Gary M Dobbs

Gary Martin Dobbs (born 1965, known by the pen name Jack Martin ) is a British writer and actor. He is known for a string of Western novels for Robert Hale's Black Horse Western imprint, including Arkansas Smith, The Ballad of Delta Rose, and The Afterlife of Slim McCord. In 2016 a digital edition of Tarnished Star was issued by Piccadilly Publishing under the alternative title of LawMaster. The title change refers to the title used for the script by Neil Jones and Gary Dobbs which is optioned for a feature film.

Dobbs is the writer of the series of mysteries featuring the character of Granny Smith. As an actor Dobbs has appeared (often uncredited) in many British TV shows, as well as in the films The Reverend and Risen. In 2014 Dobbs wrote the 2013 non-fiction historical book, Cardiff and the Valleys in the Great War, published by Pen and Sword Books. Other non-fiction works include Dark Valleys (2016), Cardiff at War 1939–1945 (2018) and A Date with the Hangman: A history of capital punishment.

Early life Gary Martin Dobbs was born in 1965 in South Wales to Horace Dobbs and Violet (Martin) Dobbs. His early life was spent in the one-time coal-mining village of Gilfach Goch. His adolescence was, in his own words, idyllic with his love of reading and eventually writing instilled in him by his mother who, after discovering he was a poor reader, sat him down and taught him to read. In an interview with BBC Radio Wales, Dobbs stated, "I was eleven years old at the time. And it was the best thing anyone ever did for me. As soon as I conquered the act of reading the written word a whole new world opened for me."

Career Dobbs wrote his first novel at fifteen years of age, which went unpublished, but it was an experience he never forgot and has been writing ever since. Dobbs has claimed that being born into a working class area, and educated at the local comprehensive school, he was denied encouragement by the education system and owes his love of literature to his mother and grandfather, Jack Martin. It was his grandfather's name that Dobbs used as a pen-name for his string of best-selling western novels published first by Robert Hale Ltd and then by Crowood Press.