About Me

I grew up in Upstate New York, training to be a ballerina, but secretly dreamed of being an actress. My preteen fangirl crush on Haley Mills led me to practice my British accent on unsuspecting store clerks (no really–I did that) and I dreamed of co-starring in the remake of THE MOONSPINNERS.  Because I was also an obsessed avid reader, I discovered that the film was based on a book by the fabulous Mary Stewart, which, circuitously, led to my lifelong love affair with romantic fiction.

Since Haley Mills was, sadly, not in the market for a co-star, I pursued a degree in English Literature from the University of Tennessee. And when that degree, predictably, led to unemployment, I pulled up my socks and moved to Hollywood where I built a career as a successful commercial actress while raising two amazing (now grown) children with my sweet husband (who now is a Hollywood agent and by some strange and wonderful quirk of fate, represents Haley Mills’ brother-in-law. Gasp. I’ve made him promise to introduce us.)

Writing romance came naturally from all that reading and the down time between auditions. Once I sold my first book, though, after much hard work, I said farewell to Hollywood-Land and never looked back. Over the years, I’ve written both historicals and contemporary romances that are all available as Ebooks and a few are available in print. Twice nominated for Romance Writer’s of America’s RITA, my historicals are emotional, character driven adventures set in the West, (Wild Western Hearts and Wild Western Rogues series) while my contemporaries range from my Harlequin romantic suspense to my newer Tule Publishing romances that are also set in the west and are both emotional and full of fun. A little something for everyone, I hope!

In between writing novels, I got my MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard and optioned a few screenplays and I’ve taught and mentored aspiring writers for the last fifteen years. But my first love is, and always will be, the books I write for you.

I’m thrilled to say that two of my books have been optioned for film, including Holiday Hearts, produced by Hallmark Movies and Mysteries in 2019, and Every Time a Bell Rings, optioned and currently in development with MGM. And for a girl who grew up loving movies, this is a dream come true.

Transplanted recently from Southern California, Barbara lives in Dallas with her husband and a scruffy, adorable rescue dog.

For Film and TV rights inquiries: Please see contact page