Opinion: Aspiring authors, take heart

As readers of the Madera Tribune know, I write a book-review column for the Wednesday edition of this newspaper. Often, I find that authors of many good books had excellent professions before they became best-selling writers. For example, both John Grisham (A Time to Kill, et. al.) and Lisa Scottoline (Final Appeal, et. al.) were successful lawyers.

About a year ago, I read my first Freida McFadden novel. Now, I’ve read fourteen of her mystery/thrillers. The short “blurb” at the end of her books informs readers that McFadden is a physician who specializes in “brain injury.” When I did a search on the Internet, I found that she had written several other books in a fairly short time. That revelation made me wonder how a physician in such a highly specialized field could find time to write exciting novels. A partial answer: self-publishing.