Allen Wyler
Adam Woog of the Seattle Times interviewed Allen Wyler about his second novel, Dead Head.
The opening exchanges:
Read the entire interview.Q: You grew up in Madison Park and went to Seattle Prep and the UW. How'd you go from English lit major to neurosurgeon?
A: I wanted to go into medicine, but I also loved reading. My only shot at literature was in college. So I majored in English lit, but I ended up getting my degree in what was called basic medical sciences.
Q: You had a career at the U Dub, in Memphis and elsewhere, but you're no longer a practicing surgeon, correct?
A: That's right. In 2001, I started working for (Northstar) part time. I was interested in devoting more time to my writing, so it worked out. All through my professional life I'd worked in a hospital as a practicing doctor, so it was quite a shift.
Q: When you announced to your wife that you wanted to write, she burst into laughter.
A: Yeah, for her it came right out of the blue. I'd published over 200 medical articles, but I came home one day and said, "Look, I'm going to try to write a novel," and she thought that was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. Of course, what I wrote then won't see the light of day.
Read Wyler's take on the Page 69 Test applied to Dead Head, and visit Wyler's official website.
--Marshal Zeringue
