Ask the Author: Anthony Lee
Answered Questions (1)
Anthony Lee
Hi, Sally. I definitely brought myself into the novel Doctor Lucifer, in more ways than one.
First off, I had been a doctor in training in my previous life. After discovering first hand the harsh realities of practicing medicine, from my years as a medical student and a brief stint in residency, I moved on. When I look back, I don't regret my decision. I imagine that if I actually forced myself to be a doctor like I expected, I'd be miserable from the nonstop high stress and the constant anxiety of something going wrong. I wrote Doctor Lucifer as a way for me to picture what things might be like if I did stay in medicine and actually worked in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. I used the threat of a computer hacker altering medical records as a catalyst for this nightmare. This is how the story can work simultaneously as three things: an entertaining thriller, a character study centering on a stressed-out physician, and a philosophical exploration of whether there is any reward in practicing medicine in today's time when the state of humanity seems to be at an all-time low.
Aside from that, Mark Lin is an alter ego. I incorporated parts of my own personality into this fictional character. Like me, he takes work and life seriously, believes in doing the right thing, and frowns upon people who fall short in moral behavior. There is still one difference though: Mark's anger and disgust with humanity is much more pronounced, while those feelings are more tame for me. And this gets into another motivation I have for my writing: showing the world that Asian American authors can write thrillers like anyone else and there is such a thing as an exciting thriller series featuring an exciting Asian American protagonist. With my books in the Dr. Mark Lin Medical Thrillers series, I hope to make a significant mark in the world of fiction.
Anyway, thanks for the question. If you do enjoy my work, please tell other people you know about it, in case they may be interested as well. :-)
First off, I had been a doctor in training in my previous life. After discovering first hand the harsh realities of practicing medicine, from my years as a medical student and a brief stint in residency, I moved on. When I look back, I don't regret my decision. I imagine that if I actually forced myself to be a doctor like I expected, I'd be miserable from the nonstop high stress and the constant anxiety of something going wrong. I wrote Doctor Lucifer as a way for me to picture what things might be like if I did stay in medicine and actually worked in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. I used the threat of a computer hacker altering medical records as a catalyst for this nightmare. This is how the story can work simultaneously as three things: an entertaining thriller, a character study centering on a stressed-out physician, and a philosophical exploration of whether there is any reward in practicing medicine in today's time when the state of humanity seems to be at an all-time low.
Aside from that, Mark Lin is an alter ego. I incorporated parts of my own personality into this fictional character. Like me, he takes work and life seriously, believes in doing the right thing, and frowns upon people who fall short in moral behavior. There is still one difference though: Mark's anger and disgust with humanity is much more pronounced, while those feelings are more tame for me. And this gets into another motivation I have for my writing: showing the world that Asian American authors can write thrillers like anyone else and there is such a thing as an exciting thriller series featuring an exciting Asian American protagonist. With my books in the Dr. Mark Lin Medical Thrillers series, I hope to make a significant mark in the world of fiction.
Anyway, thanks for the question. If you do enjoy my work, please tell other people you know about it, in case they may be interested as well. :-)
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