Today we are fortunate in having as our guest Dr. Jane Wilson-Howarth, author of Shitting Pretty How To Stay Clean And Healthy While Traveling Thank your Dr. Wilson-Howarth.

Norm- Dr. Wilson-Howarth,I wonder if you could give our readers a brief resumé of your education and writing experience?

Jane-I've always had a passion for wildlife and an interest in creepy-crawlies and these interests led me into studying zoology.

After completing my first degree I organised my first tropical expedition which was an overland trip from England to Nepal. Seeing the suffering in Asia that was caused by disease, I got interested in studying control of parasites and bugs and them studied medicine, finally emerging from medical school with a BM - bachelor of Medicine degree - which qualified me to practice as a physician. It was my travelling experiences that got me writing, and my first book was 'Lemurs of the Lost World' about expeditions to Madagascar.

Next I got involved in treating ill expatriates and tourists and was upset by the fact that so few had the important information that would have stopped them getting sick.

Next then I started work on a travel health guide, called 'Bugs Bites & Bowels' which was first published in 1995.

I have also published a health guide for travelling families called 'Your Child's Health Abroad'.

Norm- the title of your book, ""Shitting Pretty How To Stay Clean And Healthy While Traveling"" may be a trifle shocking to some readers. What made you choose this title? Were you ever reluctant to choose this title and have you had any comments pertaining to it?

Jane-The commissioning editor of Travelers Tales in Calif phoned me in Kathmandu out of the blue and said that he wanted me to write a book with 'shit' in the title. I didn't have a problem with that since tropical medicine does involve a lot of discussion of such unpleasant out-pourings, and my zoological researches had already had me wading through mountains of bat guano, and collecting freshly passed lemur poo.

My friends already call me the Shit Doctor. It seemed funny to me that some interviews that I did for American radio about the book wouldn't allow mention of the title - which was my sister-in-law's invention.

Norm-What was the influencing factor in your writing of the book? In other words, why did you write the book?

Jane-I like to make available the information that will allow more people to travel in health and without undue anxiety, and I liked the idea of writing something a little naughty that might attract a different readership from the usual readers of health manuals. I suppose I was also flattered that a publisher should approach me with a writing commission.

Norm-How long did it take you to write the book and how did you research the topic? How did you obtain the various comments from different travelers pertaining to their personal experiences?

Jane-It must have taken a little over two years from that first exploratory phone call to publication of the book, but I wasn't working on it full time.

I work in health education and as a general practitioner and I am also a mother of three so there are other calls on my time.

The medical information contained within the book was mostly already familiar to me, so to illustrate important points and make the medicine easier to digest, I asked for contributions amongst readers of Wanderlust magazine - for whom I write regularly - and also from members of the Scientific Exploration Society and also amongst my fairly substantial network of travelling friends, relations and colleagues. I received - with surprising rapidity - a large number of excellent tales.

Norm- Some of the experiences you recounted in your book were as I state in my review ""oh my god!"" Was there any criteria for your choice of one experience to recount over another?

Jane-You may not believe it but I judged some tales as too revolting to use; so I did sensor out the really nasty ones. I included the nauseatingly revolting tale - on page 37 - about dropping some precious objects into a pile, because this is actually an important tale of warning - it happens surprisingly easily and surprisingly often to users of squat toilets. I wanted my readers to avoid such consequences.

The commonest reason for not using tales was that although I asked for stories to be no longer than 200 words, many were far too long - some ran onto several pages - to be used in a book of this format. And other tales just didn't complement the content well enough. the most important tip if submitting writing for publication is to write a piece of the correct length.

Norm-What are your future writing plans? Can readers expect another book from you?

Jane-The third edition of 'Bugs Bites & Bowels' published by Cadogan in London and Globe Pequot in Connecticut is to be published at the end of August in a greatly enlarged and expanded format.

I am currently working on a book about life in Nepal based on five years of living in a remote village with three sons under five. My experiences were so rich and exciting that I am having difficulties in selecting from the wealth of material I have. It will be nothing to do with excreta and the S word will not be mentioned.

Norm-What would be the best advice you could give anyone in twenty five words or less concerning the subject matter you have written about in your excellent and informative book.

Jane-Those travelling to a less developed country where plumbing facilities and sewage systems are poor should before they eat anything consider the following rule - peel it, boil it, cook it, or forget it.

Thanks Dr. Wilson-Howarth for your time. My pleasure - great to be in touch across the stratosphere.

To read the review of the book click here.