Prior to writing Letters to Lori, she has written articles for newsletters and an article about Opal Myers, the main character in Letters to Lori, published in Cocke County Tennessee and Its People. Barbara has been instrumental in the development of several faith based programs and ministries in the Greater Cincinnati area, including her role in designing information and instruction material for these programs.

Barbara was born in Iowa, where she lived for fifteen years before moving with family to South Carolina. She now resides in northern Kentucky with her husband and labradoodle, Ivan. She is the mother of three married children and grandmother to four lovely grandkids, ages two to eighteen years.