By Lisa Malice, Ph.D.
Skin cancer is no fun. It’s been eight
weeks since my dermatologist excised a quarter-sized piece of skin from my
right cheek to ensure I was melanoma-free. A plastic surgeon then spent more
than two hours repairing my face. I no longer look like the Bride of
Frankenstein, but the large L-shaped scar on my cheek—still red and puffy—does draw
some stares, leaving me pondering how I should respond when meeting up with
readers at book events. This question was on my mind during a two-hour drive to
discuss LEST SHE FORGET and my journey as a writer with a book club.
“You may be wondering why I resemble the Bride of Frankenstein. Well, I’m a storyteller, so I have a few tall tales to tell you. See if you can figure out which story is the truth.
“First, fiction writers go to
great lengths to bring authenticity to their stories. For me and my next
thriller, that meant going undercover in a women’s prison as an inmate. At the
end of my first week, I was ambushed by a gang of inmates. They said I was too
chummy with one of the guards and accused me of being a snitch. They branded me
by cutting an “S” into my cheek. I was sent to the infirmary, where the doctor
on staff did his best to cover up the mark, but we’ll just have to wait and
see.
“How about this? I love to play
golf, especially in Florida where frequent sightings of deer, birds, and other
animals add enjoyment to the round. One day I was on the tee of a par three,
when my drive sliced off to the right of the fairway. My ball plopped down next
to a pond. It was an impossible shot to the green. I bent down to pick it up.
Suddenly, a small alligator sprang out of the water and sank his teeth into my
cheek. He must not have liked the taste of my sun block, because he spat me
out, leaving behind a bloody, gaping wound that required more than 40 stitches.
“Finally, my husband, Lou, and I
love to sail, fish, and dive, so we decided to try spearfishing. We were
swimming around, eyeing the fish around a small reef, when we spotted a
grouper. Lou took a shot, but his aim wasn’t great. His spear ricocheted off a
thick piece of coral and headed towards me. I twisted out of the way as best as
I could but still got clipped in the cheek. With blood gushing from my face, we
made it back into the boat just as two shark fins approached. Lou’s not too
good with a needle and thread, but we were two days away from shore when this
happened, so I had to let him stitch me up.
“So, what do you think? What is
the truth?”
“If you said, ‘none of the above,’
you’re correct.
“Now that I live in sunny
Florida, I’ve come down with the state’s most common malady—skin cancer. In my
case, a small melanoma just below my eye that required my dermatologist to
carve out a hunk of my cheek just to make sure I was cancer-free. That left me
with large hole that needed fixing to make me pretty again. My plastic surgeon
says I’m doing well. It will just take time to heal. The scars won’t be
noticeable in the future.
“More to the point, this is an
example of my writing process. An idea pops into my head, I ponder the
storyline, the characters, setting, and craft a rough draft to get the story
down. Then I edit, edit, edit, selecting the most powerful words to tell the
tale, until it’s the best it can be.”
The audience love it. They
laughed. And had a good picture of what storytelling is all about.
What about you? If you are a
writer, have you found an interesting way to demonstrate the writing process to
readers? If you are a reader, enjoy the responses and ask the next author you
meet to share their thoughts on their storytelling process.
I've created or helped create a few good stories to explain visible injuries, but none as elaborate as yours, Lisa. I hope your scar eventually disappears. If it doesn't, I look forward to hearing more of your tall tales about how it came to be.
ReplyDeleteNever been as creative as you. Hope not to need to be. Glad they caught your skin cancer while able to do something about it. Continued good health and storytelling.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to stories about what has gone on in my life, sometimes I do embellish (we do specialize in fiction!) but in general, I find the old adage, "truth is stranger than fiction" to be true.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on making lemonade out of your lemons!
When my thyroid had to come out (bad little thyroid), I had a really good wound across my neck and my vocal cords were partially paralyzed for about a month. I could whisper softly, which worked well enough working in the library; people assumed I was modeling good library behavior. Most people didn't comment on the great slash across my throat, but one day some of the rowdier kids noticed it and asked in their own hushed horror, "what happened to you?" I leaned close and whispered, "machete." Bigger eyes you've never seen. True story? Yep.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you caught your cancer, Lisa!
I love it.
DeleteMy sister has one on her lip from a recent excision of that very same thing. She's not a writer, so she hasn't had as much fun as you in explaining it. Molly -- I can imagine your machete story and it made me laugh!!
ReplyDeleteAs we age, our scars and our creases tell of our life's journey. Rarely am I asked a question, but when I am, usually the truth is weird enough to satisfy.
ReplyDeleteLisa, I love your stories about what might have caused the scar on your face. My husband had a melanoma removed from his face. His was on his nose, and the plastic surgeon used skin from his forehead. The results were really good. I'm sure yours will be, too.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Lisa, that you are experiencing this. But it seems to me that you were handling it with a lot of humor, which is always the easiest way to get through things. I hope you heal up fast.
ReplyDelete