Anne Edmondson Barbour, an 87-year-old author who lives in Overland Park, was recently honored among some of the best writers in the world.
Earlier this year, she was named a finalist for the 2023 Global Book Awards for her fourth novel, “From the Beginning.” The book, published last year, takes place in Nebraska, where a physical therapist named Nancy falls in love with her rodeo contestant and rancher patient despite a series of obstacles.
Now, she’s working on her sixth novel, which she said could be the final installment in her contemporary romance series called Love Connections.
Barbour started publishing her books later in life
Barbour started the series, which begins with “It’s About Time,” years ago when she was taking a writers’ course by mail.
Then, her partially completed story sat for nearly 30 years, basically untouched until a friend from church prompted her to finish it before the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight weeks later, she had the first installment done.
It took her just a year total to finish the second and third books in the series, “Journey to Forever” and “At Long Last,” respectively.
Books four and five — “From the Beginning” and “Finally Together” — both also took about a year to finish, Barbour said.
She expects the sixth book will take her about a year to finish.
She had her own love story
Barbour, the only daughter in a family with several sons, grew up in Neosho County, Missouri. She didn’t go to college but worked jobs all over before settling back at home with a job at a tree and plant nursery.
While she was working there, she would sometimes have lunch at a nearby corner store. One day, while she was eating, a man came in trying to get a date with the girl working behind the counter. She said she was laughing at him.
One thing led to another, and she married Philip Barbour about two months later.
After a bit of moving around, the couple and their young children ultimately settled in Overland Park. Phillip worked for years at the Overland Park Police Department, eventually retiring with the rank of a lieutenant watch commander.
Philip passed away about a decade ago. The Barbours had five children, 10 grandkids and seven great-grandchildren.
All of the “Love Connection” books are connected
Though each of Barbour’s books follows a different couple on their journey to finding love — and many take place in different places — there is some crossover with the stories.
“The people in the book are connected in some way with the previous one, and they’re going to be connected with [couples] in the succeeding ones,” Barbour said.
For example, the female lead of the first book “It’s About Time” is friends with one of the protagonists in the second book.
The way she sees it, all the stories are “threads.”
Barbour writes as the ideas come to her
Barbour doesn’t necessarily have a set time she likes to write, but she does spend a lot of time “figuring things” in her head and usually carries a notebook with her in case inspiration strikes.
Then, she types up her writing into her computer. Barbour said she’s also regularly revising as she’s writing.
Barbour said she is also “constantly” rereading her previous books to make sure she gets all the connecting details correct in the subsequent books.
“Since it’s a series, if you’re putting something in a book, you want to make sure you’re saying the same thing or they’re doing the same thing at the same time as in the previous book,” she said.
How to buy Barbour’s books
- Her books, printed by Mission Point Press in Michigan, are all for sale on Amazon.
- But, if you spot her out and about, she likely has a copy or two to sell to you for $15 a piece.
- Plus, she said she’ll sign the book for you.
Looking back: At 85, Overland Park author Anne Edmondson Barbour fulfills lifelong dream of publishing novels
