I don't think I came out of anybody. I think I developed out of the influences I described in My Dark Places. American history, L.A. of the 1950s. I'm comfortable with that.
James EllroyMy guys are morally weak, and they reach toward a tenuous knowledge of self-sacrifice, and sometimes it's too late. I find that moving. It's not a life I'd want to live. But, then, I'm not completely my books.
James EllroyWhereโs your sketch pad?โ I asked. โฆ โI gave that up,โ Kay said. โI wasnโt very good, so I changed my major.โ โTo what?โ โTo pre-med, then psychology, then English lit, then history.โ โI like a woman who knows what she wants.โ Kay smiled. โSo do I, but I donโt know any.
James EllroyI work within the framework of a very concerted, purely driven Protestant Christian mindset. I had dark early circumstances. I went inward. I have a sturdy will. I have a big heart. I'm a decent guy. And I have a great gift. It's blunted me to the world in many ways.
James EllroyAnything less than total candor was bullshit. I owed that to my readers, I owed that to myself, and I owed that most specifically to my mother. I've had some thrilling moments in my 18-year literary career to this point, and nothing comes close to giving Geneva Hilliker Ellroy, the farm girl from Tunnel City, Wisconsin, to the world.
James Ellroy