medical ethical dilemmas
End of an era …
Ever since I first conceived the idea of writing a series of novels set in the world of medical ethics back in the early 1990s, I’ve collected information on potential topics in paper files. Anything that might help to inform or inspire or authenticate, in it went.
Dilemmas worthy of a book of their own included …
ORGAN DONATION AND RETENTION
ABORTION
ASSISTED DYING
FACTITIOUS DISORDER IMPOSED ON ANOTHER
ASSISTED CONCEPTION
ANOREXIA
GENETIC INHERITANCE
INFORMED CONSENT
GENDER DYSPHORIA …. and so on.
Some ran into two bulging files; others barely opened the spines of the folder. And the total width extended over the years to 20 inches of paper!
But the time has come to empty the drawers of my filing cabinet and accept the passing of an era. Because, of course, digital recording gradually overtook manual. Plus my own plans for future novels shrank. I’m retaining one fat folder on one last topic which I haven’t entirely ruled out for a last novel, but otherwise into the recycling bin they go.
I’ve had to psyche myself up to this radical clear out, but when it came to actually binning them it was surprisingly painless. And after all, the raw material has contributed to eleven published books; it has done its job.
A fresh new start for the next phase of life!
Ideas, ideas, ideas
One of the questions I’m asked most frequently is: Where do you get your ideas from?
My problem is not finding ideas, it’s curbing the ones that keep flooding into my mind. A vivid imagination was always getting me into trouble as a child; it’s still operating in overdrive today. Just take my morning power walk; it’s a mine of potentially fascinating stories (with due apologies to all my entirely innocent and God-fearing neighbours!).
Several properties I pass are completely obscured from view by dense hedges …
or new buildings …
I picture all kinds of dark and nefarious deeds happening, screened from public view.
A quiet middle-aged couple have kept themselves very much to themselves in this secluded neighbourhood for many years …
… then, one day a swing appears. Toys lie scattered on the grass. A young child is seen playing in the garden. She seems to be here to stay. Exactly who is this little girl? What frightening secret are the couple harbouring?
This dog scampers out of the undergrowth, tail wagging, something clenched in his teeth … what if it was … a human bone?! Police swarm everywhere, cordons fence off a nearby property, excavation begins …
This low road seems very secluded – innocent, hidden and rural ….
… but at 5 in the morning an early jogger glancing through the designs of a modern bridge overhead gets a glimpse of a figure all in camouflage green dragging a heavy black sack into the bushes … There for a moment, gone the next.
Who is the mystery person who tends this immaculate garden? No one is ever seen entering or leaving the house and yet there is never a leaf out of place …
Places of worship seem to offer plenty of scope! What is the source of the evil smell emanating from this boarded up church?
This religious building belonging to an exclusive sect is always locked and bolted … until one day, the gate stands wide open …no one is in sight … who has left the barricades unmanned? And why?
Who is the mysterious person who buys the top flat in the steeple of this converted church? Exactly what is she up to? Why does she creep about at dead of night? Strange packages start arriving for her – what do they contain?
Behind the pretty outside of this quaint little cottage what tragedy is unfolding …?
Exactly what happened to the disabled teenager who lived in this reputedly haunted house? There one day … not seen since …
How come there were only 35 elderly residents accounted for when this residential home closed down? Where are the two the records show as still alive? And why is the building still lying derelict seven years after apparently being sold for redevelopment?
A new young florist opens up a shop in the town. She starts to win prizes, attract customers … stealing them away from the long established florist in the high street. Tensions escalate; bad things start to happen … who is responsible?
Every day, every experience, every encounter has potential. As you can see, even my regular morning constitutional in familiar territory gets the old grey cells whirring – although usually along more focused lines, I must admit. Add to that all the intrigues associated with infertility, assisted suicide, organ donation, gender issues, genetic disorders, illness, death, etc etc etc and wow! who needs to look further for ideas?