‘Catalyst Sessions’ recap: Michael Connelly

Fifteen minutes before logging in for his Catalyst Sessions interview, Michael Connelly reported, he’d finished writing the final episode of the Amazon series Bosch, based on a character he created 25 years and 35 books ago.

It was not only the last script for Season 7 of Bosch, which has yet to begin production due to Covid restrictions, it was the last script for the entire series. As in, the finale. The endgame. After Season 7, it has been mutually agreed between producers (including Connelly) and network, no more Bosch.

That’s bittersweet for Connelly, the Florida-bred journalist-turned-novelist, who has sold some 60 million books, most of them featuring hard-boiled Los Angeles police detective Harry Bosch in the protagonist’s seat. Connelly lives in Southern California.

On deck is a series adaptation of his Lincoln Lawyer books; the first one was made into a successful film that Connelly wasn’t involved with; when the new series gets picked up (a deal is in the works), he’ll be part of the production team, as he was with Bosch. That sort of safeguarding involvement with his characters, and their story arcs, is more important to him these days than selling the work to the highest bidder.

The wide-ranging conversation also covered Connelly’s early years as a Florida journalist, his most recent book Fair Warning (featuring journalist Jack McEvoy, whom Connelly calls his “alter ego”), the upcoming book in the Lincoln Lawyer saga, and “The Guardian,” the short story he contributed to the just-published Tampa Bay Noir anthology.

In it, Harry Bosch investigates the theft of a valuable painting … in Tampa.

Monday on The Catalyst Sessions: Bay area musicians Rebekah Pulley and Rob Pastore.

Streaming at 7 p.m. weekdays on the Catalyst Facebook page. All episodes are archived on our YouTube page.