10 Things You Might Not Know About Lynn Austin

  1. I grew up in New York State in the Hudson Valley about 60 miles north of New York City. As the middle sister of three, I’m blessed to have two built-in, lifelong, best friends.GetAttachmentThumbnail
  2. I was a huge fan of the Beatles as a teenager and heard them perform in person twice—once in Atlantic City, and once in Shea Stadium in NYC. The stadium held 56,000 screaming Beatles’ fans and afterward it seemed like most of them were trying to board the same subway train home that I was. I was nearly crushed to death but it was worth it, of course.Beatles
  3. I left New York to go to Hope College in Michigan where I met my husband Ken. He was a music major and I was struggling through a required music history/appreciation course. He offered to tutor me—and we fell in love. I got an A in the course.GetAttachmentThumbnail
  4. The summer before we married, I worked as an attendant in a mental institution. I was a psychology major in college and wanted some practical experience. Well, I got plenty of it!—along with some valuable insights that help me create realistic characters.
  5. I worked as the secretary to the Dean of Students at Yale while Ken was earning his Master’s degree there. At the time, I had no idea that all the typing I did every day would be good practice for being a writer.
  6. A year after we were married, Ken got a summer job performing with the Alaska Festival of Music. We decided to drive from Connecticut to Anchorage in our tiny, two-seater sports car. Being poor students, we camped out along the way in an army-surplus pup tent and cooked our meals on a propane stove.triumph
  7. After Ken graduated, he won a job performing with the National Symphony Orchestra in Bogota, Colombia. I taught 4th grade in a Colombian school for a year until our son Joshua was born. I do NOT recommend giving birth for the first time in a foreign language! By the time they laid Josh in my arms, I was so confused I started talking to him in Spanish. Ken said, “What are you doing, Lynn? He speaks English!”
  8. Our son Ben was born in Canada when Ken performed with the Thunder Bay Symphony in Ontario and our daughter Maya was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba when Ken played in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. At least they spoke English in Canada! All three of our children have dual-citizenship.
  9. To research my first novel, “Gods and Kings,” I lived in Israel for a month and volunteered on an archaeological dig. Our son Josh, who was 14, went with me. His dream was to uncover a skull—he and his site team found an entire skeleton!dig
  10. You may have figured out by now that Ken and I love travel and adventure. We have always kept active, whether it’s skiing (downhill and cross-country), backpacking, hiking in the mountains, and now cycling. We just returned from a 2 ½ week trip to Florida where we pedaled a total of 220 miles. The exercise makes up for all the hours I spend sitting at my desk.P1030135

So, do you share any similarities with my crazy life? Any Beatles fans out there? I would love to hear from you!

29 comments

  1. I lead a pretty dull life compared to yours! I have 5 grandchildren, five are grandsons who are all active in sports so I spend a lot of time at baseball and football games and wrestling matches in the winter. I also am a quilter and knit a little bit. I was an Elvis fan and somehow my oldest daughter married an Elvis fan. They were married on Elvis’ birthday, went to Graceland on their honeymoon and have two children Presley and Parker. I and my two daughters enjoy all your books and look forward to your new ones!

    1. Your life sounds great to me, Shirley! I’m sure your grandsons appreciate your support. And I admire you for having the patience to sew a quilt!

  2. I was born in Arizona, second daughter to a army officer. Most of my growing up was in Arlington, Va(where i heard the gospel at Young Life) since my dad was then stationed at the Pentagon. My sister is my best friend, too. i went to Madison College (now JMU) but had two dear friends who went to Hope College (classes of ’76 and ’77). I married and we lived in Annapolis, MD while i worked in the State Dept in DC. We moved to NJ in 1988. My two sons were born – the delights of my life. I worked as an aide in their elementary school and continued their thru their high school years since my youngest is high functioning autistic and needed extra help. My young men are the delights of my life. We all love history (Williamsburg, VA) and all things American History. I am disabled from chronic lyme disease so can’t work or drive…so i spend a lot of time reading (LOVE your books). I am also divorced. Learning to lean on God since finances and future are so uncertain. I hope to get to Michigan sometime….read Jody Hedlund’s series Beacons of Hope…the first 4 are at Michigan lighthouses. The beach is my happy place…love the Outer Banks of NC.

