Lynne Sebastian is a retired archaeologist with a PhD in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico. She carried out research and excavation projects throughout the Four Corners region of the American Southwest, specializing in the archaeology of the Ancestral Pueblo people. Later in her career, she shifted her focus from archaeological research to preservation of the archaeological sites that contain an irreplaceable record of life in the past, serving first as the New Mexico State Archaeologist and later as the State Historic Preservation Officer. Ultimately, she became a consultant, working nationwide on difficult issues of historic preservation and the management of historic and prehistoric places, and in 2013 she was appointed by President Obama to serve as an expert member of the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. From 2003 to 2005, she was the president of the Society for American Archaeology, and from 2012 to 2014, she served as president of The Register of Professional Archaeologists.
After a long career of publishing books, research papers, and journal articles on archaeology and historic preservation, in retirement she has discovered the joy of creative writing. Describing herself as a storyteller rather than a writer, she has published her first novel, One Last Cowboy Song, and a second-place-winning short story in Ramblings & & Reflections, the Southwest Writers 2021 contest winners volume. She has recently completed a memoir volume about a very special archaeological project, The House of Ravens, which she and her husband participated in 1981. She has also begun work on a new book that will be a prequel to her first novel.
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The House of Ravens
“You’re an archaeologist? That must be so exciting!” Archaeologists hear this often. I’m always tempted to respond, “Mostly what we do is get hot, cold, dirty, tired, hungry, and lost. And then we get the truck stuck.” But there is more to it than that, of course. Those of us who have lived intimately with the deserts and canyons of the Southwest, who have reached back across time and touched the remnants of lives lived long ago share a special bond.
“The House of Ravens is a lightly fictionalized account of three months in the lives of a small team of archaeologists camped in a remote part of the Navajo Indian Reservation while excavating ancient sites soon to be destroyed by a strip mine. Sebastian sensitively and realistically portrays the human story of a field crew as it is intertwined with the archaeological story being revealed by their investigations. If you are one of those people who wish they had gone into archaeology and wonder what it would really be like, or if you are just looking for a well-told story with interesting characters, this book is for you.”
Keith Kintigh
Emeritus Professor of Anthropology
Arizona State University
The House of Ravens is now available on Amazon in print and ebook form.
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One Last Cowboy Song
English professor Amanda Payne and rancher Virgil Ames were unlikely ever to meet and even less likely to fall in love, but they do both. For a time, they share a life of tenderness, laughter, and passion, but both Virgil and Amanda carry scars from long-ago tragedies. After a sudden change in Virgil’s life, the legacy of those tragedies drives them apart. Their story of love and joy, loss and reconciliation plays out against the magnificent backdrop of Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, the sweet harmonies of country and western music, and the kindness of true friends.
One Last Cowboy Song is available on Amazon.
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Lynne’s short stories can also be read in the following anthologies by SouthWest Writers
Story Title: “An Unsolicited Testimony”
Book : Mosaic Voices
The is the 2024 anthology of winning stories the SouthWest Writers annual contest. This year there were over 400 entries in twenty-five categories from talented writers and artists eager to share their work. An Unsolicited Testimony won 2nd place in the Memoir category. The book is available in paperback and e-book formats.
Story Titles: “Retribution” and “One Last Cowboy Song”
Book: Woven Pathways The 2023 SouthWest Writers Winners Anthology
Link to Amazon
The is the anthology of winning stories from the 2023 SouthWest Writers annual contest. The book is available in paperback and e-book formats.
Story Title: “The Silver Dollar”
Book Title: Holes in Our Hearts: An Anthology of New Mexican Military Related Stories and Poetry
Available for Sale Amazon
This collection of prose and poetry was gathered and created by SouthWest Writers and funded through a grant from the State of New Mexico Arts Agency. These stories were written and contributed by New Mexican Veterans, their family members and caregivers.
The book is available in paperback and e-book formats.
Memoir Title: “The Dude Abides”
Anthology: Ramblings & Reflections
Publisher: SouthWest Writers (2021) Link to Amazon
“Sometimes a name is a story all by itself. That was certainly true of, the Dude, a small, curly-haired, floppy-eared, seagoing dog that I once knew. This story of a remarkable canine adventure won second place in the Animals category of the 2021 SouthWest Writers writing contest.”
Winning Words of SouthWest Writers 2021 Contest. Inside Ramblings & Reflections you’ll encounter aliens, foreign lands, post-apocalyptic environments, supernatural beings, paeans to nature, tributes to the lost, calls to action, wry humor, mysteries to ponder and histories to marvel at. The authors of this volume ably demonstrate the largesse of storytelling’s landscape, exploring the gamut of literature’s functions. They emote, exhort, evoke, inform, implore, explore, explain, entertain and exorcise. They have engaged in all the best pursuits, which—in the end—are really just one: to look within in order to see more fully without. We hope you, too, will be transported and transformed on the journeys they curate.
