Writing about Tick-borne Illnesses and Alpha-Gal Syndrome My first encounter with a tick-bite illness . . . Occurred when I was a Pediatric Intern at a large major city hospital. A child arrived to the ER, quite ill with a rash and fever, and the concern at first was the child had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF). While treatable …
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 …
In all honesty, at times the writing about coma (disorders of consciousness) in television and movies can be laughable. A character on a soap opera awakens dramatically after years in a deep coma and talks perfectly with no confusion. Right. Robin Cook’s second novel Coma is considered the genesis of a new suspense genre called medical thrillers. I might argue …
Updated 8/20/2025 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 …
Updated 8/20/25 Do you know how to write about Hypothermia? Have you, as an author, committed “novel malpractice”? Can you write authentically about medical issues? Most writers without a medical background struggle with that. Writers, television shows, and movies often get it wrong. If the writing and story are good, readers may overlook mistakes, but I want to help you …
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 …