WRITING vs RUNNING

Posted on July 4, 2012 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

While on an eight-mile run yesterday, I was thinking about how I learned the skills for my two favorite passions: writing and running.  I didn’t wake up one morning able to run a marathon or know exactly how to create a suspense thriller.

When I first decided to start running (eventually running marathons – 26.2 miles), I didn’t put on running shoes and suddenly knock out a ten-mile training run.  There was a bunch of huffing and puffing (think: sounds of a freight train) through one mile, then two, and so on.  Then I signed up for a 5K (3.1 miles), then a 10K and on to half marathons.

In much the same way, I started slowly learning the craft of writing.  I’ll concede that I simply decided one day to write a novel, but that was after years of technical writing and many successful newsletter adventures.  Then came the false starts and the endless hours of writing meaningless chapters that eventually got tossed.

One would think it unimaginable to compare two seemingly diverse interests.  On the surface, one is purely physical and the other entirely cerebral.  But I assure you that running is as much cerebral as it is physical.  Anyone who’s run a marathon will tell you that it’s the mind that keeps propelling you forward when the legs are screaming that you cannot possibly put one more foot in front of the other.  Runners often talk about getting psyched up or psyched out.  The translation is that one is motivating and the other defeating.

In much the same way, there’s a truly physical component to the creative action of writing.  Ask any writer how grueling it is to sit in front of a computer screen for four, six or more hours.  The spine begs for mercy and muscles that you were never aware of develop cramps that stay with you like garlic from an Italian lunch.

The common thread in both of these activities is to start small and rely on repetitive actions.  In running, it’s simply putting one foot in front of the other, pounding the pavement day after day and going a little farther each time.  With writing, it’s putting one word after another, one thought that turns into a scene and scenes that shape into chapters.  After much trial and error, you’ll find that you eventually are able to propel a storyline into a meaningful tale of adventure.

Another common experience is what happens after crossing that finish line in a race.  I usually sign up for another, vowing to run faster and farther in the next one.  And that’s exactly what happens after completing a novel.  I start another, only this time the storyline is more intriguing, the dialogue more animated, the story feeling tighter and better thought out than the previous one.

The bottom line is to always strive to get better, whether that be in a race or with that next thriller, and that takes constant practice and lots of consistent work.

Thought?  Comments?  I’d love to hear them!

Posted in About Running, About Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

WRITING is an ART and a JOURNEY!

Posted on June 27, 2012 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

This past weekend I attended a Writer’s Conference  that drew in agents from the West Coast and New York.  It was an exciting time, filled with expectations and an overwhelming amount of information regarding the publishing industry.

I was able to connect with fellow writers, learn their personal histories and discover what motivates them to pound the keyboard day after day.  As I progressed through the conference day – visiting, learning, expounding on my writing journey – a common thread among the attendees became evident.

Each of us seemed OBSESSED with the written word.  I almost said POSSESSED, and that may well be a more apt description.  What makes a writer so persistent in the craft is an intangible need to communicate something of particular importance to him or her.  In my case, it’s a mash-up of pharmaceuticals with sinister plots of murder and mayhem.

For all of my adult life, I would often immerse myself into the virtual world of an intriguing mystery or thriller, much like children now escape into the magical world of computer games.  So when I began to wind down my career in clinical pharmacy, it seemed only natural to maintain a connection between that world and my favorite pastime by creating novels of Murder, Mayhem and Medicine.

I continually saw that same PASSION among my fellow writers throughout the conference.  Each had an unfinished story to tell or a virtual life to share through the ART of writing.  Each seemed to have a specific JOURNEY that needed to be fulfilled.  The motivations varied from expertise in a specific hobby to the purging of some long-held secret.

For instance, I met Mary who has a particular interest in historical fiction and writes about long-lost cultures along the Rio Grande River, even delving into the ancient use of psychedelic drugs for their recreation.

