One of the interesting and most rewarding things about hanging around other writers is sometimes you get to meet an author at the beginning of their career, and can follow their successes. Barbara Claypole White is one of those authors for me.

Years ago, I was the contest chair for South Carolina’s writing association SCWA, (at the time it was SCWW). I didn’t judge the competition, but did present the awards. Barbara won First Place for the first chapter of her novel, then named Dogwood Days. That chapter became the first chapter of her award-winning first novel, The Unfinished Garden. Since then, Barbara has had four novels published, all of  them award-winners.

Barbara has a unique gift of introducing characters who face the challenges of mental illness with courage and hope. She’s an OCD advocate and two of her novels give us a glimpse inside that illness. In other novels she explores Tourette’s Syndrome, manic depression, and post-partum depression.  In another writer’s hands the reader might feel overwhelmed by the heaviness of the topic, but Barbara never allows the illness to overshadow her compelling, relatable characters.

I recommend all of Barbara’s books, and I’m looking forward to her forthcoming title, The Gin Club. You can read more about Barbara and her books here – Barbara Claypole White