Hi, everyone. Well, it's the final month of 2025. The holiday season, not to mention the official start of winter in the northern hemisphere, is upon us. I figure that now is the best time to release my monthly newsletter for December. Otherwise, you'll all be too busy enjoying quality time with family and friends. I know I'll be relaxing as well.
Well, sort of, because I may still spend some of that time doing a little more work on the first thing I shall talk about in this issue of the newsletter...
Progress on Producing My Latest Audiobook
I am just about halfway through recording the audiobook version of my third medical thriller novel. Yes, the third book of the Dr. Mark Lin Medical Thrillers series. If you've already listened to the audiobook versions of my previous two novels, Doctor Lucifer and Toxic Minds, then you know what to expect: my regular deep voice as the voice of Mark Lin, plus a wide variety of character voices for all of the other characters in the story. I will say that the process of recording and polishing the audio feels a lot easier for me this time. I attribute this to a combination of practice doing audiobook production and figuring out a work routine that is efficient. I am definitely on schedule to wrap up the audiobook by the end of January. Then it'll be a matter of days in having the cover designed and putting everything up for presale: the paperback version, the ebook version, and the audiobook version. That will be when I finally unveil the title and blurb for the book.
To get you a little hyped up for the book, let me give you a vague glimpse into the types of characters I voiced for the audiobook. First off, there are multiple characters with ethnic accents, mainly Hispanic and Asian characters, as there is some portrayal of themes related to culture. One of these characters plays a very important role. The voices I did for other characters vary in pitch and other sound qualities, reflecting characters of different ages (young and old) and personalities (including one whom I portray as a laidback fast-talker). Then there are certain returning characters whose voices I reprised for this book.
Overall, I'm moving along with the audiobook. And I'm having fun with it, too.
Consignment at Bookshop Santa Cruz
If you've been following announcements I make on my website, as well as my profile on the social media platform Spoutible, you'll recall that an indie bookshop, Bookshop Santa Cruz, located in downtown Santa Cruz, CA, has been selling copies of Doctor Lucifer and Toxic Minds, through a consignment arrangement where I provide physical copies of the book at no cost to the shop. Usually when authors sell books at indie bookstores through consignment, they often don't sell the entire small handful of copies provided, even if it's just five copies of a book. But apparently, that's not the case with me, after displaying my books for over five months.
You see, the number of copies of both Doctor Lucifer and Toxic Minds almost ran out, so that the store's consignment coordinator asked me to provide more copies of both books. I have recently done that, so there should be another handful of copies of each book. That means if you are in the vicinity of Santa Cruz and are interested in buying paperback copies of these two books, you may head over there and do so. You'll find those two titles in the Mystery section as well as the Local Authors shelf. I have to admit that I am thrilled to have exceeded the expectations of a book on consignment. Now, if only those readers spread the word about my work.
Before I forget, I did get my consignment income check for the 3rd quarter of 2025. From July to September, Bookshop Santa Cruz sold four copies of Doctor Lucifer and two copies of Toxic Minds. I expect similar numbers for the 4th quarter of 2025.
My Response to a Question on Goodreads
My profile on Goodreads is open to readers wishing to ask me any questions, using the Ask the Author feature. Well, for the first time ever, I received a question from a Goodreads user and proceeded to answer it. I shall now share that question and answer below.
GOODREADS USER: HI, I'm Sally Tran and when I saw the novel you wrote, it very much made me read with it. I am your loyal reader. lol May I ask if you brought yourself into this Dr. Lucifer novel when you wrote it?
ANTHONY LEE: Hi, Sally. I definitely brought myself into the novel Doctor Lucifer, in more ways than one.
