Guest Author Interview - Dr. Leonardo Noto

After last week's blitz we're returning to a slower pace this week. However I will be changing the slots to Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The interviews are proving popular enough with readers and authors to justify the extra post each week.

So today we meet Dr Leonardo Noto, read what he has to say in the interview below:

Please introduce yourself, who are you and what do you do?
I'm a former Army battalion surgeon turned author. I currently write questions for board review courses for the medical boards and I am also the author of three books: "The Life of a Colonial Fugitive," "Intrusive Memory," and "The Cannabinoid Hypothesis."

What first inspired you to start writing?
I initially started writing as a form of self-counseling during medical school. I am a survivor of horrendous child abuse at the hands of my mother and I have suffered from a severe case of PTSD since about age 13. My first book was my memoir, "Intrusive Memory," but I didn't work up the nerve to publish it until after I'd published two novels.

And what was your first story?
The first book that I published was "The Life of a Colonial Fugitive," an historical thriller that I completed while I was deployed in Iraq.

If you could write anybody's biography, whose would it be?
That's a difficult question to answer. My personal interests are broad, ranging from mixed martial arts, to history, to medicine. I'm a huge fan of Linus Pauling and Watson and Crick, all of whom are famous scientists who have won the Nobel Prize for their discoveries in biochemistry/medicine. Linus Pauling actually won two Nobel Prizes, which is absolutely amazing. I'm also a big fan Georges St. Pierre, the mixed martial arts fighter who is also an intelligent and decent person, a rare combination. My favorite journalist is Anderson Cooper, and I think that his biography would be very interesting to pen. I've been following Anderson Cooper's reporting since the 8th grade, when I watched him reporting in conflict zones on Channel 1 News.

What do you enjoy most about writing?
The freedom that it allows me to let my mind wander, the freedom that it allows me to devote my life to the pursuit of knowledge.

And the least?
Trying to pay the bills!

Do you listen to music while writing? If so, anything in particular?
No, but I play my guitar between writing sessions to clear my mind.

What advice would you give new and aspiring authors?
Don't give up...and don't quit your day job!

What are you working on at the moment?
A memoir entitled "Three Years in the Army: A Doctor's Journey in the Green Uniform." It's about sexual harassment and bullying in the Army and how the medical system is used to punish and question the sanity of victims and, ultimately, to get rid of them. I was very good at doing this as an Army doctor, something that I am deeply ashamed of in retrospect. On the "upside," I ended up dying by my own sword when these tactics were used against me, quite effectively used against me.

Visit my website: http://www.leonardonoto.com/
@DrLeonardoNoto on Twitter!

Book Links:

Intrusive Memory: http://www.amazon.com/Intrusive-Memory-Volume-Leonardo-Antony/dp/1478276924/

Cannabinoid Hypothesis: http://www.amazon.com/Cannabinoid-Hypothesis-Leonardo-Antony-Noto/dp/1475109644/

Thanks to Leonardo for sharing his thoughts with us, on Friday we welcome Thomas Rydder to the hot seat.