JEFFREY BROWN:And that allows you to look at various strains of American culture, right, in this case, the '60s. Post-Watts Riots is the setting.

WALTER MOSLEY:And the beginning of the hippy movement, which is a whole other surprising event in California at this time.

JEFFREY BROWN:Yes.

WALTER MOSLEY:You know, if you're in California in 1964, it's one Los Angeles. And if you're there in 1968, there are all these hippies everywhere. Where did they come from? How did they have time to grow that hair? It was pretty amazing.

And I'm really enjoying it because, you know, it's -- because so many stories have been told about L.A., but these stories, almost every one is a new story because of the point of view, not because it's a some secret that's being ...

JEFFREY BROWN:Because of the new time as well.

WALTER MOSLEY:Yes. Yes. And everybody's like, you know, experiencing a different kind of world. And it's changing so quickly.

JEFFREY BROWN:You—as I said, you write in many styles and genres.

And the Easy Rawlins books are often—Well, they're usually defined as crime fiction, mysteries. Do you think of them that way, or do you even think about different genres as you're working?

WALTER MOSLEY:Well, I think about genre somewhat, because once I'm in the genre, I would like to be -- I like to be true to it.

JEFFREY BROWN:Right.

WALTER MOSLEY:I don't want to be one of those writers who says, well, I'm not really a mystery writer.

Well, when I write a mystery, it's a mystery. When I write a literary novel, it's a literary novel, science fiction, science fiction.

JEFFREY BROWN:What does being true to a mystery ...

WALTER MOSLEY:Well, I mean, that there's a crime that's been committed that exists on a legal level, on a social level, and on a moral level, and, if you're really, really good at it, on a philosophical level.

And there has to be an answer, not necessarily a solution, but an answer to that crime, like, well, who did it? Why did they do it? Should you turn them in? A whole series of questions, and that's what mysteries do.

JEFFREY BROWN:But if you're really good at it, you're saying a level that's beyond the whodunit?

WALTER MOSLEY:Well, if you're really good at it, it makes you think about the nature of the society.

I think, at the end of this book, Easy has to make a few choices. And I—hopefully, it will make you think about the choices he has to make and why. And that goes a little bit beyond the mystery, but it stays right inside the crime. So ...

JEFFREY BROWN:And, presumably, a good mystery has to be a good—I mean, qualities of a novel are the qualities of a novel.

WALTER MOSLEY:Yes, good writing is good writing, and bad writing is bad writing.

People say, well -- you will say, well, this genre is better writing than this genre. I say, well, how can that possibly be? They both have sentences and words, and they're both in English. How can one be better than the other?

But there are a lot of people who do think like that. My genre, when I'm writing crime fiction, is one thing. But, like, science fiction, people completely eschew. And, romance, oh, my God, that's terrible writing. But it's not necessarily. If you're a good writer, you write a good book.

JEFFREY BROWN:I have talked to biographers who have stayed with one subject for decades. You have done that as well. Is it still fulfilling? Is it still fun?

WALTER MOSLEY:Well, it's an interesting thing. The topic that I stay with the most is black male heroes. And I think ...

JEFFREY BROWN:In all these different genres.

WALTER MOSLEY: Yes, and because I'm one of the few people really ever in the history of literature in the West who writes about black male heroes.

There are a lot of protagonists, but I'm talking about heroes. I think it's really important, because every culture has their heroes. It's just that black men, people are kind of afraid of them for various reasons, various guilts, various, I don't know, issues. And so I like to write about them, and I don't think that that's running out of fashion yet.

JEFFREY BROWN:So, will there be more?

WALTER MOSLEY:Oh, yes. I have actually finished the next Easy Rawlins novel.

JEFFREY BROWN:Oh, really?

WALTER MOSLEY:My editor just today, as I was coming here, sent me an e-mail saying he has accepted the new novel. So ...

JEFFREY BROWN:OK, more Easy Rawlins. This one is "Little Green."

Walter Mosley, thanks so much.

WALTER MOSLEY:Thank you.

JEFFREY BROWN:My conversation with Walter Mosley continues online, where we ask some of your questions sent in ahead of time. And you can also see him read from his new novel. That's all on our Art Beat page.