Barbara is both an editor and an author.

For more information and Sample Chapters of her authored books, go to BMLbooks.com.

She is:

• author of children and adult fiction The Hermit Crab Shuffle and The Secrets Underneath
• author of adult nonfiction Scripture & Meditations for the Rosary 
• co-author of Opening Hearts: A Cardiovascular Surgeon Reflects on Faith, Healing, Love & the Meaning of Life
• contributor to the anthology, Three Minus One: Parent’s Stories of Love & Loss

Her first novel, The Secrets Underneath  was released January 15, 2020.

Debut novel: The Secrets Underneath Now Available on Amazon

Print book available directly from me and on Amazon.

 The Secrets Underneath is a story about how our choices to love and forgive – or to hold onto anger and resentment – affect our lives. The story asks, can the choice to love really transform us? And can physical healing be found through acceptance, forgiveness, and mercy?

It begins with a mysterious medical problem triggered by murderous violence in two families. Moving back and forth in time, we see how ill-considered decisions, lies, and betrayals have haunted, broken, and trapped members of both families.

The main character, Sean Thomas, searches for the truth in hopes of finding the key to solving his debilitating medical mystery. With help from visits to another realm, and from encounters with people in the here and now, Sean learns the painful, horrible truth. It will take all his emotional, spiritual, and psychological courage to forgive the past and forge a different path.

Readers will feel compassion for the various characters who allow their shadow sides to blind them to the power they have to choose life and love. And they will cheer with the characters who struggle through their wounds to make a different choice.

The ebook book is only $6.99; ebook formats include Kindle, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and more

Enter to win a print or ebook; if you get 10 friends to enter too, you’ll receive a free signed copy of the print book. Read a Sample Chapter.

Opening Hearts

(Released 2015)

Opening Hearts was a collaboration between me and an amazing cardiovascular surgeon, researcher, and man of faith, Lester R. Sauvage, MD.

During his career, this Renaissance-style philosopher-surgeon-scientist performed 10,000+ surgeries, many miraculous. His research lab abounded with life-saving medical devices and advances. Yet he’ll tell you his most important discovery was recognizing that love is the ultimate medicine that heals our body, mind, and spirit.

This book is part faith, part science, part health, and part autobiography describing an amazing life. It will inspire and challenge you to live in a more conscious, loving, and heart-centered way.

I am proud to have been part of the writing, editing, organizing, and production of this book. Read a Sample Chapter.

Scripture & Meditations for the Rosary

(Released Second Edition 2015)

What is the Rosary? Why do people say it? Does such an ancient prayer form matter at all in the 21st century?

Prayer and meditation lead us to the actions and attitudes that will create the peace our world so desperately needs. Praying and meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary is the perfect combination of silence and faith which, according to Mother Teresa, produces a life of love, service, and peace. For as Mother Teresa said, “The fruit of silence is prayer. The fruit of prayer is faith. The fruit of faith is love. The fruit of love is service. The fruit of service is peace.”

If you desire to create peace by experiencing the fruits of prayer, faith, love, and service then the Rosary, and this book, are for you. Read a Sample Chapter.

Three Minus One: Parents Stories of Love & Loss

Released 2014; Inspired by the film Return to Zero (written by Sean Hannish and starring Minnie Driver and Paul Adlestein; available on Netflix)

How do you survive the loss of a child? In this brave and touching anthology, dozens of writers share their stories of love and loss.

This collection of intimate, soul-baring stories, poems, and artwork was created by parents (and grandparents) who have experienced the devastation of miscarriage, still birth, or neonatal death. It is a book that will bring you to tears but it will also inspire you with its stories of love and courage as families rebuild lives of joy and meaning in spite of (and often through) their losses.

My contribution, Trinity, touches on my experiences, relationships, and journey of faith related to the devastating diagnosis and the death of my infant granddaughter. Writing it was a healing experience and publishing it in this book was an honor.

Books are available on Amazon.com and on the website for a healing organization, Return to Zero: H.O.P.E. the grew from responses to the film and book. 

Editor and/or Production Consultant for the Following Books

Edited for Valdez Rises: One Town’s Struggle for Survival After the Great Alaska Earthquake by Tabitha Gregory, Listen, Think, & Speak Like a Doctor: Essential Skills for Medical School and Practice by Smiley Thakur, MD and Banish Breast Cancer: How We Used Lifestyle Medicine to Help Obliterate Breast Cancer by Rev. Karen Crisp with E. Darrell Crisp, MD.

My client, Mindy Halleck, originally released her novel, Return to Sender, with a publisher that went out of business. When she wanted to release it again with Better Life Press, she asked for another edit since many Amazon reviewers had loved the story but criticized the numbers of errors that remained. I was happy to clean up the errors, and got a good read in the process. 

Editing and book production client, cardiovascular surgeon and business owner Mark Dedomenico, MD, published two books in 2015. For the first one, I was the book production coordinator researching and vetting vendors involved in production including editors, designers (cover and interior), and printers. I also shepherded the book through the myriad technical aspects of production, including organizing over 100 graphics and obtaining interior QR codes, ISBN numbers and exterior bar codes.

The 20/20 Lifestyles Metabolic Cure is a book packed with information about nutrition, exercise, and a weight-loss program that has been proven successful over a twenty-year period. It is privately marketed to physicians only. For more information about 20/20 Lifestyles programs, see www.ProClub.com.

For Dr. Dedomenico’s second book, I played a small part in copy editing Lowering Corporate Health Care Cost, which is directed to corporate executives concerned with the skyrocketing costs of employee health care.

Since Dr. Dedomenico is not only a physician but also an experienced business owner who currently owns the largest privately held health club (which includes a medical clinic) in the country, he has unique wisdom to share. His business experience also includes running a training and rehabilitation center for thoroughbred race horses and taking over for his father in the family business, Golden Grain Macaroni Company (brands included Mission and Golden Grain pasta, Rice-a-Roni, Ghirardelli Chocolates and more) until it was sold to a major corporation.