About Allen Anderson

Allen Anderson is a New York Times best selling author, writing instructor, and inspirational speaker. He earned a B.S. degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Georgia. For seven years, he worked as a public relations and training specialist for a computer software company and traveled the country speaking, facilitating workshops and training sessions. He has years in print and broadcast journalism, writing, teaching, photography, news reporting, public relations, military, law enforcement, and book and article publishing. His professional accomplishments, combined with being married for over twenty years, being a parent of two children, and operating a writing-editing business with his wife, give him a broad and extensive background with multiple areas of expertise and firsthand experiences.

He is an instructor at The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. His speaking, consultations, and presentations have taken him to cities across the mainland United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada as well as to Great Britain, The Netherlands, France, Australia, and West Africa. He is profiled in Jackie Waldman’s, The Courage to Give, a book that was featured on a 1999 Oprah show.  Allen Anderson was awarded a 2004 Certificate of Commendation from Governor Tim Pawlenty in recognition of his contribution as an author enhancing the State of Minnesota.

Allen Anderson is co-founder of Writing on the Run™, an organization that helps people find time and space for writing. The Writer’s Digest E-Newsletter recommends his Web site (www.writingontherun.com). The 2006 Writer’s Market published his article on finding time and space to write. Allen Anderson offers inspirational speaking and presentations for organizations, events, and meetings of professionals and people from all walks of life who want to write for pleasure or publication.

In 1996, Allen Anderson co-founded the Angel Animals© Network (www.angelanimals.net) to raise awareness of the life enrichment and health benefits people receive from their relationships with animals. He is co-author of a series of successful books about the bond between people and animals. With positive reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, Country Living, Cat Fancy, Best Friends, Animal Wellness, Times-Picayune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Tuscon Citizen, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Animal People plus dozens of other national publications, his books have been listed in Amazon.com Hot 100 and Barnes & Noble’s Top 10, What America Is Reading. Celebrities Tippi Hedren, Valerie Harper, Brian McRay, Ben Stein, Gretchen Wyler, Marc Bekoff, Johathan Balcombe, Karen Dawn, Dr. Bernie Siegel, Betty White, Dr. Larry Dossey, Dr. Marty Becker, Penelope Smith, and Richard Simmons are a few who have endorsed or contributed stories to the books.

Anderson’s work has been featured twice on NBC’s The Today Show and on ABC’s Peter Jennings Nightly News. He has been the subject of numerous national magazine and wire service articles and was interviewed for London newspapers and the BBC.

Allen publishes two online newsletters, which reach over 20,000 readers in 50 states and 42 countries. He writes newspaper and magazine columns and articles and sponsors writing contests at his Web sites.

The partial list of magazines, journals, newspapers, and e-zines that have published Allen Anderson’s articles are Awareness Magazine, The Edge, Wellness, Aquarius, Angel Animals© Newsletter, Writing on the Run Tip of the Week, 2006 Writer’s Market, New Frontier Magazine, E. D. Herb, Turtle River Press, Common Ground, The Animal Times, Twin Cities Wellness Magazine, Lajoie Journal, Amenities, Courage to Give, The Unknowns, and The Wellington Journal.

Allen Anderson’s current books are Angel Animals: Exploring Our Spiritual Connection with Animals, Dutton-Plume, 1999 (also published and translated into Japanese), and books published by New World Library: Angel Cats: Divine Messengers of Comfort (2004), and God’s Messengers: What Animals Teach Us about the Divine (2003), Angel Dogs: Divine Messengers of Love (Fall 2005), Rainbows & Bridges: The Animal Companion Memorial Kit (Fall 2005), Angel Horses: Divine Messengers of Hope (Fall 2006), Rescued: Saving Animals from Disaster (Fall 2006), Angel Animals: Divine Messengers of Miracles(Fall 2007), Saying Goodbye to Your Angel Animals (Summer 2008), and Angel Dogs with a Mission (Fall 2008).  New books include Horses with a Mission (Fall 2009), Dogs and the Women Who Love Them (Fall 2010) and Animals and the Kids Who Love Them (Fall 2011).

Allen is a member of the American Society of Journalists & Authors (ASJA), the Minnesota Screenwriters’ Workshop and other writing groups in the Twin Cities.