Princess Cruise, Being Home and Another Character Interview

This post is more like a newsletter: three brief pieces on our princess cruise, the joy of being back home and another character interview.

Our last stop on the cruise was Lahaina, Maui is quaint, quiet, beautiful. At least until the tourists on the cruise ships wake up and crowd the small town. Since John and I arrived on the 1st tender at 8:30 in the morning, we got a chance to get a sense of the peace of the place.

We bought a cup of splendid cup of Kona coffee at a local store and wandered through Banyan Tree Park- mesmerized by this  remarkable tree…..the oldest living tree on the island. A gift from Indian missionaries, it was planted in 1873, this tree is over sixty feet high with over sixteen major trunks.

Fifteen days is a long time to be on a ship with over 3000 people. The second week, people began to get sick. Mostly colds but some were ‘quarantined’ to their room by one of the eight doctors aboard. Right- 8. Thankfully, we were not among those who got ill. The population of the valley we live in has fewer people than were on that ship.

The ship is humungous: Can easily hold all of those people. But the elevators, shows, restaurants are very crowded- as you would expect. By the end of the first week, I was missing home.

Do I need to tell you how happy I am to be home with our boys, in our quiet, remote valley? Hiking with the dogs up the mountain behind the house?

I mention the new character interview because they are always fun. A good way of promoting the new book and enjoyable for me to revisit these characters I have grown to admire. I planned to write it with Joe Cairns, the assassin who changes-radically.  But when I began to select the questions I wanted to answer, realized it would be in Lindsey’s voice. You know, Lindsey McCall of all the books.

Here is a preview of that interview:

Hi. I’m Lindsey McCall, the protagonist in the Dr. Lindsey McCall medical mystery series. It’s been a kick watching myself evolve throughout these 4 novels of Lin Wilder’s. I can honestly tell you that I like myself best in her latest book, Malthus Revisited-The Cup of Wrath.

Why?

There are many reasons why I say this. Uppermost among them are two: I have faced and resolved a decision made eighteen years ago. One that had been haunting me. And, of course, the fact that the population of this world has been saved by a horrific fate. That too.

Mrs. N: What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Doing the work I love- pushing the boundaries of research, challenging the status quo. Working side by side with Rich Jansen, the man I plan to  be with until the day I die.

Mrs. N: What is your greatest fear?

Such an interesting question for someone who spent much of her life in interventional cardiology and CV research. Had you asked this question of me five years ago, I’d have replied that I was most afraid of failing to change the molecular structure of Digitalis. But as you most likely know, I did not fail. My new drug Digipro has radically changed the treatment of heart failure. And is providing hundreds of thousands of patients with acute heart failure an alternative to transplantation.

I realized that my greatest fear was facing my biological daughter. The young woman whose existence I refused to acknowledge- until now.

Mrs. N: What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

That’s an easy one. I can be cold- more like a robot than a person. Sometimes I can be wholly oblivious to what is going on with those closest to me. Especially when I’m trying to figure something out. Or when I’m scared.

For the complete interview with Lindsey, click here:

Happy New Year to you and your families! Peace and all good in this brand new year.