Only Rock is Real: Discussion and Interview with Author Sandra Miller, MD

Dr. Jonas, your host for The Dr. Synonymous Show interviews Sandra Miller on January 21, 2018 about her delightful novel, Only Rock is Real.  The novel deftly combines a geographically and medically accurate setting with astronomy and dynamic human relationships to deliver a message about the life of a woman physician.  Yes, gender matters - to all of us - and Dr. Miller knows it.  She develops her characters and connects them to other characters and situations then sprinkles in the Grand Canyon, The Grand Canyon Clinic on the South Rim and the heavens.  Wow!  I loved the book.  I do want to visit the Grand Canyon as a result of reading her perspective about life, love and medical practice on the South Rim.  

Snakebites, gunshot wounds, brawls, dehydration, heart attacks, grief reactions, pneumonia, coccidiodomycosis and more medical conditions are daily fare for Dr. Abby Willmore and her clinical boss, Dr. Pepper.  Jake Peterson, park ranger, spices up her life, which is clouded with a history of panic attacks and alcohol abuse (maybe self-treating the panic?).   For Discussion: How did you decide to write novels?  Why this subject matter? What is your geology background?  How did it change with your experience in the South Rim?  How about the same with your astronomy background and interests?  The tension among and between the characters in your book and the environment seems to work well, at least for me as a reader.  How do you decide on the tension levels and situations?   How long does it take to write a novel?  How many do you have going at once?  Or are they sequential?  With your thousands of patient experiences, how do you decide which types will be included in the books?  What about one of a kind experiences- how do you mask them in your writing? What else do you want the listeners to know about you or your work?