How to write about Dissociative Amnesia AND GET IT RIGHT. WHO AM I? WHO ARE YOU? Really– who am I? This is the question asked repeatedly by a person suffering from Dissociative Amnesia. It’s distressing to say the least. Who are you? Is the other question they ask over and over, because they may have no memories of their …
RETROGRADE AMNESIAS Recently, I got the privilege to assist Denise Hunter with her latest book “Before We Were Us” (just released in September, it’s great – go read it!) where the heroine suffers a severe head injury and gets amnesia. Denise needed to use temporally-graded retrograde amnesia for this story. The heroine forgets her current boyfriend (the hero had the …
This time of year, people love to be out hiking in cooler weather or participating in winter sports such as skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing and ice fishing. Normally, nothing bad happens. But what if someone is unexpectedly injured? Like you cross paths with a bear, or miss a step and break your ankle? When humans wander out of their normal …
Recently, author Deena Adams asked me to help with some characters in her novel who were injured in a fire and suffered severe burns. The situation was a younger man had run into a burning building to find an older fellow in his 50’s. The young man had very mild asthma. The older man was dying from lung cancer. He …
Updated 7/17/2026 Do you know how to write about heatstroke and heat-related illnesses? I have a new saying for Indiana: it’s a given the hottest day of the year will be your class reunion, with the second hottest being move-in day at college in a dorm with no AC nor elevator, and the third hottest will be the first day …
As a physician for four decades, I’ve worn many hats. From a busy Family Practice office, to an occupational medicine clinic (workers’ comp) to onsite health centers in local industries. Then a medical school mentor called and asked, did I know how to use a computer? That call launched my thirty-year career as a medical director starting at Anthem. The …