Tammy Euliano, MD, is a practicing anesthesiologist and tenured professor of anesthesiology at the University of Florida. In addition to a prolific list of academic publications, YouTube teaching videos, and numerous teaching awards, she has also written award-winning short fiction. Her debut crime fiction title, Fatal Intent, was just published today.
Elderly patients are dying at home days after minor surgery. Natural causes? Malpractice? Or a serial killer? And why doesn’t anyone care? Anesthesiologist Dr. Kate Downey wants to know why, but her unorthodox investigation threatens her job, her family, and her very life. The stakes escalate to the breaking point when Kate, under violent duress, is forced to choose which of her loved ones to save—and which must be sacrificed.
Tammy stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about writing and researching the book:
It is not uncommon for a new author to pattern her protagonist after her own life experiences. I couldn’t get much closer than positioning Dr. Kate Downey as an anesthesiologist specializing in obstetric anesthesia in an academic medical center in north central Florida (which is absolutely NOT Shands Hospital at the University of Florida where I work). There she also educates and supervises medical students and residents, and makes use of a full-scale human patient simulator in her teaching. Her job description pretty much matches mine at her age, but in the details, our lives diverge.
Though I, too, have committed a drug error, mine didn’t end in the disastrous consequences described for poor Kate, though her scenario is not far-fetched. And fortunately the series of Chiefs of Staff under whom I have worked during my long career have all been superb, fair and supportive of their physicians. I have not had my job challenged, though I am certain my chair men and woman would have had my back as Kate’s did. Like Kate, I’ve been blessed with amazing colleagues, residents and anesthesia providers (nurse anesthetists and anesthesia assistants) with whom to work.
On a personal level, when I was Kate’s age, my husband was (and is) very much alive, while hers is in a coma. I also had (and still have) three healthy children, while she is childless. Interestingly my husband, who has not read Fatal Intent, complains that “he” is in a coma in the book, while the kids, who have read it, never complain about being miscarried…men!
I had the medical details pretty much down from my career and experiences. Most of the characters are modeled, at least in part, after people I know, except for the mean ones, those are COMPLETELY FICTITIOUS.
One of the challenges for me was naming my characters. Initially I looked up each name I chose to make sure no one famous existed with that name. I’ve since received a note from a Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) who shares the name of one of my bad guys…oops. Turns out when I named the character, this young man was not yet a CRNA, but still, it’s unfortunate. Or it would be unfortunate if the book became a bestseller and his name became the Voldemort of 2021.
I find researching places fun. I try to use only locations I’ve at least visited, but still I rely on Google Maps and Google Earth and other internet resources to learn about the areas to which my characters must travel. After Covid, I might make it mandatory that I physically visit each site. Coincidentally, Kate will be visiting each site on my bucket list. Did I mention the next one takes place in Finland? Not sure why Kate is there, or staying in one of those unbelievably cool clear igloos watching the northern lights, but I’ll come up with something.
As I write I am forever fighting the urge to go down the Google research rabbit hole. I’m trying to get better at writing “[something about martial arts]” and continuing on with the text, with the intent of later searching for the brackets. But to date I’m not very good at moving on. I convince myself that the next part might be different once I know what happens in the brackets and off I go for a half-hour distraction, which is often interrupted by my dogs’ urgent need for a cuddle or ball throw or walk or nap – oh wait, that’s me not them.
Anyway, to me, research is one of the greatest parts of writing. And this from someone who performed clinical research for a number of years. I found researching what question I wanted to answer, and writing the background and summary sections of the papers much more stimulating than actually collecting data and trying to figure out which @#$%$# statistic to run. But I digress. Asking a question and seeking the answer, and being able to actually FIND an answer, is one of the great joys of life in general! It’s been proven to keep our minds young and nimble, if not our bodies thin, because snacking becomes a really bad habit during research – better take the dogs for another walk!
Learn more about Tammy Euliano and the book via her website, and follow her on Facebook, Goodreads, and YouTube. Fatal Intent is out today and now available via all major book retailers.
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