New love: Romance writing

New Ulm author has written 13 Christian romance books since 2023

By Tom Goeritz

Barbara Bressler McKee of New Ulm with her 13 self published Christian romance books, all written since 2023.   Photo by Tom Goeritz

Barbara Bressler McKee of New Ulm grew up in LeSueur and Henderson, Minn. Growing up in these rural Minnesota communities not only helped shape her life in many ways, it also gave her a solid source of inspiration for many of the creative endeavors she pursued through the decades of her life.

As a child and young adult, Barbara loved to read. That love for books, and the stories and pictures inside them, stuck with her. In her 40s, Barbara was a crayon artist, specializing in portraits. Many of her original drawings would later become covers for her books.

Moving into her 50s, Barbara tried another art form... writing poetry (she has penned numerous poems published in Senior Perspective). And the poetry she wrote in her 50s seemed to develop a nice base for her next adventure.

As she reached her 60s, this artist and poet wrote her first book. The book was a personal project that she intended to share just with friends and family members.  After reading the book, her husband, Robin, encouraged Barbara to publish it.

Well, that’s all it took. At 64, she self-published  her first book, Fallen Angels, in 2023. Barbara calls herself an inspirational Christian romance writer.

How descriptive were her romances?

“I don’t get descriptive in that way,” she laughed.

Self-publishing a book comes with a lot of extra work. And after the book is published, she turns her attention to promotion. Barbara doesn’t do as much promotion as some writers. Instead, she uses social media to announce your book is available.  Barbara said publishing the books is not about making money (although that does help pay for the publishing), but the reward is personal satisfaction of writing the books that people enjoy, and that she can share a positive message with others.

Here comes the amazing thing. Since writing Fallen Angels two years ago, Barbara has written 13 more inspirational Christian romance books, and she has three more books in the works.

And her books are getting noticed. Her book called Summer’s Child won second place in the Christian romance category at the 2024 Bookfest awards.

Barbara’s husband Robin is a pilot and a truck driver, and those professions have served as inspiration for some of her books. Her book Truckers Angel came directly from Robin’s work. Robin helps with the promotion of her book, often leaving books like Truckers Angel at truck stops and airports.

Each of Barbara’s books share a Christian message or value, which is also a reflection of her beliefs and foundation of her childhood. 

What was her favorite part of being an author? She said it was a way to escape into her own little world where she gets to create and orchestrate its reality.

Let’s review -- Crayon art and portraits in her 40s, poetry in her 50s, and writing books in her 60s ... what will be her next adventure in her 70s?

To learn more about Barbara’s book, visit www.sites.google.com/view/BarbaraBresslerMcKee or search her name on Amazon.

Writer’s note: I decided to check out the book of poems that Barbara authored called Lessons From the Birdfeeder, which includes 260 pages of some of the finest poems I have read. As I turned to five or six random pages, each one had poems that were well crafted and were simply enjoyable to read. The more I read, I gained even more appreciation of Barbara and her talents. One of the poems is printed here.

Remember

By Barbara Bressler McKee

Remember:

A careless word spoken

Will only bring regret,

And a thoughtless deed done

People won’t soon forget,

So take care what you say;

Be mindful what you do.

How you make people feel

Is what they will remember

About you.