Please help me welcome a fellow women’s fiction author to the blog today, Heather Frimmer, who wrote Bedside Manners. Welcome, Heather!
Author Name: Heather Frimmer
Book Title: Bedside Manners
Book Genre: Women’s Fiction/Medical Fiction
Release Date: Out Now
Publisher: SparkPress
Please tells us a bit about Bedside Manners.
In this gripping and emotional mother-daughter story, an unexpected breast cancer diagnosis causes both Joyce Novak and her medical student daughter, Marnie, to evaluate their priorities and question the future course of their lives.
How does your day job inform your novel writing? Did you do have to do any research?
I work full time as a radiologist specializing in breast imaging. I interpret mammograms, discuss results with patients and perform breast biopsies. Because I really did write what I know, no research was necessary. That allowed me to focus on figuring out how to write a novel!
What sparked the idea for Bedside Manners? Is the mother-daughter relationship in the novel based on your relationship with your own mother?
Joyce’s story was inspired by the thousands of breast cancer patients I’ve had the honor of caring for. I used my observations to make Joyce’s journey as authentic and emotionally resonant as possible. Many people have asked me whether Joyce and Marnie’s relationship is based on my relationship with my mother. The funny thing is, I didn’t consciously model Joyce after my mother. But now that the book is released and I have a bit of distance, I see a surprising number of similarities in their personalities. I explored this topic in an essay on the SparkPress blog:
Preserving My Mom In Writing: Behind the Book with Heather Frimmer, author of Bedside Manners
How long did it take for you to write the book?
I wrote the first sentence in June 2014 and it was accepted for publication in the summer of 2017. The timeline may seem fast, but there was a lot of blood, sweat and tears in those three years.
What are your interests outside of writing and reading?
When I’m not interpreting X-rays, performing breast biopsies or writing my next novel, you’ll find me reading. I usually read about 100 books a year and I review the books I love on my blog and on the Books, Ink website.
In my limited free time, I love to attend the theater both in New York City and around my Connecticut home. My husband and two sons are all actors, so we often see shows together. When they are on stage, I show my support for them as an enthusiastic audience member.
What a creative family–I love it! What are you working on now?
I am currently deep into editing my next novel. In this story, a male neurosurgeon with an addiction to pills makes the decision to operate on his sister-in-law’s brain. It wouldn’t be a novel if everything went smoothly, now would it? My publicist describes it as “a complex tale of addiction, love and survival on the operating table.” I’ll take that!
Where can readers find you (website, blog, social media, etc.)?
Website: heatherfrimmer.com
Social media: Facebook: heatherfrimmerauthor
Twitter: @heatherfrimmer
Instagram: @heatherfrimmer
Thank you, Heather! Bedside Manners is available NOW.
Bedside Manners
As Joyce Novak’s daughter, Marnie, completes medical school and looks ahead to a surgical internship, her wedding, and a future filled with promise, a breast cancer diagnosis throws Joyce’s own future into doubt. Always the caregiver, Joyce feels uncomfortable in the patient role, especially with her husband and daughter. As she progresses through a daunting treatment regimen including a biopsy, lumpectomy, and radiation, she distracts herself by planning Marnie’s wedding.
When the sudden death of a young heroin addict in Marnie’s care forces Marnie to come face-to-face with mortality and her professional inadequacies, she also realizes she must strike a new balance between her identity as a doctor and her role as a supportive daughter. At the same time, she struggles with the stark differences between her fiancé’s family background and her own and comes to understand the importance of being with someone who shares her values and experiences.
Amid this profound soul-searching, both Joyce and Marnie’s futures change in ways they never would have expected.
Author bio:
Heather Frimmer is a physician by day, specializing in diagnostic radiology and breast imaging, and an avid reader and writer at all other times. A published book reviewer across multiple websites and a member of the Westport Writers’ Workshop, she lives in Connecticut with her husband and two sons.