Harry T. Barnes

It seems I was predestined to become a writer and teacher. My paternal grandfather, a coal miner, logger, and gifted storyteller, had a lot to do with it. As did my mother, a lover of language, and my father, an outdoorsman who created in me a lifelong passion for untrammeled trails and wild rivers. He’s the reason I also became an environmental education center director and wilderness guide.

The die was cast during summer vacations at my grandparent’s home in the Appalachian Mountains of Western Maryland. As I roamed those hills along Big Bear Creek and listened to granddad’s tall tales, my soul became enraptured; my destiny predetermined. 

It was love and admiration for my grandparents that inspired creation of the "Over the Barnes Bridge" series of novels that tell the story of their challenging, often tragic lives in the Appalachian Mountains of Western Maryland and Baltimore City during the early 1900s. 

“Condo Capers,” is a collection of mystery stories inspired by my experiences living in a Florida condominium community. They feature amateur sleuths, Morningstar and Blacklock. 

Many of my other short stories and poems are published in anthologies including, Stories and Sketches from a Small Village, by Illume Writers and Artists, Gilbertsville, New York, and Inklings, an annual publication of  Suncoast Writers Guild Inc., Englewood, Florida.

My wife and I divide our time between the Catskill Mountains of New York and the Gulf coast of Southwest Florida. My books and the anthologies are available online at Amazon.com or by request at brckbns@yahoo.com.