Barbed: A Memoir - Paperback

by Julie Morrison (Author)

"Her poetic prose places readers right alongside her as we root for her and the friends she makes along the way." - MacKenzie Chase, Arizona Daily Sun

"An extraordinary memoir and one we highly recommend!" - Chanticleer Reviews

Standing at a professional crossroads, Julie Morrison decides to saddle up and start over. Her family's ranch is on the brink of bankruptcy. While fighting for its future, she simultaneously seeks to salvage her marriage and rediscover her best self.

When you ride across the rock-strewn terrain of a family-owned horse and cattle business, though, a gritty challenge awaits along the trail to every panoramic view. Entangled in the barbs of ranching and relationships, Julie will meet cold-hearted cowboys and funny farriers, learn how to ranch one-handed, and become an expert in assessing what's essential.

This is a romance in which the objects of devotion are hard-working horses and iconic western vistas, where hope and horseshoes harmonize and help arrives from the most unlikely places. Julie's journey of personal discovery will inspire readers to blaze their own trails to a future only they can create.

"... keenly observant prose, capable of transporting readers directly to the trail." - Kirkus Reviews

Author Biography

Julie Morrison is an Arizonan, horsewoman, dog person, and writer of both poetry and prose to celebrate all the aforementioned. Two of her short stories were selected by the Desert Sleuths for their 2019 and 2021 mystery anthologies; another short story was awarded in 2020 by Writer's Digest as top ten in literary fiction. Her poem "Western Girl" was named an honorable mention by the 2020 Arizona Literary Magazine. As a manuscript, "Barbed" was the 2018 runner-up in nonfiction in the San Francisco Writers Conference contest and was shortlisted in Chanticleer's 2019 Journey Nonfiction Awards. Ms. Morrison is pursuing a master of fine arts in creative writing from Seattle Pacific University (2023). This is her first book.