    1. It sounds like you’ve had a full life, Mary. Even with a few sorrows along the way, I can tell that your relationship with God is richer for it. Make sure you visit Holland when you come to Michigan.

    1. Thanks, Melinda. I still listen to the Beatles from time to time, and can still remember all the song lyrics–even though I often can’t remember where my car keys are!

  3. Where are you from in the mid-Hudson Valley? I was born in Newburgh and raised in Cornwall-on-Hudson…

  4. 1. I was born in New Mexico. My father died from injuries in a car accident one month before I was born.
    2. My mother remarried when I was 3 and we moved to a bigger house. I grew up essentially as an only child – 3 stepsisters – 21, 20 and 11 years older than me. The oldest 2 were married and had a child 3 years younger than me,
    3. I loved art and reading at an early age and my 3rd grade teacher reccommended the public library to my mother and she took me to the library every week – we lived way out in the country.
    4. My goal as a teenager was to go to college and leave New Mexico for good.
    5. I met my husband on a blind date in my senior year of high school. He was an Airman and was a jet engine mechanic. I knew that if he could fix jets he could fix anything and he can!
    6. I attended Texas Woman’s University, Eastern New Mexico University and graduated from Hope College with a BA with a double major- Biology and history- minors in English and Educatuion.
    7. I have been an artist for years and still continue to paint.
    8. We have been married for 51 years and I have lived in Holland, Mi for almost 51 years- we married on spring break in April on Easter Sunday – had a short honeymoon to Santa Fe, NM and I went back to college to finish the semester and my husband moved to Michigan to his parent’s home and got a job. I traveled to Holland by train in June.
    9. We have 3 children – two of our children are adopted. We have 3 grandchildren. We love to travel – my husband traveled in the Air Force- Thailand, Turkey, Italy, the Azores and VietNam and we have traveled all over Canada – New Foundland, Victoria, Banf, Ottawa, Quebec City and Germany, Ireland , Netherlands, Scotland, Denmark, Norway and Italy. We have 3 states to go to complete all 50.
    10. I love antiques, Valentines, holidays ,reading , painting, embroidering samplers and quilting. For my job I served as a Librarian for 23 years. I keep busy with 3 book clubs, stitch groups and friends. I am rarely bored- one of my most important things in my life is my belief in God- I was raised in a nominal Christian home and I determined early on in life that I wanted to marry a Christian man and I was so fortunate to have that Type of Christian man as my husband for all of these years.

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  5. Wow! You’ve led an interesting life, too, Delaney! Congratulations on 51 years of marriage. And it looks like we’re neighbors here in Holland, Michigan except that we just moved back here 2 years ago. It’s a great place to live, isn’t it?

  6. Hmmm 10 things about me…
    I was born in the Bronx in the summer of 1960. Half Sicilian, one quarter English, and one quarter German. My mother was Jewish and I second generation American
    My brothers loved the Beatles and had all their albums; I became a fan long after they disbanded. I had a huge crush on George but love John’s love songs to Yoko.

    When I was eight years old I took my mother’s ring without her permission. It was a beautiful piece with a large ruby in the center. On my child’s finger it fit loosely and as I played outdoors a wrong move sent it flying off into the yard. I searched for the better part of an hour before returning to my room to pray for help. I was desperate! I headed back outdoors and there, resting on the top leaf of a hydrangea plant, as if in the palm of an angel, sat the ring. I never will forget how God showed up that day.
    Now I am a grandmother to six boys. Whenever they visit something invariably gets broken or misplaced. Grace is needed. Thank God I know just how much that means to a child!

  7. Hi Lynn,
    Loved the photo of the TR Spitfire! I grew up in New York, and when we were married in 1965, we drove our TR-4 from NY to California. Alaska would’ve been better, but he was in the Navy.
    You and Jamie Langston Turner are my very favorite authors. I read your books too quickly. I suppose I should re-read them 🙂
    God’s blessings to you and Ken and your family,
    Nancy

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  8. I enjoy your books so much, Lynn! I love going back to different times and places. I have read all of your books up until 2015 releases and I’m looking forward to reading your new ones. I’m thankful for your well written Christian novels. It is inspiring to me to read of the many trails your characters have come through with the Lord’s help. God bless you, Lynn. Please keep writing such wonderful stories of God’s matchless grace.

