Friday 20 October 2017

SERIES BY FREYA BARKER PART OF #FAA3





#FAA3
PRESENTS 

THE SERIES BY 

FREYA BARKER

CEDAR TREE  


THE CEDAR TREE SERIES WAS FIRST CONCEIVED IN 2012, WHEN I VISITED A FRIEND I HAD PREVIOUSLY ONLY TALKED TO ON FACEBOOK AND ON THE PHONE. WE HAD BEEN FRIENDS FOR QUITE A FEW YEARS ALREADY AND SHE LIVED, AND STILL DOES, IN THE FOUR CORNERS AREA OF GORGEOUS COLORADO.

IN THE SUMMER WEEKS I SPENT WITH HER AND HER FAMILY, I FELL IN LOVE WITH COLORADO - THE BEAUTY AND HISTORY OF THE FOUR CORNERS IN PARTICULAR - AND MY IMAGINATION WAS STIRRED.

THE WISH TO READ ABOUT MORE THAN ONLY PEOPLE IN THEIR TWENTIES AND THE HOPE OF FINDING SOME CONNECTION WITH CHARACTERS WHO MIGHT HAVE PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS, SIMILAR TO MINE, EVENTUALLY HAD ME PUT THE PROVERBIAL PEN TO PAPER.

SLIM TO NONE WAS NO LONGER A CONCEPT BUT BECAME REAL. HOWEVER, LESS THAN A QUARTER INTO MY WRITING, I REALIZED THAT I HAD PERHAPS THREE OR MORE STORIES PERCOLATING RIGHT ON THE TAIL OF THE ONE I WAS TRYING TO PUT INTO WORDS. AND IT BECAME CLEAR THAT I WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO GET AWAY WITH JUST GUS AND EMMA’S STORY. AN ENTIRE COMMUNITY HAD BECOME INVOLVED, OR AT LEAST AN ENTIRE GROUP OF FRIENDS WHO ALL SEEM TO HAVE THEIR OWN STORIES THAT NEED TO BE TOLD.


HUNDRED TO ONE WAS NEEDED, BOOK TWO, AND ARLENE AND SEB'S CHANCE TO TELL THEIR STORY. ONE THAT WAS ALREADY ALMOST BURSTING AT THE SEAMS IN THE FIRST BOOK. AND WITH THIS BOOK SLOWLY MORE CHARACTERS ARE COMING OUT OF THE SHADOWS DEMANDING MORE ATTENTION.

AGAINST ME, BOOK THREE IN THE SERIES IS THE STORY OF CALEB AND KATIE, TWO PEOPLE WE HAVE OBSERVED FROM A DISTANCE SINCE THE VERY BEGINNING. THEIR STORY IS ONE THAT TAKES MANY DETOURS AND HITS QUITE A FEW ROADBLOCKS BEFORE ALIGNING; AND BRINGS WITH IT THE INTRODUCTION OF SOME INTERESTING NEW CHARACTERS.

CLEAN LINES, IS THE FOURTH BOOK AND WAS RELEASED EARLY JUNE. IT WILL FINALLY SEE JOE SETTLE HIS AFFAIRS (IN PARTICULAR THOSE INVOLVING NAOMI) FOR ONCE AND FOR ALL……

UPPER HAND TELLS THE STORY OF LONG TIME ARLENE'S DINER EMPLOYEE, BETH, AND THE MOSTLY POLITICALLY INCORRECT CONTRACTOR, CLINT. A TENTATIVE AND RATHER VOLATILE CONNECTION WE'VE SEEN PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE PREVIOUS STORIES, IS PROPELLED INTO HIGH DRIVE WHEN FAMILY (AND TROUBLE) IS INTRODUCED.

LIKE ARROWS, IS THE SIXTH BOOK AND WAS RELEASED DECEMBER 2016. THIS IS THE STORY THAT SEES MALACHI, CALEB'S DARK AND TROUBLED BROTHER, FINALLY FIND HIS SALVATION IN KIMEO. BUT NOT BEFORE THEY'RE FORCED TO  BATTLE ENEMIES, BOTH VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE, AS A TEST OF THEIR STRENGTH.

PORTLAND ME

The Portland, ME, novels started with "From Dust", a story that had been plaguing me for years. 
It started with a tragic, local news report that struck a deep chord in me. For years I couldn't stop thinking about the long lasting impact of devastation like that until I finally was able to put it on paper.

