No Kangaroos in AustriaNo Kangaroos in Austria
J Hirtle The Last Storyteller
Jim Hirtle talks with indie author and prosecutor Kaylin Rinder about how a teenage trip, personal loss and a bold email inspired her debut mystery set in Austria. They chat through her writing process, the realities of self-publishing, and the courage it takes to finally share a long-held story.
35:28•1 Jul 2026
No Kangaroos in Austria: From Grief to Mystery Writing with Kaylin Rinder
Episode Overview
- A long-remembered student ambassador trip and a quirky T-shirt slogan became the seed for Kaylin Rinder’s debut mystery novel.
- Her father’s death pushed her to stop delaying creative goals and finally write the story she had held in her mind for years.
- Careful planning on large flip pads helped her juggle several subplots while keeping the main mystery and family thread clear.
- Self-publishing brought technical and marketing hurdles, from formatting and page numbers to learning social media and book fairs.
- Kaylin’s message to her younger self – that a quiet, nerdy girl can find her voice – offers encouragement to anyone hesitating to start writing.
“I would tell her that there's a bright future ahead of you... that nerds will rule the world, and that you will crack out of your shell and find your voice.”
What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction? On this occasion, poet and host Jim Hirtle shifts the focus from his usual themes of addiction and faith to shine a light on indie author Kaylin Rinder and her debut mystery, *The Accidental Ambassador: There Are No Kangaroos in Austria*.
Kaylin, a long-time prosecutor by day and writer by night, explains how a teenage trip through seven countries and a cheeky T-shirt saying “There are no kangaroos in Austria” stayed with her for years. After her dad died, she stopped putting off her dreams and finally wrote the story that had been living in the back of her mind.
As she puts it, she wanted to start doing “things that I wanted to do and had kept putting off – and hence the book.” You’ll hear how the first chapters are “pretty much autobiographical” before the story heads into mystery territory, complete with a pivotal email that she really did send in real life.
She talks about juggling multiple subplots, mapping them out on giant flip pads “almost like a football play”, and keeping a strong family thread running through the book so the characters always have a dinner-table “touchstone” to come back to. For anyone curious about writing as a creative outlet in recovery or after loss, Kaylin’s honesty about self-publishing is especially helpful.
She’s open about wrestling with formatting, page numbers, and promotion, joking that her impatience might not be the best trait for an author. Yet she still managed to self-edit, design her own cover, and start saying yes to book fairs and media appearances. A lovely moment comes when Jim asks what she’d tell her 15‑year‑old self if she could be that encouraging teacher.
Kaylin smiles and says she’d remind that quiet, nerdy girl that “nerds will rule the world” and that she’ll “crack out of [her] shell and find [her] voice.” It’s a gentle nudge for anyone wondering if it’s too late to start their own story. So what dream project have you been putting off, and what would it take to give yourself permission to start?
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