Introducing C.E. Austin, author of the recent Doorway Publishing release, The Peanut Butter Thief (Burt & Mullet Kid Detectives).
Q: Please tell us a little about yourself.
A: My name is Carrie Austin and I live in Pine Village, Indiana. I love writing stories and taking photos. You can almost always find me with a pen in my hair, sticky notes in my purse, and a camera in my bag.
Q: Your latest book, The Peanut Butter Thief, was released on September 5. What is this book about and what type of readers do you feel it would most appeal to?
A: This is a goofy mystery that I describe as Hardy Boys meets Junie B. Jones. It’s about two best friends that become accidental detectives and try to catch a peanut butter thief. This book was written for boys in the 3rd-6th grades, but my hope is that it’s the type of story that all ages will enjoy.
Q: What inspired you to write The Peanut Butter Thief?
A: I have a lot of peanut butter thieves in my family and one incident in particular gave me the idea for this book!
Q: What do you want the readers to take away from reading your book without giving away any spoilers?
A: I hope it’s a fun read for them and makes them laugh.
Q: Have you always wanted to be an author?
A: Yes! I started telling stories to my five little sisters at a young age to keep them entertained and haven’t stopped since!
Q: When did you realize you wanted to write?
A: I realized I wanted to write in 3rd grade. I started writing down the stories I told to my sisters and one was selected by my teacher to be entered in a contest. It won and I represented my school at a young authors event. I had so much fun that I started working on my stories almost every night.
Q: How does your faith influence your writing?
A: As a mom I was constantly searching for wholesome, family friendly books for my kids to read that would either encourage their faith or not take away from their faith. Books like that can be hard to find, and I want parents of any age kids to be able to hand them my books knowing that they will be clean and have positive messages about life and faith.
Q: What is one of the interesting things you learned or discovered while writing this book?
A: I learned that even though I grew up watching IU basketball with my parents that I still don’t know all the technical terms! My husband had to jump in and correct me on a few things!
Q: Can you give us a hint of any future projects you may have in the works?
A: I plan to continue the Burt and Mullet series, but I am also excited about a cozy mystery series for adults that I’ve been working on this summer, as well as a young adult fantasy series.
Q: What are some of your favorite books and/or authors?
A: That’s a hard one! I love to read all kinds of books! If I narrow it down to the books I read over and over again, year after year, I would say The Chronicles of Narnia series, the Harry Potter series, The Giver, The Secret Garden, The Scarlet Letter, Little Women, and anything by Jennifer Nielson and Joel Salatin.
Q: As an encouragement to other authors, could you share any advice, tips, or tricks that you have found helpful in your writing process?
A: My best tip is to write a little bit every day, even if it just means setting a timer for fifteen minutes. It’s amazing how a few words a day add up over the course of a week, a month, and a year.
