Angie Barrett's Blog

Yes, I know, I've been absent for a while. 

Burn out is real. It's soul crushing. 

Also, since 2021, I wrote and published 15 novels under my pen name, wrote five or more novels that have been trunked and slowly died inside.

I was also experiencing some very personal, very traumatic, mental health challenges in my family. I am the of the sandwich generation so it's coming from both sides. Lucky me. 

Not to mention working a full time teaching job, a side gig facilitating at OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) and navigating the, very broken, Ontario Health Care System. Can someone say ADHD?

Miraculously, I have also been gifted the amazing opportunity to share my learning and experiences in my book (releasing early 2026), called...

**Teaching is hard but classroom management doesn’t have to be.**

Teaching is hard. It’s trial by fire. No matter how much training educators experience, how much theory they devour, nothing compares to the reality of managing their own classroom. In this practical guide, Angie Barrett shares her tried and tested teaching strategies in six easy steps. You’ll discover a game plan for success, personal and colleague-shared experiences, tips and tricks, as well as troubleshooting through real classroom examples. Angie’s approach to classroom management will appeal to any educator who may be struggling with, or pre-emptively dreading, the classroom experience.

Coming in January 2026 — Pre-order today!

Amazon

Indigo

It's Release Day!!!


Buy your copy here from a preferred retailer! 
Also, I'm running a contest to win a $25 Amazon GCEnter Here

Here's the release week line up of blogs that are hosting me! Thanks Chapter-by-Chapter for putting this all together. Also thank you to Riki Cleveland and Alex Mathew at Entangled Teen for also organizing my release week shenanigans.

*These are general links for now. I will update them as the posts go live.

February 1, 2020-June Reads Books-Review

February 1, 2020-Struck by Stories-Review

February 1, 2020-fierymermaidbooks-Review

February 1, 2020-I’m Shelf-ish-Guest Post

February 1, 2020-What Is That Book About-Excerpt

February 1, 2020-Chapter by Chapter-Interview

February 1, 2020-SplendeurCaisse-Review

February 2, 2020-Living in a Bookworld-Guest Post

February 2, 2020-NightlyReading-Guest Post

February 2, 2020-Shelf-Rated-Review

February 2, 2020-My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews-Review

February 2, 2020-A Book Addict’s Bookshelves-Excerpt

February 3, 2020-Lynn’s Romance Enthusiasm-Excerpt

February 3, 2020-breen.rb-Review

February 3, 2020-NerdNarration-Review

February 3, 2020-L.M.Durand’s Little Book Corner-Guest Post

February 3, 2020-Becca’s Book Affair-Review

February 3, 2021-Em & M Books-Spotlight

February 4, 2020-Earthy Soulful Things-Spotlight

February 4, 2020-Library of a Book Witch-Review

February 4, 2020-Ted Ryan – Vocal Media-Interview

February 4, 2020-Huskypuppy432-Spotlight

February 4, 2020-Read Your Writes Book Reviews-Guest Post

February 5, 2020-DEEKAY | Daily Dose of Reading-Review

February 5, 2020-Becky on Bookd-Review

February 5, 2020-Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers-Review

February 5, 2020-bookblogarama-Guest Post

February 5, 2020-Just Reading Jess-Review

February 5, 2020-Tanya the book obsessed momma-Guest Post

BUY it here from your preferred retailer

 Release day for Love Spells and Other Disasters is coming soon and I'm doing a live chat with some wonderful and talented YA authors! Join me Friday January 29th at 4PM EST on FB, YouTube or Twitch

Can't wait to see you there!

 

I can finally share my gorgeous cover for Love Spells and Other Disasters! Isn't it so perfect?

Set to release February 1, 2021

I didn’t know when I wrote the first love spell that it would actually make things happen. Like, actually make people fall in love with each other…

How could I have known something like that? I mean, magic isn’t real, right?

But here’s the thing—the spell does work and so does the next one and the next one...and suddenly I’m getting a whole lot of attention from everyone at my high school. Me, Blend-into-the-Walls, Please-Let-Me-Introvert-in-Peace Rowan Marshall. And not only that, but I’ve also caught the attention of Luca Russo, a godlike, football-playing hottie who claims he likes me just the way I am. Ummm...

But as I’m about to learn, playing around with things you don’t understand means when things  go wrong—like really, very awfully wrong—you don’t know how to fix them.

If you're interested in preordering your copy you can follow these links:

You can preorder your copy here!

Amazon US

Amazon CA

Amazon UK

Amazon AU

Kobo

Google

BN

Apple

Entangled

*I'll update links as they go live

I wanted to kick off this blog with a post about my journey to becoming a YA author because it hasn't been a straight line and it hasn't been easy (not that I think anything related to writing is easy.)

I've been writing professionally for thirteen years. I'm a multi-published author of adult fiction (under another name) and have worked, and continue to work, with some of the best, most talented editors out there. I've learned a lot about the industry and the craft of writing. I feel like each book I write is better than the last and each year I grow stronger as a writer.

But it wasn't until recently that I decided to use my years of experience as a high school teacher to inform my writing. Weird, right? I've been in the classroom for sixteen years and yet, for most of that time, I rejected the idea of writing YA. Why? Well, I'm stubborn and hate to do what people expect me to do, for one. Also, I didn't think I had a voice for it or even knew what to write about. I hate reading YA books that talk down to young readers or that get lost in adult voice so I avoided even experimenting. I'd like to think that it wasn't time wasted but time to absorb and learn from my students. Talking to teenagers, hearing what was important to them, what they liked, disliked, running ideas by them...it worked to build my understanding of what makes a good YA book and a worthy read for young adults. 

I don't remember a day where I suddenly said, oh hey, now it's time to write a YA and see how that goes. Instead I remember an idea taking form and a voice coming into my head that didn't sound like my usual writing voice. Yes, I do hear voices in my head. My characters start to take shape sometimes before the plot does and they do start whispering things to me until I feel compelled to start writing those whispers down.

I wrote that novel and got some positive feedback from a few editors who specialize in YA, so I knew I was on the right track. I wrote another YA novel and then another one, each time honing my skill and experimenting more with voice. I shopped these stories around and although I got a lot of rejections, some of those rejections came with feedback letting me know that I was still on the right path. *Side note: getting feedback when you are querying a project is a bonus so if you start to get feedback from agents and editors, you know you're on the right track.

Then I wrote my fourth YA book and I knew I'd hit on something good. I had publishers taking it to acquisition meetings (where they pitch your book to a team in an effort to get you a contract) and even though, in the end, those all resulted in rejections, I knew how close I'd come. I was almost there. *Side note: The book is good, it's just not right for this point in time. I'm okay with waiting because I know I can write more books. There is no finite number of words available to me and the more I write, the more ideas flow. 

I wrote number five and I pitched it to my editor at Entangled. Number five, Love Spells and Other Disasters is about a girl who starts writing love spells for a class project and discovers that they actually start working...which, of course, leads to many complications and problems that she needs to fix. It's a magical story about love and friendship and also doing what's right, even at the cost of valuable, irreplaceable things.

It was number five that got me my first YA contract. This journey has not been quick or easy. I'm not going to be an overnight success. I've had to work hard, long hours and I've had to accept defeat, cry my frustration and then pull myself up and brush myself off so that I can move on to the next project.

I've just finished writing book six. I don't know if it'll get contracted but I hope it does. Either way, I know my brain is already working out a new story idea because I've had a few what ifs pop into my head out of nowhere. I'm just waiting for the character to start whispering in my ear and then I'll know it's time to get back at it.