ROCKINGHAM — Roland J. Beckerman is no stranger to medical malpractice.
The Richmond County-born author is currently working on his fourth book on the topic, a writing journey that began with his own experiences.
Not only is Beckerman the writer, he’s also a character in the series.
“The reason I did that is because, it really puts me — my feelings, my thoughts, everything about the character I created — it really puts that into the proper context of who Roland J. Beckerman really is,” Beckerman said following a discussion and preceding a book signing Nov. 29 at Leath Memorial Library.
“In these books, there’s so many truths about me … and what I’ve done … and that’s a little different approach, I think,” he added.
Beckerman has so far penned three “biographical fiction” novels — “Seeking Justice,” “Atticus Wentworth Comes of Age,” and “Atticus Wentworth: The Jury Speaks” — that follow the two main characters through the complicated courtroom drama of medical malpractice cases.
Wentworth, whose first name is an homage to the fictional attorney Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird, is the lawyer who represents the victims and Beckerman joins the firm as an investigator and forensic jury consultant.
Beckerman, the author, says the two characters have been compared to the classic TV team of Perry Mason and Paul Drake.
During the discussion, Beckerman talked about his background in writing and the inspiration for the series.
“I’ve been writing a long time … a lot of people told me I was quite articulate and I could communicate extremely well,” he said. “Sometimes my sense of humor might be a little bit strange for some people.”
His writing background includes corporate newsletters and working on a television show in Charlotte.
“Then I had a medical problem that I’m lucky, fortunate and happy to be standing right here, because I was a sick man for a while,” Beckerman said.
A few years after going through physical therapy and seeing neurologists, Beckerman got the idea for a book about that period in his life.
Beckerman wrote a few chapters and sent them to Bill Elam, a lawyer friend in Charlotte, “just for the hell of it,” and received positive feedback.
The next chapters delved deep into medical and legal issues, and again was complimented on his use of terminology and storytelling.
When he was about 80% finished, the lawyer suggested partnering to form a corporation — Courtroom Drama, LLC.
The trick of writing the books, Beckerman said, was writing about “accurate things, about truth … about facts — without incriminating anyone and without getting sued.”
“That’s a fine line … when you write about true facts that occurred … you really have to be careful.”
So he chose the genre of biographical fiction.
“I’m writing biographies about people … but I’m not using the proper nouns; I’m not using the people, the places, the things … everything’s changed,” he said.
With Elams encouragement and Beckerman’s “will to see this through, it all came to fruition.”
“I’ve always been a seeker of truth, I’ve always been a curious person, I want to know every damn thing there is to possibly know about something,” Beckerman continued.
With the three books under his belt, Beckerman said he’s not through. The fourth book is around 20% complete and he anticipates a fifth — “Depends on how long I live will depend on how many books I write.”
His books are available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble and his website, rolandjbeckerman.com
