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Orangeville author and musician teases upcoming novel following album release

May 9, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By Joshua Drakes

Angela van Breemen is poised to publish a new novel, Past Life’s Revenge, following her recently released album, In the Breeze.

She is an Orangeville native, having lived here her entire life. Van Breeman frequents the downtown area, enjoying the many unique experiences that define the town.

“I go to Orangeville all the time, because it’s a beautiful, beautiful place,” she said. “I really enjoy visiting the town and experiencing the rich cultural events, like Theatre Orangeville.”

Van Breemen’s novel, Past Life’s Revenge, is a unique hybrid of crime thriller and spiritual ideas. She credits this to her unique upbringing, which has influenced her writing.

“I grew up in an unusual household, which was surrounded by people visiting all the time,” she said. “There were mediums and psychics. And so I guess I got steeped in the culture of past lives and reincarnation. And so I’ve always toyed with the idea about what if someone was murdered in a previous life, and reincarnated soon enough that the killer is still alive.”

The story is a compelling murder mystery, with the victim himself looking for his killer.

“The story follows this young man, David Harris,” she said. “He’s had terrible nightmares and visions his entire life. During a past life regression, he goes to his most recent past life, and he realizes that he was murdered, in fact, and the reason why he is so unsettled is because his soul is restless from having been killed,”

“And from there, he realizes there’s a chance that his killer could still be alive, and so the story goes from there about hunting down the killer of his previous life.”

While van Breemen did write the book primarily from an entertainment mindset, she said that the story carries a message of closure for those who may seek it.

“I feel really sorry when I hear on the news about cold cases that never get solved,” she said. “And so one of the messages is that perhaps we should be looking at unconventional methods sometimes to try and solve a case because who knows?”

Van Breemen has already begun plans to continue the story into a greater tale of helping other lost souls find peace, making this book the first of a new series.

This book will follow the release of her first-ever album.

In the Breeze, released on April 16, features a Celtic-inspired theme. She credits her inspiration in music to her life’s experiences and time spent outdoors, where ideas are plentiful.

“I live in the country, so a lot of the inspiration comes to me when I’m walking in the woods,” she said. “And so what I do is I keep my phone with me, and I record. If I have snippets of words that come to mind, I find it easier to quickly record it than try to type it in. I just let it flow.”

Her three original pieces featured on her album are in fact earlier poems that were adapted into musical pieces, each one based on a specific moment or feeling.

“One of the poems came to me while I was working in the garden,” she said. “It was close to Mother’s Day, and I was thinking about my mom who had passed away a number of years ago. So I wrote the poem, and a friend of mine who is a musician said it was a beautiful poem, and asked to write it as a song,”

“The song is called I Will Be In The Breeze, and there is minimal music accompaniment, it’s contemporary, it’s beautiful.”

Despite the time and effort required to produce poetry, music and novels, van Breemen continues to give back to the community.

She has, throughout her career, performed at charity concerts for a wildlife conservation group, Procyon Wildlife. She is a strong supporter of wildlife and helps run the administration side of the group. Her artistic side overlaps greatly with her conservation work

“Procyon Wildlife is a rehabilitation and education center, which is located in Beeton, Ont., and we service a very large area, which includes Orangeville,” she said. “We focus on rescuing wildlife that have been displaced from their natural habitats by human development,”

“It’s very important to give these creatures a second chance. And right now we’re particularly busy, because it’s baby season. Sometimes wildlife removal companies, by mistake, will remove the parents and then the babies are left behind.”

She said that it is more important than ever to help wildlife, as humans push development farther into animal habitats. She encourages everyone that can, to volunteer, as the strains of maintaining wildlife services remain costly.

In Past Life’s Revenge, van Breemen not only crafts an intriguing tale of mystery but also subtly advocates for the importance of seeking closure, whether in fiction or reality.

As she delves into the depths of the human mind, van Breemen’s dedication to wildlife conservation parallels her narrative’s themes of second chances and the pursuit of peace.

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