PeterHogenkampWrites

You might wonder why I am posting this blog about New Year's Resolutions on January 18th. Perhaps you were thinking I have been meaning to do it, but ended up procrastinating until after more than half the month is over. Good thought, but no. (And I have resolved previously never to procrastinate.) The real reason is I heard on John Tesh's radio show (so it has to be true, right?) that this is about the date the average person gives up on their New Year's resolutions.  It's true; most New Year's Resoltutions have the shelf life of unrefrigerated fish. The reason for this is that they are either: 1) poorly thought out; 2) too invloved; 3) wholly unrealsitic; 4) completely out of character for the person making them. Don't follow? Here are some examples (all taken from my patients, who shall remains nameless.) Example one: a guy, who lives entirely on fast food, resolving to make all of his own meals. He lasted a few days. Example two; a woman, with no previous hi

  The road unfurls in front of us like a tightly wound string from a coil, waving back and forth, back and forth, as we drive slowly over the graded gravel surface, tires crunching lightly against the stones. We're--my mother and I, that is--somewhere north of Bridgewater, Vermont, on a back road, with no destination in mind other than wherever we end up. It's a Sunday afternoon in August, the blue skies are clotted with white clouds, and the smell of hay wafts in through the open windows. Life is good. I started taking these drives with my mother several years ago--after she gave up her driving license--and I think we have been on every back road in Central Vermont since. There is something about driving the back roads that we love; could be a lot of things, I suppose. Like today we ran into a moose (not literally, but it was close) eating leaves on the side of the brook paralleling the road. We saw a black bear last week, scurrying across the road just east of Killington. A f

\ Or just click on the Amazon link:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088JN41PH If you want to stay caught up with me, make sure to follow the blog, or click on this link,  Peter's Author Website , to check out my website. Make sure to enter your e-mail when prompted to join my mailing list as well. If you would like to read one of my books (or gift one to a friend) click on the link to  Peter's Amazon Page  and you can order them right from there. And, as always, thanks for your support. Cheers, peter Peter Hogenkamp is a practicing physician, public speaker and author of fiction living in  Rutland, Vermont. Peter’s writing credits include  The Intern  (TouchPoint Press, April, 2020); The Vatican Conspiracy  (Bookouture/HachetteUK, October, 2020), and  The Vatican Secret (Bookouture/HachetteUK, April 2021.) He can be found on his  Author Website  as well as his personal blog,  Peter Hogenkamp Writes  where he writes about most anything. Peter is the creator, producer and host of  Yo

  We all want the pandemic to be over, don't we? <nod head> Well, we have a way out of this god-forsaken mess--it's called the Covid-19 vaccine. Want to find out more? <nod head>  Good, click on the arrow above. Wants the Reader's Digest version? <shake head> Good, click on the arrow above. But if you are in a tearing hurry (to go where? I ask you, as were in the middle of a pandemic) remember this. All the vaccines either currently approved or shortly to be approved offer near complete protection against serious disease, defined as either hospitalization and/or death. What does that mean? It means that, once vaccinated, the worst outcome for those few who might still catch Covid is a mild viral illness, which you have had many times previously in your lifetime. Don't get lost in the various numbers representing the different efficacy rates for the different vaccines to prevent all Covid disease. Frankly, I don't care if I get a cold, and likely ne

I started my first novel when I was forty. My wife and I had three kids at the time (the fourth  came two years later) and we had just decided to start our own medical practice. I used to write  late at night on weekends and early in the morning before work, mostly because I had no other  time but also because I was trying to keep the whole thing a secret from my wife. She found out  a few months later, however, coming downstairs on a Saturday night catching me scribbling into  a green wire-bound notebook. She kissed me on the cheek and went back to bed, but I wished  she had told me the following four things, because it took me years to learn the hard way. 1) Writing is the biggest black hole of time ever created. Entire weekends can disappear at the keyboard. Ask yourself a question before you start a book: Do I have this kind of time? (And then do it anyway.) 2) It takes a long, long time to break through. I thought I knew this, but I really didn’t. Sit down, strap in and hang on. 3

I started writing when I was ten (46 years ago!) and in that time I have spent a lot of time thinking about how cool it would be to be interviewed about my craft as a writer. Well, bucket list check time.  Make sure to follow the blog, or click on this link,  Peter's Author Website , to check out my website. Please enter your e-mail when prompted to join my mailing list as well. If you would like to read one of my books (or gift one to a friend) click on the link to  Peter's Amazon Page  and you can order them right from there. And, as always, thanks for your support. Cheers, peter Peter Hogenkamp is a practicing physician, public speaker and author of fiction living in  Rutland, Vermont. Peter’s writing credits include  The Intern  (TouchPoint Press, April, 2020);  The Vatican Conspiracy  (Bookouture/HachetteUK, October, 2020), and  The Vatican Secret (Bookouture/HachetteUK, April 2021.) He can be found on his  Author Website  as well as his personal blog,  Peter Hogenkamp Wri