Other Barefooting Fiction

Amongst its members, the Society for Barefoot Living has several published authors who have created an excellent smorgasbord of stories, each with a strong barefooting theme.

Mark Davies (South Africa)

The Brotherhood of Sfarr (ISBN 978-1-4525-6462-3)

Practicing the ancient art of Akiun is punishable by death.

When the warrior Jenna and her brother Hahn come to the city of Frethenia to flee from the price on their heads and start a new life, all goes well. But soon they discover a plot by the church to cover up damning knowledge, a Brotherhood of Evil that operates under the same church, and a growing connection to the Prophecy of the New Queen of Trefolk.

Cast into a deadly maelstrom of assassination and intrigue, Jenna must risk revealing her true identity to save her city, her people, and her brother.

The Song of Elaria (ISBN 978-1-4525-8239-9)

Kensu (noun): Protector, champion, mentor of the Queen of Trefolk.

The Ancient Prophecy decrees that three Heralds must come to pass. A wise man has performed a significant act . . . but has the lost sword been found? If so, then only one portent remains before the Queen ascends the throne.

But who is the Queen? And will the Song of Elaria, sword and scepter of the royal house, return to its rightful heir before the Blood Moon rises?

Whilst the Elders and the Church deny the fulfilment of the Prophecy is at hand, the Akiun Warrior Jenna and her cunning brother Hahn are shocked to realise that the Dark Forces they once thought vanquished have returned. And now they mean to strike at the heart of the Prophecy . . .

Against incredible odds, Jenna and Hahn race to discover the Queen's identity and save her from certain death.


More information: www.weaverswyrders.co.za

Tim Mills (USA)

The Mystery of Ghost Lake (ISBN 978-1-4357-2087-9)

Deep in the woods of the Cheyenne Reservation is a mysterious lake that no one knows exists. Joey Red Wolf, a slightly strange traditional boy who is in a wheelchair, loves the outdoors and nature. Joey and his best friend AJ quickly take to exploring the thick woods near their home. What starts off as a fun little trip down an old, unused trail, quickly turns into bone-chilling mystery as the boys discover a ghostly lake where something seems to follow them in the fog. As the experiences turn creepier, Joey turns to his family for answers, only to discover that no one knows of a lake in the woods. Then things go from bad to worse, as a sorcerer, known only as the Night Rider surfaces on a dark night following Joey. As Joey and his friends race to escape the sorcerer’s grasp, they discover that years before a powerful medicine man and beloved war hero vanished from nearby. Suddenly, Joey is in a race against time to find the secret of the Ghost Lake, before he becomes its next victim.
 

The Phantom Camper (ISBN 978-0-5575-5089-0)

Joey Red Wolf returns in an all new adventure. Step in to the culture of the Cheyenne as Joey and his friends get their first real glance at the Sun Dance, a sacred renewal ceremony that happens during the summer. However, Joey isn't the only newcomer to Sun Dance, he's going to be joined by two wacky cousins visiting from Oklahoma, his little brother, and a mysterious visitor who no one sees, known only as The Phantom Camper! Come join the adventure as Joey ventures from home for the first time and finds himself chasing a shadowy Phantom at Eagle's Landing with the help of his friends. Can Joey find the Phantom, or will Sun Dance be ruined? Come find out!

 

The Mystery of Hawk's Canyon (ISBN 978-1-2579-6383-6)

The old ways are sacred to the Cheyenne people; it is their way of connecting to the Great Spirit, and forms the core of traditional family life. For generations a few hand-picked people have been entrusted with the responsibility to carry the ceremonies onwards. The family Red Wolf, is just such a family, with Grandpa Ben being one of few remaining Cheyenne medicine men. A medicine man is a traditional doctor, or a healer, as the people refer to it. It is also a position of great responsibility, and importance. In the Red Wolf family the medicine skipped a generation, and Grandpa Ben has chosen of all his grandchildren, for Joey to be his successor as a Cheyenne medicine man. Everyone knows Joey is a shy, quiet boy with cerebral palsy, who needs help with almost everything.

Seeking the quiet of the outdoors, Joey and his friends explore Hawk’s Canyon, a small canyon not far from Gray Horse on a quiet weekend. However Hawk’s Canyon hides dark secrets of its own. In the thrill of childhood innocence, Joey stumbles across a dark and ancient secret long hidden by the tribal elders. What he finds, turns his life upside down, and sends him running in terror. Now Joey begins to realize his grandfather knows something that he never shared. For the first time, Joey finds himself searching for the answer to a personal mystery. Why does Grandpa Ben want so desperately to leave his most sacred ways with a child with a disability?
 

