Meet Anthony Lee

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anthony Lee a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Anthony, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

That’s easy. My mother instilled a valuable work ethic in me.

I don’t recall the exact age she taught me to work hard and never give up, but it had to have been a very young age. I remember being a smart boy in elementary school who took learning and schoolwork seriously. Even around that time, I never forgot about my mother emphasizing the importance of looking toward the future, especially with my awareness of our financial constraints. Regardless of the fact that I was just a kid, I knew that the ultimate purpose of studying hard was to prepare for whatever steady career could ensure, on a basic level, job stability and financial security. This mindset certainly continued throughout high school and college. I have included my college graduation photo here to remind myself how far I came from those humble beginnings.

Beyond that, I had attended and graduated medical school, expecting to be a practicing physician. I discovered the hard way that it was not a good fit for me. Thankfully, my work ethic has served me well on a different career path right after that. The last thing I would apply my work ethic to is my passion for writing novels, something that I started only recently.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

As a novelist, I write medical thriller fiction. This is the genre that was popularized by physician author Robin Cook, along with others such as Michael Crichton, Michael Palmer, and Tess Gerritsen. New medical thriller authors have continued to pop up here and there, whether through traditional mainstream publishing with major book publishers or through independent publishing (which includes self-publishing). With my medical background, passion for reading thriller stories, and a flair for putting ideas down clearly into words, I knew I wanted to write and share my own medical thriller tales.

It didn’t matter how many other authors were writing medical thrillers. I just knew that I wanted to join this crowd because I believed I could tell stories that are highly original and do so in unique ways. Conventional thrillers, including medical thrillers, are generally seen as nothing more than popcorn entertainment. I, on the other hand, see the potential for adding thematic depth and character analysis to such a story. Yes, it is true that such elements are associated with literary fiction, but I don’t believe in pigeonholing stories of any sort. If genres can be blended to create something so fresh, why not?

I’ve only published two medical thrillers novels to date (Doctor Lucifer and Toxic Minds) and am working on my third. But the notion of being an emerging voice in my chosen genre who can possibly make a huge creative impact keeps me inspired. It’s so cool to see my books alongside other thriller novels I have read and still keep on my bookshelf. I continue to strive toward the same success that other authors have achieved. This is my bold journey as a novelist.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I would say that my journey as a novelist is made possible because of the following three things:

1. Loving What I Do

From personal experience and that of others, I know for a fact that enjoying the thing I’m doing is the first step in being able to do it. When there are many things in the process to appreciate and feel good about, it keeps me going. When I’m writing my novel, doing research for it, editing it, and finally publishing it for the world, I am loving every part that goes into the end result, not just the end result itself. It is not possible to be a good writer if I don’t enjoy the process of writing, because the displeasure will discourage me. This goes for anything else in life.

In fact, I have a banner on a wall at home with a quote from Buddha, saying that happiness is the key to success, not the other way around.

2. Moving Past the Obstacles and Naysayers

Before I decided to self-publish my books, I tried to query literary agents in hopes that one will agree to represent me and present my work to major publishers. I was never able to get an agent, even after querying over a hundred during a period of about one and a half years. Then I told myself that if self-publishing is truly my only option, I’m going to do it and I’m going to do it well.

I also found myself encountering readers and critics who had criticisms of the books I wrote. It’s often disheartening because I put so much work into it and they don’t seem to understand what I’m doing as an author. While there can be value in taking constructive feedback to heart, I also remind myself that there are readers and critics who love what I’ve written and totally get my writing style and content. Advice to everyone: focus more on what you believe in and the many people who understand, not the few who don’t.

3. Striving to Be Among the Best

Think of that old song that goes, “Anything you can do, I can do better.” Now, I’m not saying that it’s OK to taunt others making the same kind of journey you are. I bring this up as a reminder that, when you are striving toward success, find a way to stand out from the crowd. Being able to do what everyone else can do, or doing it equally well, is acceptable. But doing something new, with an unconventional approach, or otherwise at a level that exceeds expectations will undoubtedly get people’s attention. (See the previous question above for my example related to my writing.)

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh significantly changed my perspective on the meaning of success and happiness.

Published in 2010, the book is the author’s business memoir about co-founding and running the online retailer Zappos, from its humble beginnings to its eventual sale to Amazon. The striking thing is how he, as CEO of Zappos, went above and beyond to make customers happy with unconventional perks and to make employees happy with nontraditional fun and games at the workplace. He believed that happiness drove success for the business as a whole.

Hsieh’s philosophy could be summed up with the three P’s: Profits, Passion, and Purpose. Making profit provides a basic minimal level of happiness. Having joy in the thing you do for profit takes the concept to the next level. Being driven by a mission bigger than oneself is the ultimate way to achieve happiness, because good things happen when benefits are widespread. I definitely apply this to myself as an author. I don’t want to just sell books and enjoy writing them. I also want to leave the world with a set of literature that they can enjoy reading and thinking about long after reading the last page.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://anthonyleebooks.com

Image Credits

Anthony Lee