Susan Austin is married to Luke and has three daughters (Emily – 10, Bridget – 8, Genevieve – 5). She is the author of a series of Cookery books called Frost Bite, the latest being: "Frost Bite: Easy Cooking for Your Freezer", published by New Holland in May 2011. Until recently she worked as a part-time accountant, but has quit her job to focus on her writing career. She lives in Sydney.
Susan Austin
C4K: How did you come to be writing your books and working as an author full time?
SA: My background is in accountancy (so I am very methodical and organised) and I've always loved cooking. While at home with a baby and a toddler I realised that I couldn't find any cookbooks containing recipes that can be frozen. I decided to write my own book, and after 6 months of writing and testing recipes I was ready to send it to various publishers. I was very lucky because New Holland picked it up immediately.
After 12 months of contracts, photo shoots, editing then printing (and having a third baby during that time!), the first Frost Bite book was published in 2006 (Frost Bite: Everyday Food Fresh from the Freezer). A second book (Frost Bite: Freezer Recipes for Toddlers to Teenagers) was published in 2008.
And finally, in May 2011 the publishers decided to print a third book which is a "best of" collection of recipes from the first two books.
Like many mums who work for themselves I would say my writing is like a flexible, yet full-time workload! I definitely put in the hours, but can work around my family to a certain extent, as I often write recipes in the evenings or weekends.
C4K: When did you go back to work after having your children?
SA: In the 10 years since becoming a mum I have always worked in some capacity: for the first five years after my first child was born I worked 1 day a week as a bookkeeper.
After that I was busy writing my first two books, then we moved to Singapore. In Singapore I worked as a Teachers Aide (we had a live-in Filipino maid) then we moved back to Sydney in 2009.
After a few months settling everyone back into school and preschool and unpacking boxes, I found a job doing accounting and admin work, during school hours. And a few months ago I quit that job to focus on my career as an author.
C4K: What were your main motivations to return to work and what was the hardest thing about it?
SA: The main motivation to return to work was to keep my mind active, to spend time with other adults, to keep my skills up, and of course the income.
The hardest part about returning to work is sick children – I dread sick children on my work days! The guilt is terrible! You feel guilty that you're letting your boss down, but your main priority is nursing your kids back to full health. Now that I work from home this isn't a problem.
C4K: How did you manage child care with your children before they started school?
SA: My youngest child just started school this year so it is finally a bit easier to work. I have always used a local childcare centre for my children (1 day a week while I was bookkeeping) then as they reached 3-4 years of age they attended the local preschool.
In my recent accounting/admin role my youngest daughter was going to preschool 3 days a week and the local occasional care for 2 days a week.
C4K: What were you looking for in your child care arrangement?
SA: I always looked for a happy environment. If I inspected a centre and there were lots of children crying I would immediately look elsewhere. I didn't need long-day care, so I was keen to find centres that took children for 9am-3pm as it was a little cheaper and it was a bit easier on the child - they weren't too exhausted after a full day away from home.
C4K: How did you find your child care and was it a difficult process?
SA: I looked at all the childcare centres in my neighbourhood and asked my mum-friends for their recommendations. Sometimes it was difficult to find a vacancy, but I could be flexible on the days that I needed care so I eventually found regular bookings.
C4K: What would you do differently if you were looking for child care again?
SA: I don't think I'd do anything differently. The childcare arrangements worked well for our needs. At the end of the day I don't think there's an easy solution regarding childcare – all mothers believe that no-one can do as good a job at raising their children as they can, but on the other hand they need a break from their children (for work or sanity). All parents need to find the "best fit" for their family, as there is rarely a "perfect fit".
C4K: What are the main benefits of your child care arrangement?
SA: Our children enjoyed the social aspect of being amongst other children their age and it gave them some independence. I loved hearing our daughters talk about their kindy or preschool - it was their whole world, something that they "owned" and didn't share with anyone else. They loved the routines of childcare, having a special backpack, lunchbox, sheet bag etc. If we had had an au pair/nanny then they would have missed out on the childcare/preschool experience.
All of our daughters were late talkers, so they were quite hard to understand during their preschool years by people other than my husband and me. When my middle daughter started preschool, she immediately made a new best friend, Lucie. Lucie was French and didn't speak any English, and Bridget was Australian, but no-one could understand her English! Despite the language barrier, they just loved each other's company and had a great time together. The unspoken language of children is universal. For more information about Susan click here
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