Living a double life

Doctor by day, writer by night. For years, that was me. I published my 1st contemporary romance novel in 2013, and by 2019 I had 11 books out there. Mostly medical romance, with a few other tropes thrown in. My colleagues and patients had no idea I was leading a double life (Jill Blake is a pseudonym, under which I continue to write). My family and a few close friends were in on the secret—and were often gracious enough to be my sounding board, beta-readers, and all-around cheerleaders as I toiled at the keyboard.

I took a hiatus from writing during the pandemic because my day job got way busier, and my kids were now at home full-time. The break lasted longer than anticipated. By the time I returned to the keyboard, my reading tastes had changed, and where reading goes, writing follows.

Now I'm dreaming up murder mysteries—mostly cozy, or cozy-adjacent (because I've been told that some of the themes I deal with are a little dark), but all with a medical twist. I'm working primarily on a series set in a small town on California's Central Coast, featuring freshly-minted family physician Phoebe Sharpe, who happens to have a nose for murder.

Recently, I read about Frieda McFadden coming out as real-life physician Sara Cohen. I've been reading her medical thrillers for years, and always wondered how she managed to balance her working life as a physician with her hidden life as a writer. Now she's sharing that story.

I'm not there yet. I'm still working on a new chapter, in a different genre, and trying to figure out this whole publishing journey anew. I'm making new writer friends, who know me by my real name and pseudonym. I'm not ready for prime time yet. Still writing, still trying to understand this ever-changing thing called social media (I'm a very very late adopter).

In the meantime, I'm watching Frieda McFadden's—er, Sara Cohen's—story unfold with great interest.

I don't expect to follow in her footsteps anytime soon. First I need to polish and sell that first mystery manuscript. And hopefully a second, and third, and…after that, stay tuned.