AboutAllen and Linda Anderson

Allen and Linda Anderson are best-selling authors, writing instructors, and inspirational speakers. They established Writing on the Run to help people find time and space for writing. The Writer’s Digest E-Newsletter recommends the Andersons’ Web site (www.writingontherun.com). In 1996, the Andersons founded the Angel Animals Network to raise awareness of the life enrichment and health benefits people receive from their relationships animals (www.angelanimals.net).

The 2006 Writer’s Market will publish the Andersons’ article on finding time and space to write. The Andersons offer Writing on the Run presentations for organizations, events, and meetings for people from all walks of life who write for pleasure or publication. They were each awarded a 2004 Certificate of Commendation from Governor Tim Pawlenty in recognition of their contributions as authors enhancing the State of Minnesota.

Allen and Linda Anderson publish two online newsletters, which reach over 20,000 readers in 50 states and 42 countries. They write newspaper and magazine columns and articles and sponsor writing contests at their Web sites.

With positive reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, Country Living, Cat Fancy, Best Friends, plus dozens of other national publications, the Andersons’ 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, Dr. Bernie Siegel, Betty White, Dr. Larry Dossey, Penelope Smith, and Richard Simmons are a few who have endorsed or contributed stories to the books. The Andersons’ work has been featured twice on NBC’s The Today Show and on ABC’s Peter Jennings Nightly News. The Andersons have been the subject of numerous national magazine and wire service articles and were interviewed for London newspapers and the BBC.

The Andersons’ co-authored 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 Dogs and the Women Who Love Them (Fall 2010) and Animals and the Kids Who Love Them (Fall 2011). Linda Anderson is the author of 35 Golden Keys to Who You Are & Why You’re Here, also published in German. Allen and Linda have written other books in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Visit www.angelanimals.net for more details.

The partial list of magazines, journals, newspapers, and e-zines that have published the Anderson’s articles are Arizona Republic, Wilmington News-Journal, Journal of Reading, Awareness Magazine, The Edge, Wellness, Aquarius, Angel Animals Newsletter, Writing on the Run Tip of the Week, 2006 Writer’s Market, Animal Press, New Frontier Magazine, E. D. Herb, Turtle River Press, Common Ground, The Animal Times, Twin Cities Wellness Magazine, Lajoie Journal, Amenities, Georgia Journal, Conscious Women – Conscious Lives, Courage to Give, Catalyst, The Unknowns, Wellspring, Eck Writer’s Update, and The Wellington Journal. To view clips by Allen and Linda Anderson click CLIPS.

Allen Anderson earned a B.S. degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Georgia and has years of experience in print and broadcast journalism, writing, and photography. For seven years, he worked as a public relations and training specialist for a computer software company. Allen Anderson is profiled in Jackie Waldman’s, The Courage to Give, a book that was featured on a 1999 Oprah show.

Linda Anderson has B.S. and M.S. degrees in education from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota where she graduated summa cum laude. She received national awards for her plays and was the recipient of an Artist’s Grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts. In 2002, the Loft Literary Center awarded her with its Anderson Residency for Outstanding Teachers. She was the Newspaper in Education Coordinator for the Georgia Press Association and the publicist and seminar manager for an international nonprofit organization. She worked in collaboration with a nationally recognized publicist, specializing in writing books and proposals that have best-selling potential. Click Cameo and Samanath to view details about Linda's plays.

The Andersons are writing instructors at The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. They have facilitated writing workshops across the United States and Canada as well as in Great Britain, Ireland, Mexico, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and West Africa.

Allen and Linda are members of the American Society of Journalists & Authors (ASJA).  They are also members of the Minnesota Screenwriters’ Workshop and the National Writers’ Union. They offer book-coaching services to people who want help in accomplishing writing goals.

From Allen & Linda Anderson about Their Newest Project – Writing on the Run™

If you’re like us, you have to work writing into a busy schedule and a full household.

When our children were young, Allen worked the “graveyard” shift as a police officer. Linda spent her afternoons and evenings working as the literary manager for a regional theater. In addition to chauffeuring our children and pets to various appointments and trying to have quality family time, we wrote in the early morning and late evening hours.

After our children were teenagers, we both worked full-time jobs. For Linda, this meant writing from 4:00-6:00 in the morning and then helping to get herself and her family ready for work and school. Allen did most of his writing on the weekends and before work, when he wrote in his journal. Between job tasks, he jotted down ideas on notebooks that he carried with him in his car.

Later in our marriage, in 1996, we formed ourselves into a writing team and began to write, publish, and promote our first Website, printed newsletter, book proposal, and book. As a team, we had to become even more proficient at Writing on the Run™.

Allen took a job as a computer software trainer. It required 90 percent travel. He became skilled at writing in airports, on planes, and in motel rooms. As publishers of newsletters and authors of anthologies, we had to find shortcuts for gathering and editing stories, researching, and working with contributing authors. E-mail became our friend.

For us, Writing on the Run™ also entailed a two-year period between books when Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer. Allen (plus a great group of friends and the Jane Brattain Breast Center in Minneapolis) shepherded her through four major surgeries in a twelve-month period. With hospital bills and medical expenses becoming outrageous, we HAD TO continue finding publishers for our book ideas.

This meant that the proposal for our next book in the series had to be completed and out the door to prospective literary agents. We sent it by Federal Express on the morning of Linda’s second surgery and drove to the hospital right afterwards.This was primo writing on the run.

We are uniquely qualified and eager to show working and prospective writers how to creatively find time and space for writing through:

      Family obligations,

      Employment responsibilities,

      Sickness and health challenges,

      Lean financial times,

      Less than ideal circumstances.