The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

How #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Dennis Lehane Writes

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Jul 1, 2022

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ANECDOTE

From Parking Cars To Published Author

Dennis Lehane was terrible at everything else growing up, so he focused obsessively on writing from an early age.
He sold his first book while finishing grad school and worked odd jobs like parking cars before publication.

INSIGHT

Lead Big, Don't Micromanage

Lehane watched Clint Eastwood's macro approach and learned to hire great people and avoid micromanaging.
That approach shaped how he runs shows and trusts collaborators to do their jobs.

ANECDOTE

Why He Chose Black Bird

Lehane describes how he adapted the memoir In With The Devil about Jimmy Keene entering a prison to befriend a suspected serial killer.
He was drawn to the father-son theme and mythic hero journey at the heart of the true story.

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#PodcastersForJustice

New York Times bestselling author, and screenwriter-producer, Dennis Lehane, spoke to me about what he learned from Clint Eastwood, working on "Mr. Mercedes" with David E. Kelley, and his new Apple TV+ show "Black Bird."

Dennis Lehane is the bestselling author of 13 novels including four adapted into films of the same name: 2003's Academy Award-winning film Mystic River, directed by Clint Eastwood; 2007's Gone Baby Gone; 2010's Shutter Island directed by Martin Scorsese, and 2016’s Live by Night directed by Ben Affleck.

His latest is the limited Apple TV+ series, Black Bird, described as a "...fascinating, ripped-from-the headlines story [and] true-crime drama..." based on the 2010 memoir by James Keene and Hillel Levin, In With The Devil: A Fallen Hero, A Serial Killer, and A Dangerous Bargain for Redemption.

"Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton), cuts a deal with the FBI to enter maximum-security prison for the criminally insane and befriend a suspected serial killer, Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser)."

Black Bird premieres globally with the first two episodes on Friday, July 8, followed by one new episode weekly every Friday.

Lehane was a staff writer on the acclaimed HBO series "The Wire," worked as a writer-producer on HBO’s "Boardwalk Empire," the Netflix series, "Bloodline," and was a writer and producer on the television adaptation of Stephen King’s "Mr. Mercedes."

Stay calm and write on ...

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In this file Dennis Lehane and I discussed:

Why he sucked at everything except writing and playing pool
How he landed a literary agent while parking cars
Dealing with impostor syndrome early on
How he prefers screenwriting to novel writing today
Why narcissists have no place on a TV set
And a lot more!

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Show Notes:

Black Bird | Apple TV+

Dennis Lehane on IMDb

Dennis Lehane Amazon Author Page (Amazon Affiliate)

In With The Devil: A Fallen Hero, A Serial Killer, and A Dangerous Bargain for Redemption by James Keene and Hillel Levin (Amazon Affiliate)

Kelton Reid on Twitter

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