{"id":586,"date":"2018-12-31T12:57:57","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T12:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=586"},"modified":"2018-12-31T12:57:57","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T12:57:57","slug":"7-10-2016-richard-mabry-muses-on-the-military-a-medical-career-and-medical-suspense-with-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=586","title":{"rendered":"7.10.2016\u00a0 Richard Mabry muses on the military, a medical career, and \u201cmedical suspense with heart\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For the past decade Richard Mabry, a retired physician, <\/span>has been as busy in his second career as a novelist of Christian medical thrillers as he was in his first. Along the way, he\u2019s received rave reviews in <\/span>Publishers Weekly<\/span>Library Journal<\/span> and has been nominated for and won a variety of writing awards. He also served as vice-president of the American Christian Fiction Writers. His medical thrillers have won the Selah Award of the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference, and have been finalists for ACFW\u2019s Carol Award, Romantic Times\u2019 Inspirational Book of the Year, and the Inspirational Reader\u2019s Choice Award. Recently, he signed a three-novel deal with new Christian publisher, Gilead. This week he talks with us about his path to publishing.<\/span><\/p>\n

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LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE: <\/span>Where did you grow up, and how did it influence your writing?<\/span><\/p>\n

RICHARD MABRY: <\/span>Other than about three years spent overseas at Uncle Sam\u2019s \u201csuggestion,\u201d I\u2019ve lived in Texas all my life. I didn\u2019t go far from my hometown in north Texas for my pre-medical education, my medical degree, and my specialty training. So I know this area of Texas quite well.<\/p>\n

How did that affect my writing? When my characters want something to drink with their meal, it\u2019s iced tea or Dr Pepper. I haven\u2019t had them barbecue a brisket in their back yard yet, but that\u2019s probably coming up. The fictitious towns I create as settings are like the ones I grew up in or went to school or where I live now. Some people call this, \u201cwriting what you know.\u201d I call it, \u201cAvoid research wherever possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did you come from a family of storytellers? What books and authors did you grow up reading?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think I ever heard my parents or their siblings tell stories, although my grandmother occasionally regaled me with tales of the past\u2014some of them probably true, like her relationship to the Indian chief Quanah Parker.<\/p>\n

Like so many kids of my generation I enjoyed Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Gulliver\u2019s Travels, <\/span>and the like. I don\u2019t think these influenced me to write, but I did learn to recognize good writing.<\/p>\n

You were a captain in the Air Force (thank you for your service) and spent thirty-six years as a physician, but it seems like the inspiration for you to become a writer was the passing of your first wife. Can you tell us about your first book, The Tender Scar?<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks for your comment about my service\u2014I was proud to serve. And though I had written numerous textbooks and professional papers as a physician, I never envisioned myself as a writer.<\/p>\n

My wife of forty years and I were planning our retirement when she suffered a fatal stroke. To express my feelings (and avoid dumping them on my children), I wrote them in the form of journal entries. Eventually I had a thick stack of these pages, and a friend suggested they\u2019d make a book that was useful for others who suffered the same loss. Unfortunately, it was soon evident that I had no idea how to do this. I eventually attended a writing conference where I not only learned the fundamentals I needed for that activity, but was challenged by two well-known writers to try my hand at fiction.<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t ignore a challenge like that. After I got a contract for publication of The Tender Scar: Life after the Death of a Spouse<\/span><\/a><\/span>I set about writing fiction. After four years and four novels that garnered forty rejections, I got my first fiction contract. My tenth such novel, Medical Judgment<\/span><\/a><\/span>was released in May, so I guess I\u2019ve learned a bit as I went along.<\/p>\n

Then came a fiction career, but I understand you tried writing in a couple of different genres at first, and they didn’t seem to connect with editors until you started writing medical suspense. What can you tell us about that?<\/p>\n

At first I had no idea how to draw readers into my work. I suppose my earliest efforts were what might be called contemporary fiction, but my wife (my first reader) kept asking what was at stake\u2014and I couldn\u2019t answer. I added romance, but with negative results. At the suggestion of my then-agent, I even tried writing cozy mysteries, but even I didn\u2019t like them. Then I decided on medical thrillers with a bit of romance\u2014what I call \u201cmedical suspense with heart\u201d\u2014and these were a hit with editors (and later with readers). So I\u2019ve stuck with that genre since.<\/p>\n

I read recently on your Facebook page that it has been ten years since The Tender Scar was published, and you’ve been giving some thought about writing another nonfiction book, maybe a guide to rebuilding a life, maybe with a blended family, for example. Do you have any thoughts to share in that area?<\/p>\n

