HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I just finished a big book project (yay! And more on that soon).
But at the end of it I said to Jonathan, "Well, that’s that. I have no idea how
to write a book, I don’t know how I did this one, and promise you, I will NEVER
write another one. Done and Done."
The next day, I had a good idea. Hmm, I thought. Maybe.
Have you ever thought that? Have you ever wondered—not only for a
book project, but for anything that you do—how the heck did I do that? And how
can I do it again?
And equally important: Why am I doing this?
The wonderful Darden North, MD—as genuinely charmingly wonderful
as anyone you’ll ever meet, says writing a book is kind of like giving birth to
a baby.
And for him, that is not cliché. That is reality.
DARDEN NORTH: A lot of people ask: “So what number novel is this for you? Your
fourth? Your third?”
Sure, that’s awkward
sentence structure. Unfortunately, most people express themselves that way, but
we tortured souls who write true-to-life character dialogue are used to it. Those
who like stereotypes would suggest that lack of eloquent diction is confined to
my native South. However, I think not, and let’s leave the Mississippi stereotypes
behind.
No matter how spoken, the interest in another
Darden North novel is never ignored and always appreciated by me. That
curiosity could not come at a better time with the June 2017 release of my
fifth novel and thriller, The FiveManners of Death (WordCrafts Press). That’s the upside to the inquiry.
The downside
to the question is that the curious reader obviously missed one or two of my
novels and has some catching up to do. The author and bookseller in me hopes
that he or she will also pick up those missing volume.
Now, for the other side of the professional aisle. A companion question
often asked of me is: “How many babies have you delivered?”
For a physician who has practiced obstetrics and gynecology for
over 30 years and hopes he does not look like it, this is not an unusual query.
My typical answer generally earns a chuckle or two: “Enough babies to populate
a small town in Mississippi, but one with more than just a post office and gas
station.”
By the way, despite the 30-plus years on the job, I can still run
down the hall to a patient’s labor room when time is short and not appear at
all short-winded when entering the room. (Remember, I’m a fiction writer.)
So, why plan the sixth novel after the release of number five? So,
why plan to deliver another baby after 4000 or more? A better inquiry and one more
recently asked of me by a journalist was: “Why put yourself through it?”
Anyone who writes novels has faced that same question, no matter
what life situation hangs in balance with being a published author. My other
profession is full-time partnership in a large ob/gyn single-specialty group. “Why put yourself through it?” I have a
standard answer for both sides of the coin.
For the literary facet: “I’ve got more stories to tell and they’re
getting better and better!” and regarding my medical practice: “I’m on call
this weekend and there’s no way to get out of it!” Seriously, practicing ob/gyn
is fulfilling and rewarding. However, there are few professional fields more demanding,
considering new procedures to master like robotic minimally invasive surgery
and the increased pressures from government regulation and cost containment
concerns. Yet, becoming a part of so many families by helping them to expand
theirs is a lot of fun.
Back to the writing thing …The truth is I do have a sixth story to
tell and a seventh and an eighth and …well, you get it. There is a real
internal drive to get better and better, to be a regular on the best seller
lists.
My novels have been billed as murder mysteries and/or thrillers. I
settled into the thriller genre with the last three including the newest, The 5 Manners of Death. Because of who I
am, most describe my work as medical thrillers. Since I’m not always writing
about a deadly virus on the rampage or an evil scientist bent on altering
genomes and not for the common good, I describe my novels simply as thrillers,
written with medical characters—flawed human beings like everyone else, chased
by others, new mistakes and problems around every bend.
Maybe I do need to include more evil scientists in my novels. And,
of course, if one is a thriller or mystery novelist, it doesn’t hurt to have a
lot of patients who like to read them.
 |
| Hank and Mom |
HANK: And of course, all those babies are instant fans, right? So
Reds, do you have any idea about the doctor who delivered you? Funny, I’ve seen
my birth certificate a million times, but never noticed that. (And now I have another
book idea.)
Were you born in
a hospital? Or where?
And if you write--WHY do you do it?
And if you have questions for Darden, he’ll be coming to visit—house
call!—throughout the day. Unless, of course, a new baby needs him.
A native of
the Mississippi Delta and a board-certified physician in obstetrics and
gynecology, Darden North is the nationally awarded author of five novels in the
mystery/thriller genre, including an IPPY for Points of Origin. He practices ob/gyn full-time at Jackson
Healthcare for Women in Flowood, Mississippi, where he is a certified daVinci
robotic surgeon and delivers babies. North also serves as Chairman of the Board
of the Mississippi Public Broadcasting Foundation and on the Editorial Advisory
Board of the Journal of the Mississippi State Medical Association
A magna cum laude graduate of the
University of Mississippi, he begin his writing and publishing career as
Editor-in-Chief of the 1978 Ole Miss yearbook and continued for the 1982 Medic
while in medical school. He participated as an author panelist at “Murder in the Magic City,”
“Killer Nashville,” “Murder on the Menu,” and “SIBA Thriller Author Panel.” Darden North lives with his wife
Sally in Jackson, Mississippi. In his spare time, he gardens, enjoys family, walks
for exercise, and travels. Sally and Darden have two young adult children who
also work in the medical field.
After a construction worker unearths a
human skull on the campus of the University of Mississippi dating to the 1960s,
an older woman’s desperate attempt to erase history counts down the five ways
to die in the thriller, The Five
Manners of Death. The woman is the niece of Dr. Diana Bratton, a
surgeon surrounded by bodies after the discovery of her Aunt Phoebe’s
50-year-old note detailing the manners of death. Suicide, accident, natural
causes, and one death classified undetermined are soon crossed off this
list—leaving Diana to believe that only homicide remains. Yet the police prove
her wrong. Diana believes that family trumps the truth but discovers that
murder is her family secret.
www.facebook.com/DardenNorthAuthor www.facebook.com/DardenNorth
Purchase Link for The 5 Manners of Death (Hardcover, trade paperback, eBook) https://www.amazon.com/5-Manners-Death-Darden-North/dp/0998395994/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1491621959&sr=8-3&keywords=darden+north
chapter one typewriter . Copyright: ragsac / 123RF Stock Photo
