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CAN Book Feature: Code Blue by Richard L. Mabry, MD

Code Blue 

Medical romantic suspense from Abingdon Press

April 1, 2010

Author: Richard L. Mabry, MD

ISBN: 978-1-426-70236-5

 

Code Blue means more to Dr. Cathy Sewell than the cardiac emergencies she faces. It describes her mental state when she finds that returning to her hometown hasn’t brought her the peace she so desperately needs. Now two men compete for her affection; the town doctors resent the fact that she’s a woman and a newcomer; and the potentially fatal heart problem that results from one of her prescriptions may mean the end of her practice. Then there's someone who doesn’t just want to run her out of town—they want her dead.

Tips from the Pros: Dr. Richard Mabry

Greetings from rainy California! As a pharmacist, I enjoyed this month's interview with fellow health care professional, Dr. Richard Mabry. After a quarter century as a practicing physician, then a decade as a professor, Richard thought he'd retired - only to find himself called into a career in writing with a new set of challenges.   

Richard, how did you get into writing?

I got into writing by attending a writers' conference in 2003, hoping to turn the journaling I did after the death of my first wife into a book to help others who'd suffered a similar loss. At that conference, I came under the influence of writers Alton Gansky and James Scott Bell, who encouraged me. Editor Gary Terashita challenged me to not only write my non-fiction book, but to try fiction as well.

How many books do you have published? What are some of your latest titles?

The Tender Scar: Life After the Death of a Spouse was published by Kregel in 2006. As for fiction, I wrote four books and received over forty rejections before getting a contract from Abingdon Press for publication of my first novel of medical suspense, Code Blue, releasing April 1, 2010.

Medical Details In Fiction: Researching The Problem

Dr. Richard Mabry, back to talk a bit more about medical details in your fiction. You've decided that a medical scenario is right for your novel. You've picked the situation and begun to research it. How do you go about getting the information you need? Do you blindly set out to write what you want to happen, then look for someone to tell you if it's possible? I hope not. Instead, I trust that you'll put in the research necessary to see how things are going to unfold before you invest too much effort.

Medical Details In Fiction: Choosing Your Disease

Dr. Richard Mabry, back again to talk about medical details in fiction. In the last post, we considered why an author might wish to insert a medical scenario into a novel. But which one do you choose?

If you've had a medical problem of your own, you've already become something of an instant expert, based on your own experiences. Oh, maybe your situation was unique or atypical, but you still have a certain amount of insight. A little research and you're off to the races. But what if you're one of the lucky people who've "never been sick a day in their life?" How do you choose?

Medical Details In Fiction: Getting Started

Who says doctors don't make house calls anymore? Dr. Richard Mabry here, with a few words about putting medical details in your fiction. How does this sound to you? "She thought she was having a heart attack." Or do you like this better? "There seemed to be an anvil on her chest, squeezing the life and breath out of her."

Why bother putting medical details in your fiction? Well, first of all it adds depth and color to your narrative. You can paint word pictures, and "show, not tell." Besides that, these things pull the reader into the story. Depending on what scenario you choose, chances are that they or someone they know has experienced it. And, of course, it can add to the suspense and tension of the story arc.