Then I met an interesting fellow by the name of Roland whose history was so inspirational and heart wrenching that I made it my mission to help him find the perfect agent to work with on his autobiography.  When I last saw him, he and that agent were planning strategy to initiate the publishing process for his book.  I urge you to take a moment to bounce over to Roland’s website.  His journey from a baby being thrown away in a dumpster in a war-torn country to being valedictorian of his graduating class is truly inspiring.

What I found most interesting was the paradigm shift in the way the publishing industry currently views self-publishing and digital-only publishing.  This has been evolving over the last several years, but I have never seen such a collaborative atmosphere by agents and publishers alike.  The current consensus is that, if you can’t find an appropriate agent for more traditional publishing, by all means indie- or self-publish in whatever medium makes sense at the time.  At some later point, or with another manuscript, the opportunity for a “Big Six” contract may happen.  Certainly, there are proponents and opponents to that line of thinking, but respect and tolerance for all forms of publishing were evident and the success rate of alternate publishing strategies gets better by the day.

Now the burning question I know many of my writer friends are asking is “What’s the hot topic to write about these days?”  The one-word answer is PARANORMAL!  If you write thrillers like I do, include something mysterious that can’t be easily explained by science.   If you write romance, you might consider including an affectionate zombie character.  The list goes on, but you get the idea.

The bottom line is that the publishing industry may be losing some of its identifiable structure (and rules!) but the journey to develop our artistic work is only the beginning.  The opportunities to get our craft out there are more numerous than ever before, making the journey from the keyboard to a published work more realistic than ever.

Thoughts?  Comments?  I’d love to hear them!

Posted in Attending a Writers' Conference, The Art of Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Why Is It Called “The Practice of Pharmacy”?

Posted on June 20, 2012 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Lately I’ve been blogging about dark and sinister subjects: the perfect drug as a murder weapon, ten ways to create a bloodless murder and zombie invasions.  I appreciate all the enthusiastic responses to those, but today I’m going to write about something a bit more personal.

For most of my life I’ve been a practicing pharmacist.  Each day I would draw on my professional experience and use every tidbit of education to make appropriate clinical decisions.  Like so many other professionals, I was doing the work I was trained to do and loved every minute of it.  I was also secure in the knowledge that I was very good at what I did and was making a difference in people’s lives.

So why did it rub me wrong when others would jokingly ask, “Practicing, huh?  When do you think you’ll get it right?”

I laughed at the jokes but inwardly seethed.  How could someone mock that by which I defined myself?  One day, though, I took a mental step back to analyze that old joke.  I remember rubbing my chin as I attempted a philosophical approach.  Was I any different in how I managed my career than the physician to whom I trusted my health?  After all, he practiced medicine.  Absurdly, I wondered, “Does he practice on me, maybe to get it right later with another patient?”

One summer in my youth I practiced getting better at baseball.  I was never very good, but that summer I managed to hit consistently two out of three pitches.  Was my doctor’s average like that, getting it right two-thirds of the time?  And where did I fit into that equation?  Was I one of the lucky two?  That kind of success rate in my practice wouldn’t win me any fans.  If I managed to get the right drug to the right person only two out of three times, all I’d gain would be a bunch of lawsuits.

So why are many health professions called a PRACTICE?  If I went to my financial advisor and asked if he were practicing his profession, he’d probably say, “I do better than practice.  I try to get it right.”  Is his profession any more exacting than pharmacy?  He doesn’t always get my investments right.  Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose, and then I take a tax loss.  In pharmacy, however, when we lose, there’s no tax advantage.  The results are grief-ridden and often life threatening.

Eventually I concluded that the benefit of PRACTICING your profession is to always get better at it.  Most people are good at their jobs and mistakes happen only rarely.  I might get upset if my financial advisor makes a less than perfect judgment where to invest my hard-earned money, but at the end of the day life still goes on.  When I practiced pharmacy, it was intense stuff: clinical trials, intravenous therapies and life or death situations.  If I had made less than perfect judgments regarding those therapies, there was a real possibility that someone would die as a result.  There was no “Oops, I’ll do better next time”.

