What's special about Barbara's books, besides her ability to put the reader in another world full of the adventure she's sampled, can be summed up in one word: characters. They arrive on the page with fully developed pasts. Often her heroes have experienced betrayal that has hardened them. Lesser women would give up and move on, but, like the author herself, her heroines are empathetic and optimistic. They see the good in these honorable men and patiently nurture them to become equal partners in a relationship. Sometimes it's the heroine who has a past to overcome. But always, she's self-directed - a dynamic woman who knows what she wants and sets out to get it. For books with international settings, McMahon refers to her flight attendant's journal, but the U.S.American West is her favorite locale. She's as much at home on the back of a horse as she is behind an autograph table. She has participated in week-long horse drives, similar to the cattle drives in City Slickers, attends local rodeos, the Grand National Rodeo in San Francisco, and county fairs.
To date, over five-and-a-half-million copies of her books have sold in thirty-five different countries in nineteen different languages. Her books routinely appear on the Waldenbooks bestseller list, the Ingram's Top 50 Requested Romances, and Amazon.com's bestselling lists. Bride of a Thousand Days made the USA Today bestseller list. With her recent nomination for a Romance Writers of America RITA Award, her books have either won or been a finalist in every major award in the romance industry.
Dedicated to a strict work regimen to meet deadlines, Barbara still finds time to pursue her hobby of working on her family history, to serve on the board of directors of the local woman's networking group, and read voraciously. In memory of her mother who died from the disease, she actively supports breast cancer research. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Novelists, Inc. and the NSDAR, which has nothing to do with writing, but does tie in with her love for genealogy!
