Hello, everyone.
There actually hasn't been much happening with me this past month. If anything, I've been spending most of this time relaxing and taking a break from any major creative writing tasks. Therefore, this issue of my monthly newsletter may be a quicker read than usual.
What's New:
Poison Pill Wins a Global Book Award
The only new thing about my work I can report is that the Global Book Awards were announced on August 15, 2026. My third novel, Poison Pill, has won the Bronze Medal for the category of Thrillers - Medical. You can see it for yourself here: https://globalbookawards2026.spread.name/?search=Thrillers%20-%20Medical.
Part of me is not surprised by this, given that my previous two novels also won the Global Book Award: a Gold Medal for Doctor Lucifer and a Bronze Medal for Toxic Minds. And when you combine this with other awards I have received since 2024, I've practically developed a track record for earning accolades in book award contests. That's why I describe myself as an award-winning author of medical thrillers. Still, I never get tired of feeling joy with each new award.
Coming Up:
Books Four and Five
My editor is still reviewing the manuscript of my fourth medical thriller novel. He should be done within the next few weeks. Then I will dive into recording the audiobook version, a task that I expect will last me through December. After that, I'll take another break before starting book five in 2027. I already finished putting together a rough outline of my fifth novel, so that when I begin drafting the fifth book starting the first full week of January 2027, I will already be able to go full speed ahead thanks to my outline.
The Medical Files of Dr. Mark Lin:
The Horrors of Residency
If you've read my first novel Doctor Lucifer, you may recall the chapter where Dr. Mark Lin looks back on his life and all of the sad moments along the way. One of them especially stands out: the extreme stress related to medical residency training. The sad truth is that those horrors, including the long hours and nonstop stress, still persist. Here is an article on the medical blog KevinMD that gives you an idea about that: https://kevinmd.com/2024/02/the-untold-truth-of-medical-residency-a-look-at-its-grueling-past-and-present.html.
Inside the Mind of Anthony Lee:
Being a Genre-Defying Artist
When it comes to any kind of art, whether it's literature, film, or even video games, I always like works of art that don't fully fit a genre's conventions. The willingness to defy, bend, or even break genre boundaries is often where creativity really shines. The audience is no longer forced to follow a story within familiar confines. The freedom to explore new territory can make a story even more exciting than a conventional one.
So when it comes to my medical thrillers, I definitely consider myself a genre-defying artist. My medical thrillers do have medical crises or mysteries like any other, but what's new is how the antagonists are outside the medical and scientific community, not within it, which lends itself to social commentary about the state of the world. After all, if doctors are supposed to save lives, wouldn't you expect at least some of those medical professionals to have some thoughts about the lives they're saving, other than joy that a good person can live longer? That's where Dr. Mark Lin's cynicism about humanity's flaws comes in, which fuels his drive in whatever personal mission he chooses to embark on.
Fun Stuff:
Women's Professional Sports
I love watching professional sports. More and more, I am following professional women's sports teams in the San Francisco Bay Area, especially the WNBA's Golden State Valkyries who are my favorite team to follow right now. I do enjoy watching women's pro sports as much as men's pro sports, because sports are all about determination to win, getting past whoever you're up against. This is the universal appeal of sports, crossing any kind of dividing lines. It is rather exciting to see that there are multiple women's professional sports leagues out there, big and small, including the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), the Women's National Football Conference (WNFC), and the all-new Women's Pro Baseball League (WPBL) for which their month-long inaugural season is going on right now in Springfield, Illinois. And by the way, the San Francisco Firebells are leading the WPBL standings as of this post.
Overall, life is good as always, with both my work as an author and the enjoyment of life as a reward. :-)
Anthony Lee
anthonyleebooks.com |