The publisher of The Tender Scar<\/span> broached the subject of revising the book after a decade, but as I thought it over I realized that the material was written while I was still hurting from my loss. If I rewrote it, the emotion could be lost. Rather, I\u2019ve asked the publisher to leave the original material intact. However, I\u2019ve written an additional chapter that will be included in the second edition of The Tender Scar.<\/span> It\u2019s titled, \u201cMarried\u2026Again,\u201d and deals with some of the problems (and joys) of a blended family.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve written before that you still attend writing conferences and get a lot out of them. As a matter of fact, you’re an active member of the ACFW chapter in Dallas, a.k.a. The Ready Writers. It’s like a Who’s Who of Christian fiction. Do you feel that this kind of interaction helps your writing?<\/p>\n

I learned a great deal from other writers as I attended various conferences, and I\u2019ll always be in their debt. Eventually I found that I\u2019d learned enough about the craft of writing and the business of publishing to share this with others who are climbing the same ladder I did some years ago. It\u2019s a way of giving back. Of course, as usually happens, when I prepare a talk I find things that I\u2019d either forgotten or didn\u2019t know. So the sharing works both ways.<\/p>\n

You have a new novel out, Medical Judgment.<\/span> For our readers not familiar with this book, would you tell them what it’s about?<\/p>\n

Medical Judgment<\/span> deals with the problems faced by a young female doctor who has been widowed. Now someone is out to hurt\u2014or possibly kill\u2014her. The two men who try to help her during this time are a recovering alcoholic detective and her husband\u2019s friend whose attention is too intense for comfort.<\/p>\n

In addition to the medical aspects of the story, I draw on some of the emotions I experienced when I was left \u201csingle again\u201d after the death of my first wife. And when the reader gets close to the end, they\u2019ll find that this one is different from any of my previous novels.<\/p>\n

What advice would you have for aspiring authors?<\/p>\n

Learn the craft, and never stop learning! Don\u2019t give in to the temptation to self-publish just because you don\u2019t get a contract with your first book. Editor friends of mine tell me that books are like waffles\u2014the first one or two usually get discarded. If you do eventually self-publish, have a plan for marketing, because that\u2019s at least half of the process of being a writer.<\/p>\n

What’s your writing process like?<\/p>\n

One of the first books on writing that I read (and I have a whole shelf of them now) was James Scott Bell\u2019s <\/span>Plot and Structure. <\/span>I still follow his LOCK methodology, so I make sure I have a Lead, an Opponent (or Opposition), Conflict, and a Knockout Ending. With these in mind, I craft a one sentence \u201chook\u201d plus a short summary that can serve as back cover copy. The next thing I do is to populate the book, making character sketches for each person and detailing everything from their physical description to the kind of car they drive. Finally, I line out what the beginning, middle, and end incidents will be that catch the attention of the reader. After that, I\u2019m ready to write. And, yes, I\u2019m a \u201cpantser,\u201d not outlining everything before I start (although it sounds like it), but writing by the \u201cseat of my pants.\u201d Donald Westlake<\/span> called this \u201cpush fiction,\u201d saying that if he didn\u2019t know what would happen next, the reader wouldn\u2019t either.<\/p>\n

What’s next for Richard Mabry?<\/p>\n

The publisher of Medical Judgment<\/span> is shutting down their fiction line, so that is my last novel with them. However, I\u2019ve been fortunate enough to sign on with a new publisher run by experienced people. Gilead Publishers will release my next book, Cardiac Event,<\/span> in January. The book after that, Guarded Prognosis, <\/span>is about half-written already. And I hope to release an audio version of my holiday novella, Silent Night, Deadly Night, <\/span>sometime about Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n

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Praise for Dr. Richard Mabry\u2019s fiction<\/span><\/p>\n

Medical Error<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMabry crafts a tight medical drama that will have readers guessing. . .this book certainly will be an enjoyable page-turner.\u201d \u2014Publishers Weekly<\/span><\/p>\n

Stress Test<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe plot moves along with plenty of action and empathy, and there\u2019s suspense and suspicion enough to keep readers zipping to the last pages. For Christian suspense fans anxious to see characters who ought to have it all\u2014doctors and lawyers\u2014react to the pressure of false accusations and the struggle to be loyal to the truth and to one another, Mabry\u2019s novel arrives with a positive prognosis.\u201d
\u2014Publishers Weekly<\/p>\n

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\u201c\u2026fast-paced, pleasingly arcane, and laced with traces of subdued faith and romance\u2026 [should] satisfy fans of medical suspense, and readers who enjoy edgy inspirational fiction.\u201d \u2014Booklist<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the past decade Richard Mabry, a retired physician, has been as busy in his second career as a novelist of Christian medical thrillers as he was in his first. Along the way, he\u2019s received rave reviews in Publishers WeeklyLibrary Journal and has been nominated for and won a variety of writing awards. He also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}