Four questions:
INTRODUCTION TO A WRITER’S BLOG HOP
“Writer’s write, that’s what we do. Find out why and how in this new Blog Hop for 2014”
Walt Mussell, a wonderful writer I met through the RWA GIAM support group, pinged me asking if I would be interested in participating in a year-long blog hop where writers answer four questions about their writing process. I had no idea what a blog hop was, yet finally figured out I’m supposed to answer four questions, refer back to the writer who pinged me, and then ping on to another writer.
To see Walt’s blog please check this link:
To read about the writer who pinged him, Sarah Hegger, and her writing process, please check out the link here (but be sure to come back and finish MY post).
What am I working on?
I’m in the finishing stages of my book, “On a Mission,” a 120 page, 200 photo-journal of my three yearly medical mission trips to Kenya. It should be out in May. I’m proofing my 65,000 word short story collection “Doctor’s Dreams,” twenty-five short stories based on my thirty-five years of emergency medicine. I’m organizing my sixth Gulf Coast Writers anthology, this one titled “Mississippi Profiles,” a collection of 25 biographies of Mississippians. I’m organizing a summer writing conference, the third “Southern Expressions.” Poetry and contests still find time in my portfolio, and I write non-fiction articles for three local magazines. As president of GCWA, I organize their meetings and produce their quarterly magazines. Also, in spare time, besides working, I’ve started selecting photos for my next children’s photobook set in the Galapagos Islands.
How does my work differ from others of its genre?
My mission book presents a totally different look and outlook. It’s a three part piece, the beginning discussing the process of becoming a missionary and my particular preparations. The middle section deals with the mission itself, an unusual discussion of diseases seen in rural Africa, such as malaria, typhoid, typhus, leprosy, and brucellosis, all illustrated with photos of the diseases. The final section offers discussions of safaris and national parks in Tanzania and Kenya.
“Doctor’s Dreams” provides 25 fictional tales based on real E.R. events, each one demonstrating a different disease, many in different genres, including sci fi and mystery. Though other physicians have written non-fiction accounts of their medical practice, and many physicians write fiction, I know of no other previously published similar work presented as short-stories. Many of these stories have won prizes in contests.
“Mississippi Profiles” also presents a unique format, twenty-five biographies each written by different authors, presenting a kaleidoscope outlook of favorite personages from all walks of life, with an emphasis on arts.
Why do I write what I do?
I lead an unusual life, medical, missionary, and leadership. My drive to write stems both from the pleasures of creativity and expression, as well as the belief my writing provides education and inspiration. Missionary work behooves the giver as well as the receiver, so I hope my work will create the desire to give in my readers. My doctor stories entertain while informing readers of different types of medical illnesses as well as how medicine has evolved over the past four decades. By supervising and editing my anthologies, dozens of writers have opportunities to publish, as well as honoring local achievers.
How does my writing process work?
I write at odd times. Whenever I find an opportunity I pull out my laptop and work on one of my many projects. I try to schedule one evening a week to dedicate exclusively to writing. For the anthologies, I publicize the opportunity on line and recruit my fellow writers to contribute.
