Writing About Death (So You Don’t Have To)
Dr. Ashely Alker on turning worst-case scenarios into practical wisdom
As an emergency medicine physician, Ashely Alker has come face-to-face with things most of us prefer not to imagine, from flesh-eating bacteria to the work of a serial killer to more mundane but no less deadly dangers.
That rare perspective is what animates 99 Ways to Die and How to Avoid Them, her debut book about how to outsmart a wide range of potentially fatal situations and conditions. Both funny and practical, the book combines Dr. Alker’s experience in the ER with her tremendous storytelling ability to demystify danger without sensationalizing it.
In her Author Insider Questionnaire, Ashely reflects on writing between ER shifts, editing as an act of endurance, and what it takes to get a nonfiction book out into the world (without dying in the process).
21 Questions with Ashely Alker
1. I couldn’t have written my last book without…
My patients.
2. What’s the thing most people get wrong about being a writer?
A lot of the work isn’t writing. Much of the writing is editing, and there is a large amount of marketing and post-publication engagement.
3. Hemingway wrote standing up; Edith Wharton, lying down. What are your quirks?
I write in the morning, at my desk, between emergency department shifts. I guess my quirk is that I wrote pregnant.
4. Do you read your reviews?
Yes, religiously…Every. Single. One. Goodreads, Amazon, the opinion of an angry person on a street corner. It’s pathological.
5. What income streams make up your writing business?
We get paid!?!
6. Kiss, marry, kill: podcasts, newsletters, and speaking gigs.
Kiss speaking gigs, marry podcasts, kill newsletters.
7. Is there a book you wish you’d written?
Harry Potter, A Brief History of Time, The Sun Also Rises, The Handmaid’s Tale, the list is very long. Not that I’m capable of the feats of literal giants, but rather I would love to be as brilliantly creative and organized as those minds.
8. Have any tech tools made your job easier?
Spellcheck. I can’t spell. Don’t tell ennyone.
9. What new tools or distribution channels do you want to try?
I have thoughts of starting a Substack, but I want to kill newsletters, so there is some cognitive dissonance there.
10. How do you keep track of new ideas?
Notes which are scattered everywhere: my iPhone notes app, texts to myself, post-its, the back of a Target receipt. It’s not a great system.
11. What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever received?
Most of success is just showing up, especially after failures.
12. And the worst?
It’s a waste of time to remember bad advice.
13. What is the one piece of advice you would give to recent graduates who want to make a living as writers?
No matter what you choose to do, your success will depend on perseverance. All you need is one yes.
That one yes is easier to get when you have the right insights, tools, and community. Author Insider shares real talk and proven strategies from people who’ve been there.
Get behind-the-scenes publishing insights, tactical advice, and conversations that help you stay in it for the long haul.
14. Whose career do you most admire and why?
In my genre, Lisa Sanders. She was a pioneer in the medical humanities as a physician-author with her own New York Times column, which was the basis for the TV show House. She has worked on TV shows, created documentaries, and is a brilliant writer. She’s also one of the first female doctors to be successful in this way.
15. What’s on your nightstand right now?
A large number of precariously stacked books (Includes: Everything is Tuberculosis, Replaceable You, Beautiful World, Where Are You?, Working Stiff, How to Raise Kids Who Aren’t Assholes, On Writing, Just The Funny Parts, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, The Woman Destroyed)
A picture of my family when I was young
Ibuprofen (I turn forty this year.)
A small box of my mom’s ashes
A coaster next to a water ring
16. How did you find your agent?
I evaluated the most successful nonfiction agents on Publisher’s Marketplace and looked at agents for books in my genre. I submitted my book proposal to anyone I was interested in, and spoke to a handful of agents, before I found Larry Weissman and Sascha Alper, and there’s no one better.
17. How many drafts before you show your editor?
2–3, but I never stop editing. Apparently, the bad pages usually have about 50 total edits; I sent back 800 edits. Needless to say, my editor cut me off after that. But I still edit when I read my book.
18. Can you describe your ideal workday?
Morning shift in the emergency department, save a life, get off on time, go home, work out, shower, spend time with my family, eat a healthy dinner, get a full night’s sleep.
19. How does that compare to your actual workday?
Night shift, help people, get off two hours late, go home, lie on the floor, answer 30 emails, wash face, spend time with family, eat something edible, get woken up twice by my ten-month-old, what time is it?
20. What do you wish you’d known when you were starting out?
It’s best to start PR and marketing at least 6 months before publication.
21. What is your new book about?
The book is a historical, social, and scientific look at 99 ways to die and how to avoid these untimely deaths.
To learn more about Dr. Ashely Alker, visit her website. Her book, 99 Ways to Die and How to Avoid Them, is available now.
One of Many
Author Insider publishes conversations like this regularly, plus interviews with publishing insiders and bestselling authors, reporting on industry trends, and strategies to help establish and grow a writing career.
If you’re curious, you can check us out here.
Until next time,
Panio Gianopoulos
Editorial Director, Author Insider & The Next Big Idea Club
Want to make a living as a writer?
Author Insider is for writers who take their craft—and their careers—seriously. Get behind-the-scenes publishing insights, tactical advice, and conversations that help you stay in it for the long haul. Subscribe for free, or upgrade to paid to access our live workshops and expert interviews.
 | A guest post by
|
This was so helpful and practical and your workspace is beautiful! Super inspiring as I have the current mantra in only takes one yes on loop 🤣