An Interview with Aime Austin

The most popular reader questions: answered.

What's your name and what genre would you consider your books to be?

• I write Legal Thrillers as Aime Austin.

Tell me about your book. How did you come up with that (story, angle, idea)?

• Judged was the first book I ever wrote. After practicing in Juvenile Court for five years, I was dying to tell a story that mirrored so much of what I saw. This book explores the issue of who’s best at fixing families – the families themselves or the state.

How did you get interested in writing this particular genre?

• Growing up I read everything from every genre. Legal and police thrillers I come back to time after time. Something about the pulse-quickening nature of the search for truth and/or justice gets me every single time. I want to do that for my readers.

What kind of research did you do for this book?

• I lived it, so the research was just years of living life.

Can you tell me about your Series?

• Currently I’m working on the fourth book in the Nicole Long legal thriller series. She’s a prosecutor with a tragic past and a current drinking problem. My first series was the Casey Cort Series follows one thirty-something lawyer in Cleveland, Ohio. At the end of law school, she did the right thing and turned in someone who’d done the wrong thing. He was rich and powerful and all but killed her legal career. This series follows Casey as she rises like a Phoenix from the ashes of that first decision.

Do you have a favorite book out of the Casey Cort series?

• While I love them all, my favorite is probably Caged. Casey comes into her own there.

Where did you get the inspiration/idea for your series?

• My first career was that of a criminal defense and juvenile attorney. I saw so much good and bad in the ‘system’ that I knew I had to write about it. I also love writing about the lives of lawyers as they really are and not glamorized for television.

Was it always meant to become a series?

• I had no plans for a series when I wrote the first book. But someone wise told me that I should write the second book. It caught on from there. I’m very glad I took that advice.

What's a typical working day like for you? When and where do you write? Do you set a daily writing goal?

• I have a child so ‘typical’ went out the window years ago. I write 1600 words per day, with a goal of 8000 per week. I write whenever I can get a chance.

Do you have a new book in the making and if so, what’s the name of your upcoming book?

• Without Consent publishing March 8, 2023.

How important are character names to you in your books? Is there a special meaning to any of the names?

• Some names just come to me. Usually those of the main characters. For the others, I use a random name generator that pulls names from the U.S. Social Security index sorted by year of birth and popularity.

Where do your ideas come from?

• There are ideas everywhere. There are more ideas than time.

Is there a genre that you've been wanting to experiment with?

• I used to write romance and women’s fiction under a different pen name, but am currently only writing in the thriller genre.

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

• Sitting down to do it. There are a thousand distractions.

What’s the best thing about being an author?

• Working at home in my pajamas. C’mon, you knew that already, right?

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

• I’d love to see Casey Cort on the small screen. I think her stories would be amazing television.

Have you always liked to write?

• From my first memory.

What writing advice do you have for aspiring authors?

• A.B.C. Apply Butt to Chair. You can’t edit, revise, sell, or publish what you haven’t written.

If you didn’t like writing books or weren’t any good at it, what would you like to do for a living?

• Photography. It’s my second love.

Do you read reviews of your book(s)? Do you respond to them, good or bad? How do you deal with the bad?

• I used to read them. Then I’d have to drink copious amounts of wine when reading the bad ones. So I don’t read them anymore. I have my assistant pull quotes from the good reviews.

What is your least favorite part of the writing / publishing process?

• Edits. Being vulnerable and opening up to write, then having that writing edited is the hardest part of the process.

What are you working on now?

• I’m working on the next Nicole Long legal thriller—The Murders Began.

Can you give us a few tasty morsels from your work in progress?

• Ha. I wish I could. It’s slow going this new one. It may also be way too profane. Have to think deeply on that.

Why did you choose to write in your genre? If you write in more than one, how do you balance them?

• Balancing three genres was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I used to get reader emails asking when the next…[insert their favorite genre here] is coming out. I wish I could split myself into three. But I couldn’t, so now I only write crime thrillers.

Where did your love of books come from?

• I had a chaotic childhood and books were my salvation. I got my Brooklyn Public Library card when I was seven or eight and it was the best thing that every happened to me. I could be transported from my life to many different worlds. It saved me in so many ways.

Do you have any favorite authors or favorite books?

• Oh, gosh. There are so many. So many. Right now I love Elizabeth George. What Came Before He Shot Her is simply amazing. I also love Julia Spencer-Fleming and wished she wrote faster or more. Tana French is spectacular as well.

Of all the characters you have created, which is your favorite and why?

• Oooh. That’s too hard. They’re like children. Please don’t make me choose.

Does writing energize or exhaust you?

• Both in equal measure.

What is your writing Kryptonite?

• Extramarital affairs. For some reason that single theme attracts and repels me in equal parts.

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

• I try to be completely original. My editors suggest that I’ve succeeded.

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

• I’m friends with so many authors. I love creative people. My best author friends are Maggie Marr (sexy contemporary romance) and Marina Maddix (sci-fi romance). They tell me the truth. You can’t ask for more from friends.