I am a happily married plastic surgeon, with a fine wife, three terrific daughters, and a black Labrador retriever. I've recently re-appreciated the fine art of reading, and writing. (After two residencies, two fellowships, and years of paying off student loans, I now finally can afford the time to sit back and enjoy a good book.
I never dreamt of writing a book. Publishing a novel was neither an aspiration, nor was it some latent unraveled subconscious plan. Then, along with the rest of the country, 9-11 was my wake-up call. A dissonant awakening from naivety’s bored slumber overcame me like a fist-full of fingernails screeching across the blackboard. How could I even begin to explain to my children what I, myself, could not understand? I started to type, and I just kept right on writing, right through the night. And the next night. And the next. A year of weekends and nights gave way to a story that I titled, “Surreal Eternity” It involves a collision of fate and faiths between an elegant Jewish widow with two teenage sons, and a Handsome Muslim widower with an infant daughter.
So, I self-published, printed a batch of hardbacks, and gave away books as gifts to family, friends, local libraries, schools… I never dreamt of writing a book. Without anticipating making a profit, or, for that matter, being a prophet, I ended up releasing a paperback version carried by all the on-line book-buying sites. Suddenly, I was an author.