Angela Meuser

My husband Daniel inspires the snarkiness in my writing. He makes me laugh harder than anybody else I know, but he's also got the heart of a counselor. I once told him that I saw him as a cross between Jim Carrey and Nicholas Cage, and he responded that I'm a cross between Alicia Silverstone and an Ewok (from Star Wars.) His whole family is about a foot taller than me, and they all call me "The Ewok." He was once mistaken for Ben Affleck at an airport, but Daniel is much cuter. WeÂ?ve been married since 1999 and have three crazy kids. Here's an interview with him.

Tell us how you met.
It was Angela's first day of college. I was hanging out with a friend, and we decided to stop by the dorms so I could say "hi" to my ex-girlfriend. I walked into her room. She wasn't there, but Anj was. We talked and joked around. I even danced with her teddy bear, which she took a picture of and we still have. Later, Angela stole my phone number off her RA's door, called me, and we've been together ever since.

Are you surprised Angela is a writer?
I knew Anj would be a writer from all the love letters she wrote me in college, but I didn't expect her to misrepresent me in a book about marriage.

How were you misrepresented?
In GENERATION NEXT MARRIAGE, Anj had a quote about praying for an unbelieving spouse. She then went on about how she prays for me. It made it sound like I'm a heathen. When I showed the quote to my friend/pastor he said, "The funny thing is, she thought her prayers worked."

Have you inspired much of Angela's writing?
All the heroes in her books are based on me. Just kidding. Though there is one scene in FAKE BLONDE where the guy rolls down the girl's window in a car wash to help her "cool off." I actually did that to Anj. The kids thought it was hilarious.

Did you have anything to do with the title of the mid-grade novel Angela just sold?
The idea for THE WATER FIGHT PROFESSIONAL came from a church picnic. The kids were having a water fight. She gave our son Jordan a cup of water and told him to dump it on me. I saw him coming and offered him a dollar to dump the same cup on her. Jordan fell asleep holding onto the money he made that day, causing Anj to say, "Look what you created. He's going to become a water fight professional."

What else does your family enjoy doing'besides soaking mom?
We spend a lot of time at our family cabin on the lake in McCall, Idaho, but that occasionally involves soaking mom as well. Our favorite family activity is Upward basketball and cheerleading. This is a Christian sports league that Anj and I both coach for. Besides that, we do a lot of game nights, movie marathons, and when Angela's not looking I like to let the kids jump off the roof onto the trampoline. But don't worry, the kids never get hurt--only friends and neighbors have broken their bones at our house.

You sound like you have a fun family. What makes it work?
We've had our struggles, but two years ago Angela and I went to an experiential seminar called Focus. It taught us a lot about communication styles and gave us tools for living the life God created us to live. Now Angela and I stay involved with the seminar by volunteering as training assistants. One important thing I learned through Focus is that when a couple has separate visions and dreams they pursue their goals individually and slowly grow apart. I didn't want that to happen, so I told Angela I was going to make her dream of writing my dream too.

Thanks so much. Is there anything else you want to add?
Just that I didn't realize how much my wife's writing was an actual dream of mine until she sold her first novel, and I was more excited about that than anything else in my life--including an amazing new job that I started the next day. I know Angela will touch lives will her writing, and people will come to know the Lord because of her willingness to share her gift.