Herder Online

Austin's Books

Austin Herder loves to read. Our visits to the mall are not complete without venturing into B. Dalton or Waldenbooks. He is fascinated by the usual subjects, so I try to remain informed about the latest video games and comic book characters. We keep a library of his favorite books in the bedroom... and he listens to Garrison Keillor (America's Storyteller) every chance he gets. When we are not able to read a story, Austin invents a story. He has a vivid imagination and a talent for developing meaningful story lines.

Creative

Austin is constantly looking for that next great story idea. From his earliest days in First Grade, he was making picture stories out of multiple series of drawings. He filled countless spiral notebooks with drawings of cartoon characters... and even illustrated the book Austin and the Space Bandits. In recent years, Austin has continued his illustrations – and they've become much more focused. He's developed a 60+ episode comic entitled The Cul de Sac that may appear here one day. Parents and teens alike can relate to the believable characters in this hilarious neighborhood spoof. There's even a sequel in the works.

Austin has also ventured into the realm of the short story. In particular, a six-part series he wrote for the Faith Christian Academy school newspaper entitled simply I Believe has attracted some critical attention. This book about a group of teens at school asks the question Who are you when your back is against the wall? His current effort is a follow-up spiritual allegory much like Dickens' Tale of Two Cities. It is about self-sacrifice in an Age of Terrorism.

Adaptable

There is no telling where Austin will get his next inspiration. It may be a simple statement in English class. It may be an experiment in Science class. One thing is for sure – he draws his characters from life experiences. It may be an observation he makes outside of class. Austin has enjoyed many different life experiences – from battlefields in Northern Virginia to the jungles of Costa Rica. Austin can adapt his ideas to almost any medium. In fact, his only limitation is his knowledge of the medium.

He began animating characters and objects in PowerPoint many years ago, despite the obvious limitations in the application. Austin found a way to make it work. he pushed the limitations on Microsoft PowerPoint until he completely wore them out. The next step was to send him to a summer camp at Furman University to learn Macromedia Flash animation. In the process, Austin not only learned Flash, he also became a wiz at the computer keyboard.

Tenacious

There are other programs Austin wants to learn that will help with his ability to tell the next great story. Visual Basic, for instance, can be another medium. Once he grabs onto a great idea, he does not let it go until the saga ends. As a result, a few of his stories have turned into 3-volume and 7-volume epics.

Austin came by this process of analysis naturally. Both of his parents are former teachers (and to make matters worse, they are former English teachers). Unlike some of his peers, Austin is able to deconstruct literary works into their various components. He can talk about the characters, the battles, and the literary devices in very real terms.