Spencerport resident David B. Seaburn recently released his eighth novel, Broken Pieces of God. The book, set in the Rochester area, explores the complex and extraordinary lives of an average American couple, Eddy and Gayle Kimes.
The Kimes are like many American families. Eddy has lost his job and Gayle has cancer. Unemployment, failed chemotherapy, and no insurance bring them to the edge of life’s precipice. Can anything save them? Eddy turns to a local preacher and a statue called Jesus the Consoler, seeking a miracle; Gayle dives deep into a secret scheme devised years earlier when her husband lost his first job.
This is a story of resilience in the face of uncertainty, hope in the midst of darkness, and family ties strengthened by life’s vicissitudes.
Seaburn’s first publication was a series of poems when he was in seminary at Boston University (1972-75). He continued writing while serving a church for six years, mostly short stories, plays, songs, essays, and two manuscripts of inspirational prose.
He entered the field of marriage and family therapy in 1986 and was Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Family Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center where he did extensive academic writing.
He started writing fiction in 2000, completing his first novel, Darkness is as Light, in 2001. It was published in 2005. “My publishing arc seems to be one novel every two years,”Seaburn said.
His previous works have received critical acclaim. He was a Finalist for the National Indie Excellence Award in General Fiction (2011), placed second in the TAZ Awards for Fiction (2017), was short listed for the Somerset Award (2018), was an American Book Fest Finalist for “Best Book” in General Fiction (2019), and a Semi-Finalist in Literary, Contemporary and Satire Fiction for the Somerset Award (2019).
“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,” Seaburn said. “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.”
Seaburn lives in Spencerport with his wife, Bonnie. They have two married daughters and four grandchildren.
Broken Pieces of God is available at Lift Bridge Book Shop in Brockport.
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