with Leonard Goldberg
We are delighted to welcome medical thriller writer Leonard Goldberg to Omnimystery News today.
The author of several stand-alone thrillers as well as nine books featuring forensic pathologist Joanna Blalock, Leonard's second in his latest series, Plague Ship (Midnight Ink; October 2013 trade paperback and ebook formats) with emergency room chief Dr. David Ballineau and his girlfriend, trauma nurse Carolyn Ross, is published this month.
We recently had the opportunity to catch up with Leonard to talk about his books.
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Omnimystery News: How do you decide whether the book you're writing will feature a series character or not?
Photo provided courtesy of
Leonard Goldberg
Leonard Goldberg: I always come up with the plot first. But I always make certain the plot "fits" my main character and that I can build and expand the story to show the protagonist's strengths and weaknesses.
OMN: Tell us something about Plague Ship that isn't mentioned in the publisher's synopsis.
LG: When the mutiny takes place on the luxury liner, those aboard divide themselves into 1) the "good group" who want to live but not at the cost of starting a worldwide pandemic and 2) the evil group who want to save themselves regardless of the possible catastrophic consequences. It becomes the classic good versus evil conflict.
OMN: Do you based any of the plot points on your own experience as a physician?
LG: There's a fair amount of my medical expertise in my novels. The plots and characters are products of my imagination, but the doctor's responses to medical problems and emergencies are often based on my personal experiences.
OMN: Describe your writing process for us.
LG: Before I start to write a novel, I make sure I know the beginning and end in some detail. I then list the topics of the "in between" 20 chapters or so and let my pencil fly. I never write a detailed synopsis because then you know what's going to happen and what fun is that? It's far better to allow the characters to take off on their own. And of course new characters pop up in the story and others meet their unexpected end.
OMN: Where do you typically write?
LG: I have a writing room at my beach house, with windows that overlook a lot of grass and trees. I have a podium so I can write standing up and walk around the room when I feel like it. I always write with pencils and legal pads (my writing brain apparently is stimulated by my having a pencil in hand). My typist is wonderful at picking up my grammatical errors.
OMN: How true are you to the settings of your books?
LG: The settings and geography must be accurate or the reader won't believe your story. In my last two novels, the setting and locale were critical to the plot, i.e. a university medical center in Patient One and a luxury liner in Plague Ship. I'm quite familiar with both.
OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were young?
LG: As a teenager I loved The Sherlock Holmes mysteries, and still do. And of course that greatly influenced and motivated my decision to write mystery/thriller novels. Later on I began reading Edgar Allen Poe and Agatha Christie, both of whom kept me entranced and led me down the writing path. The writing style of James Clavell (Shogun, Noble House) is particularly good and worth studying.
OMN: What do you read now for pleasure?
LG: Mysteries, medical, thrillers, espionage novels.
OMN: What are some of your outside interests? And do any find their way into your books?
LG: Opera (listening and singing in the shower), devising different ways to cook egg omelets, and country and western bars and dancing (which did find its way into Deadly Care).
OMN: Create a Top 5 list on any topic.
LG: My five top places you should visit:
1) Paris and a walk along the Seine at midnight;
2) London and bow your head when you walk past 221 Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes' address;
3) Florence, Italy and see Michelangelo's stature of David, and wonder if his expression matches the one on his face when he slew Goliath;
4) Charleston, SC and its cobble stone streets in the historic area where ghosts surely visit on dark, rainy nights; and
5) Tokyo in the spring when all the cherry trees blossom and release their petals in the wind, causing a dense flower storm (Hanna Fubeki, if you're Japanese) that blots out everything, even the sky.
OMN: What's next for you?
LG: Another novel, of course. It's percolating in my mind at present, but I can't talk about it since that might bring bad luck.
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Leonard Goldberg is a consulting physician affiliated with the UCLA Medical Center, where he holds an appointment as clinical professor of medicine. A long-time California resident, he currently divides his time between Los Angeles and an island off the coast of South Carolina. For more information about the author and his work, please visit his website at LeonardGoldberg.com.
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Plague Ship
Leonard Goldberg
A Dr. David Ballineau and Carolyn Ross Mystery
When a mysterious and potentially fatal illness strikes a luxury Caribbean cruise, every passenger is at risk — including Dr. David Ballineau, his young daughter, and his girlfriend, nurse Carolyn Ross.
With a shortage of medical help and supplies, David and Carolyn struggle to treat and contain a deadly, highly contagious form of bird flu. Under quarantine, they are forbidden from docking — provoking panicked and desperate passengers to launch a mutiny and steer the ship toward land. If David can't find a way to neutralize the virus or take control of the ship, a worldwide pandemic could erupt.
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