 White said that The Troubles in Northern Ireland induced him to write about the sort of world he would like to live in , and that he disliked war and militarists . As a youth he wanted to become a doctor , but had to go out to work . Hence he relied on epidemics and natural disasters to provide the conflicts that stories need to make them interesting . He credited his wife , who was an intensive care nurse at the height of The Troubles , for advice on medical details and for pointing out how padres often did more good than doctors for disturbed patients , which inspired The Genocidal Healer . 
