Balancing Writing and Medicine with Lydia Kang

2021-06-09

Author Lydia Kang balances two careers: In addition to writing adult and young adult fiction, as well as nonfiction, she’s also a doctor. Lydia never thought of herself as a writer, though she was intrigued by writing, until she began to use it to deal with some of her experiences on the job, which eventually led her to try fiction. Her novels include The Impossible Girl and Opium and Absinthe, and one of the things we talk about today is how her nonfiction work has influenced her fiction. We also talk about writing about pandemics, her move from the E...

Author Lydia Kang balances two careers: In addition to writing adult and young adult fiction, as well as nonfiction, she’s also a doctor. Lydia never thought of herself as a writer, though she was intrigued by writing, until she began to use it to deal with some of her experiences on the job, which eventually led her to try fiction. Her novels include The Impossible Girl and Opium and Absinthe, and one of the things we talk about today is how her nonfiction work has influenced her fiction. We also talk about writing about pandemics, her move from the East Coast to Nebraska, and how her writing and her medical practice balance each other out.

Episode breakdown:

00:00 Introduction

02:15 Lydia Kang and Nancy Norbeck on fading public memory of significant events.

05:45 Predicting future remembrance of the COVID-19 pandemic.

09:30 Speculating on the future of pandemic-related publishing.

12:05 Pandemics’ universality vs. 9/11’s localized impact.

16:10 Deciding on a blog focus.

18:45 Lydia's journey into writing, blogging in late 2000s.

22:30 Combining medical expertise with writing.

25:55 Struggling with professional identity in writing and medicine.

30:40 Family support and balancing careers.

33:15 Writing during COVID-19 and cautious hope for the future.