The ancient Greeks believed that there were four elements that everything was made up of: earth, water, air, and fire. This idea was the cornerstone of philosophy, science, and medicine for two thousand years.
In ELEMENTS: Twelve Stories Peter Freeman uses these four elements as a philosophical backdrop for his two novellas, three novelettes, and seven pieces of short fiction placed in four sections according to the element each of the stories suggests. Although, the subject matter varies, there is a theme of caring and resolution that permeates each story.

Peter Freeman lives on Salt Spring Island on the west coast of Canada. He writes nonfiction and fiction novels, screen and stage plays, short stories, magazine articles, and poetry. Peter has had published a nonfiction book, Cape Horn Birthday: Record-Breaking Solo Non-Stop Circumnavigation, and a book of poetry, Growth.
“Hidden Message”, was the winner of the 2019 The Fieldstone Review's literary prize for short fiction and “In the Waiting Room” was shortlisted in the Best of 2018 Adelaide Literary Award for short fiction. Peter’s poem, “Last Beating” was a finalist in the Best of 2018 Adelaide Literary Award for poetry.
He grew up in what was once the sleepy, fishing village of Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast, just south of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. He started his working career first as a cadet surveyor, then a journeyman fitter and turner, and finally focused on computer science at the University of Tasmania.
While in Hobart, Peter joined the local rock-climbing club where he later met Max Dorfligger, a carpenter, shipwright and famous Swiss mountaineer. Peter sailed across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand with Max in the thirty-two foot sloop, Sunshine, that Max had built. Peter then spent the next few years in Dunedin as a train driver and building his own sailboat, Laiviņa.
Peter sailed from New Zealand to Australia and then onto Canada where he incorporated an Information Technology company (Southern Cross Systems Ltd.), producing and selling scientific and business software to universities, government and the private sector.
In 1984, Peter departed Victoria, British Columbia, to sail his thirty-two foot sloop, Laiviņa, on a solo non-stop circumnavigation of the globe, breaking the existing world record in a time of 236 days. His book, Cape Horn Birthday, is an account of this journey.
Representing Canada in world championships, Peter competed as a masters athlete in Italy, South Africa, Australia, the USA, and Canada, and has won gold, silver and bronze medals from these competitions in the 100, 200, 400, and 800 metre events. In 2003, Peter was ranked 11th in the world and 1st in Canada for his 55.10 second time in the 400 metres.
As a keen cyclist, Peter has twice ridden his bicycle across Canada. Without any support, he took 79 bicycling days to cover the 15,400 kilometre perimeter of Australia, averaging 200 kilometres a day.
"We truly know ourselves and our world when we know our limits. As we gain experience by going close to our limits and thus get to know ourselves better, that experience moves our limits further away. This leaves us with the conundrum of never really knowing ourselves yet knowing ourselves intimately...because we kissed the lips of eternity and breathed the air of existence."

Title: Elements: Twelve Stories
Author: Peter Freeman
Publisher: Adelaide Books
Publisher Website: https://adelaidebooks.org/
Publisher Email: [email protected]
ISBN: 978-1954351448
Price: $22.30
Page Count: 382 pages
Formats: Paperback


Description of the company: ADELAIDE BOOKS LLC is a New York based independent company dedicated to publishing literary fiction and creative nonfiction. It was founded in July 2017 as an imprint of the Adelaide Literary Magazine, with the aim to facilitate publishing of novels, memoirs, and collections of short stories, poems, and essays by contributing authors of our magazine and other qualified writers.