Lynn Austin

Lynn Austin is an American author of Christian fiction. She holds the record for the most Christy Awards won, securing eight, and her book Hidden Places was adapted into a Hallmark Channel movie.

Lynn Austin was born with a vivid imagination. She grew up crafting stories in her mind, akin to the imagination of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. After three years at Hope College in Michigan, she married Ken and completed her degree in psychology at Southern Connecticut State University.

They lived in Bogotá, Colombia, where Austin taught 4th grade, and Ken performed in the symphony orchestra. With no TV, she became an avid reader, dreaming of writing books that evoke laughter, tears, and deep thought.

Family demands delayed Austin's writing ambitions until Ken's career took them to Thunder Bay, Ontario, and later to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Amidst long Canadian winters, she carved out time to write while her children napped. Her imagination blossomed into compelling characters and narratives.

For eleven years, she honed her craft while juggling family life, and in 1995, her first novel, Gods and Kings, was published. This book later evolved into a five-part series titled Chronicles of the Kings.

While researching for the series, Austin pursued a dream by volunteering on an archaeological dig. In 1989, she and her son Joshua traveled to Israel, where they spent a month in the ancient city of Timnah. This experience informed the Chronicles of the Kings series and inspired the novel Wings of Refuge.

In 1992, Austin resigned from teaching to write full-time. Since then, she has authored over twenty-three novels and a non-fiction book, Pilgrimage: My Journey to a Deeper Faith in the Land Where Jesus Walked. Her novels have won several awards, including eight Christy Awards for excellence in Christian fiction, leading to her induction into the Christy Award Hall of Fame in 2013.

Fire by Night made the Library Journal's top inspirational novels list in 2003, and All She Ever Wanted made the same list in 2005. The adaptation of Hidden Places earned actress Shirley Jones a 2006 Emmy nomination for her role as Aunt Batty.

She and her husband have three children and live in Holland, Michigan.

Photo credit: lynnaustin.org