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  9. We seem to have a few common connections: my paternal grandmother, F.E. Lowe, taught for over 50 years at Southern Connecticut State University! And my dad taught Classics at Hope College for a few years while my brother and I were toddlers. I don’t remember a lot about Holland since I was young when we lived there, but I remember being really unhappy that the city we were moving to (St. Louis) did not have Tulip Time! What kind of city doesn’t have a parade where you walk through the streets in wooden shoes and carrying brooms?? (St. Louis turned out to be okay even without that.)

    1. No way! That’s quite a coincidence that we both have SCSU and Hope connections! They’re so far apart and so different! Yes, Holland is a beautiful little town, especially at Tulip Time. Maybe you can come back for a visit? I know where you can buy a Dutch costume to wear.

  10. I’m a huge fan of your books, so I was delighted to learn about your connection to Winnipeg. I’m from Portage la Prairie and my three historical novels are set in Winnipeg and small fictional towns in Manitoba. Thanks for you’re very inspiring books!

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  12. I met my husband at Hope College in 1992! He helped me with my computer science class, but we didn’t fall in love until after graduation. To be more accurate, I didn’t fall in love until after graduation. I just finished reading “Waves of Mercy,” and I loved all of the memories of Holland that it brought back. My husband especially appreciates your mention of Singapore. He has used the history of that town as a sermon illustration from the pulpit on a few occasions, but he prefers teaching about it while sitting on the sand dunes that now cover Singapore. We’ve hiked out there from Pine Trail Camp in Sagatuck many times. Scores of youth from Hartland, Michigan, are familiar with the rise and fall of Singapore and the story of the gold from an Allegan bank that was temporarily lost in the Kalamazoo River on it’s way to the Bank of Singapore.

    In 2010, after heartbreaking trials, God brought us to western Ohio. We miss the clean waters of Michigan’s lakes and rivers, and we travel there as often as reasonable. Holland was the first place we took our three foster (now adopted) daughters after they joined our family, and all six of our kids were a little disappointed to learn that we would be vacationing in New Hampshire and not Michigan this summer.

    I have loved reading all of your books, and while the “Candle in the Darkness” series is probably still my favorite (whew, that’s a hard call), “Waves of Mercy” definitely has a very special place in my heart for it’s setting and themes.

  13. Lynn,
    I guess I have a few things in common with you.

    1. I loved the Beatles too
    2. As a student at Hope I did my junior year abroad in Bogota. That was back in 1969!! Lived in Chapinero – visited Monserrate.
    3. I gave birth to my first daughter in Lima, Peru. It was quite the challenge trying to understand Spanish while in labor. I’m not sure what my daughter spoke at birth but she grew up speaking both Spanish and English!!
    4. My daughter worked/studied at Yale in the Child Psychology Dept. so I know New Haven well.
    5. I’ve never lived in Holland but I commuted from GR for 22 years while teaching at Hope.
    6. Been to Israel.
    7. Love traveling in a pop-up camper

    I guess 7 out of 10 isn’t to bad.

    just finished Waves of Mercy- my introduction to your writing. Looking forward to reading more of your work.

  14. Lynn,
    Last night I finished reading Waves of Mercy. This book greatly impacted me as I am a Dutch immigrant. Like Geesje in the book, I would rather have stayed in the Netherlands.
    Geesje’s struggles also reminded me of my mother who lived through two world wars, a depression, a challenging immigrant experience, and some very painful times in the raising of nine children. Unlike Geesje, my mother, who wrote about her life as well, did not share in writing the pain she went through, although she did talk to me about it to me a few times. What my mother shared with Geesje was faith in God, and a desire to do His will.
    Waves of Mercy reminded me that God directs my steps, even when I don’t understand His ways; my task is to seek Him and His will in everything that I face, and put my trust in Him. He is faithful!
    Thanks Lynn for writing this book.

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