A childhood friend from the past convinces Amanda to explore a wilder side of herself. A bolder and more adventurous side that can free her from a troubled state of mind that has only gotten worse due to recent events. There’s only one problem, it involves finding a wild polar bear, and they aren’t very easy to find. There are no wild polar bears near her home in Seattle.
As she journeys toward the mysterious high Arctic, where wild polar bears roam free, she begins to reflect more deeply on her life.
In the Arctic, traveling through the rapidly warming home of polar bears, she begins to see how recent events in her life are intimately connected to the ground she walks on. As she explores this wonderland of ice and snow that is lit by dancing lights in the sky, it is the hidden dangers, different culture, and the expansive landscape she finds herself in, which combine to change how she views the world around her.
Along with her guide, Lars, and his team of dogs, she discovers a secret about who we are that will change her life forever. As the meaning behind her search for a wild bear becomes more clear, she is confronted with a choice that will affect everyone she has ever known.
W.C. Peace has traveled and lived all over our world. He lives in the American Pacific Northwest, but like a wide-ranging wild polar bear, prefers to call the entire planet, home.
Quiet Freedom is currently available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com in paperback and select bookstores. Please check the SHOP section to order.
Expectations can go a long way in one's enjoyment of something, so here are some things to be aware of.
Quiet Freedom is a hybrid novel. I wrote it as a blend of fiction and non-fiction. If separated, some of the writing might be found in a high-level history, nature, environment, travel, self-help, health, or popular psychology article. My knowledge is wide-ranging after extensive travel and questioning. The book also reflects a big picture view with details.
Readers who tend to primarily enjoy "traditional" fiction novels, may not enjoy this book as much. For there may be more technical details about some of the subjects noted than what ordinarily might be found in a "traditional" fiction book.
If you enjoy travel to far away destinations, are concerned about our environment, global warming or climate change, like learning about animals in the wild, bears (of course), understanding your emotions better, learning about different places and cultures, and discovering things about yourself and other people that for the most part have never been explained before, then this book may be for you.
Of course, if you want to learn how to transform your mental and physical health, you need to understand what is in the book. The information in this book is the foundation for this. At the moment there is no plan for a non-fiction book about this healing method. By definition, what is happening to me in terms of health improvement is very different and "not normal." I had to learn and experience many different things to get to this point, you will have to as well.
If you haven't had very different experiences that challenge your "sense of normal," that might be a good idea, then come back and read Quiet Freedom. If you are more material minded, spend some time looking inward, then consider this book. Travel can be helpful depending on where you go and what you do, but not always. Popular culture is a "filtered reality" - which comes in many forms and is manipulated by many with only their self-interest at heart. While for me writing this book was a natural extension of how I see the world around me, it may make you very uncomfortable, for it is relatively-speaking, a deep thought-provoking book. But again, I don't think of it that way, that is just my impression after certain reader feedback - explicit and not explicit.
One example of how this is a hybrid novel is the selective inclusion of relevant statistics. Certain parts may also
go into more technical detail than an ordinary fictional novel might. Certainly not at the level of detail
of many "scientific" papers, but enough to explain certain concepts.
Another reason I wrote the novel in this way was to act as a sort of bridge between, broadly speaking, opposite ways of experiencing our world. Those who see things in a more technical way, and those who do not. Scientists vs non-scientists. Big picture vs details. Logical vs emotional. Readers of fiction vs non-fiction. Those who are more "centrist" in these "scales" will probably enjoy this novel more so than those who are at either extreme. [By the way - the etymology / root of the word - science - means knowledge. So...that means EVERYTHING! Not just what we think of as "science" or some narrow minded "scientific process." The word has been hijacked and has lost its original meaning. So...does that make everyone a "scientist?"]
Taking a hard look at who we are in heart and mind while peeling back layers of our self is an ongoing theme in the story.
- Wayne
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-- Peace writes in a simple yet elegant prose style, frequently mixing in facts and figures to keep the reader abreast of the situation’s real-life stakes: “A single polar bear’s natural territory can be hundreds of square miles….A typical zoo enclosure for a polar bear can be up to eighty million times smaller than a wild bear’s home range.” But these didactic flourishes, along with the meticulous documentation of Amanda’s journey...sometimes make the work read more like a travel memoir than a fictional account...Amanda’s quest is compelling nevertheless: an adventure at the top of the world that feels relevant to the life of every reader — and to the planet as a whole. An enjoyable, if slightly preachy, story of a trip to the Arctic.
Author note: There you have it, well said in this Kirkus review. Click the link to read the rest. Whereas I think it of as just non-fiction, the Kirkus review uses the word travel memoir, which is also accurate. Considering how much travel I've done and how many guidebooks I've read, that certainly influenced the writing style. I recall when writing the book I wanted it to feel like a real travel adventure as much as possible. Even if it seemed a bit slower at times.
Most of the books I've read in my adult life have been non-fiction. When I was younger, I read more fiction, with a few novels here and there later in life. I have never attended any creative writing workshops and other than a few high school and college general English-type courses, I am self-taught. So, I created my own style for this book and I wanted it to be fiction at the time as I was "tired of reality" after having gone on my first round-the-world trip which saw me traveling for 7 months straight. This came right after 3 months of driving around the USA, and a 6 week trip to South America. I was mentally tired of reality. I needed an escape, and that is what led to Quiet Freedom. On the same token I felt there were "non-fiction" things that people needed to know about. And how I initially planned to write the book, is not how it ultimately ended up - for I changed as I was writing it.
Quiet Freedom talks about a very difficult subject for a lot of people to talk about out loud or acknowledge when it comes to knowing ourselves (You'll have to read it to know). Global warming and climate change (Despite the controversy at times - more so when I wrote most of this book initially - 2004/5) by comparison is easy.
