Lynn Austin will tell us more about how she approaching writing her novels when she speaks at the Pump House Museum and Learning Center at 7:00pm on July 11, 2019.

Lynn Austin is the American author of many Christian fiction novels and holds the record for most Christy

Awards won: eight. One of her books, Hidden Places was turned into a Hallmark Channel movie.

Austin began her writing career as a reader. She did not like the feeling of hopelessness she was often left with and sought to write what she would want to read. “I agree that life is hard–but God is good!” With only a minor in English she sat down to write, and continued to write, while juggling in between raising her children and working part-time. Her family moved from Canada to Chicago, where she taught at Chicago Christian High School one year before beginning to write full-time and actively pursued getting published. It took eleven years from when she started writing to getting published.

She recently blogged her followers, “ Before going on vacation in April 2019, I submitted my final changes and edits on my current manuscript. When I return home, I will be ready to start the process all over again with a new book.

But where will my ideas come from? How will the next story begin to form in my mind? Every author is different, but I begin by replenishing my supply of words. That means reading lots and lots of books. I choose authors who not only know how to tell a great story but also have an extraordinary love of language.”

Austin is known for writing books about strong women that don’t need to be rescued by a hero. She responded to readers about this by stating, “Although I don’t consciously set out to create strong women, I’d like to think that the women in my stories find strength by trusting in God.”

She says she never starts a story with a particular theme in mind, but rather starts by trying to tell a story and let the Christian message fall into place.

“I love to draw my inspiration from the lives of real people,” she says. She does this by peppering her research of historic events with diaries, letters, and first-hand accounts of people who lived through these events and times. She also gets inspiration from listening to stories about and from modern people.

Join us and learn more on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/events/332385647429489/