Barbara Shepherd is an award-winning writer, poet, and artist. Her published books include The Potbelly Pig Promise (children's book), Reach for the Clouds (a co-authored YA novel), Patchwork Skin (poetry book), River Bend (historical novel), and Vittles and Vignettes (cookbook). Her short stage play, Night of Terror, was one of eight plays chosen in a competition including international entries. The true-crime play has been performed twice in the round.

Shepherd won the American Christian Writers’ Writer of the Year (twice) and the Outstanding Author Award from Rose State Writers Conference, a pre-cursor to WriterCon. She also received a Readers' Choice Award from Miller’s Pond and the Voice of the Fair – Poet award (twice) from the Oklahoma State Fair. She is a Woody Guthrie Poet, a Poet Laureate of the Poetry Society of Oklahoma, and a former nominee for Poet Laureate of the State of Oklahoma.

She won the Creme de la Creme from Norman Galaxy of Writers (three times), and a Creme de la Creme from Mid-Oklahoma Writers. She has been a Creme de la Creme Finalist for OWFI 13 times and a 24-time Creme de la Creme Finalist for Oklahoma City Writers. The Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc. (OWFI) presented her with its Honorary Life Member Award in 2012.

Shepherd is a recipe tester for TV programs and cookbooks for America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country. She has been a field editor for Taste of Home magazines and cookbooks and has tested products for Cooks Illustrated. She is a freelance contributor to other magazines, including Preview, Edmond Outlook, Oklahoma D.O., Oklahoma Woman, Shawnee Shopper, Edmond Life and Leisure, miller's pond, Bella, and ArtBeat. Shepherd's poems, short stories, and articles have been published in numerous anthologies, literary journals, national magazines, and cookbooks.

Two picture books and a young adult mystery novel are pending publication. For adults, western and suspense novels are in progress. Writing, painting, making quilts, and creating new recipes keeps this mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother busy. Food and quilts often show up in her poems and stories.