Like most of you, I read fiction for pure pleasure. I like to get lost in a story that takes me to a different time and place, with authentic characters whose company I enjoy. It’s been this way since third grade, when Miss Cora Shipman said “Class, get out your pleasure books,” and we would delve into the story books borrowed from the school library.

I also write fiction for pure pleasure. I love working with the characters who come to life in my head, helping their stories unfold. My interest in foodways is ever-present, so what people eat is part of my fiction, too. In hopes others will like my work, I am offering a changing selection of stories here, some as free PDFs and others as inexpensive e-books. Please check back often to see what’s new.

It’s 1992, and cash-strapped farmers in the Tennessee hills have planted cannabis in their corn, but there’s a problem. The pot operation has brought in the worst kind of criminal, and a teenage girl’s death has everyone worried. As the story unfolds, the home folks struggle to set things right in a place where people grow vegetable gardens, eat home cooking, and on occasion take the law into their own hands. THE SEED SAVERS is for readers who enjoy spending time in kind-hearted communities populated by imperfect people, presented here with an irresistible combination of menace, humor and warmth. 

"A light, engaging book with lots of gardening and homesteading tips. Charmingly laid out to get a happy ending for everybody! I've read Barbara Pleasant’s gardening books and this just adds extra pleasure with a bit of romance."