Book Giveaway Drawing! Read the details, below.
Dr. Richard Mabry built a worldwide reputation as a clinician, researcher, and teacher before retiring from medicine. He entered the field of non-medical writing after the death of his first wife, with the publication of his book, The Tender Scar: Life After The Death Of A Spouse. Medical Error is his second novel of romantic medical suspense. His first novel, Code Blue, was published by Abingdon Press in April of 2010, and will be followed next spring by the third book in the Prescription For Trouble series, Cause Of Death. Richard and his wife, Kay, live in North Texas.
Janalyn, I appreciate this opportunity to let your readers know a bit about me. I’m a physician, retired after over a quarter century in private practice followed by ten years as a professor at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. Theoretically, I’ve been retired for a decade, but really I’ve just changed hats. Now I’m a writer—when I’m not playing golf or playing grandfather.
I sort of backed into writing as the result of a crisis in my life. My first wife died suddenly in 1999, and I used journaling as a coping mechanism. After some friends read what I’d written, they urged me to turn the material into a book. Like most people, I had no idea how to write a book or get it published, but those of you familiar with the publishing world know that’s not an easy task. It was seven years later that Kregel published my book,
The Tender Scar: Life After The Death Of A Spouse. The book has been on the market for almost five years, with over ten thousand copies in circulation, and I’m pleased that it continues to minister to those grieving such a loss.
Along the way, authors James Scott Bell and Alton Gansky encouraged me to try my hand at fiction. The learning curve was steep, but I persisted. Four unsuccessful novels and over forty rejections later, Abingdon Press published
Code Blue, my first novel of “medical suspense with heart.” There are three novels in the
Prescription For Trouble series, and the second,
Medical Error, was just released. The third,
Diagnosis Death, comes out next April.
Why do I write medical suspense? Actually, I didn’t start out writing that way. My male protagonist was a doctor who’d failed as a professional baseball player, and the book detailed his attempt to get back into the sport he loved. The editors liked it, but the pub boards hated it. After several tries, I found my “voice,” writing about female doctors placed in difficult situations, with strong male characters to balance them. So far, it’s worked.
In
Code Blue, Dr. Cathy Sewell retreats to her hometown hoping to heal after the latest of a series of romantic disappointments. Not only does she encounter opposition from some of the local doctors and townspeople, she finds that at least one of them wants her gone…as in “dead.” The takeaway message of this book is found in Psalm 139:7-10. No matter where you run, you can’t outrun God.
In
Medical Error, we encounter Dr. Cathy Sewell as a patient dies after receiving medication she should have tolerated. Then the authorities accuse her of being part of a narcotics ring. As more and more problems arise, Cathy finds herself in danger, her only allies a colleague who carries a load of guilt and an attorney who is a recovering alcoholic. What she finds is that, although God doesn’t promise freedom from conflict, He can sustain us through it (Isaiah: 54:17).
Both
Code Blue and
Medical Error are available from all booksellers, both online and brick-and-mortar. Your readers can check their favorite source, but my publisher has arranged a 40% discount for copies purchased through Cokesbury online:
http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=838650.
My third novel,
Diagnosis Death, is complete, and will be published next spring. In it, Dr. Elena Gardner is accused of mercy killings, including her husband's. She finds it hard to defend herself, since she’s not totally sure she’s innocent. I hope you all will watch for it.
I’ve considered branching out into a different genre for future novels, but always come back to medical suspense. The designation “medical suspense with heart” typifies my writing style. “Medical” because I’ve been involved with that discipline in one way or another for half a century. “Suspense” because that’s my favorite type of book. I especially like the work of the late Robert B. Parker, whose spare prose kept me turning pages without making me sleep with the lights on. The phrase “with heart” carries a double meaning: there’s always a bit of romance in my stories, because that’s the way life is. But “heart” also indicates the love of God for us, conveyed in a subtle, understated way.
Thanks again, Janalyn, for letting me have this time with your readers. They can learn more about me on my website (
http://rmabry.com/) and follow my random thoughts on my blog (
http://rmabry.blogspot.com/). I’m also on Twitter and Facebook—just search for Richard Mabry.
Book Giveaway Drawing: Leave a comment to this post to be entered in the drawing for a free copy of Medical Error. Please include a way to reach you online or your entry will be ineligible. Entries will be accepted until this Wednesday at midnight (Pacific Coast time/United States). The winner will be posted Friday. A link to detailed giveaway rules is located in this blog's footer.
