Physician preaches eyecare through fiction books

A Delaware ophthalmologist published a suspenseful murder-mystery novel that includes not-so-subtle messages about proper eyecare

The title page of Yumi’s Book of Eyes, a children’s book
Source: Robert Abel, Jr., M.D.



The book cover of Lethal Hindsight
Source: Robert Abel, Jr., M.D.

Like many ophthalmologists, Robert Abel, Jr., M.D., Wilmington, Del., wanted to reach the general public about eyecare. But Dr. Abel went about spreading this message in unique manner—by creating literary characters.
In January, Dr. Abel and his publisher, Xlibris, announced the release of his suspense thriller, Lethal Hindsight, in which the main character, an ophthalmologist named Lauren Chandler, stumbles into a plot after Washington, D.C., experiences a cataract epidemic.
Eyes are a unique body part in that people see through their eyes, and ophthalmologists can learn about a person by looking into his/her eyes, Dr. Abel said. For example, if a patient has an infectious disease in the cornea, that tells the ophthalmologist some about the patient’s social and environmental connections which contributed to that condition.
The novel takes that a step further that through a strange, fictious mechanism, a cataract epidemic could be created, he said.
In addition, Dr. Abel also has a children’s book, Lumi’s Book of Eyes, which incorporates one of his favorite hobbies other than writing, which is collecting photographs of animal eyes.
“Children get excited about animals,” Dr. Abel said. “And when children look at people or animals, the first thing they do is look into the eyes.”
The main character, Lumi, wears glasses and promotes glasses for children, but there also are messages for adults. The book also underscores the importance for children to have an eye exam by the time they are 5 years old.
The books are meant to be entertaining, but they provide advice on health and nutrition, “like the jimmies on top of an ice cream sundae,” he said.

Taking to the pen

Dr. Abel has had books published in the past, but those were non-fiction ophthalmic books. Writing such non-fiction or scientific papers, Dr. Abel said those are easier to outline.
“It’s like Dragnet: Just the facts, Ma’am,” he said. These research papers and books already provide a known premise from other studies and a predictable conclusion.
But writing a fiction novel is more time consuming and challenging because as the author, he knows the conclusion, but it is his job to lead the readers there through character and plot development.
“The endpoint is easy to define,” Dr. Abel said. “It is getting there that is the problem. As has once been said, ‘The wastebasket is a writer’s best friend.”
Dr. Abel has jotted down novel ideas in the past, and then he challenged himself to actually go through with one of his ideas.
One problem he faced while writing his book is that the ideas would come to him faster than he could type. And as someone use to dictating his thoughts in the office, he said he would suggest future novelists to employ some help such as a transcriber.
In all, it took about three years from start to publication, with the task of searching for an agent comprising about nine months – the largest chunk of time compared to any other task.
But Dr. Abel said he found the experience, though frustrating at times to be extremely rewarding.
“I’ve read the book eight times, and I never get bored,” he said. “I couldn’t believe I wrote it.”
Another hurdle in writing the book is finding the time to do it. The whole time he wrote the novel, he continued to keep his regular office hours, which meant he had to use his own free time and family time to write his book.
Medicine, literature, and messages
Ophthalmologists are predisposed to large reading loads considering all of the reading they had to do in medical school as well as keeping up with all of the new techniques and technology described in peer-review journals.
As an avid reader, Dr. Abel said he also read for enjoyment to break up the educational reading.
He said he decided to use this passion for the written word to spread a message that should hit home with every physician, how to promote health to prevent maladies.
“My main purpose for writing this book is not just to be seen on TV and become famous, but it is a great way to inform people about eyes,” Dr. Abel said. And many physicians use other methods outside of the office to spread similar messages; this is just his way of doing it.
Dr. Abel also said he was thankful to the field of ophthalmology because it provided him basis for this book as well as future books. That inspiration is to help improve people’s health, especially their vision.

Contact information

Abel: 302-479-3937, dra@delawareeyes.com