The Spirit Lodge Mystery (ISBN 978-1-3000-4148-1)

Old memories haunting Joey Red Wolf in the night lead him to a shocking truth about himself: not only is he different from everyone around him, but he will change the future of the Red Wolf family medicine altars. What will his family think, especially his grandfather? Why do the elders and the spirits want to leave this key piece of Cheyenne culture, closely guarded for generations, in the care of a child with a disability?

AJ Big Bear, Joey's best friend, is also searching for something personal. Why all of a sudden do the spirits seem to call to him? The answer lies in the spiritual part of the old ways. However, for AJ to find the old ways, he must first discover himself.

The shocking truth awaits them in the mysterious Cheyenne Spirit Lodge! Are Joey and AJ ready to rediscover the meaning of faith?

The Mystery of Beaver Creek (ISBN 9781300660651)

While studying in the forest with his grandfather, Joey finds himself drawn to the activities going on down by the creek and decides to try and watch a family of beavers. As he watches, he begins to see similarities in his own life. Quickly everything starts to come apart when he discovers that something has gone wrong at a nearby ranger’s post. Suddenly, Joey must try to sort through a strange trail of clues leading back into the woods. Worried that something may have happened to his dad, Joey teams up with his friends and his little brother to find Steve Red Wolf. As they race to help Joey’s dad, they discover the real meaning of family.

The Stranger of Eagle's Landing (ISBN 9781304333827)

While at a healing ceremony, Joey crosses paths with a girl that is unlike anyone he has ever met. Soon after, he retreats with his grandfather to continue learning about families and where they come from. In seeking greater understanding, Grandpa Ben sends Joey off to look for families in nature and how they are created. However, Joey’s search brings him back to the seemingly strange girl from the ceremony. Eager to find out why she has followed him into the woods, Joey discovers on his own how much they have in common. Are there two children from the Cheyenne returning to the nature ways? If so, why hadn’t Joey been told? Soon Joey’s lessons take a shocking turn as he discovers the lost secret of the Nature Ways. This stranger may hold the key to his spiritual path.

More information: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Mystery_Kids

Marco Peel (Spain)

a parallel path (ISBN 978-1-4538-3201-1)

2002. Waking up naked next to a man she barely knows, after a night out of which she has no recollection, Nastasha realises she has lost something she can never recover. And it's not just her shoes. Running away, she ends up on the old pilgrim's road from Arles to Santiago de Compostela. But while walking helps her forget, she is hounded by disturbing dreams that seem to predict the future, and frightening visions of a boy crossing her path, in an apocolyptic landscape, in another time.

1348. First to come down with the plague, Dominic survives to find himself alone in a world changed beyond comprehension. Blaming himself for his father's death, he sets off to Santiago, where his mother abandoned him at birth 13 years ago, in the hope of finding out who she was, who he is, and where he belongs.

Although centuries apart, they share more than their choice to walk barefoot. More, in fact, than they may wish to find out...

city on clouds (ISBN 978-1-4781-7111-9)

When Alisha chose to write her thesis on the Children's Crusade, it was just an adventure on paper. She never expected to become part of something similar. Stuck on a blank page, she tries her luck with a clean slate, only to get more than she bargained for. Two stories instead of one. With all the dark magical realism of a medieval tale. Only, one of them isn't medieval.

1212 - three crusades, three people, a forbidden love.
Born together, Azemar and Alazais share an uncommon bond. One that can only lead to unpardonable sin. When they secretly follow older brother Duran out of childish curiosity on a war against heresy, all three enter a nightmare that will define their lives. While Duran goes on to fight with the crusaders, Azemar and Alazais are forced to flee from them. Joining a Crusade of Innocents to the Promised Land, they are separated at sea, only to end up on the slave markets of the east...

2002 - those who aren't against us, are with us.
Some mortals are born with a guardian angel, but Alisha has reasons to believe hers plays on the other team. She always seems to lose her shoes, and only survives 9/11 because she is mugged on the subway. When she volunteers to teach English in a remote village in Sudan, she's about to put this to the test as never before. But a dusty village without water, a genocidal civil war, a 2000 mile barefoot trek across the desert, and a precarious illegal crossing into Europe on a rubber dinghy, pale in comparison to what awaits her there...

More information: http://sites.google.com/site/aparallelpath and http://sites.google.com/site/cityonclouds/