Meet Angela Breidenbach

Angela Breidenbach is a best-selling author of romance through the ages and host of Lit Up Talk Radio. She’s been writing prayers for writers for over three years as the Weekly Prayer Warrior of the Romance Writers of America/Faith, Hope, and Love Chapter. Angela is the Christian Author Network’s president. And yes, she’s half of the fun fe-lion comedy duo, Muse and Writer. Always family-friendly — Always good for your heart.

Tell us about your newest book.

Worthy to Write! Blank page tying your stomach in knots? 30 prayers to tackle that fear!

Worthy to Write! The book that tackles those fears that holds you back from putting words on the page and submitting your work as a professional. Fears like—I can’t let anyone read my stories. Who cares about what I have to say? Who would read anything I wrote anyway? I’m not special or original enough. Do those fears fly through your mind like a plague of locusts, eating up your confidence each time you sit down to write? All those fears, and more, boil down to one problem—feeling unworthy. But you are worthy! God gave you a voice and all those ideas swirling in your head for a reason: to write them so that you can make a difference in the world.

Presented by the Pencildancers: Angela Breidenbach, Diana Lesire Brandmeyer, Liz Tolsma, and Jennifer Vander Klipp because we’ve also experienced those fears and worked through them to become best-selling, award-winning authors. We want that for you, too! First in the new Worthy series, Worthy to Write is written for the author on the journey to use God-given talent for His glory!

What genre do you focus on and why?

I actually enjoy writing in several genres including historical and contemporary romance, non-fiction inspirational (devotions and life enhancement which is often called Christian Living in bookstores and libraries), cat comedy, and educational that includes genealogy and technology. I love sharing what I learn in both story form and to help others grow personally. I also like to make people smile with silly or poignant cat comedy social media posts.

Who is your main character?

In this case, the main character is You, the Writer. In Worthy to Write, the four authors came together to help other writers overcome the fears we’d all experienced…and often still do. We felt called to lift up others in order to encourage talented writers to express themselves the way God meant them to and do it in spite of fear. So you, dear hopeful writer, are the main character of this book.

What does a day in your writing world look like?

Do I dare admit it has way too much email time??? Because I volunteer as the president of the Christian Authors Network, I spend a lot of time on email helping manage the organization and helping other writers learn more about technology. I’m also in college for genealogy. So that means my writing time is a lot less than it was in the past few years. I also write a lot of journalistic articles and/or blog posts for larger websites. Since this year started getting crammed I decided to learn how to dictate my books. I’m on a learning curve and discovering how this all might work for me with 1-2 hours of dictation time that rotates with editing that dictation. And a lot of late night college reading…

What is the hardest part of being an author? Why?

I think the hardest part of being an author right now is the crazy rate of speed that things keep changing in the industry. There’s no comfort zone—ever! There’s a constant deluge of learning a new social media platform or figuring out how the new algorithm works or learning a new way to format for a new sales platform… Oh, and don’t forget the amount of new programs and tech and the costs of all of those things… I think you get the picture. It used to be whether a writer could learn to type and then switch to a computer, but then those authors had a tough time finding ways to reach their readers. This new age of technology allows us to reach out in new ways.

What’s the best part of your author’s life? Why?

Getting to be me. When I worked for employers I had to meet their goals. Being an author and radio host, I get to meet my own goals. That’s incredibly freeing both emotionally and physically. I don’t have to work 8-5 p.m. I love setting my own based on the time of day I do the best work for that particular kind of work. So I tend to do radio and business items between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Then I enjoy getting creative later in the day. I’ve often found myself working late into the night completely unaware of passing time.

What is the craziest thing you’ve experienced as an author?

The shock that people think I’m funny with cat comedy! I posted a photo of Muse shortly after he came home from the local pound. (I believe in pet rescue.) I’d posted a short, silly conversation between Writer and Muse. It took off in a way I never expected. Now I’m working on a calendar, gift book, and other ideas. This is one arena—that Muse and Writer are continuing to gain readers—still shocks me four years later! But the private notes I get from readers, that the humorous conversations help them, telling me how, really drives me to figure out this opportunity to share Muse’s amusing quips. This is the hardest learning curve for me because there’s a lot of techie hurdles with photography and publishing software that I have to leap. I did not see cat comedy coming! I certainly had no idea it would be a constant in my writing life. But it’s so much fun!

What are you most proud of?

Taking the chance on my dreams. I changed from standard business, chasing someone else’s dream for them, to this crazy business of public creativity. I was terrified. I went through a lot of challenges. Challenges happen in every stage. But, I thank God for being there with me through it all and giving me the courage to leap.

What is your favorite pastime? Right now, and it changes, I really love my college classes in English/Scottish genealogical studies. The classes are fascinating and often lead me off on wild tangents of curiosity.

Do you have other books? We’d love to know.

Yes, thanks for asking. I’m working on book #17. But here are a few current titles:

Historical Romance

The Captive Brides Collection

Second Chance Brides Collection

The Debutante Queen (1st in the Montana Beginnings series)

Non-Fiction

Gems of Wisdom: The Treasure of Experience

Contemporary Romance:

Out of Their Element (releasing Feb. 1st, 2018 with authors Robin Lee Hatcher, Vickie McDonough, and Deborah Raney). Full length novels exploring four couples that find romance in totally unexpected ways.

What are you working on now?

We have another “Worthy” devotion in the works for this series.

Website: http://www.AngelaBreidenbach.com

Book Link (avail Kindle or Paperback): http://amzn.to/2gFTe1c

Social media links:

https://Toginet.com/shows/litup/

Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/Instagram: @AngBreidenbach