docjason Profile

33 year old physician, training in cardiology. Aspiring medical thriller writer. Favorite books: Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Empire Falls, The Corrections, Bonfire of the Vanities, Drop City. Avid reader, watcher of South Park. Political junkie, especially podcasts of Sunday talk shows. I have published several clinical studies in the medical literature. I have always wanted to write fiction but never found the urge until 3 years ago. I got an idea for a novel but was scared that I didn't know how to write well enough. Before embarking on a book, I wrote an essay about training under physician work hour restrictions. It was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and gave me the confidence to forge ahead with my book. I completed my novel last summer. I now have an agent who is shopping it around. I have started work on a second book. But, in writing my first book, I realized there was much I did not know. I have never taken formal writing classes. I was a chemical engineer in college; I skipped all the lit classes; I never read Conrad, Shakespeare, or Hemmingway. I learned so much from writing my first novel - about plotting, about characters. Much of it I learned on the fly. After each perspective agent rejected me, I changed things before I sent the book out again. I want to learn more about writing from this site. My second novel is still in the works and my first one may never go anywhere. I hope I can collaborate with everyone on this site to hone my craft. Cheers!