“The surgeon punched him in the face.”

Local emergency physician and author Melissa Yuan-Innes heard this story as a medical student: her classmate watched the surgeon ask for a sterile towel, throw it over the resident doctor’s head, and punch that younger doctor in the face.

“Then the surgeon kept operating because he was still considered sterile,” says Yuan-Innes, who writes as Melissa Yi.

“The staff surgeon assaulted a surgeon in training, but the senior surgeon hadn’t contaminated his hands, and no one stopped him from operating. I don’t know if anyone even complained. This still goes on today, although my colleagues talk about a ‘sterile slap’ instead of a ‘sterile punch.'”

That sort of trauma inspired Yuan-Innes to write The Shapes of Wrath, the first thriller in her upcoming Hope’s Seven Deadly Sins series.

“Every novel will explore a different deadly sin with Dr. Hope Sze, the resident doctor who solves murders. The series explores wrath—and a killer—in the operating room, ” says the emergency doctor who still works at the Hôpital Glengarry Memorial Hospital in Alexandria.

For The Shapes of Wrath, Yuan-Innes will try something new: a campaign on Kickstarter.

“Innovators have raised 6.72 billion dollars on Kickstarter in the past 13 years,” Yuan-Innes says. “Wrath means heat! We’ll partner with Ottawa’s Bonesaw Sauce Co. to offer you a fiery hot sauce. So if you love to read and/or challenge your taste buds, we’ve got you covered!”

Kickstarter offers all-or-nothing funding. Creators who fail to reach their goals receive no money at all. Yuan-Innes remains undaunted. “Maya Angelou said, ‘You should be angry. Use that anger. You write it. You dance it.’ The Shapes of Wrath will hit the shelves February 1st with or without Kickstarter. But we love this community, and you can support us for as little as one dollar. Come check us out!”

Kickstarter campaign preview (live September 20 to October 18):

Bonesaw Sauce Co: https://www.bonesawsauceco.com/

The Shapes of Wrath available for preorder: https://books2read.com/wrath1

Hope Sze party: Cornwall Public Library, November 26, 2 p.m.
https://www.library.cornwall.on.ca