Authors write best what we know best. As a retired physician, I have written a fictional medical mystery thriller trilogy. After three decades of working in many aspects of the medical world, I know the inside story of healthcare--the good, the bad, and the ugly. That said, my fictional stories always walk a fine line between what I can imagine and what might or what could really happen. Thus, in order to bring a high degree of believability and realism into my thrillers, I incorporate many details into my novels. Whenever I need expertise that I don't personally possess, I talk with experts to contribute their real world experiences into particular aspects of my writing to give my stories maximum credibility. Therefore, beyond using the Internet, my research expands by speaking directly with many subject matter experts. My goal is to write novels that will thrill and entertain but also leave the reader thinking about possible solutions to many real issues in my novels that includes political and corporate corruption, greed, revenge, forgiveness, and many shades of both what is good and what is evil in the world. Since the devil is in the details, research into those real world facts is the foundation for me to write a compelling medical mystery thriller.
In writing a mystery thriller, it is critical to create action and excitement through conflict and tension between the characters themselves or conflict between the characters and the circumstances into which they find themselves. In my thrillers, the main characters are simply doing their "day job" and are literally sucked into the specific bone chilling conflict swirling around him/her knowing full well that they are risking their life and/or career if they do act and engage the conflict embodied in the story while at the same time clearly understanding and recognizing that something horrific will happen to many others or to society at large if the main characters turn a "blind eye" or choose to ignore becoming involved in solving the mystery to save their own skins.
Be bold. Get to the conflict as soon as possible. Develop multi-demensional characters that the readers will either love or hate. Don't be bland or neutral, at least not for the main characters. Write your novel in three sections, a strong beginning on the main conflict at hand, moving to a middle that does not sag because you have interwoven an exciting back-story that adds depth to your main characters, and conclude with the highest level of conflict in the story by writing a thrilling emotional climax that will have more surprise twists and turns than your own small intestine, leaving your reader with goose bumps, shaking their heads in utter amazement over a shocking ending that ties up all loose ends with a finish that was foreshadowed throughout the story with subtle clues, and which leaves the reader clamoring for my next mystery thriller story.
