The Last Surgeon by Michael Palmer
One of the undisputed kings of the medical thriller, Michael Palmer consistently terrifies while also exposing the reader to major ethical issues that are foremost in our minds. Michael took the time to talk about his latest novel, The Last Surgeon, and his writing.
What sparked the idea for The Last Surgeon?
I am not one of those authors who has a pile of idea just waiting to be turned into novels. Mine come to life with difficulty, and with many rejected ideas scattered along the way. The First Patient, a thriller about the President's doctor was a huge success--the strongest of any of my books so far. My editor asked if I could come up with another medical/political thriller. I told her about a soldier with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, who had ridden next to me on a flight to D.C. and that whatever I wrote should feature the issues surrounding PTSD. Next I spend most of a month designing a "What if?" question that would feature a G.I. with the condition. Eventually, that question became, "What if three years after a botched operation, those who were present in the OR that day began to die?"
I've never heard of a book having a theme song! How did that originate?
I am blessed with three terrific, talented sons. ITW member Daniel, the middle of them, is a musician, novelist, and a computer wonk. Writing a theme song for The Last Surgeon was his idea. I am a hack musician, myself, and approved the project largely because Daniel told me it had probably seldom or never been done. He promised that if the song didn't click, he wouldn't fight me about putting it in the drawer. After I heard co-composer Thaddeus Hogarth sing the finished product of their work, I never suggested anything but finding a way to get it out to people. Daniel created the video, and Boston blues legend Donna McElroy did the final vocal.
Why did you decide to write in the medical thriller field?
I always enjoyed my interests outside of medicine, although I love being a doctor. I played various instruments with various bands, did some summer stock and community theater - musicals (I was Harold Hill in The Music Man) and drama (The Children's Hour, The Shadow Box). Then, when I read Coma by Robin Cook, a college classmate and fellow resident, I decided to try my hand at writing just to see if I could do it. I chose thrillers because that was what I read. My first book (never published--at least not in English--got me an agent. She helped me develop the idea for The Sisterhood, a thriller about euthanasia, and that was it.
Each of your novels covers a particular medical issue. Why?
After The Sisterhood, I took almost a year to come up with Side Effects, a thriller about infertility and human experimentation. From there on I tried to pick a medical/ethical issue for each of my books. Holistic healing, corporate medicine, ecological contamination, managed care, presidential medicine, Asperger Syndrome, vaccinations, and organ theft are a few of the subjects I have tackled. My goal is to raise the issues, not to champion them, although some times I have trouble resisting.
How do you find time to juggle writing a book a year with still maintaining your medical practice?
My boards are in Internal Medicine and ER, and I have practiced both. For a long time I did medicine and writing full time. When my youngest son was born, 19 years ago, I did not want to miss a moment of his life (I was a med student and intern when his older brothers were born and missed plenty). I stopped working in the ER and took a job working with doctors with health problems - mental illness, physical illness, behavioral difficulties, drugs, alcohol. I keep up annually with my CME credits, and now work about 10 hours a week monitoring docs in recovery and facilitating support groups.
Is the love of writing a disease or disorder?
A curse? A passion? A disorder of the imagination? A lust? A malfunction of metabolism? A virus? An inflammation of the pancreas?? A chronic dermatologic abnormality which must be scratched? An advanced form of self-loathing? Smoldering egomania??
Your son recently landed a book deal himself. How did that come about and did he get the love of writing from you?
I am reminded of a great quote by Jules Pfiffer, who said, "I grew up to have my father's looks--my father's speech patterns--my father's posture--my father's walk--and my mother's contempt for my father." Daniel is very talented and very much his own man. He just has a few genes tacked on here and there.
How has ITW changed your life?
The networking has been the most wonderful part of ITW for me. Friendships with John Lescroart, Lee Child, Steve and Liz Berry, David Morrell, Heather Graham, Harley Jane Kozak, Joe Finder, and so many others has been an unmerited gift of my membership and participation in ITW, plus annually I get to write and perform song parodies with my kid.
What's next?
At last an easy question. It's always been a day at a time for me. When writing isn't fun anymore I'll move on. I am a bronze life master in tournament bridge, currently on hiatus. It will be great when I decide to return to the tables. My youngest is in college now, which means I get to do more traveling. And of course there are always more song parodies to write. Wait until you hear the one we're putting together for this summer's ThrillerFest V.
Jeff Ayers is the author of VOYAGES OF IMAGINATION: THE STAR TREK FICTION COMPANION Pocket Books-November 2006. He frequently reviews thrillers for Library Journal and regularly interviews authors for LJ, the Seattle Post-Intellgencer, and Writer Magazine.
ThrillerFest
ITW's annual celebration of the thriller world is the largest event of its kind, a meeting place for authors, readers, budding writers, and publishing industry professionals.
For 2011, we’ll be back in the heart of New York in July with the ThrillerFest conference including CraftFest and AgentFest.
ThrillerFest VI will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.
The dates will be July 6-9, 2011.
More information to follow.
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