Kelly Parsons

Kelly Parsons is a board-certified urologist with degrees from Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins, and he is on the faculty at the University of California San Diego. He lives with his family in Southern California. Doing Harm is his first novel.

Recently I asked the author about what he was reading. Parsons's reply:

As a medical thriller author, some folks are surprised to learn that I rarely read them. There are many fine medical thrillers. But my tastes are eclectic, and for inspiration I draw regularly from a diversity of genres: contemporary fiction, literary fiction, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy and nonfiction.

A recent sample from my nightstand includes fantasy (American Gods by Neil Gaiman), horror (Dr. Sleep by Stephen King), historical fiction/techno-thriller fusion (Cryptonomicon by Neil Stephenson), and non-fiction (Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink); next up is more non-fiction (Flash Boys, by Michael Lewis), as well as literary fiction (The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh).

Why so many different genres? Mostly because I love to read, and don’t like to limit myself to any particular kind of book. But I also want to be a better writer. Always. And I’m convinced that studying different styles, themes, and narrative structures challenges me to improve my own storytelling.

Learn more about Doing Harm at the publisher's website, and visit Kelly Parsons's Facebook page.

--Marshal Zeringue