PS: The root of the story really does lie with a large stuffed polar bear!
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--- When I was reading Quiet Freedom I felt very involved with the adventures of Amanda. Her travels and experiences, and the people she met during her trips, were very interesting and captivating. What I enjoyed the most in this book was the secret “recipe” that was shared with Amanda. The recipe showed her another way to behave and live life and helped to set herself free from all the trauma and stress that surrounded her and that which was inside herself. The recipe that helped Amanda to feel free and happier could also help the reader to find a new route in life. Amanda is not alone in her journey… she takes the reader with her and both can start to change their lives for good as they travel through the pages of Quiet Freedom. - Luciana
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--- Just finished reading the book Quiet Freedom by WC Peace. I have read hundreds of self-ordained self-help books. You can understand my skepticism when I picked up Quiet Freedom. I started to read the first chapter and my doubts slowly disappeared. This book invites the reader to look at life through their soul and allows your instinct to guide you. The author takes you on a mystical journey that starts with an ending and comes full circle into a rebirth. It all begins in Seattle, WA and your travel leads you to Greenland. The story combines travel with the gift of appreciating different cultures, spirituality, your awakening and respect for nature. Pick up this book and let the magic begin. - Lillie, Inner Vision Wellness
Author note: While this book isn't formally a self-help novel, it does have elements of that genre, but it is told through a fictional story. The writing of this novel is how I learned the steps to improve my health and know ourselves deeper. - WC
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--- Before Quiet Freedom, I had never read a self-discovery or indie book, so I wasn’t used to the increased dialogue, a good chunk of it numbers for background context to the issues discussed. However, the storyline was simple and clear to follow: workaholic Amanda begins to lose her way after the death of a childhood friend. Needing to get away, she decides to travel to Greenland to see a real-life polar bear in the wild. The conversations she has with others as she makes her plans and travels north, especially with her sledge guide Lars, help her see the macrocosm of climate change and the microcosm of personal happiness in a new light. The setting is perfect for these lessons - Greenland’s ice sheet is greatly affected by changing global temperatures, and the Scandinavian countries Amanda visits en route are consistently some of the happiest in the world.
Quiet Freedom is a little bit of a dissertation of the Law of Jante wrapped in a novel. This Danish philosophy is presented to Amanda by Lars in a way that is easy for readers to understand. While not everyone will agree completely with the views presented in the book, the author’s personal experiences and thorough research make the settings realistic, and the philosophy well-reasoned and interest-piquing. Quiet Freedom is a good read for those interested in learning more about how the happy Danes live their lives. It’s also worth checking out the book’s website for additional in-depth research and information on polar bears, Scandinavia, and MIND/NO MIND (the version of the Law of Jante presented in the book). - Emily C.
Wayne travelled the world* extensively to learn the truth about religion, the modern world, and to experience nature & culture. Also to understand if there was any "purpose to life." After initial world travels and countless documentaries & books on his learning quest - he discovered the most unexplored place in the world was staring at him in the mirror everyday. This novel is the story of the most important thing he found.
He is currently based in the American Pacific Northwest, but like a wide-ranging polar bear, prefers to call the entire planet, home.
His Chinese name is Chen-Wei-Ping. 陈维平 Wei-Ping means to "Maintain the Peace." In this life he learned that before we can have peace on the outside, we must have it on the inside - on a whole new level. This novel reveals the path and first steps to this level of peace.
*Nomad Mania travel profile & map
------Personal Statement - 1st person
"You could travel the world" these days and not learn a thing. You could travel the world, visit major cities (for work or pleasure), and only stay at at tourist or top 5-star hotels. Did you learn anything?
"The true voyage of discovery is not in going to new places, but in seeing with new eyes." - Marcel Proust. This is a quote I take to heart as well and mirrors the one above - which I just coined.
With that said, I have managed to visit and experience many places in my life. I didn't learn until later that this desire to explore was in large part driven by my past lives - especially my recent ones in the last 500 years.
Outside of the USA, I've lived in Medellin, Colombia for 5 years, and a few months in Bangkok, Thailand - El Hierro, Canary Islands of Spain - and a small town (Paleochora) on Crete in Greece, and in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. I've taken many wrong turns, intellectually and geographically, while on a quest to understand and know who we are on the inside & outside.
While traveling, I've gained many insights into who we are at a very deep level, and how we came to be who we are.
In addition to the many concepts presented in this book, the adventure has included studying what affects our health – physically, spiritually, and mentally. Areas of study have included nutrition, man-made chemicals, plastics in our environment and food chain, water, natural & artificial light, air, electromagnetic fields, microwave radiation, sound, music as it relates to health, and our emotions at a very deep level.
My standard work biography is that I graduated with a business degree from the University of Washington in Seattle and worked in software development, marketing, sales, operations, and business analysis for a variety of firms and organizations, both large and small. Some of the more recognizable larger ones would include - Sony, Hewitt (Aon), Panasonic, Rockwell Collins, and Cendant (Was owner of Coldwell Banker, Avis, Ramada Inn).
Along the way I've learned reincarnation is true and around 2013-14 was able to unmask all my past life identities. And then I was able to understand why I made the life choices that I have.
Youtube Channel - Norlight Press
Partial list of wild animal encounters.
This book was in part inspired by the real life relationship between a large stuffed polar bear and someone who I used to know better. Here's looking at you Tammy L.
I would also like to thank my father for supporting me while writing this novel.
And thanks to everyone else who affected me for better or worse. Including the authors and creators of all the non-fiction books and documentaries I have seen. Movies too, that helped free my imagination. Maybe someday I will add a little bookshelf here.
-W.C. Peace
