What made me want to become an author?

Over on my newsletter, my readers kindly fill out surveys from time to time and provide feedback ... and then I give away prizes. (Hey -- sign up for my newsletter over on the right side of the page if you haven't already!) Recently, one reader asked what made me want to become an author. Interestingly, it's a question I don't often get asked. I am more often asked why I became a doctor.

The answers are in some ways ... similar.

​Short answer: I became an author to make people happy and bring joy or at least a fun experience to people.

Long answer: There are stories inside of me that I want to tell. I want to tell them for myself. But I also want to tell them because nothing makes me happier than hearing how a reader was excited or scared or their heart pounded while they read one of my books. I also use my books to squeeze in a few tidbits of truth about things that I'm passionate about, like rural medicine.* It's a perspective that I'm uniquely able to tell and I leverage that to some extent in every series I write.

One of my biggest joys is meeting readers. (OMG, there are people who have actually read my books! That was a shocking realization.) I love to hear how they experienced the stories, because it's different for everyone. I love to hear their excitement for an upcoming installment in a series or a new series that may be coming.

In my world as a physician, it's not often that I can do something that simply makes people happy and has no side effects.

That's also why I write!

Thanks for the question and the opportunity to answer it!


*Stay tuned. I have a series in development right now, the concept is "Gray's Anatomy meets Northern Exposure." It's been super fun to write!