Ann Harrison-Barnes is a totally blind Christian fiction author, freelance writer and podcast host. Retrolental Fibroplasia, commonly known as Retinopathy of Prematurity, caused her blindness.
As a young child, Ann loved listening to her family members read to her. At five, she received her first National Library Service talking book. When she wasn’t listening to stories being red to her, on records or cassettes, she made them up and told them to her family and school friends.
Although she participated in creative writing contests in middle school and dabbled in storytelling in high school, her love of creative writing blossomed in 2006 after reading Lee Smith’s introduction to the 2001 edition of New Stories from the South.
Since starting her writing career in 2010, Ann has published a book entitled The Spirit of Creativity: Inspirational Poems for the Creative at Heart. She plans to release other books soon.
Aside from her work as a Christian fiction author, Ann has written freelance articles for clients through crowdsourcing companies such as Upwork and Clickworker.com, and other publications such as news articles for the Cordele Dispatch. Some of her work includes landing page content for recreational sports websites and other clients providing specific services to businesses and individuals, through a former web development company.
When she’s not writing, she hosts the Inspirational Journeys Podcast, providing authors, creative artists and entrepreneurs a platform to share the stories behind their creative process while showcasing their work. She also hosts solo episodes on topics related to the writing life.
Ann lives in a tiny house with her daughter in Rochelle, Georgia. When she’s not writing or recording podcast episodes, she loves spending time with her family, going to church, crocheting and reading. On warm Spring days, she loves to either sit out on her front porch and listen to the wind chimes as she brainstorms her next book or article idea, or take walks, to pray and connect with her characters.