Barbara Alice Anderson is a crime‑fiction writer who builds worlds from lived experience. The Garden began long before it had a name. She was sketching a logo for her production company, GakFace Productions — something that felt like 1950s housewife colliding with punk rock — when a woman appeared on the page. Small. Sharp. Unapologetic. Lola wasn’t invented; she arrived. And once she existed, the Garden began to grow around her.
The others followed in their own time, each one stepping forward with her history already intact. Molly emerged next, a woman born into privilege who refused to be ornamental. Then came the sisters, Fannie and Jewel, carrying the same childhood in two different directions — one becoming steel, the other becoming justice. Estelle arrived like a Joan‑Crawford‑meets‑Dietrich apparition, elegant and dangerous in equal measure. JoAnne surfaced last, unexpected and necessary, born from the shadow of Estelle’s image. None of them were designed. They were discovered.
Barbara writes women because she is one. If she were a man, she would write men. Her work is not feminist, not political, not a cultural argument. It is human. It is built from the truth that people become what their worlds demand, and sometimes the only justice available is the justice you create yourself.
She lives on two acres in Oklahoma with her husband, Joshua, and an interspecies family that functions the way the Garden does — chosen, bonded, and fiercely loyal. Her cats are not rescues; they are kin, a multi‑generational ecosystem that has grown into its own quiet society. She runs GakFace Productions and Garden of Desire, her e‑commerce store where each of the Garden women inspires handbag lines and creative work. The Garden is not confined to fiction; it exists across her art, her business, and her daily life.
Ladies of the Garden: The Case of Lila Hart is her debut novel — the first in a planned series following an ensemble of women who create sanctuary and deliver justice when the world fails to protect the innocent. Lola is lived experience. The Garden is built from truth.
“Her characters feel real because they are. They live inside of her and most of us can identify with one or more of them.”
To reach the author for questions or comments, send her a brief email at: barbara@ladiesofthegarden.com or info@ladiesofthegarden.com and she will return your correspondence within 24 business hours.