PHOTO: Lin Wilder, award-winning novelist, pictured at her home in the Texas Hill Country where she lives with her husband and dogs.
Exploring Fiction Faith And The Human Condition
Lin Wilder reflects on her transformation from healthcare leader to award-winning novelist, weaving medical mysteries, historical epics, and spiritual journeys into stories that illuminate conscience, justice, and the timeless struggles of humanity.
Lin Wilder’s literary journey is one born out of transformation and resilience. With a distinguished career in academic health care, she spent decades immersed in cardiopulmonary physiology, ethics, and hospital administration before turning to fiction. What began as a painful departure from her role as a hospital director became the opening of an entirely new path—one where long-suppressed dreams could take form on the page.
Her work moves deftly between contemporary medical thrillers and sweeping historical novels, bound together by a deep concern with truth, morality, and the enduring complexity of human nature. In her Lindsey McCall series, she draws from her scientific expertise to craft mysteries at once intellectually rigorous and emotionally charged, while her ancient novels—such as I, Claudia and The Reluctant Queen—reimagine biblical and classical figures with remarkable intimacy and empathy.
Wilder’s writing reflects both intellectual discipline and spiritual searching. Her memoir, Finding the Narrow Path, reveals the personal journey behind the fiction: one of estrangement from faith and eventual return, illuminating the sources of conviction that shape her work. Even in her most controversial or challenging narratives, she writes with courage, compelled not by trend but by an inner demand to give voice to characters and questions that matter.
Today, living in the Texas Hill Country with her husband and dogs, Lin Wilder continues to write with a rare blend of scholarly precision and timeless storytelling. Her novels remind us that whether set in a modern hospital or in the courts of kings, the struggles of conscience, love, justice, and belief are ever the same.
What inspired you to shift from academic healthcare writing to fiction, particularly medical mysteries and historical novels?
Getting fired from myposition as Hospital Director at the UMass Medical Center didn’t feel like a gift. These painful things never do. But the newly opened doors of timeand opportunity kindled an undergraduate dream of writing fiction. An investigative journalist, I decided, could work as a foil for revealing the good, bad, and ugly aspects of American medicine.
However, the switch from non-fiction to fiction was daunting. Fiction required a wholly different system of writing than I was accustomed to. It took months to learn that I had to cede control to the characters.
I hadn’t planned to write a series, but once I’d published the 2nd edition of The Fragrance Shed By a Violet, I missed the characters: They felt real.
Furthermore, a haunting experience as a juror in the trial of a young man accused of sexual abuse of a childaround that time shattered my concept of justice. I felt compelled to write about it as a warning. Hence, Do You Solemnly Swear? A Nation of Law, The Dark Side
My switch to writing historical fictionwasn’t planned. However, ever since my conversion to Catholic Christianity, I sympathized with Pontius Pilate. On a hike one day in the mountains, that sympathycoalesced into the decision to write his story. Immersed in that ancient world, returning there feelsoddly comfortable. Chronology and culture aside, the struggles, fears, and joys of our ancient ancestors are no different from our own.
How did your background in cardiopulmonary physiology and medical ethics influence the creation of Dr. Lindsey McCall?
We write what we know. Years of clinical experience coupled with research andpublishing have made the intricate designs of our cardiopulmonary systems both familiar and awe-inspiring. One can never tire of pondering the brilliant architecture of our physiology.
Fear of litigation is one of the primary concerns of American physicians. While Chair of the Institutional Ethics Committee, physicians frequently came to us for support when withdrawing life-extending technology.
The story of an MD/PhD cardiologist who reconfigured the molecular makeup of Digitalis to eliminate its toxic side effects after decades of failure conforms to the rare personality of a genius. That she gets indicted and convicted for intentional murder for use before its FDA approval adds complexity and credibility to the story.
What kind of research did you undertake when writing I, Claudia and The Reluctant Queen, and how do you balance fact with fiction?
In college, I studied Greek and Roman mythology,so some of the non-fictional books I returned to were familiar, like Edith Hamilton. For both books, I researched the Peloponnesian Wars heavily. The historical revisionof the Greeks is intriguing.
Your memoir Finding the Narrow Path is deeply personal—what compelled you to share that spiritual journey publicly?
Your word “compelled” is accurate. A good friend extracted a promise to write about my conversion from atheism to Catholic Christianity. A Catholic from birth, she believed my story needed to be accessible to others.
Writing about the conversion wasn’t possible without delving into my background, all of it.
In Plausible Liars, you delve into highly controversial topics—how do you approach writing fiction that intersects with current social debates?
Carefully. I thought I was prepared for controversy, but not for the negative reactions of my editors. To say it was difficult for them and me is an understatement.
This book wasn’t my idea. I know that is a repeating refrain in this interview, but it’s the truth. The entire subject and the research I did to write it were an endurance test. Had it not been for a priest friend’sinsistence on the need for me to write the book, I’d never have considered it. The priest had many parishioners who were anguished about their transgender children or grandchildren.He was convinced my book could help them.
Having said that, however, I am grateful for the experience because the writing forced me to push aside my biases and prejudices to conceive of believable characters, people I could love.
Do you find it more creatively fulfilling to write contemporary medical thrillers or ancient historical fiction?
Interesting question, but I’ve no preference. I learned decades ago that unless the words are there, trying to write is merely wasting time. I say that because once the words flow, whether with a contemporary or ancient story, it’s an adventure. Earlier, I remarked about ceding control to the characters as something I had to learn. That’s true with the overall story as well. For example, my newest book is on the early life of King David. After two or three false starts on the book, the story will have significant sections on the prophet Samuel and King Saul. I didn’t expect that, but now it’s, “Of course!”
What challenges have you faced in sustaining two very different novel series, and how do you keep the characters evolving?
For a short time, I attempted to finish The Reluctant Queen and start Plausible Liars simultaneously. It did not work. I’m not capable of living in two worlds. So I don’t start a new one until its predecessor is complete.
The characters’ evolution: a story. While completing Malthus Revisited, I remarked to my husband that I couldn’t wait to see what Joe Cairns (a main character) would do. Stunned, my husband said, “You’re writing the book, what do you mean?”
What advice would you offer to other authors who are considering crossing genres or writing outside their professional background?
I was given the same advice by several well-meaning friends on writing the doctoral dissertation. They each advised me to pick a subject I didn’t care about, just get it done. Just get the degree. Iselected a topic I cared deeply about. If we’re going to spend years on a big goal, we want the experience to change us. If we emerge unscathed, why throw that precious time away?
Therefore, thinking of the person who writes about material they don’t know about, that was me writing Plausible Liars. In my case, I didn’t want to know about it.
To do a good job of it, we need to face our biases and prejudices, and fears. Doing that is hard work. But if we don’t do the work, the story’s in danger of being a bully pulpit. Or just as bad, the characters are unidimensional, without depth. Boring.
Crossing genres is not a big deal. If the idea’s in our writer’s head, it’s there for a reason.Once I stopped being intimidated by the “genre of historical fiction,” I got on with it.