The wisdom in understanding why some professions are called PRACTICES and others are known as WORK or ART is this.  My work as a novelist is an expression of art; but if I don’t get the story right the first time, it’s not a problem.  No one dies; no one has a funeral (except maybe for one of my characters).  I get a “do-over”, even more than one if necessary.  Writers are lucky in that way, except when the rewrites and edits go on and on and on—but that’s another whole blog.

The point is most people try to get it right the first time and have a feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day.  But in the practice of a profession, not only do you want to get it right the first time, you continually practice to assure that it happens every time.

In the end, as much as I liked pharmacy practice, I love writing even more because, instead of potentially burying any mistakes, I can simply bury the red herring and that’s not frowned upon.

Thoughts?  Comments?  I’d love to hear them!

Posted in The Pharmacy Profession, The Practice of Pharmacy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Father’s Day Thoughts

Posted on June 16, 2012 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

You LOVE them, you HATE them, you SUPPORT them emotionally and then you FIGHT with them.  Families and children bring out the BEST in us and sometimes they cause our WORSE traits to pop up.

But when all is said and done, family members represent our connections to ancestry and contribute greatly to our basic likes and dislikes.  From a strictly scientific approach, our families are responsible for and the results of the DNA that makes us who we are.

Nothing brings a family together more than a special day of celebration.  This Sunday is Father’s Day and it’s one of those opportunities to celebrate as a family, whether that’s represented by a shared meal, a special card or a phone call.

As this day approaches, the memories of the many experiences I had as a parent began to spin around in my mind.  There’s one experience that made me chuckle and I wanted to share it with you.

When my son was a toddler, I marveled at his awe of everything I did and his eagerness to be included in anything I was doing at the time.  As he entered his teen years, I decided to include him in a few more “grown up” projects around the house, like mowing the lawn.  BUT, the inclusion process was becoming more challenging as he grew older, so we had a talk about FAMILY RESPONSIBILITY and how everyone in the family had to do his or her part.

After sufficient (and some impressive) grumbling, he apparently realized that my logic was too solid to refute.  So he regularly took his turn behind the mower, although I’m sure I heard some definite mumbling over the roar of that mower.

Later, when my son was ready to go off to college, we again talked about FAMILY RESPONSIBILITY, only this time it was about his new job: to learn all he could about his future profession and to achieve the best grades possible so that he’d be “marketable” upon graduation (and I thought to myself “and finally off my payroll”).

As he entered the professional world and eventually made a name for himself in his chosen profession and then married and started a family, I was pleased that all my talks about FAMILY RESPONSIBILITY had paid off.

Then one day the tables turned on me when my son called to ask for help in a not-so-minor remodel project to construct a nursery for his newborn son.  That was when I realized that I had become a victim of my own words when he said, “Dad, I need some help but first let’s talk about FAMILY RESPONSIBILITY!”

Dads, enjoy your day.  You’ve earned it!

Posted in Father's Day Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Ten Ways To Write a Bloodless Death Scene

Posted on June 15, 2012 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Today I’m making history!

As of this morning, my FIRST GUEST BLOG on a fellow writer’s blog site is being published.  The blog describes a few of the many ways of constructing a bloodless death scene.  This LINK will get you to the site.  THANK YOU Arlee Bird for giving me the opportunity to guest post on your blog page.

As mentioned, the blog is a “short” list of ten methods because there are SO MANY ways to kill without shedding blood.  The research actually sort of overwhelmed me.  As I wrote the blog, I was thinking, “So many ways to kill and so little time to write about it!”

I hope you enjoy the blog as much as I did writing it and that you’ll like the little journey unto Arlee’s blog site.  Oh, and be sure to subscribe while you’re there.

