Ask the Author: Robin Cook
Answered Questions (13)
Robin Cook
Hello David, There is a new invention that is going to change the future of life science and medicine. It is called CRISPR/CAS9. It is a new gene editing mechanism the is accurate, easy to use, and inexpensive. The applications to medicine are legion but there is peril as well. All the best, Robin Cook
Robin Cook
Well, Debra, that is a little like asking a parent which child they love more! Each of my books is like an offspring with its own history and personality. I do everything when it comes to writing. Not only do I write every word, I do all my own research, which often requires great effort, including travel to exotic locations. For Chromosome 6 i actually traveled to West Africa so I could describe the scenes in the book from direct experience. Researching Intervention I went under St. Peters Cathedral in Rome, then to Israel, and also Egypt. For Vector I interviewed the highest ranking defector from the Soviet Union who worked in the Russian Germ Warfare Organization. I know you are not going to be satisfied with this answer to your question, so if I had to choose, I suppose I would say my last book, Charlatans, only because it is still so much in my mind. All at the best, Robin Cook
Robin Cook
When I started writing, at least for my very first book, I didn't think about a movie adaption. But with my second book, COMA, the idea of it being a movie was very much at the forefront of my planning. I wanted the book to be successful, meaning a lot of people might read it, and I knew having a movie would be a great help. I actually wrote COMA as a screenplay first and used the screenplay as the outline for writing the book. Charlatans, due out 22 August will also be a major motion picture. All the best, Robin Cook
Robin Cook
Alexis, I started writing books because I saw there was a widening gap of information between the medical profession and the public we are supposed to serve. With the advance of biotechnology the problem was only going to get worse. I thought that entertaining fiction could help change this situation. One of the issues I wanted to explain was that surgical training could encourage narcissistic personality disorders...ego Godplayer. My newest book, Charlatans, which is scheduled to be released this month, deals with the effect on medicine of the internet and social media. All the best, Robin Cook
Robin Cook
Karl, one of the unexpected benefits of having the fantastic opportunity to go to medical school is that you become accustomed if not addicted to learning something fascinating every day. Thanks to the pace of medical research and biotechnology, it continues throughout your life. Becoming a writer has just underlined that situation because I do an enormous amount of research for all my books, and I do it all myself. I do not have a team like a lot of best seller writers. I do everything myself as the process is as important to me as the final product. Of course, some days are better than others, especially those days with eureka moments. All the best, Robin Cook
Robin Cook
One year I decided to take a break from the medical-thriller genre, and write a book that benefitted from my having spent most of my US Navy career doing diving research to develop tables for what is called 'saturation' diving, which is what happens when humans dive to very deep depths. We were diving to 1000 feet. So I wrote ABDUCTION, an underwater science fiction book. In it I created a new world, which I called "Interterra." If I could travel to a fictional place, this is where I would like to go.
Robin Cook
The idea for Charlatans came from the realization that our culture is changing due to the internet, which includes the culture of medicine. Robin Cook
Robin Cook
Invariably I create deadlines for myself. I also try to think up stories that are fresh and new, and I want to get it done before someone else comes up with a similar idea. I remember when I was writing COMA way back when I was terrified someone would come up with the same idea as it was a perfect medical-thriller concept. With many of my other books, I have felt the same way. Robin Cook
Robin Cook
I am working on the screenplay for my book Charlatans, which is to be released August 22nd. I am very pleased that it has been picked up to be a major motion picture, but I wasn't surprised. It reads like a movie in that the characters are strong and the scenes are very visual, or at least they are in my mind. Robin Cook
Robin Cook
It seems that most of the successful writers that I know started out in another career that gave them specific experience and knowledge that they could then draw upon in their writing. I know that seems like I am dodging the question, but it is what I have noticed. It is also true for myself. Had I not trained as a doctor, specifically a surgeon, I would not have been able to write the novels that I have written.
Robin Cook
The best thing about being a writer, particularly a writer of fiction, is that you and you alone are in control. The writing process can be kind'a lonely at times, but it gives one a feeling of power in that the storyline and the characters are totally dependent on your intellect and creativity.
Robin Cook
I never had 'doctor's block,' meaning I never woke up and said: "I don't feel just right. I think I won't see any patients today." As a began writing, I realized I had limited time, so when I planned to write, I wrote! What I am saying is that "writer's block" might be more of a mental attitude than a real issue. Some days are more productive than others, but I still sit down and do it. In other words, having writer's block was a luxury I couldn't afford laugh out loud
Robin Cook
I have noticed like everyone else that the internet and the creation of social media is changing our culture in a rapid fashion, mainly by changing the culture of children. But now that it has been going on for so many years, our entire culture is changing. We are all becoming more narcissistic and a bit more fake as we try to present ourselves in ways that produce a positive effect in people we know and even with people we don't know. As this all occurred to me, I started to see that the same forces reshaping our culture are also reshaping medicine. Charlatans is the book that resulted from this understanding, with a specific message for how medical education will need to change. All the best, Robin Cook
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