Susan Carlisle, Harlequin Medical Romance Author

“I’m Susan Carlisle, and I write medical romances for Harlequin.”

“Are you in the medical field?” I’m often asked after my introduction.

I answer, “No, I’m not a doctor or a nurse and I don’t play either on TV but I sure know a lot of them.”

 

Since I was a teen I have read Harlequin books and many of them were medicals. When I started writing a friend told me that Harlequin was looking for authors to write medicals and that I should try writing for them.

Since I have a son who received a heart transplant twenty-seven years ago I have a little knowledge of the medical field. (Today, he is twenty-nine and doing great.) So I wrote what I knew. My first book was about a woman with a young son who needed a new heart and the surgeon who saw to it that he got it. The rest is history. I have now written twenty-three medical romances. My latest will be out in November.

I really enjoy writing medicals and never lack for storylines. I love writing the drama of the medical side but foremost my books are about the romance between the characters. It is easy for me to get caught up in a book.

Some books are more of a challenge in the medical area than others. Simple stuff like a sprained ankle is easy. Most of us have that type of first-aid in our heads. When I am unsure I can usually find a source who is more than willing to help me. I once asked my son’s heart surgeon a simple question and he came back with a page worth of information. I couldn’t use it all in that book so I saved it and used it in another.

My current book in progress is about hemophilia. I knew little about it so I talked to a friend whose son has the disease and he shared his son’s trials. I was amazed at what these people live with every day. Through this book I hope I can educate others about hemophilia, share some insight. Again my book are romances with a happily-ever-after ending but it doesn’t hurt for the reader to learn something along the way. 

While my family was on a skiing vacation I interviewed the woman who headed the Safety Patrol. She spent over an hour sharing with me what she did and how the system worked during a medical emergency. Two years later I returned and gave her a copy of the book I had written from what she had told me. She was thrilled.

Moments like that are some of my greatest joys as an author. I love it when people are excited about getting my books, and it is even better when they love what they have read and want more. That is the highest praise an author can receive. I take great pleasure in making others happier through reading one of my books.

I’m honored and tickled to be a medical romance writer. I’m still amazed daily that I am.    

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Susan Carlisle:Smart, Sassy, Sexy Romance