But with the writing of "From Dust" came a host of other characters who all seemed to have their own story to tell. 
Stories of survival. Stories of hope. Stories highlighting a belief that no matter how dark or devastating or damaging the hits life inflicts, there is beauty, happiness and love out there to fight for.

"Cruel Water" is the second novel and although not in the least autobiographical, there are certain elements at play I personally identify with. Another emotional journey on so many levels, with sensitive subject matter I have taken great effort to be careful with. 


There is at least a third story planned for 2016: "True Fire", and eventually also a fourth, but you might have to wait just a little for that one.

NORTHERN LIGHTS 
I enjoy writing about some of my favorite spots in the US, that's not a secret, but it wasn't until someone pointed it out to me, that I realized I'd never written anything set in Canada… and this my absolute favorite place to be. I LIVE here!

Once that decision was made, the setting was an easy selection. Over the years, I've spent much enjoyable time in beautiful Northern Ontario; hiking, canoeing, fishing, back-country camping and wild life spotting. In more recent years a good number of hours are spent  at my brother and sister-in-law's gorgeous old lake-side cottage up in the Muskokas. 

That cottage, its beautiful setting, is the inspiration for Mia and Jared's little bay in A Change In Tide. 
A story that is best described in this quote:

"In a delicate balance of raw emotions and well-developed characters,
Freya Barker paints the raw, beautiful Canadian North as it heals one woman,
and gives a man a brand new start, in this tale that is as unique as it is gripping."




The second, complete standalone, A Change Of View, is set a little further north, along the long stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway that spans all of Canada. From the Atlantic in the east, passing through ten provinces all the way to the Pacific in the west. 

The inspiration for this book is once again taken straight from my own experience. Last year, at the end of winter, I drove a large chunk of that highway with my daughter, so see her settled in her new home in Alberta. A drive through sunshine, snowstorms and rain that we tackled in four days, instead of five—but that left me with memories that will last my lifetime.

A Change Of View is a story of such dramatic move, from a bustling city to the much quieter extended community of Wawa, Ontario. 


SNAP SHOT 

My SNAPshot romantic suspense series wasn't a series to begin with at all, but is growing into one. 

I wrote "Shutter Speed" as a novella and it was never intended to be anything more. But Ben Gustafson, the retired undercover DEA agent, and Isla Ferris, the campground manager and photographer, had other ideas, and a lot more story to tell.

My friend and fellow author, KT Dove agreed, and we decided to join forces and came up with the plot for "Freeze Frame", an opportunity for us to get to know Ben and Isla a little better. We also introduce a group of colorful individuals who make up their family, their friends and their community in Dolores, Colorado.

In "Shutter Speed" we meet the somewhat cantankerous and disillusioned Ben and the ever optimistic and spontaneous tomboy, Isla. Though short, "Shutter Speed" is a complete story with a satisfying ending, but still leaves you wanting more.

In "Freeze Frame" we pick up right were we left off with Ben and Isla's story and introduce a brand new plot. One that has them struggling to shed their former lives and build a new one together. This does not come easy. Not when certain unsavory elements from Ben's past appear difficult to shed. 

In "Ideal Image" we focus on Ben's sister Stacie, her precocious daughter Makenna, and get a closer introduction to Nicolas, the local attorney who has had his eye on her. But it becomes clear he is not the only one feeling a strong attraction to her... or is he? 


Slim To None Hundred To One Against Me: A Cedar Tree Novel Clean Lines Upper Hand Like Arrows Head Start
 (7 books) 
by 
 4.17 avg rating — 1,351 ratings

From Dust Cruel Water Through Fire Still Air
 (4 books) 
by 
 4.41 avg rating — 1,031 ratings

A Change in Tide A Change of View
 (2 books) 
by 
 4.30 avg rating — 582 ratings

Shutter Speed Freeze Frame Ideal Image
 (3 books) 
by 
 4.38 avg rating — 313 ratings







MEET THE AUTHOR



Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories. 
Driven to make her books about 'real' people; with characters who are perhaps less than perfect, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills, and some hot, sizzling sex in their lives.

A recipient of the RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for best first book, “Slim To None”, and Finalist for the Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, Freya has not slowed down. 

She continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!


CONNECT WITH FREYA

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