Posted in Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Guest Blogging | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bath Salts and the Zombie Apocalypse!

Posted on June 13, 2012 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

If you follow my website, blogs and postings, you’re aware that I write novels about Murder, Mayhem and Medicine.  Those are dreadful combinations to say the least, but they also make for entertaining story telling.  So how did I get fascinated with zombies?

In truth, I’ve really never been excited about zombie movies or books.  I like all kinds of entertainment and really have nothing against zombies, but my interests simply lie elsewhere.

HOWEVER, when I read in the news about a possible zombie outbreak, well, that got my attention!  There have been several cases of extreme violence and cannibalism reported recently from Canada to New York to Florida.  For example, a Staten Island man recently bit off the ear of another patron at a diner there and a man was found naked along a Florida highway gnawing off a good portion of another man’s face.

I began to wonder if I should be more interested in zombies, especially since the CDC actually created a website on “Zombie Preparedness” last year.  Is there a zombie invasion on the horizon?  I needed to know, so I did what most writers do to gain insight on any given subject.  I DID RESEARCH, and this is what I found.

Let’s talk first about that CDC website regarding a zombie apocalypse.  It was a tongue in cheek blog they did regarding emergency preparedness.  The central theme was that if you’re prepared for a zombie attack, then you’re ready for any disaster: hurricanes, floods, earthquakes or a pandemic.  If I thought zombies were roaming around my street, the things I’d do would be to stay indoors or evacuate real fast and meet up with my loved ones, and that’s exactly what I’d do in any other natural disaster.  And the CDC offered suggestions for just such actions.  It was a really cool way to get the point across about emergency preparedness.

But what about those flesh-eating men?   Seems their odd behavior and a whole string of other recent, violent crimes can be traced back to the use of “bath salts”.  (And my wife told me bath salts were a soothing, relaxing experience!)  Well, not these bath salts.  They’re the latest designer drug that people snort, smoke or inject to get what appears to be THE ULTIMATE HIGH.  And in many of these violent, extreme crimes, “bath salts” have been implicated as the causative factor.  In fact, there’s been a DRAMATIC increase in calls to poison control centers around the nation regarding “bath salt” intoxication, from 304 calls in 2010 to over 6,000 in 2011.   So, no zombies!  But when someone uses this product, a zombie-like state ensues, followed by bizarre behavior (like you’d expect from a zombie!).

It seems the active ingredient in these products is metheylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV for short!) and it’s a powerful stimulant and hallucinogen.  Initially, the user experiences increased blood pressure and pulse, maybe some chest pains, and then significant paranoia along with extreme agitation and nonsensical violence.  Some have determined this drug to be such a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that it’s like mixing methamphetamine with cocaine and it produces an effect about ten times that of an equivalent hit of cocaine.  Bottom line: it’s mind-blowing powerful!  And it’s equally as dangerous and habit-forming!

The particular allurement is that it’s cheap and easy to buy.  A small baggie of “bath salts” costs between $20-40, whereas an equivalent amount of cocaine would cost over $2000.  And it’s not sold on the street corner or stolen out of pharmacies.  It’s been sold openly in mini-marts, other convenience stores and smoke shops.  They’re labeled as “bath salts” and “Not for Human Consumption” to avoid government regulation.  They’ve been around for several years but weren’t made illegal in some states until last fall, and that’s just a temporary injunction good for one year pending further evaluation by the federal government.

That’s the problem with so-called designer drugs.  They’re new chemicals that come on the scene and avoid government scrutiny because there are no laws against a drug that hasn’t been invented yet.  Even an outlawed drug can be changed chemically in a minor way to produce a whole new compound and that product would be legal until something happens to spotlight its public danger.  Only then would the government take action to criminalize the ingredients of the drug – you can’t create a law against something that doesn’t exist!  The sad news is that the process to criminalize a chemical can take time.

