The focus of this weeks Five Things is Austin Carty, author of High Points and Lows: Life, Faith, and Figuring It All Out, Plume Publishers, January 2010.
If you’ve read his website or watched him on the CBS television series Survivor, you might know his background.
He has since become a highly sought after inspirational speaker and travels the country addressing audiences both young and old, Christian and secular. Audiences find his irreverent spin on reverent topics to be both insightful and refreshing.
Reading through the reviews of his book I find these interesting notes…
“In each chapter Carty revisits moments in his own life, both good and bad, where he caught small glimpses of God’s love, grace, and understanding.”
– S. Blackburn
“Reading this book is like sitting down with Carty at Starbucks and hearing of his personal struggles, triumphs and challenges of living a Christian life in a not so Christian world.”
– Greg Morgan
“Carty disassembles the bells and whistles of the Christian Religion Machine, stripping it down to what’s ultimately at the Christian’s core: faith. Simple faith.”
– Thomas M. Zuniga
With reviews like that, I placed Austin Carty’s book on my list of ‘Next Reads.’ Still, one has to be careful when recommending someone. But, after poking around his blog, I am assured that we have a mutual Friend when I read this …“Jesus is more than words. Jesus is more than a set of bullet points on Sunday. Jesus is more than a systematic theology. Jesus is more than a name we drop so others might think us pious and good.”
So, without further ramblings, here are the Five Things You Didn’t Know About Austin Carty …
1. My favorite state is Montana, even though I’ve never been there.
I live in central NC, but have always had a romantic idea of Montana. My favorite movie is set there (“A River Runs Through It”) and my grandfather, who was my hero (and who I write about in my book) used to fish the Big Blackfoot River.
I JUST had a church group from Montana reach out with interest about having me come speak, and I am giddy with excitement about the possibility!
2. I want to be just like my baby sister when I grow up, because she is such a wonderful role model.
My sister is just an all-around wonderful person. She is a former Miss Teen NC, who could have easily pursued so many other paths in life, but opted to become a special education teacher in central NC. She’s just a remarkably inspring person who has such an infectious personality.
3. I have been writing for over 8 years in hopes of landing a book with a major house. HP&L is that book.
I wrote over a million unpublished words, 5 failed novels, was rejected by over 100 agents, and over 50 houses before someone finally said yes! I am proof that persistence pays off! I write both fiction and non-fiction. No novellas yet, but that’s not to say that I never will.
4. I prefer fast food to home cooked meals. And I’m ashamed of it, too.
I am a product of the McDonald’s generation. As a kid, I was constantly on the go with my mother, and we’d always pop into fast food drive-thru. This is likely why I crave fast food to this very day. And I’m ashamed because fast food is such a silly thing to prefer over a home cooked meal!
5. I’m married the smartest, most wonderful woman in the world on September 18th, 2010.
I met her one night via mutual friends and, in our first exchange, found out she worked for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Since my mother has MS, we rapped out about that for quite some time. I then proceeded to stalk her on MySpace for several weeks before gathering the courage to ask her out.
That was over three years ago, and it’s been wonderful ever since! I’d have to say that the thing I admire most about her is her intellect and wit. She’s very smart, and very funny. I live to make her laugh, because when I’m able to get her to crack a smile, I know it must have been legitimately funny!
Just to summarize, Austin’s Five Things amount to him being a Montana and McDonald’s craving fortunate fellow (having both a very wise wife and a role model sibling) and persistent enough to persevere through the inescapable rejection cycle of becoming a published writer.
It is always a blessing to research Christian writers. I enjoy reading how God has shaped their lives and through it all brought forth a good read.
Additional Resources
- Visit Austin’s Website
- Read Austin’s Blog
- Follow Austin on Twitter
- Find Austin on Facebook
- Send Austin an Email
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High Points and Lows: Life, Faith, and Figuring It All Out
By Austin Carty / Plume For readers who loved Blue Like Jazz, comes inspiration and advice from Survivor contestant and Christian speaker Austin Carty Figuring out who you want to be in life is never easy. In High Points and Lows, Austin Carty traces his own stumbling journey toward adulthood and true faith, drawing on lessons from pop culture and Christianity. In these funny and moving essays that address questions on faith, goals, and vocation, Carty offers an uplifting message for religious and secular audiences alike. By turns amusing and endearing, Carty’s essays explore everything from misguided evangelicals who treat salvation as a cottage industry to the real danger of cheating in school-everyone will think you’re brilliant and then you’ve got a real problem. Whether he is failing miserably at his first real job as a nightclub gofer, explaining how Saved by the Bell has ruined our youth, or struggling to come to terms with the death of a beloved friend, Carty demonstrates how finding the courage to be ourselves is the best way to forge a genuine connection with friends, family, and God. |
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This article is part of the Vessel Project series called Five Things and features Christian Authors who have graciously offered to share five things their readers did not know about them. To read all articles in this series, select the icon or go HERE. |
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