About the Author

David B. Seaburn's most recent novel is Until It Was Gone (2024, Black Rose Writing). This was his tenth published novel.  

Prior to that he was an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Family Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center for almost twenty years (1986-2005). During his tenure there, he  taught in a Family Medicine Residency Program, practiced  Medical Family Therapy and was the Director of  a Family Therapy Training Program.

In addition to this, David is an ordained Presbyterian minister, having graduated from seminary (Boston University) in 1975. He served a church full-time from 1975-1981 before entering the mental health field permanently. 

His educational background includes two master's degrees and a PhD.

From 2013 to 2020, David Seaburn wrote a blog for Psychology Today magazine called, Going Out Not Knowing. In this blog he talks about the uncertainty and wonder at the heart of life (and at the heart of writing, as well).

Common to all of David's work is a commitment to the well-being of others, which often means active involvement in efforts to undestand and change their life stories.  

David is married and has two married daughters, three adorable granddaughters and two wonderful grandsons. 

The Beginning

I started writing seriously when I entered seminary at Boston University in 1972. There I was published for the first time---a series of poems in an alumni journal. While in parish ministry, though, I became a disciplined writer, having to produce a sermon each week, a literary and theological task.

The challenge was to write at the intersection of human experience and divine response. During this period I wrote many short stories, song lyrics, poems, plays and two nonfiction manuscripts. One manuscript (Dancing on the Edge) was accepted for publication only to have the offer withdrawn. The editor comforted me by saying, "I'll catch you on your tenth book." Cold comfort! But I kept writing.

I left parish ministry and entered the field of marriage and family therapy, working in community mental health where I published a few papers on my experience as a clinician, including one on a patient suicide.

In 1986 I started working at the University of Rochester Medical Center where my focus on academics accelerated my development as a writer. In the next 20 years, I co-authored two professional books and wrote over 60 papers and book chapters. The rigor of mentored writing and excellent editing taught me a great deal about the craft.

A Journey into Fiction Writing

Late in my academic career I developed an interest in writing fiction, but did little more than collect ideas and make notes. In 1990, I did extensive work on a story idea and then stored it all away in a folder. I returned to my notes years later. They became the basis for my first novel, Darkness is as Light  (2005, PubAmerica), which was based on a personal vignette told by a former patient. I couldn't get the story out of my mind and reworked it in several creative nonfiction workshops and finally transformed it into the backbone of a novel about a middle aged man sorting out the truth about his mother's death. I wrote Darkness in exactly one year.   

While completing Darkness, I started thinking about my next book, Pumpkin Hill, which came out in 2007, also by PubAmerica. I changed publishers and Charlie No Face came out in 2011 (Savant Books). It is the story of a young boy who befriends the town's boogeyman. I enjoyed this writing project more than any other, perhaps because it gave me the opportunity to speak with the voice of Jackie, the 11 year old protagonist. And it is set in my hometown.  Chimney Bluffs (2012, Savant Books) is the story of how an automobile accident effected the lives of six people: a young minister and his wife; an older couple in a loveless marriage; and a single mother with a son who is mentally ill.

In 2015, More More Time (Savant Books) was released. Parrot Talk  (Black Rose Writing) came out in 2017. 

Gavin Goode was released on June 27, 2019. 

Broken Pieces of God, was released in September 2021.

And Give Me Shelter was released on December 15, 2022. Then Until It Was Gone in 2024 (Black Rose Writing).

My publishing arc seems to be one novel every two years. 

Common to all of my work is an abiding interest in the common struggles that make us human---loss, fear, hope, uncertainty, connection, separation, meaning, seeking, questioning, love, guilt, wonder, joy and storytelling. I think we are all storytellers. That is how we make sense of our lives and the world around us. When I write, I feel that more than anything else, I am trying to make sense of life, trying to explore its meaning. And, of course, I am trying to tell a good story in the process.

 Contact me at: dseaburn@gmail.com

Books can be purchased through: www.amazon.com