Philip Hawley, Jr.

David J. Montgomery interviewed Philip Hawley, Jr. about his debut novel, Stigma.

The first question:

Q. You already have a successful career as a pediatrician at a prestigious children's hospital in Los Angeles. What made you want to be a writer? Temporary insanity?

A. Looking back, yes, there was a moment of insanity. It came when I was re-reading Robert Ludlum's The Matarese Circle and I thought, "Hey, I can do this. I can write a thriller novel!" Of course, the naiveté and ignorance that allowed me to so grossly underestimate the Mr. Ludlum's accomplishment also protected me from giving up when a rational and well-informed appraisal of the soul-smothering challenge that lay ahead might have caused me to quit before writing the first paragraph.

Read the entire interview.

--Marshal Zeringue