2011: There are a few real name brands in legal mysteries that make book buyers line up and open their wallets. John Grisham, of course. Scott Turow had a piece of the action for many years. And then there is Michael Connelly. He’s got the lawyer thing sewn up with attorney Mickey Haller. He’s also done a series of police fiction featuring LAPD Detective Harry Bosch. MICHAEL CONNELLY podcast excerpt: "Matthew McConaughey wanted to get as far into the character of Mickey Haller as he could. His research took him to me, about a year before they started shooting the movie. That brought me into the project. Normally, I'm not involved... The fact is, if the film is successful, it's going to bring readers to my books." Connelly’s name on a book is money in the bank for his publisher, so the fact that he’s good and fast means producing a new book every year – two in 2011 – makes everybody happy. I was happy when I discovered that Connelly and I share a common link – we both studied fiction at the University of Florida under the tutelage of acclaimed novelist and character for life Harry Crews. The fiction bug obviously stayed with him – me, not so much, although I did have Harry on this show a while back to talk about his work. Connelly is here, in part to talk about the DVD release of his Mickey Haller novel, The Lincoln Lawyer. The movie stars Matthew McConaughey as the L.A. criminal defense attorney. Michael Connelly •