Barbara Howell found herself thrust into a man’s profession at age 55 when she was left with her husband’s thriving woodworking business after a family crisis. Raised to be tough, and a fighter by nature, Barbara stepped up to the challenge to become one of the few successful females in the woodworking business.       Overcoming a severe handicap of seventy-five percent hearing loss at a young age, Barbara’s entire life has been defined by adversity. She held careers as wife, mother, grandmother, farmer, cosmetologist, and carpenter before finally settling down to write her life’s story.       Rising to the top of a man’s profession, Barbara didn’t allow handicaps, personal tragedy or financial devastation to stop her. She persevered and her wooden display cases are in homes and businesses around the world. Today, Barbara is traveling and promoting her first book, Splinters: The Pain, the Passion, the Point, while completing research and preliminary writing for her next book. She currently resides in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

Barbara is a member of the Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc; Tulsa Night Writers; and the RHEMA Writer's Bloc.