So I’d say there’re no zombies out there, just foolish people trying to escape reality with the latest, and extremely dangerous, recreational drug.

Thoughts?  Comments?  I’d love to hear them!

Posted in Bath Salts and Zombies, Drug Abuse | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

MADE IN AMERICA: Does that include your prescription drugs?

Posted on June 6, 2012 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Recently I saw an entertaining news feature about a family who was determined to fill their home with furniture and appliances made only in America.  Once they had removed everything that WASN’T made in the United States, all that was left were a few odds and ends that fit neatly into a small camping tent.  With a bit of Internet research, some time and a little old-fashioned determination,  the good news is that the family finally was able to replace everything with items that were 100% “Made in America”.

That news report made me think about our nation’s drug supply.  You know, those prescription products we have in our medicine cabinets?  I’m talking about the pills, capsules and liquids we slosh down our gullets every morning, noon or night.  Where do they come from?  I’m guessing that the family I just mentioned never thought to look in their medicine cabinet for confirmation as to the source of any medications on hand.

We trust that the meds we consume are pure and safe, and as All-American as our favorite quarterback.  But are they?  As I pondered that question and the importance of prescription drugs in our modern world, I wondered if that trust was warranted or misplaced.

Who’s really responsible for the quality of those drugs?  Is it only the manufacturing facility? Or is it our government, the prescribing physician, the local pharmacy, or the distribution network that’s the ultimate link between the drug manufacturer and that little pill bottle we pick up at the corner drugstore?  I’ve done a bit of research and this is what I found.

Approximately 40% of all prescription drugs dispensed in the United States are made totally outside of the country, and 80% of all drugs dispensed in the U.S. have active ingredients (the main drug ingredient in the product) that originate from sources outside the country.  Those are staggering statistics!

Why so much foreign drug manufacturing?  American medical know-how and our scientists are surely still the best in the world.  But am I just lumping our trusted drug supply in with apple pie, ball games and hot dogs?  Hmm?!

A reputable domestic drug manufacturer recently estimated that it costs about 25 percent more to manufacture generic drugs in the U.S. than overseas.  It always seems to come down to dollars and cents, doesn’t it?  That’s a sobering statistic, but the surprising part is that the comparison is about much more than just pay differential or raw material costs.

With my past history in pharmaceutical/herbal manufacturing, I know something about Good Manufacturing Practices.  In the simplest sense, it’s a set of rules and procedures that manufacturing houses follow to assure the FDA and the public that the products they make are of expected quality and potency, and tests are made of the finished goods to confirm that.  The FDA regulates that in several ways but conducting regular, periodic inspections tops the list for keeping everyone honest.

Reality begins to rear its ugly head when we link those percentages of drugs and active ingredients that are NOT made in the U.S. (Remember I said that 80% of the drugs in our medicine cabinet may not really have a US pedigree) to the statistics of FDA oversight of foreign manufacturing houses.

There are more than 3,700 foreign facilities that make finished drugs and/or active ingredients for the U.S. market.  However, the FDA has inspected only about 11% (as of 2009) of these facilities.  By contrast, a U.S. drug manufacturing plant would be inspected about once every two years.  Am I starting to scare you?  I don’t mean to, but such statistics could be a deadly combination moving toward a perfect storm of pharmaceutical disaster.

However, there’s good news in all of this!  Awareness of the FDA’s statistics regarding spotty oversight of foreign drug manufacturing has led to additional funding for unannounced inspections.  As I’m sure you can imagine, these “surprise” inspections are a great way of keeping everyone honest.

And even better news is how the FDA controls the distribution of our nation’s drugs.  Independent sources estimate that the U.S. drug supply is the safest in the world, with only about 1% of the drug supply not being consistent with what’s on the label.  That means the drugs in your medicine cabinet have a 99% chance of being what you expect them to be, and those are pretty good odds.

