03/02/2024
My first fan and cheerleader!
Mom was a single mom with three kids when she signed me up for drawing classes when I was 8, but the Art teacher told her to save her money, because all I would draw were princesses and horses.
He tried to teach me perspective by drawing castles.
But he said I wasn’t ready for class.
(He did let me sell my hand-painted rocks in front of his Art Shop during Art Festivals!)
When our Public School cut all Art classes from the budget in my junior year,
My Mom helped me find a private school that gave me a full scholarship. At my new Highschool, I had all kinds of creative opportunities, and built an Art portfolio and report card that got me a full scholarship to ART SCHOOL in New York CITY!
And now, this past year, Mom bought my First Two Books,
and told all her friends, who bought my books.
She helped me organize my Author Event at our hometown library, where she took us every week as kids, to get armloads of books.
My Mom is the first person in the whole world who believed in me.
And now, MOM is the first person in the WHOLE WORLD
to read all FOUR of my novels –
the whole BIG HORSE WOMAN series!
This summer, I finished the manuscripts for Books 3 and 4,
and sent her digital copies.
My Mom does NOT use the computer, and everything is sent back and forth to dad, and he shows her how to open them.
Mom sat at the computer for days
(which she NEVER does)
because she COULD NOT STOP READING!
‘How do come up with these stories?!?
These characters are such real people!
How do you do it, honey?!’
My Mom wrote (she loves writing letters and cards)
the VERY FIRST READER REVIEW for the WHOLE story.
She is the only one in the whole world who knows how it ends.
And this is what she said:
“Barbara is a gifted storyteller whose main characters are two strong, resourceful, and independent women. While BIG HORSE WOMAN and MAGGHIE each embark on separate journeys, they eventually meet and form a relationship based on sharing their knowledge and respect for plants, the earth, and animals.
Through their sharing, they learn each other's language and cultures, and together develop ways to ensure their survival.
As they each grow through teaching each other, the reader also learns, feels a sense of time and place, and understands their struggles and challenges.
Barbara knows the characters intimately, and it enables the reader to also know who they are, and to care about what happens to them. Her rich imagination, knowledge of plants, her artwork, and poetry are an integral part of this memorable series that I didn't want to end.”
THANKS MOM!
❤️❤️❤️❤️
I LOVE YOU!
xoxoxxo
