Dr. Richard Mabry is a retired physician, now writing
“medical suspense with heart.” His previous novels have garnered critical
acclaim and been recognized by programs including the ACFW’s Carol Award, the Romantic Times’ Inspirational Book of
the Year, the Inspirational Readers Choice, and the Selah Award. He is a proud
member of the ACFW, the International Thriller Writers, and the FHL chapter of
the RWA. Medical Judgment is his
tenth published novel.
INTERVIEW
You’ve only been a contributor to Suspense
Sisters for a few months. Will you tell
us a little about yourself?
I’ve lived in Texas since birth with the
exception of three years overseas in the Air Force. I was in the solo practice
of ENT (ear, nose, throat) for 26 years, a professor at the UT Southwestern
Medical Center for 10 years, and have been retired from medicine since 2002.
I started writing after the death of my first
wife in 1999, eventually producing a book, The
Tender Scar: Life After The Death Of A Spouse, published by Kregel in 2006
and still in print. At the Christian writing conference I attended while trying
to learn more about writing, two or three of the faculty members encouraged me
to try my hand at fiction. It took four years, four novels, and forty
rejections before I got my first fiction contract.
How many books have you produced, and which
one was the toughest to write?
Counting my current book, I’ve had ten novels
of medical suspense published, as well as two novellas. But the hardest book to
write wasn’t one of these. It was The
Tender Scar. Even now, when I read some of the chapters I cry.
Are you a “plotter” or a “pantser?”
The latter, I guess. Unlike the “plotters”
among authors, when I start writing a novel, I have no idea who the bad person
will turn out to be. As Donald Westlake, who called this “push fiction,” said:
“If I don’t know what comes next, how can the reader guess it?”
What’s your writing routine? Where do you
like to write? Starbucks? On your back porch?
I have a small (I mean, really small) office
at home. After coffee and the news, I have breakfast, then go in and check
email, read blogs, and try to get to work writing. And in case anyone is curious,
no, I don’t write every day or have a word quota. Sometimes life gets in the
way. But I always seem to make my deadlines.
What do you think is the best and/or worst
part about being a writer?
I think it’s true—writers don’t enjoy writing,
they enjoy having written. I love the sense of accomplishment when I finish
each stage of the novel, and especially after I wind up the whole thing. On the
other hand, while I’m writing I hate it when I get to a particularly tough spot
and wonder how my character is going to get out of it.
Can you tell us about your new novel?
My next novel, Medical Judgment, is scheduled to release May 19. Here’s the back
cover copy:
Someone is after Dr. Sarah Gordon.
They’ve stalked her, then set a fire at her home, and she has no idea what will
come next. Her late husband’s best friend and a recovering alcoholic detective
are
trying to solve the mystery before it’s too late, but both appear to be
vying for her affection as well. Sarah finds herself in constant fear as the
process plays out. The questions keep mounting. Who is doing this? Why are they
after her? What will they do to her? Will it mean her death? And, meanwhile,
whom can she trust?
Leave a comment, along with your contact information, and you may win a copy of Richard's book, MEDICAL JUDGMENT. (U.S. only please.)