The FDA, the DEA and other drug enforcement agencies at the state level monitor and regulate legitimate drug distribution throughout the process, from wholesale houses to local pharmacy inspections.  And great care is taken by legitimate wholesale and retail operations to know the source of the medications flowing through their distribution pipeline.  It’s important not only for their business reputations but also for our peace of mind.

That’s why it’s so important to buy from reputable pharmacy establishments.  Some of those online pharmacies?  Maybe not so much oversight.  I’m just saying!

Thoughts?  Comments?  I’d love to hear them!

Posted in Our nation's drug supply | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

A Memorial Day Reflection

Posted on May 25, 2012 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Today (Friday) initiates the Memorial Day weekend and already I’m getting good wishes for a happy weekend.  At least a dozen times since I awakened this morning I’ve been greeted with “Happy Memorial Day” or “Have a GREAT Memorial Day weekend”.  While I certainly appreciate the good wishes and hope that the long holiday weekend IS a good one, it gives me pause that we can be so upbeat about the observance.  After all, Memorial Day is a day of remembrance of those who died while serving our nation.

On the one hand, it saddens me that we party in remembrance of those who gave their lives protecting our nation and its interest.  While, on the other hand, I realize it certainly is worth celebrating that our fallen soldiers did not die in vain.  Our nation and its citizens remain free and the opportunities to be an individual and to achieve a successful and meaningful life are as viable today as during those first days after our nation came into being.

I can’t help wondering, however, if the true meaning of Memorial Day hasn’t been lost on our citizens.  Has the meaning behind Memorial Day and Veterans Day simply blended together to become a blurred dual celebration of our armed forces?  I also wonder how many school age children can even articulate why we celebrate Memorial Day (or Labor Day or Veterans Day for that matter).

To clarify, Memorial Day is a day of reflection of those who sacrificed their lives in times of war, while Veterans Day is truly a day of celebration honoring all armed service veterans.  Maybe a bit of history will help us understand the difference.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 and first observed on May 30th of that year when flowers were placed on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.  Thus, Memorial Day was a day set aside to commemorate those soldiers who gave their lives during the American Civil War.  There is rich history on record regarding how the fallen were remembered in the Union territories as compared to Confederate territories, but the common thread was that the graves of the fallen were decorated on a certain date each May and a “dinner on the ground” often followed the ceremony.

By the early 20th century, Memorial Day evolved into a more general expression of memory for all the deceased who had served in the military and a reason to gather and reflect.  By the late 20th century, however, Memorial Day seemed to have evolved into a day of picnics and mass market bargain shopping.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for that.  I just want to send a little reminder that Memorial Day is both a time to reflect and to celebrate.  We reflect on the sacrifices of our military personnel and the loss to their families when a life is forfeited for the greater good, but we can also celebrate that the price of those losses result in a continually strong nation that offers its citizens freedoms that others can only hope for.

In closing, I want to share an interesting bit of information regarding how to fly our flag on this special day.  Tradition states that on Memorial Day the flag is raised briskly to the top of the staff and then slowly and solemnly lowered to half-staff.  It should remain at half-staff until noon and then raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day.  I’m told that the half-staff position remembers those men and women who gave their lives in the service of our country.  At noon their memory is celebrated by the living who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain and to continue the fight for liberty and justice for all.

Do enjoy your holiday weekend!  Those who are no longer with us made that possible!

Posted in A Memorial Day Reflection | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pharmacists as Protagonists: Is That Weird or What?

Posted on May 21, 2012 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

In pitching my debut novel to agents at writing conferences, I’ve gotten a few comments like, “A pharmacist as the main character?  Why?” or “Pharmacist turned vigilante?  Really?”

I never thought of my main character as being weird.  I’ll admit, though, he is unusual.  He’s got heart-wrenching childhood issues to deal with, is ex-Special Forces and has more nasty suppressed memories than most of us will EVER experience.  But he works hard at having a normal life, and at least outwardly he succeeds.

