Name: David G Lamb
Age: 62
Title: Neuropsychologist and Clinical Director of Arizona Neurorehabilitation by day, Award Winning Author of the new Driven to the Hilt series by night Saturdays (see below).
Married/Single: Married for almost 30 years (this June).
Kids: Three. It was my oldest, Jacob, (now an IT Project Manager in Oklahoma City) who encouraged me to begin writing science fiction six years ago as I was recovering from prostate cancer surgery. Sheridan, my oldest daughter, is finishing up her Masters in Occupational Therapy at USC and most strongly inherited a talent for the visual arts transmitted by her paternal grandfather. My youngest, Cadence, has been a professional actress for almost a year now and after working at the Texas Shakespeare Company, Flagstaff Shakespeare, and the Lexington Children Theater (in Kentucky), is set to begin an apprenticeship with The Barter Theater in Virginia in May.
City you live in: Scottsdale by mailing address, Phoenix by utility costs (which is a nice combo).
A typical day in my life includes…
getting up and writing down writing ideas I get in the shower, going in to the office to help people return to work or achieve some level of productivity after having suffered neurological injury, returning home to walk the dog in the park and relax with my lovely wife during the evening.
I was born…
in Eureka, Kansas – much too long ago. I grew up in Wichita spinning discs with holes in them to make phone calls and having only three TV channels, thereby learning to create my own entertainment in the summers while spending time outdoors with friends, with only an occasional contact with law enforcement representatives.
My favorite thing about Arizona…
is the diversity of ecosystems. You can see the transition from saguaro cacti climbing the Sonoran desert hills to the towering Ponderosa pines in the cool Arizona mountains, all during a 90 minute drive from Phoenix to Flagstaff.
I’m listening to…
a rather wide variety of music, from Bobby McFerrin (My Better Half) to Blue Oster Cult (The Reaper) and Waylon Jennings (Come and Gone) to Weather Report (Birdland). Even so, it is much more weighted in the 70s than contemporary artists, although I’m very fond of Dave Matthews and there’s still a sprinkling of Florence + The Machine (Heartlines) and Agnes Obel (Riverside) in the playlist as well.
My family…
has pretty much all been involved in my transformation into a fiction writer in one way or another. As previously mentioned, my son prompted the initial intellectual exercise which evolved into an avocation that has occupied most of my Saturdays for the past six years (eventually resulting in my debut novel, The Deepest Cut). Sheridan helped design a terrifically innovative cover for that first book, but when she had to leave for grad school, I was unable to properly execute it and we had to get professional help. Amongst her travels, Cadence has been a terrific beta reader for the second and third books. My wife has graciously left the Golden Years of retirement to take on the endless and thankless (I try to thank her, but sometimes forget) job of marketing my books. All of my family of origin has been supportive, of course, but my brother Chris, who writes research articles for the National Defense University, has been an incredible editor and advisor on the project, everything from detecting typos to addressing big picture literary themes.
If I could have dinner with anyone, it would be…
anyone who would pay for a thick porterhouse, grilled medium-rare, with garlic mushrooms and fresh salad on the side, and a nice red wine with some body and a touch of fruitiness.
One thing I cannot live without…
my sense of humor. I know this because when I lose it, life is decidedly not happy. Conversely, when it is firmly within my grasp and I can twist things just a little and consider the situation from a slightly odd angle, even the most annoying of things are vanquished by a tension relieving chortle.
When I was younger, I wanted to be…
older. Which is probably a reaction to being the youngest of three boys. But I eventually accepted my fate as the “baby” of the family (despite being much larger than both my older bros) and even came to savor the dynamic of the youngest: taking life as it comes, having positive expectations, and assuming everyone will do things for you.
I’m inspired by…
the beautifully coordinated complexity in the world, inextricably intertwined in incomprehensible ways. It’s enough to compel me to believe in God.
The one person who motivates me is…
me. Or not. Which is a truism I have developed after spending over 30 professional years trying to help people. We either choose to change or we don’t. But the choice is ours. This is why I often share with clients the saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” (It also has a nice fit with our Western motif, I think.)
If I could change anything in the world, it would be…
the negativity with which many people view the world. I see it percolating everywhere and it seems to lead to either a pervasive anger at others or self (depression), or an egocentric escapism mentality that ultimately saps the life energy and promotes a hollow pessimism.
The perfect day would be…
spent with people I love, without demands or expectations, but doing memorable things together.
My first job was…
riding through the alleys of Wichita on a garbage truck, hoisting trash cans and running the compactor. Well, that was second actually. I was a newspaper boy for a while, but getting up at 5:00 to throw the route before school was a bummer, especially in the winter. Then I had to get up at 4:00 so I could make it into school early to weight lift for the wrestling team. Makes me cold just to think about it.
My favorite escape…
is a good engaging book (when I’m feeling solitary) or dinner with family / friends where we get caught up and relive old times (when I’m more socially inclined).
My life…
is good. Just sayin’. Truth is, to quote Joe Walsh, “I can’t complain but sometimes I still do.” (when my sense of humor sneaks off on me) So, I just need to remind myself that – Life is Good.
I’m currently working on…
the fourth book in my Driven to the Hilt series. Oh, and trying to be a more compassionate person. Yeah. That too.
Always…
remember, as Victor Frankl made clear, you always have choices, even in the most dire circumstances.
Never…
wear plaids with stripes.
Favorite Quote…
“The proof is in the pudding.” I like pudding. Make my own from scratch, too. Hmmm, this is probably not profound enough for someone with a Doctorate, so I’ll back it up with Confucius – “It is only in the cold of winter that one sees that the pines and cypresses are still green.”
Biggest Dream…
that my books would be picked up for a miniseries or film!
My Pet Peeve(s)…
inattentive and/or aggressive drivers in Phoenix. Oh, and the heat from late June through September is pretty peeving too. Really peeving actually.
More about DG…
Arizona Neuropsychologist DG Lamb was recently awarded a third award for his debut novel The Deepest Cut (Driven to the Hilt Book 1). The coming of age adventure thriller, which is set in the future, won Best of 2018 in Adult Science Fiction from the Independent Author Network and Best of 2018 for Young Adult Science Fiction through the International Literary Classics Awards. The Wishing Shelf Awards of the United Kingdom just announced the novel as a Bronze medalist across all categories for Young Adult books of 2018. He has published 3 in the Driven to the Hilt series so far and also a co-authored Suffer to Sing the Blues, a reflection on living with traumatic brain injury with client Jeff Smith.
