The story is first of all an adventure story about a life and death struggle and what that does to the people involved, but it’s also about love, betrayal, redemption and ultimately how we find our way in the world. 

David Sklar – 25 October 2022

The Back Flap

How far would you go to save someone you barely knew, if it put your own life in danger?

When Andrew, an American medical student, decides to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro with a group of international travelers, he’s looking forward to the adventure. But when the climb takes an unexpected turn, it forces the climbers to confront their deepest fears—and each other.

In the middle of the night, just a few hours from the summit, Barry, one of Andrew’s fellow climbers, becomes deathly ill. As the only one with medical expertise, Andrew feels responsible for Barry’s fate. Saving Barry means risking his own life, but failing to act will compromise his values as a healer and human being. It doesn’t help that he’s falling for Barry’s climbing companion and girlfriend, a beautiful Peace Corps volunteer whose free spirit makes methodical, meticulous Andrew feel alive.

All of the climbers are haunted by their choices during that terrifying night and its aftermath…but Andrew, most of all. Torn between descending Africa’s highest peak in the dark to save a near-stranger, or fulfilling his dream of reaching the summit, Andrew must choose. And in the wake of his choice, his life will change forever.

About the book

What is the book about?

Moonstone Hero is about what happens when a group of international travelers who are attempting to climb Mount Kilimanjaro encounter a medical crisis of one of their party in the middle of the night at 15,000 feet. Three members of the group, an American medical student, an African porter and the young man dying from high altitude pulmonary edema take off in the darkness and snow hoping to get to safety. The book explores the physical and psychological struggles of risking one’s life for another, particularly a stranger, and some of the unexpected consequences that a life and death encounter has on all the people involved.

When did you start writing the book?

I began thinking about the ideas that would go into the book in 2018 and 2019 because as an emergency physician I thought about how rarely I have actually saved someone’s life who would otherwise have died. That was one of the motivators for my entering that field of emergency medicine some forty years before, but as I thought about it I could only think of twenty or thirty cases where I felt that I had made that difference and in most of the cases I did not really know the person and the person did not know me. However, the incident in Africa that inspired the Moonstone Hero was quite different in terms of the personal decision to participate, the time spent together and the closeness that developed.  When COVID arrived in 2020, my emergency physician colleagues were routinely putting their lives in danger for people they did not know. That got me thinking about the courage it took for them to walk through the hospital doors day after day knowing they could become infected with COVID as they tried to save an unfortunate person who arrived on death’s door. And I realized that what they were doing and feeling was probably not so different from what I had experienced on the mountain and that perhaps I could gain some insight by writing about it and ultimately sharing it.

How long did it take you to write it?

I would estimate that I wrote the book over about a two or three year period with a few breaks to revise.

Where did you get the idea from?

The initial idea as I mentioned above was from a personal experience I had on Mount Kilimanjaro as a medical student.  I imagined many “what if” questions as I developed the idea, and the book ended up being somewhat different from what I originally intended or even what actually happened. While the book is based upon an actual event, it is ultimately fictitious.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

I had some trouble with the ending in that I wanted to also explore the idea of how a story and the message of the story evolves over time depending upon the audience, and how the story and the audience can also change the storyteller. So there are some new characters that are introduced in the epilogue to try to accomplish that.

What came easily?

Probably writing about the terror and the sense of death encroaching from all sides on the top of the mountain was the easiest to write. It’s strange to say that, but I guess I will never forget those emotions and bizarre conversations that occurred. Although I was reconstructing memories from more than 40 years ago, the images in my mind were still quite sharp.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

The characters were partly based upon my recollection of the people I met while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, but the characters in the story are fictional characters with attributes and personalities that I have created and should not be confused with any of the people who actually were on the climb with me.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

I think one is always influenced by authors you are reading at the time you are writing. I was reading Anthony Doerr, Colum McCann, Kazuo Ishiguro when I was writing the book. Each is a wonderful storyteller, and I especially like how they can bring a story together from a variety of what may seem like unconnected, disparate pieces. Perhaps there are influences from them in the writing.

Do you have a target reader?