So what if he is a pharmacist?  So am I!  And writers often write about what they know.  I’ve spent a lot of years as one: first in retail, then in manufacturing, then back to school for an advanced clinical degree.  Then I spent years in specialized clinical patient management and drug study management.  Wow, where did the time go?

Anyway, I thought it was time for a pharmacist to be the hero, albeit a flawed hero, but someone who takes control of his life when things go terribly wrong.  Why can’t a pharmacist save the day and live to tell about it?  And why isn’t a pharmacist portrayed as the protagonist more often?

To answer that, I had to dig back through the cobwebs of my brain.  Came up empty: no pharmacists as protagonists (except for my character, of course).  So I went to the Internet and found reference to a Law and Order episode where the pharmacist was a murderer.  He was diluting cancer drugs to make extra money to donate to his church.  Really??  Probably that was one of those “ripped from the headlines” episodes about that Kansas City pharmacist who diluted drugs for extra profit, as he explained, “They were going to die anyway”.

Then there’s George (who dated Bree on Desperate Housewives) and who switched the heart meds of Bree’s husband out of spite.  And who can forget the pharmacist character on The Family Guy who came to his kid’s school to discuss career choices and then started telling all about the embarrassing illnesses the other kids’ parents had.  Didn’t see that one, but wished I had.  Anyway, these characters are secondary and not presented as having good, memorable character traits.  They’re often nerdy, awkward, backward people.

So, in short, I found no pharmacist protagonists and no pharmacist heroes (except for one short reference to John Wayne playing a gun slinging druggist).  Maybe you guys can come up with something I missed?  I hope so, because in my experience I’ve come across some neat people as pharmacists.  They’re caring, thoughtful, courageous people who I can visualize “stepping up to the plate” if the need arises, both for themselves as well as for others.

Possibly it’s because of the type of pharmacy I ultimately practiced: advanced clinical practice with more direct patient interaction and a more collaborative approach involving a team of medical professionals: the physician, the nurse, the pharmacist, as well as an array of other healthcare professionals working together to bring patients back to normal.

The ultimate question is, do I actually have a unique character?  A sophisticated, successful health professional whose past shortcomings give him the scrappy personality to fight back when someone threatens to take away all that he’s worked so hard to achieve?  Sounds like it to me.

But would my novel be more believable if the protagonist was a cop or a federal agent?  Maybe so, but that would be true only if my pharmacist character hadn’t done all those nasty things in Special Forces.  That levels the playing field some, and the black ops friend he associates with doesn’t hurt either.

The bottom line is: pharmacist or doctor, law enforcement guru or ordinary citizen, when the situation is believable enough for the protagonist to pick out the bad guys and have the courage and resources to fight back, then the starting profession is immaterial.  And so, a vigilante pharmacist?  Why not?  All a writer (like me) needs to do is weave the best fable he can.  And that’s really what good fiction is, a lie told so well that it’s believable.

Thoughts?  Comments?  I’m curious.  Let me know.

Posted in About James J. Murray, Pharmacists as Protagonists | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

What Drug is the Perfect Murder Weapon?

Posted on April 4, 2012 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Did I really just ask that?  You have to believe me, I’m not crazed or vindictive and don’t have a criminal streak in me.  What I am, though, is a fiction writer.  I write about murder, mayhem and medicine (usually all three mixed together) and that stimulates lots of thoughts about the perfect crime.  In fact, planning the perfect crime has been churning inside my head for a few days now and I just had to blog about it.  So back to that question: What drug would a killer use to create the perfect murder?

Before I answer that, let me take a minute to give a general disclaimer.  DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME WITHOUT SUPERVISION.  Scratch that!!  Simply, DON’T TRY THIS!  My novels are all about what if’s and this is just another one of those “I’m just saying” things.  So, let’s get back to the matter at hand.

