Posted in: Amazon Studios, TV | Tagged: ballard, Bosch, Michael Connelly

Bosch/Ballard Author Michael Connelly on Writing Cops Accurately

During a recent book club livestream, Bosch/Ballard author Michael Connelly discussed writing cops authentically, including tackling sexism.

Bosch creator Michael Connelly had a bookclub with his longtime editor Asya Muchnick to talk about his latest Bosch-Ballard novel, The Waiting, possibly the most intricately-plotted book of his career as it features not only LAPD detective Renée Ballard, to be played by Maggie Q. in the upcoming TV series, but also Harry Bosch and his daughter Maddie Bosch, played by Madeleine Lintz in Bosch: Legacy, now a rookie cop getting her feet wet as an investigator. Connelly talked about his creative process, the thinking behind the book, and the research he used from real-life detective Mitzi Hartert-Roberts, the inspiration for Ballard, who only recently retired from the LAPD. Hartert-Roberts has also been a consultant for the Bosch TV series and upcoming Ballard series to ensure the portrayal of the cops and the LAPD were authentic and also in the books. Connelly talked about the increased presence of women in the book and the emergence of Maddie Bosch as a major character for the first time as she forges her own path as a cop and investigator.

On Sexism in the LAPD Since Bosch's Time

"Women in policing have a very steep hill still," said Connelly. "I'm not trying to make a statement here. Water finds its own level. Maddie is based on my own daughter, who's 27 years old, so I have her to talk to. She's not in law enforcement, but I have a father-daughter relationship with her that I can tap for the Harry-Maddie relationship. I have a very successful homicide detective who ran a cold case unit till a few months ago, basically working with me on these books, so I'm doing it because of the ease of research and answers to my questions, not because I have to stand up and make a statement about women. That's going to end up in my books because of the women that are helping me with them," Connelly shared.

The bestselling author continued, "There's still a lot of misogyny in police departments, the LAPD. It's tough. I've been lucky I've been writing about the LAPD for 32 years, publishing for longer. it's definitely getting better, but it's not changing enough for the better. No police department has. It's much more diverse now. There's better training and so forth, but for every three steps forward, there's one step back when some knucklehead does something they can't believe they would with their training and understanding of the community and the media. The stuff some people do is just beyond understanding just how stupid that is. That's always gonna happen. Seems to happen a lot with LAPD. That's not so great for the community, but for the novelist writing about the police department, it's pretty good stuff."

How Renée Ballard Operates

Ever since her first appearance in The Late Show, the one novel in the series where Bosch doesn't appear, Connelly quickly established that Ballard operates differently from the way Bosch did in the LAPD. She might have lone wolf tendencies, but unlike Harry, she knows she can't do everything alone. She has a growing number of allies to back her up in the LAPD, mainly other women in the tech departments and female detectives. If there's a ring of authenticity, it's down to Connelly's research, knowing cops, and speaking to Mitz Roberts. "There are enough female detectives now that they would meet," said Connelly. "That's not out of my creative genius, that's out of my research, out of me knowing Mitzi Roberts and basing Ballard on her. That's all pretty realistic. I'm constantly calling her and texting her when I'm writing, and she vets my manuscripts. I should thank Mitzi Roberts for going through them with a fine tooth comb and saying, 'I wouldn't do this,' 'I wouldn't say that, I'd say this in this situation,' 'I would keep my mouth shut in this situation, or it would create this problem down the line,' and it gives me ideas. It helps me add stuff by subtraction."

The Waiting is now out in bookshops. Connelly mentioned that the first season of the Ballard series will finish shooting this week. The final season of Bosch: Legacy will premiere in 2025.

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