The Resilient Heart: A Cardiologist's Journey into Writing Thrillers

What does it take to reinvent your life in your 40s, face down hundreds of rejections, and still come out on top?In this episode, I speak with Dr. Christina LePort, a former cardiologist turned medical thriller author, about her remarkable journey from the operating room to the written word.Born in Bologna, Italy, Christina once dreaded writing assignments. But everything changed in her mid-40s as she waited to start cardiology training.That’s when she discovered the magic of fiction. “I realized that if you’re an author, you create the world, you invent the characters you want to meet,” she says.Her debut novel, Change of Heart, is a medical thriller that dives into the dark ethics of heart transplantation. In it, a string of suicides in New York City turns out to be something far more sinister. Victims are dying in ways that preserve their hearts, making them perfect for organ harvesting. Enter detective Jack Mulville and FBI cyber expert Charlotte Bloom, who must untangle a web of medical conspiracy and murder.In our conversation, Christina shares the surprising overlap between medicine and storytelling, from reading people under pressure to navigating life-or-death stakes. She also opens up about the emotional toll of rejection and her hard-won publishing journey. “The therapy for rejection is writing more,” she says, after enduring three years of no's before landing a deal with Bancroft Press.For aspiring authors, Christina offers a candid look behind the scenes: why you need a professional editor (“not your friend—someone who will tear it apart”), how to build your platform, and why writing should always come from joy, not just the pursuit of validation.If you’re ready for a high-stakes story rooted in real medical expertise, or you just need inspiration to keep going after rejection, don’t miss this episode.📚 Grab your copy of Change of Heart 🧊 Stay tuned for Christina’s next books: Defrosted (on cryogenics) and Dying to Remember (a prequel exploring her detective’s mysterious past)Send us Fan MailBuzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show📬 JOIN THE NEWSLETTERThe Storyteller Quest is  a weekly letter on writing,publishing, and the business of books.Subscribe, and I'll send you Traditional, Self, or Hybrid? —11 pages on what each publishing path really costs, plus a7-question worksheet that tells you which one is yours.Subscribe here.