump around and particularly like reading first novels. I like the excitement of finding new people. I just picked up Officer Down by Theresa Schwegel (I hope I spelled that right) which just won the Edgar for best first novel. When it comes to the 'old pros' I really enjoy George D. Pelecanos, Lawrence Block, James Lee Burke and many others. There is a lot of good stuff out there!

Question from Jeff: The age old question - As you were writing Crime Beat, and you poured over past articles, did you say to yourself: Truth is stranger than fiction?

Michael Connelly: Not so much when I was putting this collection together but that used to happen all the time when I was a reporter. It's strange to go from reporting, where the bizarre happens all the time, to writing novels where you actually have to be more realistic. More than once I have put strange anecdotal stories into my novels that I know are based on real events. And more than once my editor has suggested that they don't work in fiction because they are not believable. It doesn't matter if they actually happened. If they are not believable you can't use them in fiction.

Question from gadgetgirl: Do you miss being a reporter?

Question from marygee: Question marygee: Do you ever miss any of the aspects of being a reporter?

Michael Connelly: I really don't because on some level I am still doing it. As I said above I am trying to accurately portray the city. To do that I employ a lot of journalistic methods in terms of research and interviews. So, no, I can't say I miss it.

Question from Jeff: One last from me, and again I can't thank you enough for making me a reader (Trunk Music started it!) - I LOVED how you worked in the dark imagery and paintings of the real Hieronymus Bosch into A Darkness More Than Light - Did his work have a lot to do with your creation of Harry's makeup? And, will you work in those darker themes into future work?

Michael Connelly: I started with the belief that these kinds of books--maybe all books--live and die with character. So that led me to knowing that I shouldn't miss a chance to paint on a layer of character. This would include the name you choose for your main character. So I named my detective after the strange painter because I knew that it would work on two levels. As a metaphor for darkness and chaos to those who knew the painter. And as an element of mystery and intrigue to those who had never heard of him or seen any of his work.

Question from writersblock: How do you live in two such sunny places, yet write from such dark spaces? How do you get your mind into the mood to write about the night when the sun is shining?

Michael Connelly: One of the first things I was told by a newspaper editor when I came to LA is that is a sunny place for shady people. So I think it is always interesting to counterpose the light and the dark. Both Southern California and Florida do this well.

Question from marygee: Question: Your website is amazing and hands down the best out there. Is keeping up the website and touring a distraction or a well needed break?

Court TV Host: The website is: http://www.michaelconnelly.com/index.html

Michael Connelly: It's a little bit of both. My belief as well as that of Jane Davis who runs the site is that it cannot be static. It's got to have ever-evolving information. To do that takes some work. Luckily, Jane does most of it and I reap the benefits. There is also another aspect in that it helps me as a tool to have a website where I can get direct feedback from those who read my books.

Court TV Host: Thanks, Michael Connelly for being our guest today.

Michael Connelly: Thanks for allowing me to drop by. In a way this underlines my last answer. It is always good to connect on any level with people who are familiar with the work. It means a lot. Thanks!