Author CJ Lyons Is Inspired By Everyday Heroes

New York Times bestselling author CJ Lyons has lived the life of a pediatric ER doctor and creates many of the medical worlds of her thrillers with authenticity and heart.

CJ has been called a "master within the genre" (Pittsburgh Magazine) and her work has been praised as "breathtakingly fast-paced" and "riveting" (Publishers Weekly) with "characters with beating hearts and three dimensions" (Newsday). I learned the importance of character-driven stories and how to take my writing to the next level thanks to her.

Back in early 2010 I was an unpublished author and thinking of giving up my dream. CJ's Master Class was the last hurrah...and then she shared her experience, encouragement and craft. Without her, I would never have written THE DJINN'S DILEMMA and been published. She helped me believe in myself again amd reclaim my dream. So, without further ado, let me present my personal writing hero CJ :) 

What inspires my writing?

When I was a kid, it was my own need to learn how to become a hero, someone strong enough to change the world for the better.

After my pediatric internship when one of my fellow interns was brutally murdered, writing became my way to understand my grief and control the chaos around me. That's when I wrote my first thriller, BORROWED TIME, and I dedicated it to Jeff's memory.

(FACE TO FACE, her most recent release, came out Nov. 7!)

Much of my fiction since then has been inspired by my patients and their families. Ordinary people facing tragedy with courage and grace, proving that heroes are indeed born everyday.

I still search for order in the chaos--after practicing pediatric emergency medicine and pediatrics for seventeen years, that will never change. But now, after having sold hundreds of thousands of books and receiving fan letters from all over the world, I have another inspiration: my readers.

Discovering that I had the power to connect with people I'd never met, to inspire as well as entertain--that felt almost as good as saving lives in the ER! 

I treasure each fan letter as much as the very first one.  There have been people facing the pain of chronic illnesses who have been able to make it through the night because of my books.  Fellow medical personnel, EMS, firefighters, and police officers have written, thanking me for the way I "tell it like it really is."  And readers who simply needed an escape from their lives have found refuge in my words.

Honestly, no matter how much money or which bestseller lists I hit, I can't imagine any feeling as wonderful as the feeling I get when I hear from readers who have fallen in love with my books.  It's an adrenalin rush that fuels my writing and inspires me everyday!

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Woot! Thanks CJ for visiting with us and reminding us courage, love, and heroic acts are a part of everyday life. We just have to be aware of the world around us to find inspiration. Do you have an everyday hero? How has this person touched your life?


If you want to know more about CJ or her Thrillers with Heart check out her website. FACE TO FACE is the third book in her gripping Hart & Drake Series. The first book, NERVES OF STEEL, is on sale right now for 99 cents. Go check her books out!