BA Austin is the author of Smell the Raindrops: One Young Woman’s Journey through Life, Love, and Recovery. It is her powerful fictional memoir about relationships and the challenges of being a Southern Belle baby-boomer born into significant wealth. Austin is an independent art history lecturer with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bowdoin College and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Memphis. She completed in-depth studies in Italy on Florentine Renaissance art.  Ms. Austin has worked in the museum and  academic fields for thirty years.  She lives in southern California near her son, daughter, son-in-law, and three grandsons who are the joys of her life.