There were always clues that aspiring novelist Dr. Anne Lipton would eventually immerse herselfinto the world of make-believe, fantasyand adventure.<\/p>\n
\"One of the things that I wrote about in my medical school essay was Nancy Drew,\" says Lipton, who lives in Vancouver.<\/p>\n
\"Nancy Drew ... inspired meto try to be a medical detective and find out what was going wrong when someone was sick and howto make them better.\"<\/p>\n
Lipton, who is originally from Michigan,did end up becoming a \"medical detective\" and a pretty successful one to boot. The Northwestern University graduate became a neurologist, even penning multiple books on dementia care.<\/p>\n
But now, her career has taken a plot twist.<\/p>\n
Lipton is one of the inaugural recipients of the Harlequin Books Creator Fund Award, awarded to up-and-coming female writers in the U.S. and Canada.Harlequin, a Toronto-based publishing house, is one of the most successful publishers in the world, with a focus on romance, fantasyand historical fiction.<\/p>\n
Romance writing, a genre sometimes dismissed as \"empty entertainment\", is big business. According to the Romance Writers of America, the billion-dollar romance genre makes up 23 per cent of the fiction market.<\/p>\n
In recent years, the genre has undergone a feminist makeover, challenging archaic tropesof damsels in distress and other stereotypes.<\/p>\n
Lipton'smanuscript a time travel Christmas-themed romantic comedysetin the video game industry is a nod to that.<\/p>\n
\"[My main character] isa strong female protagonist who works in a male-dominated industry,\" she said.<\/p>\n
It was a move to Ireland that set the stage for Lipton's career change. Despite having a position ready, it was taking a long time for her medical credentials to be recognized in Ireland.<\/p>\n
As she waited to be certified, Lipton, who had already written non-fiction, decided to try her hand at writinga novel.<\/p>\n
She loved it.<\/p>\n
Part of the process of novel writing mirrors her work as a neurologist. Lipton said she was drawn to neurology, and dementiain particular, because of her patients' rich life stories.<\/p>\n
\"Because dementia often affects older people I was able to hear many very exciting and interesting life stories,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"I would say one reason I didn't go into something like emergency medicine is because once the patient leaves the emergency department you never hear the end of the story. And so I like to have a satisfying story arc in real life and in my novels.\"<\/p>\n
A move to Vancouverseven years ago happened to coincide providentially with NaNoWriMo National Novel Writing Month in November.<\/p>\n
Lipton, who happened to move in the month of October, said she almost immediately got together with other writers in the city.<\/p>\n
The internet-based creative writing challenge gives participants exactly 30 days to write a draft of a book or novel, with a minimum 50,000 word count. Close to 10,000 people participate in the challenge across the country.<\/p>\n
\"I know sometimes people say that Vancouver is a hard place to meet people but I found this a great way to meet people. We all had a shared interest. Most of the people there also enjoyed reading so we discussed books and writing and it was a great way to meet people.\"<\/p>\n
As part of her award, Liptonwill receive financial and editorial support from Harlequin but there are no guarantees her manuscript will get published.<\/p>\n
\"Asa writer, sometimes it's more competitive thanapplying to medical school in terms of trying to get published,\" she laughed.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, she's hoping for a riveting finale.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
See original here: There were always clues that aspiring novelist Dr. Anne Lipton would eventually immerse herselfinto the world of make-believe, fantasyand adventure Continue reading
\nPlot twist: Neurologist turns her hand to romance writing and grabs the prize - CBC.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"