FAQ

Q: With your medical background was it easy to create the four different women characters in your Angels of Mercy series?

CJ: Yes, because they’re all reflections of myself. Like Amanda, I was the outsider in med school, only a Yankee down South. Like Gina, I was seen as a rebel during residency and my fellowship. I once thought following the rules was the best way to save lives, like Nora, and I now, like Lydia, have learned to live by a different set of my own “rules.”

Q: How much of this story did you draw from your experience as a pediatric ER doctor?

CJ: Most of LIFELINES comes from experiences that occurred in medical school, before I was a full-fledged physician. Although I did draw on a lot of the Pittsburgh atmosphere since I lived there as an intern and resident.

Q: Your books move along at a fast pace and still cover medical procedure only a person of your background could offer. Was it a challenge to write with authenticity yet not get too bogged down and too technical?

CJ: No. As soon as I began to get bored with the technical details, I’d simply go back and cut them by half. Sometimes this meant condensing a few things, but I figured, this isn’t a textbook, it’s supposed to be entertainment!

Q: What made you take the leap from pediatric ER doctor to the uncertainty of becoming a writer?

CJ: Writing has been my secret addiction all my life. Becoming a doctor was a dream come true–until finally I came to a point where I realized that I was in danger of burn-out. So I decided to take a leap of faith and try to make my second dream, writing, come true. And it worked. I always say, if you’re going to dream, dream Big!

Q: Do you have a writing schedule?

CJ: No. I’m totally undisciplined, seats of the pants type of writer.

Q–As an ER pediatrician-turned-author, separate the fiction from fact for a moment. You’ve talked about in your ER experiences how nurses are great team players.

CJ: I loved the fact that the nurses I worked with always put the patient and their family first.  Being part of a team like that is when medicine becomes elevated to a true art. It’s about the patient above all and the family. I think that’s essential to remember when you’re in the ER.

Q–Did you seek the nurses input during ER procedures?

CJ: Constantly–I always invited input from every member of my team.  They are right there, very involved with you and they are great at their job. So I want to listen to what they offer.

Q–Back to fiction. In this third book of your series, this is a different nurse Nora than we’re used to seeing isn’t it?

CJ: Nora really comes into her own in URGENT CARE.  She’s always been a people-pleaser, a rule-follower (which makes her a good charge nurse) but in this book she learns that it is okay to put her own needs first.

I think a lot of the nurses I’ve worked with fall into the trap of taking care of others first, but by learning how to take care of themselves they’re actually better able to care for everyone else and enjoy their jobs.

Q–When you began this series did you know then where you were taking Nora?

CJ: Yes, as soon as I realized what happened to her in the past, I knew she’d have to face that trauma.  I actually planned to have URGENT CARE as the second book in the series, because Nora’s story has always fascinated me, but my editor felt it was too dark to follow LIFELINES.  She was right, Amanda’s story in WARNING SIGNS, the second book, is a nice break from the intensity of the other books.

Q–How have you changed or grown as a writer over the three books?

CJ: Nora’s story in URGENT CARE is more emotionally honest and complex than any I’ve tackled before.  It’s always been a challenge, juggling four main characters and staying true to their characters and stories, but in URGENT CARE, things really come together for all the characters.  Nora faces her greatest fear, Amanda matures as a physician, Gina starts her own hard road to fulfilling her destiny, and Lydia learns what family is really about.

It was difficult to intertwine such emotional stories without one overwhelming another, but I think I managed it.  And URGENT CARE takes some characters in new and unexpected directions, laying the groundwork for their future adventures.

Q–Did you know the outcome of this book when you began writing it?

CJ: LOL!  I never know the outcome of a book when I start!  That way it’s as fresh and surprising to me as to the reader (I hope!)

I did know that Nora would face the trauma of her past and that she would triumph over her fears, but I also knew there was a price she’d pay–I had no idea how she’d succeed, but just that she eventually would.

Q–How long did it take you to write the manuscript?

CJ: URGENT CARE was one of those books that pulled me in so deeply that it consumed me and pretty much wrote itself.  I wrote the first draft in 90 days but of course there were plenty of revisions after getting that initial story sketched out.