Tolstoi wrote, in War and Peace: “The strongest of all warriors are these two – Time and Patience.” I’ve learned that his words hold true for writers as well as soldiers.

More than anything, the completion of a novel to the standard required for publication requires patience. There’s the slogging through the first draft, then the revising/reshaping/polishing/repolishing that prevent the work from inciting ridicule when shared with others, then the complete rewrite for the publisher who finally deems to read bits of it, the major changes/additions/deletions imposed by an editor, and finally, the multitude of minutiae that must be altered to please the owl-eyed proofreaders. Yes, patience and persistence are at the heart of the writer’s mantra.

But when your book finally hits the bookstores, online sites, and libraries, it’s timing that determines whether it succeeds or fails. A beautifully written novel, engaging in every way but published at the wrong time, may fail to catch the eyes of readers. It will sell few copies and end its life remaindered on flea-market tables. Luckily, (and good timing comes more often from dumb luck than expert planning), Tainted has landed in bookstores with perfect timing. What better time for a mystery novel about an epidemic than Phase Five of a super-epidemic sanctioned by the World Health Organization?

The doctor in me is far from pleased about the current crisis induced by Mexican Swine-Flu, 2009 H1N1 Influenza (it needs a shorter handle). I’m thankful that the illness induced by the virus is mostly mild, gets better on its own, and is not spreading like wildfire. What unsettles me more than the virus itself, is the world’s reaction to it.

The media, of course, are titillated and cannot help themselves spending half their newscasts on tales of pandemic flu; they tell stories for a living (so do I) and this is one that can be spun into one heck of a story. We need to remember that much of what we read/see/hear is either exaggerated or untrue.

Members of the public don’t understand the complexities of things like modes of transmission, incubation periods, N95 mask-respirators, neurominidase inhibitors, and overstimulation of immune systems by superantigens. It’s natural to worry and respond irrationally when facing a little-known agent that the press says is both dangerous and headed our way. That said, it’s okay for your neighbour to fret more than necessary, but it’s quite another for people in authority to go off the deep end – I was outraged at the story of that perfectly healthy Montreal boy barred from school for a week by his ignorant principal.

I would most like to see more members of my infectious-disease community being circumspect in their comments. Those who predicted a disastrous pandemic, in which schools would become morgues, are rubbing their hands with glee while telling us, I told you so. They’re exaggerating, of course. The statistics show it: deaths have been few, numbers of new cases have evened out in Mexico, and numbers are rising only slowly elsewhere. We’re not all going to get this. Far more people have died this year of regular winter flu than of this Mexican variety.

Why do some experts exaggerate? It comes down to office politics, academic investments, and personal ambitions. And if you read Tainted, you’ll see it all in action. It’s only fiction, of course, but I think you’ll agree that the timing is perfect.