Bob Lively is a native Texan, who was born in Dallas and raised and educated in the Dallas public schools. He is a graduate of Austin College and also of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. The Presbyterian Church ordained him in 1973, and for the past four decades he has served the church as a pastor, community activist, teacher, certified pastoral counselor, campus minister, and recovery center chaplain. He is the author of 9 other books of non-fiction and is an award-winning short story writer. For 23 years he wrote a regular column in the Austin American-Statesman. The Thin Place is his first novel. Today he is retired and lives with his wife, Mary Lynn, a retired university associate dean, on an acre in the Hill Country west of Austin. He has been named a distinguished alumnus of both Austin College and Austin Seminary.