I grew up in rural England with dreams of being a writer. So, armed with a history degree, I became a publicist for London fashion. Passing through JFK one day, I fell in love with an American professor. Eighteen months later I was a marketing director in the Midwest cornfields, and I had a secret: I was writing a novel. An incredibly bad one.When my husband was offered a distinguished professorship at UNC Chapel Hill, we moved to the North Carolina forest where I became a woodland gardener and a stay-at-home mom. Gradually, I carved out time to write each day, but it wasn't until our young son developed obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that I started writing love stories about damaged people, people who find light in the darkness of invisible disabilities.THE UNFINISHED GARDEN, a love story about grief, OCD, and dirt, won the 2013 Golden Quill for Best First Book. THE IN-BETWEEN HOUR--What could be worse than losing your child? Having to pretend he's still alive--was chosen by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) as a Winter 2014 Okra Pick. (And yes, that's going on my tombstone.)You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or www.barbaraclaypolewhite.com