Helping me kick off a new week is crime fiction novelist, Ryburn Dobbs. We’re chatting about The Comfort of Distance, A Sebastien Grey Novel.
Bio:
Ryburn Dobbs is a forensic anthropologist and investigative analyst with extensive experience working with law enforcement on homicides, unidentified body cases and missing persons. The forensic elements in his Sebastien Grey novels are based on his own casework.
Welcome! Please tell us about your current release.
The Comfort of Distance is the first book in the Sebastien Grey Series, which follows the forensic casework and personal/family life of Dr. Sebastien Grey, a brilliant, but anxiety-plagued forensic scientist. This and the net two novels are more than just crime fiction. They also includes elements of literary fiction, humor, romance, adventure and thriller. From the back cover:
Sgt Hank LeGris stares down at the crushed and gaping skull in the dirt. It’s the second time in a just a few weeks that human remains have been found in the Black Hills. Citizens are getting restless. Is it a rogue mountain lion, as many people suspect? Or something even more sinister?
Sebastien Grey is a brilliant forensic anthropologist with debilitating social phobia. When he is asked by his estranged brother to come to South Dakota and help identify who, or what, is leaving body parts scattered across the county, he discovers much more than the cause of these strange deaths.
What inspired you to write this book?
I was inspired to write this book by my own experiences as a forensic anthropologist. I realized that many of my cases would make interesting anchor points for novels. Writing has been a goal of mine for decades. Also, having an anxiety disorder myself, I thought this would be a good way to express the challenges faced by socially anxious or avoidant people.
What exciting story are you working on next?
I just finished the third book in the Sebastien Grey series, Where the Blood is Made. Book two is called The Boxwood Torso. Both books two and three find Sebastien and Detective Tiffany Reese taking on very old cold cases for the sheriff’s office. In the course of their investigations, they run into odd characters, dangerous villains, strange clues and, of course, deeper feelings for each other. The lasted book has a lot more action in it than I expected. So that was fun to write.
I have plans for a historical fiction / mystery novel and a haunting / mystery novel. I will work on these next, unless my Sebastien Grey readers grow impatient for book 4 in the series.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I’ve wanted to be a writer since middle school, but I never gave my permission or the confidence to try. The Comfort of Distance is the first piece of fiction I’ve ever written. Having positive reviews and encouragement from readers has pretty much broken down all that insecurity. So now it’s full steam ahead.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I just left the corporate world, so now I have time to focus on my more creative and joyful pursuits. I work on my own novels for about half the day, then I spend time building a few other publishing companies that I own (these mostly focus on non-fiction books that I hire others to write, although I will contribute some books going forward).
Also, because of some poor editing on my first book (on my part and, more frustratingly, on the part of two different paid experts), I decided last year to take an editing course and become certified in editing. I now also edit for others, including for an online magazine. I’d like to build that business more.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I do very little plotting; I’m a pantser for sure. Often, all I have is an opening scene or an obscure forensic element from one of my actual cases and I build from there. Sometimes all I have is the title. The Comfort of Distance was a phrase I came up with to describe my own social anxiety decades ago and I always thought it would make a cool title for a book. It turns out that choosing that title predestined the novel to have certain elements. Looking back, it was probably not the best choice because of its lack of descriptiveness. But oh well. The final product is as much a surprise to me and anybody else.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A detective or a writer
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Just thanks to everyone who has read the books. I’m very grateful for the good feedback and encouragement. I look forward to writing much more and much better as time goes by.
Thanks for being here today!