The story is first of all an adventure story about a life and death struggle and what that does to the people involved, but it’s also about love, betrayal, redemption and ultimately how we find our way in the world. These are all basic elements of life that we can all relate to. So I hope that Moonstone Hero will find its way into the hands of those who like adventure stories or romances as well as anyone looking for a deeper examination of what motivates us to take risks and help others and what that might mean for us as individuals and as a society.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

Well, I have a process when I start but it often seems to go in directions that I did not anticipate. Since I am working at other jobs, I have to make sure I have adequate time to clear my mind and give myself to the writing and the story. This usually means that I must set aside at least four hours in a day to make any progress and I find that I do best writing every day once I’m in a groove. It’s tough to start and stop. I often will write in the evening or on weekends. Every time you make a change in a character or an event you have to go back to the beginning and make other changes so it’s important to maintain the flow if possible.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

Yes and no. I usually have a rough outline of the story and characters and the key elements that will occur, but I seem to change that as I’m writing because the writing process itself suggests directions that I had not considered in the outline. I’ve found that letting my mind go where it will is helpful and that I should not try to control the creative directions that the writing may take.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

Mostly, I edit after I’ve finished a section and try to do so for consistency. I also do a lot of editing and rewriting when a draft is finished. But I try not to do much editing as I am getting my first draft down because I can lose focus on the story as I work on fixing details. I find that my first draft is usually not very good, though it does get down most important elements, and that the drafts improve over time.  I try to get trusted readers (friends and family) to help with my various drafts.

Did you hire a professional editor?

Yes, since I am responsible for the publication process and responsible for the ultimate quality of it, I have to make sure everything about the book is finished and ready for publication. So I hired a professional editor to review various drafts until she felt that the book was ready for publication and then used another editor to review the book and see whether she agreed with the first editor. The second editor also looked for inconsistencies in characters or details and any grammar or spelling issues that had not been previously picked up. Then, the book made its way to a third editor who proofread the whole thing.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

I do sometimes listen to music while writing often to help get me in the right mood. If it gets distracting, I’ll turn it off. Often music without words is less distracting than music with lyrics unless it’s something I’ve heard many times before. I’m a fan of the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Bright Eyes, U2, Ludovico Einaudi, Supremes. Lots of 60s and 70s music mostly because it’s familiar and doesn’t distract me.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

No.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

The entire publishing world has changed so much in the past 10-20 years so that writers can now avoid the layers of delay and expense to work through agents and publishers and instead control the process themselves with some help from professionals who understand the business. As a former medical journal editor, I am familiar with the process of writing, submitting, reviewing, revising and publishing articles. It can take years for the process to be complete and in many cases decisions by reviewers may be inconsistent or wrong. While peer review is not perfect it generally gives every article and every author a chance, which is not true for the book publishing process. This is still an insider’s game and even if one finds a publisher there is no guarantee that the book will be marketed effectively to reach its audience. I have friends who are excellent writers with wonderful books who have not been “discovered” because of inadequate investment in marketing. So by taking an independent path I can make sure that the book gets out to the audience for which it was intended.  You still have to produce a good book and get good reviews but if you can do that the book can then be marketed in many new and creative ways to become successful.

I had an agent for my first book, La Clinica, and it was published by University of New Mexico Press. But the Press had little money to market it and the audience it reached was limited. So I decided that I would try another route with my second book, Atlas of Men since by then I had more experience and there were more options to consider. That worked out well and after that I was sold.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

The cover was done professionally, although I worked with the artist and suggested possible options. I learned from Atlas of Men where I actually had to go through two cover designs that a cover can disqualify the book from being advertised on Amazon if it does not meet certain specifications.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I have a marketing team that is advising me on how to do the marketing and I am involved in all decisions.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

First make sure the book is good in every way you can, through independent feedback and reviews. Then get the book into perfect shape with the help of editors and proofreaders and get the technical support you need to get the book into print and e-book. Then find experienced marketing experts who can get the book out into the world and create the buzz it will need to be recognized by its audience. A lot of this will require resources that not everyone has and it’s important to investigate that aspect. And even if you do everything right, luck and timing play a part so it’s important not to be discouraged.  You write because you feel that you have something to say and share and you can’t control what happens after the book leaves your hands.

About You

Where did you grow up?

I grew up just outside of Boston.

Where do you live now?

Now, I live in Phoenix, Arizona.

What would you like readers to know about you?

I’m an emergency physician and professor who teaches undergraduates, graduate students and emergency medicine residents in Arizona and New Mexico. I have always loved teaching and try to emphasize the importance of learning the patient’s story before jumping to order tests or treatments. The current medical environment can become dominated by technology and sometimes the patient’s voice can get lost. In Moonstone Hero we take a step back in time and have to struggle with a patient’s medical problem without the help of technology. What will the people on the mountain be able to do with just their hands and hearts?

What are you working on now?

I am trying to better integrate patient stories into the cases we develop to teach medical students. I think that if we did that, our medical students would come out of training with a better balance between the science of medicine and art of medicine.

I’m also working on an article about how misinformation about COVID made the pandemic worse than it might have been and what we can do to avoid this in the future.

End of Interview:

For more from David Sklar, visit his website.

Get your copy of Moonstone Hero from Amazon US or Amazon UK.