Founder and Director

Karen Laugel, MD, is the founder and director of The Fiction Dr. She is a physician with over twenty-five years of experience in clinical medicine, including pediatric emergency medicine. She is currently a practicing pediatrician in Connecticut, recognized in Working Mother magazine for initiating a nighttime acute care center for children and The New York Times for her physician-patient advocacy efforts. She garnered regional and national media attention for launching a countrywide patient’s rights organization in 2000, for which she was recognized with an American Medical Association Emerging Leaders Award the following year. She is a novelist whose writings placed in the Top Ten in Amazon’s 2008 Breakthrough Novel Contest, finalized in the current CONNections 2008 Mystery/Romantic Suspense RWA Contest, placed in the top two in the New York Chapter Mystery Writers of America 2007-2008 Mentor Program’s endorsement to literary agents, placed in the Top Ten Honorable Mention of the Florida Freelance Writer’s Association 2005 Competition, and won First Prize in SEAK’s 2003 Medical Fiction Writing Competition. She is an active member of the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, International Thriller Writers, Inc., International Women’s Writing Guild, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime.

Read an article written by Dr. Laugel in the "She Dunnit!" Newsletter, April 2008.

Medical Editing and Research Team

The Fiction Dr.’s team of medical professionals includes experts in forensic science, pathology, anesthesiology, surgery, emergency medicine, toxicology, pediatric and adult medicine, and medical subspecialties. We can research and network with hospitals, emergency rooms, outpatient surgical centers, medical and pathology labs, forensics labs, and medical examiners to ensure that your scenes are medically realistic.

Watch the site for a soon to be revealed partnership with law enforcement, complete with a major crimes/ special investigation unit and crime scene detectives available to answer your questions and ensure accuracy in your crime fiction.