If I were to develop a plot around the perfect drug as a murder weapon, what would I use?  There are a number of possibilities, (and some of my murder mystery friends are probably already thinking of a few).  Let’s first narrow down the field.  Anything that would leave telltale trace should be eliminated right away.  Agreed?

For instance, a strong tranquilizer like Valium would leave lots of evidence in the blood.  We have to find a drug that either leaves no metabolite trace or one that is indigenous to the body anyway.  Let’s discuss that first possibility: leaving no metabolite trace.

What is a metabolite anyway?  By definition, it’s a byproduct of the body’s metabolism.  It’s what’s left after the body breaks down a substance into either smaller components or changes it (the drug) into other chemicals.  Like when we eat an egg (made up of protein, carbs and fat), our bodies break down that omelet into components that it can use for fuel and the rest is eliminated.

The same thing happens with drugs.  They’re broken down into metabolites (the breakdown products) and those byproducts circle around in blood and provide a therapeutic (or toxic) effect until we eliminate them (usually through the kidneys).

So what drug leaves no metabolite trace?  The simple answer is NONE.  Nothing came to mind as I wrote this blog and a quick Internet search revealed no new epiphany, except for a couple of fictional drugs concocted by mystery writers with more active imaginations than mine.

And with that we’re left with our second possibility: a drug that may leave behind metabolites, but only ones that are normal to the body.  There are several possibilities, but two come to mind that are excellent.

The first is succinylcholine (SUX for short).  It’s a neuromuscular paralytic drug.  In short, it causes ALL the muscles in the body to be paralyzed.  They simply stop functioning, including those used for breathing.  So without medical help, a person given a dose of SUX will stop breathing and asphyxiate.  That happens in a matter of seconds and certainly less than a minute after a person is injected with the drug.  That’s why it’s used in anesthesia.  It helps doctors get those breathing tubes down the throat easier during surgeries.  It’s a wonderfully effective drug and fast acting, but the bad news is that while the drug is working (causing ALL muscles to stop functioning) the person remains wide awake with no sedative effect.  So it’s an agonizing death for sure.

Why would SUX make a great murder weapon?  Because it metabolizes (gets broken down by the body) almost immediately into the byproducts succinic acid and choline, both of which are normal to the body.  So at autopsy, minutely elevated levels of these chemicals are the only evidence of the crime, and a toxicologist could easily overlook the slightly abnormal blood chemistry.  It would be difficult to prove murder without corroborating evidence linking the actual injection to the perpetrator.

The second drug that could make the perfect murder weapon is potassium chloride.  This drug specifically is used for patients with low levels of potassium in their blood.  And, when dosed, the drug simply is metabolized into potassium and chloride, both of which are normally in the body.  But what about elevated blood levels of these components, you ask?  Good question!  You’re paying attention.

The simple answer is found in the effects of a potassium chloride overdose.  It causes severe heart arrhythmias and mimics a heart attack.  In a matter of minutes, the heart spasms out of control and then simply stops functioning in what’s called SCD (sudden cardiac death).  Now that alone is enough to kill but what about those pesky elevated blood levels of potassium.  No problem, because whenever any muscle tissue is damaged (and the heart is muscle tissue), unusually large amounts of potassium are released into the bloodstream.  So a medical examiner would likely list the cause of death as a fatal heart attack.

But the murderer would have to choose carefully which potassium chloride to use.  It would have to be ONLY the injected kind.  The pills that are available from pharmacy shelves wouldn’t work because of the failsafe system we have in our GI tracts to prevent overdoses from unusually large intakes of oral potassium.  The over the counter supplements would just pass through our gut without being absorbed.  The injectable liquid, however, all goes to provide a therapeutic, or lethal, effect.

So there you have it, a BONUS.  Not one but two great drug choices for the perfect murder.  Is it any wonder that the prison system uses both of these drugs in the trio cocktail mix for lethal injections?  Happy writing as you plot the next perfect crime.

Thoughts?  Comments?  I’d love to hear them.

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