First in a series gets Amazon five-star ratings, translation to Arabic and is now on an English Literature course in Egypt 

Author of the article:Nadine RobinsonPublished May 01, 2023  •  4 minute read

Sault Ste. Marie doctor writes novels about pandemic — during pandemic. April 8, 2021

Dr. Graham Elder runs a surgical practice in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. While his wife was away on a trip early during the Covid-19 pandemic, Graham was inspired to write a fictional account about the strange times that were happening. Using his medical training and education the doctor turned author penned a novella and then followed that up with another one. Graham has plans for one more, maybe even two, on the subject. March 8, 2022

On Nov. 9, two local physicians turned newly published authors will come together to discuss their new books. Dr. Zehr, a retired obstetrician/gynecologist, and Dr. Elder, an orthapaedic surgeon will be joined by moderator Marnie Stone at The Loft for a night of conversation. 

Funds raised at this event will support the purchase of medical equipment for Sault Area Hospital. 

Tickets for the event are $35 each and can be purchased here. The event begins at 7:30 p.m.

“If you want something done, ask a busy person.” This adage certainly rings true for two busy Sault Area Hospital (SAH) physicians. During the pandemic, when both Dr. Graham Elder and Dr. Pat Zehr found themselves with some extra time in their schedule, they put pen to paper and published their first books. Now these physicians-turned-authors are combining their efforts to give back to the hospital through a fundraiser. Oct. 22 2022

Mike McDonaldCTVNorthernOntario.ca Videojournalist

@MikeMcDonaldCTV Contact

Published Thursday, April 22, 2021 7:46PM EDT

Local physician’s COVID-related fiction now in the Museum of Health Care. A COVID Odyssey and A COVID Odyssey – Second Wave to be included in the Kingston based museum’s collection and exposition 

Chris Belsito Aug 5, 2021 

Two of our alumni, Jeff Schnader, MDCM, and Graham Elder, MDCM, talk about taking the literary path.

Dr. Graham Elder knows McGill well. The Montreal native has no fewer than three degrees from the institution, in Physiotherapy, Medicine, and Orthopaedic Surgery: BSc(PT)’88, MDCM’95, PGME’00. But for a long time, there was another itch he wanted to scratch, one that was related to, but fundamentally different from, his formal training and career track.

“I’d been publishing scientific articles for years,” Dr. Elder said from his home in Sault Ste-Marie, Ontario, where he maintains a busy surgical and academic practice. He was responding to a question about his relationship with writing—knowing, of course, that we were talking about another kind of writing altogether. “At some point around my mid-forties, in my spare time, I started writing children’s books, basically bedtime stories that I turned into short novels for my kids. Then, about six years ago, a friend—who I originally met over a cadaver at med school—suggested we write together regularly.”

That two-person writing group proved a fine motivator, leading to a blog (twodocswriting.com) and instilling a regular set of goals and general project-oriented thinking. In 2020, early in the first lockdown stage of the pandemic, Elder took advantage of a 10-week period of COVID-enforced shutdown to begin work on what became, in June of that same year, the novella First Wave: A COVID Odyssey. A follow-up, the longer Second Wave: A COVID Odyssey, appeared in April 2021.

For Dr. Elder, time was of the essence with these projects. “I wanted to have (the two books) out while the pandemic was happening,” he said. There was also a spell spent learning the ins and outs of self-publishing (“Not such an easy thing, it turns out”) before he was able to meet his goal of producing works that would have the immediacy that comes with a subject still current and urgent.

Both books have their launch point in circumstances from Dr. Elder’s COVID-period life, starting with the fact that his wife happened to be in the US when the virus broke out. In both books, the real-life seed quickly leads to taut, race-against-time narratives, with the virus being the ultimate enemy. Short but packed with incident, the novella and novel are not medical thrillers, per se, more like thrillers set against a COVID backdrop, and they achieve the considerable trick of providing entertainment value without shortchanging the gravity of their subject.

Having self-published two manuscripts and prepared for the publication of another volume to complete the trilogy, Dr. Elder is now looking to place another finished manuscript with a commercial publisher, every stage of which requires a willingness to take the long view. Crucially, though, he finds the whole experience enjoyable—the writing and, to an admittedly lesser degree, the admin.

“After being so immersed in medical science for such a long time, it’s been great to have something to open up the other side of my brain. The creative part. It’s been relaxing but challenging. A big part of me wants to see all this as a nice transition into retirement.”

And when might retirement be?

“Oh, at least 10 years from now, I’d say.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Elder said, he sometimes finds himself reflecting on his writing journey of the past six years.

“It feels like I’ve come a long way,” he said. “But there’s always more to learn.”

March 10 2022