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The Hilton Head Island resident writes medical thrillers. The third novel in her Angels of Mercy series, "Urgent Care," was released last month, continuing the saga of four women who work in a Pittsburgh hospital.
Lyons describes her life in and out of the ER.
Question. What's your training?
Answer. I was trained in pediatric emergency medicine. I practiced both in the ER and in an academic teaching center. And I was a community pediatrician for a while. It was a leap of faith or, as my partners called it, "a leap off the Grand Canyon without a parachute," when I decided to pursue writing as a full-time career. That's when I sold my first book and moved down here. I've lived down here about three years now. So far, so good.
Q. Was it difficult to make the transition from working in a hospital to working as a writer?
A. I've been writing most of my life. And storytelling. Got me into a lot of trouble as a kid, which led to more "time-outs" where I had even more time to think up stories. Even when I was working outrageous hours I couldn't wait until I got home to get 10 minutes of peace and quite where I could get the story out. Writing is the only career where you can admit to having voices in your head and no one wants to take you to a therapist.
Q. You say you write "thrillers with heart." What does that mean?
A. When you add that deep layer, what I call "heart," and focus it on people and relationships and make it about finding the courage to step up and take action. It doesn't have to be a super hero who saves the world; it can be one father standing up for his family.
Technically, I write medical thrillers, but it's not the medicine that saves people, it's the people. If a crime happens, it's not about who did it, it's about the impact on society at large.
Q. How much of what you write is based on what's actually happened to you?
A. The medicine is all true. I used cases I was familiar with or that I read about in medical journals or was told about. I try to get it as accurate as possible. None of the patients are true. But I try to make the atmosphere as true as possible.
Q. Ever watch "ER" or "Grey's Anatomy"?
A. I watched "ER" until George Clooney left. The first few seasons were accurate on an emotional level as far as the chaos and the frenzy. They took a lot of shortcuts, of course. But it was really fun to watch. "Grey's Anatomy" really isn't about the medicine; it's about the relationships. But there's a "yuck factor" there. When you think about it, a normal intern is going to be about 25 or 26 years old, and these attending surgeons -- by the time they finish their training and they're supposed to be world-renowned -- they'd be in their mid-50s. They'd be old enough to be these kids' fathers. Thank God they had people like Eric Dane and Patrick Dempsey to help me get over that.
