Student Doctor Writes Mystery Novel

October 20, 2023

As a second-year Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) student at PCOM South Georgia, Jada Glenn (DO '26) usually fills her days with classes and studying. Along the way, Jada was able to fit in an unusual hobby to help her deal with the stressful demands of being a student doctor—writing mysteries.

On Oct. 2 Jada's first mystery novel, “Misery and the Mindscape Murderer,” debuted on Amazon. It's Jada's first published book.

She began creative writing—with hopes of publishing a book—when she was a child.

“I started seriously writing this one two years ago, so I had a bit of a head start, because I wrote a lot of it during summer breaks and during my master's program,” she said. “I just finished it officially on Sept. 27.”

This book is actually the first in what will be a series of books called the “Chronicles of Misery” because they feature a protagonist whose first name is Misery.

The Jacksonville, Florida, native said her interest in creative writing grew from her love of reading.

“My mom taught me how to read early,” Jada said. “From then on, I loved reading. I guess it was a natural progression for me from reading to writing. I love being in these worlds. I love creating these worlds.”

Her interest in reading grew even more as she got older.

“When I was a teenager, I literally read through so much of the young adult aisle,” Jada said. “I read all types of different books, plus books that we were required to read for school. I think the ones I like the most are always the supernatural ones with a little mystery edge.”

As a student doctor, she mentioned having interests in neurology and psychiatry. One may wonder if her first book includes any mention about medicine or medical issues.

“There's a little bit,” Jada explained. “There's some stuff about psychological disorders.”

Her interest in creative writing began before she decided to become a doctor.

“I think I wanted to be an author first, but I wanted to be a lot of things growing up,” she said. “I wanted to be a doctor at the end of high school and beginning of college.”

Jada earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Jacksonville University.

“I guess being a doctor, it requires a completely different mindset in a way,” she said. “It's a lot more high risk. You also have to figure out things. You still have to be creative, but it's like high stakes, creativity and memorization. As an author, there are less risks, so you get to have fun, move more freely, but you still have to be creative.”

For Jada that creativity that comes with writing for fun is a welcome change of pace.

“It's definitely a stress reliever, for sure,” she said. “It gives you an excuse to think differently and just take a break from studying.”

For anyone else with writing a book on their to-do list, Jada offers a bit of advice.

“You always have time to do the things you make time for,” she said. “There is even just so much extra time in the day… for the most part, I feel like we choose to make time for the things we want. School doesn't actually take up the whole day, even though we say it actually does.”

“Misery and the Mindscape Murderer” is available on Amazon in Kindle, paperback and hardcover formats.

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