Lynne Sebastian is a retired archaeologist and published nonfiction author turned storyteller. Her 2025 book, The House of Ravens: An Archaeological Reminiscence, follows “a small team of archaeologists camped in a remote part of the Navajo Indian Reservation” and “sensitively and realistically portrays the human story of a field crew as it is intertwined with the archaeological story being revealed.” You’ll find Lynne on her SWW author page, on Facebook, and her Amazon author store. Read more about Lynne’s work in her 2023 interview for SouthWest Writers.
What would you like readers to know about the story you tell in The House of Ravens?
I would like them to know that it is true. It is an accurate reflection of archaeological fieldwork as it was in the early 1980s. As with many other professions, technological changes caused major shifts in how archaeology was done in the late 20th century, but The House of Ravens captures the last years of archaeology carried out in remote field camps. I would also say that, if any of the readers ever thought that they would have loved to be an archaeologist, this story will either convince them that they were right or that they were very wrong.
What challenges did this work pose for you?
You mean besides trying to dredge up my memories of this great adventure that happened more than 40 years ago? I guess I would say it was trying to be very careful about how I portrayed my colleagues. This was a real project and a relatively well-known one in New Mexico archaeology. There is a 600+ page report. There is no hiding who was on the Navajo Mine Archaeological Project crew. This is why I changed some characters into composites and introduced one fictional one. And I changed all the names, except mine and my husband’s, to protect both the innocent and the guilty.
You describe the book as a lightly fictionalized account. Could it also be considered creative nonfiction? What parts of the real story did you keep and which did you fictionalize?
Yes, I would say that this could be considered creative nonfiction. The archaeological excavation techniques and discoveries are described as they were. Field camp life is as it was. Virtually all of the events are true. Some of the characters in the book are real people; others are composites of field archaeologists that I knew at the time. And the dogs are all real.
Tell us about the journey from inspiration to completed book.
I would have to say that the inspiration for this book was the same as the inspiration for my first novel One Last Cowboy Song. When I finally finished that one and Rose Kern did her magic thing to turn it into an actual, physical book, I was so burned out on writing that I told the members of my critique group that it was like when I finished my PhD dissertation — I couldn’t even write a grocery list because I didn’t have any words left in me. And they said, “You’re an archaeologist, but you’ve never given us any stories about archaeology. Why don’t you write about that?” So, I wrote an exciting short story about experiencing a dangerous flashflood while living in a tent in a field camp in the middle of nowhere in northwestern New Mexico. And they said, “Oh, this is a good story but why were you digging sites out there and weren’t there any dogs in this field camp? You should write about them. And what about…? And what about…? And soon, I realized I was writing another book-length work, and I had started writing in the middle of the story, which I really don’t recommend. Worse yet, this was exactly how the critique group nudged me into writing Cowboy Song when I just intended to write a nice short story. I should have stayed away from those people.
What makes this book unique in the memoir/creative nonfiction market?
I guess I would say the big selling point is that it’s about archaeology, and most people love that. But even more, it is about real archaeology, not the Indiana Jones, “I’m looking for the golden idol or the Ark of the Covenant or some other great treasurer hunter fixation” kind. This is about being able to literally reach out and touch the existence of people who lived a thousand years ago. To understand how they built lives and homes for themselves and their families in a harsh and unyielding environment. There are those moments — finding a child’s toy left behind on the floor of a house, placing your hand in a handprint in the ancient mud plaster of an ancient wall, encountering evidence of a tragedy that struck a family long ages ago — that leave you changed as a person. This is what I’ve tried to convey in this book.
Any “Oh, wow!” moments while doing research for The House of Ravens?
Well, I didn’t have to do a lot of research — there was that 600-page report of the project and its results sitting on the bookshelf behind my desk. Any facts or figures that my brain couldn’t dredge up were waiting for me in the pages of that tome.
What was your favorite part of putting the project together?
All the memories. My husband and I were only a couple of years into this long voyage that we have undertaken. We were digging some really good sites, recovering precious knowledge about the past before those sites were destroyed by a strip mine. We were working with good people. And we were young enough to stand working outside and living in a tent in subfreezing weather.
Why did you choose The House of Ravens as the main title of the book? If choosing the title or sub-title was a long process, tell us about that journey.
The title was easy; the cover was hard. The name that we gave the big site that my crew dug part of during the project was “Raven House.” And “House of Ravens” was just a slightly cooler sounding rendition of that name.
For the cover, I wanted a rendering of the dramatic setting of the site. I tried two different artists, and neither of them could envision the image that was so clear in my mind. The third artist (who coincidentally is the daughter of one of the men who worked on the project) couldn’t see it either, but she created such an extraordinarily beautiful alternative that I said, “What the heck, let’s go with that!” And it was a very wise decision.
What did you learn from writing/publishing The House of Ravens that will help with future projects?
Hopefully, I learned what I failed to learn from the first book — if you are going to write a book-length work, start at the beginning. Do not be lured into expanding a short story that will appear as a chapter in the middle or, worse yet, near the end of the book. It really screws up your ability to keep the timeline straight, especially if you are a writer like me who struggles a bit with the timeline under the best of circumstances.
What writing projects are you working on now?
I am writing a prequel to One Last Cowboy Song, and for once, I’ve actually started at the beginning of the book!
Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
If you are a writer, join a critique group. Even if they lead you down the primrose path to expanding a short story into a novel, that novel will be so much better for their wise counsel.
KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has worked as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.
Leave a Reply