First off, I had been a doctor in training in my previous life. After discovering first hand the harsh realities of practicing medicine, from my years as a medical student and a brief stint in residency, I moved on. When I look back, I don't regret my decision. I imagine that if I actually forced myself to be a doctor like I expected, I'd be miserable from the nonstop high stress and the constant anxiety of something going wrong. I wrote Doctor Lucifer as a way for me to picture what things might be like if I did stay in medicine and actually worked in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. I used the threat of a computer hacker altering medical records as a catalyst for this nightmare. This is how the story can work simultaneously as three things: an entertaining thriller, a character study centering on a stressed-out physician, and a philosophical exploration of whether there is any reward in practicing medicine in today's time when the state of humanity seems to be at an all-time low.
Aside from that, Mark Lin is an alter ego. I incorporated parts of my own personality into this fictional character. Like me, he takes work and life seriously, believes in doing the right thing, and frowns upon people who fall short in moral behavior. There is still one difference though: Mark's anger and disgust with humanity is much more pronounced, while those feelings are more tame for me. And this gets into another motivation I have for my writing: showing the world that Asian American authors can write thrillers like anyone else and there is such a thing as an exciting thriller series featuring an exciting Asian American protagonist. With my books in the Dr. Mark Lin Medical Thrillers series, I hope to make a significant mark in the world of fiction.
Anyway, thanks for the question. If you do enjoy my work, please tell other people you know about it, in case they may be interested as well. :-)
(Note: The text above was copied from the following link: https://www.goodreads.com/questions/31429381-hi-i-m-sally-tran-and-when-i-saw-the)
How I Envision My Book Covers
If you're wondering how I have the covers of my books designed, let me give you an overview of the process.
First off, I myself am not the one making the covers. I don't have graphic design skills. Rather, I pay a freelance book cover designer to do that for me. Whenever I need a new book cover, I arrange the payment with him and then give him all the detailed instructions about what goes on the cover. He'll give me an initial design based on my specifications, then I provide feedback to fix and tweak parts of it. There may be two or three rounds of back-and-forth discussion until the cover is just right.
So how do I decide the look of the cover? Well, first off, I look at covers of other books of the same genre I write in. For medical thrillers, I usually see covers that show close-ups of various objects associated with the field of medicine. I also take inspiration from other thriller genres, noticing how the covers may present dark backgrounds, mysterious imagery, and certain typefaces for the title and author name that go well with thriller stories. So with all of this in mind, I imagine how the covers of my stories should look, incorporating the same kinds of elements.
For Doctor Lucifer, I knew from the start that there should be a computer monitor showing a caduceus, the symbol of medicine, dissolving into 1's and 0's because the story centers on healthcare and cybersecurity as a computer hacker alters electronic medical records in ways that harm patients. I decided that the title should be red and a light-blue shade for the imagery would suggest the hospital as a cold place.
For Toxic Minds, I easily decided that the major colors on the cover would be brown and yellow because the fictional malignant cult in my novel uses those two colors in its symbolism. Then, given that it's about medical science versus medical disinformation, I needed to illustrate conflict and impending trouble. I figured that the cover should depict a robed figure and a medical doctor facing each other in a standoff, with other cult members lined up behind the robed figure and a hospital entrance right behind the doctor.
I take pride in my cover concepts and my cover designer's wonderful effort in bringing them to fruition. I can't wait to show the cover of my third book once that is designed. I do have good ideas for how it will look.
Fun Stuff: The New Avatar Movie
As a way to take a nice break from my weekly routine, I went to the local movie theater to watch Avatar: Fire and Ash. If you've seen the previous two Avatar movies and loved them, you'll certainly enjoy this third entry, too. It delivers more of what you'd expect--breathtaking visuals of a pristine planet, intense action as two civilizations clash violently, and themes like community and environmentalism--along with new stuff, especially with the introduction of the Ash People who worship fire. Movies like this inspire me as a storyteller. When I am moved by a powerful story, I figure out how I can do the same with my own stories. At minimum, a good story reinvigorates my motivation as an author.
With that, it's now time to enjoy the holidays. No matter what you will celebrate in the coming days, I hope you have a wonderful time with your family, friends, and/or personal interests. Let's wrap up 2025 with style.
Anthony Lee
anthonyleebooks.com |