Ask the Author: J.R. Alcyone

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I am blown away by Five Fathoms Deep.. so well written and full of medical info. Where and how did your interest in writing books including serious medical scenes start?

J.R. Alcyone Thank you so much for your comment and question! I am so glad you enjoyed Five Fathoms. It's a very dark book but one that is very personal and close to my heart.

I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder type I in college and cancer about 14 years ago. So I have firsthand experience with being bipolar and have spent a lot of time in and out of hospitals for a while. I came up with the idea for Five Fathoms during a meeting to discuss putting up a suicide barrier on a local bridge. I started reading articles including the poignant account of the mother of a young doctor who took his life after dealing with depression for many years. That led me down the road of researching suicide in doctors. It seemed like a very important topic that there was surprisingly little written about, and I felt like a novel would be a great way to humanize mental illness and suicide.

I ended up deciding to write about a pediatric heart surgeon, and I did so much research about early pediatric congenital heart surgery that didn't make it into Five Fathoms that I ended up writing a prequel about how Alec and his partner, Pete, "invent" the heart-lung machine. If you like, I'd be happy to send you a complimentary copy of that novel. (You can send me a message through Goodreads.)

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What were Alec's religious beliefs if any?

J.R. Alcyone Thank you for the question!

Alec’s parents were Greek Orthodox, but I did not write Alec as having any specific religious beliefs. He is familiar with the Bible and mentions God from time to time, but I viewed Alec as a man with no need for organized religion. Alec’s moral code arises from his mother’s last words to him (“Do good and be good”), and he has cobbled together his own ethical code and views.

Alec is, however, a tolerant and compassionate man, and I could not see Alec as someone who would deny the comfort of religion to others (especially those as sick as Alec’s patients often would be), regardless of his own personal belief in religion, God, an afterlife, or the lack thereof. This aspect of Alec’s character comes out in the scene where Alec dies. Alec’s partner Pete is a practicing Roman Catholic; in Catholicism, suicide is a mortal sin which condemns a person’s soul to eternal damnation. Pete is worried about Alec’s soul and tries to get Alec to ask for forgiveness from God, but Alec will not do so; it’s unclear whether this is from Alec’s non-belief or simply Alec doesn’t think himself worthy of forgiveness. But Alec does not object to Pete’s saying the Act of Contrition; Alec understands doing so will make Pete feel better and this is something which sincerely matters to Pete, and Alec won’t deny his best friend the comfort of his beliefs.

Again, thank you for the question. :)

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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

J.R. Alcyone

This answer contains spoilers… (view spoiler)[My debut novel, "Five Fathoms Beneath," is a story about fathers and sons, the invisibility of mental illness, suicide in the medical profession, and the idea that we all have the power to do the world good.

The idea to write a novel about mental illness and suicide came from observing internet discussions about politics, gun control, etc. It is shockingly and sadly very common for even people who consider themselves liberal, progressive, or "woke" to use mental illness as a pejorative or to fear monger. Many of these same people also have no qualms about making jokes about mental illness.

And that's really hurtful and stigmatizing. Imagine sitting somewhere and listening to people accuse a politician they hate of being "mentally ill" because, you know, that's about the worst possible thing a person can be. Or, imagine how you would feel to have people assume you're violent because every time a sociopath commits mass murder, it must be because they are "mentally ill."

I wanted to write a novel which highlighted that mental illness is often invisible. I also wanted to write a novel where the person with mental illness was functional and fully formed; a character who was much, much more than *just* his illness.

I have personal experience with bipolar disorder, depression, and anxiety, and I drew on those experiences to lend my novel a level of authenticity. But I didn't want to write a book based only on my experiences, so early in the process I started researching suicide and mental illness. That's where I came across several stories about doctors who took their lives, and drawing off those stories, I came up with Alec's character.

I still didn't know what direction I wanted to take the novel, though.

Then, just by luck, I happened to see the movie, "Field of Dreams" again. I love the magical realism in "Field of Dreams," and I think what makes that story so powerful is the father-son element and the theme of forgiveness. That's what inspired me to tell "Five Fathoms Beneath" as a father-son story and to use magical realism as a significant piece of the setting and plot.

So basically that's the inspiration behind my novel - a movie, real life, and my own experiences. And wanting to draw attention to the way we talk about mental illness and treat people with these conditions. (hide spoiler)]

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J.R. Alcyone

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