T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Dr. Lance VanGundy, who works in the emergency room at the UnityPoint Hospital in Marshalltown, is currently working on the fourth epic fantasy novel in his Rune Fire Cycle series.

Dr. Lance VanGundy has been a staple of local healthcare since joining the emergency room staff of Marshalltown’s hospital in 1999 and through his service as a volunteer medical director for more than four local rural EMS services in Central Iowa. At the end of a shift, he puts away his stethoscope and scrubs and escapes within the pages of epic fantasy novels he writes himself.

VanGundy is the author of The Rune Fire Cycle series and is at work on book four. His tomes range from 400 to 500 pages each.

His love of make believe worlds began in childhood when he and his buddies would play Dungeons & Dragons for hours on end. He said instructors at Marshalltown High School encouraged his creative writing. He attended Cornell College and earned a Bachelor of Special Studies in anthropology and biology, then went on to medical school at the University of Iowa.

In adulthood, he continued his literary interests, sketching out characters and crafting chapters to a book that didn’t see fruition for 15 years.

After hiring an editor from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, his concept began to take shape. “Awakened Runes” was published in 2020.

“It introduces you to the world, so it’s a bit of a slow burn,” he noted. “I think once you break the ice, then it becomes much easier to believe in yourself and put out more material, especially if you enjoy it like I do.”

“Runes of the Prime”, book two, which came out in 2021, sees the storylines start to intermingle. In the third book, called “Rise of the Abrogators” which was released last year, the plotlines branch out again.

“It’s a medieval European fantasy. There’s no industrialization so there are no weapons of mass destruction or guns,” VanGundy said. “But there’s a magical force that has two sides — a light and a dark. It’s on par with things like ‘Game of Thrones’ in terms of the culture, but without nearly so much gratuitous violence or savagery and probably not nearly as much sexually explicit content either. That’s not really what I enjoy writing. I really like writing the characters and the adventure. Probably in the end, it’s a story about how people are better when they’re together than when they’re separated.”

Despite some books in the genre that can rely too heavily on hypermasculinity, he said his books are written with a feminist bent.

“I’m the father of three girls and married to a pretty strong woman,” he said. “I like a lot of the younger writers — people like N. K. Jemisin and James Islington.”

VanGundy tries to devote 10-15 hours per week to his epic fantasy writing. He noted that when job stress is high or he’s had a particularly long week at the hospital, he’s more likely to dive into his writing once he gets home.

“Probably, most writers will tell you there’s a little bit of escapism involved. And for me, that’s certainly the case,” he said. “While it’s a lot of work, I still enjoy getting lost in those worlds. It beats listening to the news and politics these days, that’s for sure.”

He’s writing book four, currently untitled, and foresees it being a five-book series.

“I know how the story ends, but I also give myself permission to use what’s called discovery writing — if a new idea or character works I’ll spend several hours embellishing that storyline and if it doesn’t go anywhere, I can always save it for later. More often than not that gets me into trouble with more material and more story threads I then have to follow through and wind up,” he said with a laugh.

For VanGundy, it’s a difficult time to work in medicine, but he can’t imagine being in any other field. While he no longer resides in Marshalltown, he stays with his parents when he’s on shift, which can be three to six in a row.

“I love the job, it’s an amazing messy amalgam of problem solving, adrenaline and let’s face it, feeling like you make a difference to someone at least once a shift is its own reward,” he said. “I know about 80 percent of the people that walk in the door. That’s a fun way to start an interaction with somebody. That and writing are probably enough for me — I don’t need any other hobbies.”

To learn more about his books, visit: www.lancevangundy.com.