Hello, everyone.
This edition of my monthly newsletter is one of those releases that comes in the second half of a month, mainly because I was waiting for the first news item described below to occur. Plus, other things in my life got in the way and briefly made me forget about drafting the newsletter a little earlier. In any event, it's only a slight delay. I am still here with the May 2026 edition of Anthony Lee's Monthly Author Musings coming out on time.
So what is the exciting news item I am dying to share? Well, read on and you will see.
What's New:
Consignment at Barnes & Noble, Plus Another Book Award
Starting May 23, 2026, paperback copies of each of my three novels (Doctor Lucifer, Toxic Minds, and Poison Pill) are now available for sale at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Dublin, CA, through a consignment deal with the store. I discovered this opportunity when I saw the store's Mysteries & Thrillers section included books by local authors. I asked the staff about getting my books on the shelf because I am also a local author. After a few steps in between, I am now another local author shelved in the same section of the same Barnes & Noble store. Look for me between books by John le Carre and Dennis Lehane. Talk about prime literary real estate in a major bookstore!
Now, I have two bookstores that shelves my three novels through consignment. Here are the addresses of those stores:
Barnes & Noble
4972 Dublin Blvd.
Dublin, CA 94568
Bookshop Santa Cruz
1520 Pacific Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
In other news, I want to share an exciting announcement about my second novel, Toxic Minds. The Pacific Book Awards announced its winners and runner-up finalists for various book categories. Toxic Minds is a Finalist in the Best Thriller category (https://www.pacificbookreview.com/winners-finalists-2026). This is another accolade for my collection of honors as an award-winning author of medical thrillers. If you haven't read this book or my other two, I'm sure you'll enjoy what stories I have to tell.
Coming Up:
Onto Draft Three of Book Four
I recently wrapped up the second draft of my current novel in progress, the fourth entry in the Dr. Mark Lin Medical Thrillers series. This one promises to be quite different from my three books so far. It's part of my key philosophy when writing a book series: never write the exact same story twice. In other words, do not repeat major plot premises, scene situations, character conflicts, or thematic topics. This is how I keep my series fresh with each new entry. At this point, the backbone of the story of my fourth novel is laid out. My focus starting with draft three is to better layer in emotion and tone. I feel good about the progress of this novel so far.
The Medical Files of Dr. Mark Lin:
Clinical Trials
I like to use my medical thrillers to show readers who are not familiar with the world of medical doctors the various aspects of that world. In Poison Pill, one real-life topic I dive into is testing of drugs in clinical trials. I briefly explain what the different clinical trial phases are about and the concept of placebos. If you're curious about clinical trials, here is a nice guide from the U.S. National Institutes of Health: https://www.nih.gov/health-information/nih-clinical-research-trials-you/basics.
Inside the Mind of Anthony Lee:
Where Do I Get My Story Ideas?
Each book in the Dr. Mark Lin Medical Thrillers series is a blend of a medical mystery or crisis and a societal threat stemming from humanity's biggest flaws, all lending themselves to hard-hitting commentary through Mark's cynical mental monologues. Where do I get ideas for stories based on this formula? Well, what I do is brainstorm various medical mystery and thriller premises, observe and ponder the many ways systemic societal ills affect people, and look for interesting links between items from the first list and items from the second list. This is why Doctor Lucifer combines medical errors and cyber warfare, Toxic Minds examines self-inflicted health problems and medical disinformation, and Poison Pill looks at side effects of pharmaceuticals and herbal supplements in the midst of industry secrets. I expect to have many more interesting medical-societal thriller premises over the course of the series that I intend to go on for a long time: 24 books to be exact, if I can live long enough to get there.
Fun Stuff:
My New Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
I am not the kind of person who follows tech trends closely, so I do not buy a new smartphone so often. After a decade of using the same phone, I got a new one, specifically the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. I absolutely love how fast and sleek it is, obviously the result of skipping multiple phone models. Everything I love to do on a smartphone is now way quicker. I am also eager to try out its camera, which has many more neat features than the camera of my old phone. Seriously, my new phone is more than just a very useful personal tool. It's really a cool toy that could provide many hours of fun.
Well, thanks for reading this newsletter. I look forward to sharing more fun stuff next month.
Anthony Lee
anthonyleebooks.com |