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Ann Gaylia O'Barr

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

http://www.AnnGayliaOBarr.com

Twitter

AnnGayliaOBarr

Genre

Literature & Fiction

Influences

overseas experience

Member Since

November 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/anngayliaobarr

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During my Foreign Service years (1990 until 2004), I served in Saudi Arabia (twice), Tunisia, Algeria, Canada, and in Washington, D.C. at State Department headquarters. I was evacuated from Algeria after three months due to terrorist activities in that country.

Many Americans imagine a Foreign Service officer (diplomat) as one who flits in and out of meetings with VIP’s in exotic overseas capitals. This hardly describes my work. I worked mainly as a consular officer. I interviewed foreigners who wanted to come to the United States as visitors or to immigrate to this country as permanent residents. The job introduced me to those desperate millions who seek better lives in developed countries by legal or illegal means.

My work with American cit During my Foreign Service years (1990 until 2004), I served in Saudi Arabia (twice), Tunisia, Algeria, Canada, and in Washington, D.C. at State Department headquarters. I was evacuated from Algeria after three months due to terrorist activities in that country.

Many Americans imagine a Foreign Service officer (diplomat) as one who flits in and out of meetings with VIP’s in exotic overseas capitals. This hardly describes my work. I worked mainly as a consular officer. I interviewed foreigners who wanted to come to the United States as visitors or to immigrate to this country as permanent residents. The job introduced me to those desperate millions who seek better lives in developed countries by legal or illegal means.

My work with American citizens provided me with my most memorable experiences. Routine tasks included renewing U.S. passports and performing notary services. However, duties were never routine for long. With my colleagues, I aided U.S. citizens who were jailed for various offenses. Most incarcerations in Muslim-majority countries resulted from American citizens involved with drugs, alcohol or pornography.

When American citizens died or were killed overseas, we notified next of kin in the States and took care of the remains as dictated by the family. Tragically, a few of these deaths resulted from terrorist attacks. I was in Saudi Arabia for both Gulf wars, in 1991 and after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Americans married to foreign spouses presented us with the most emotion wrenching problems, especially the custody cases. Such marriages and divorces face the same challenges as those of two Americans, but problems are magnified by different laws governing children, religious beliefs, and the requirement for exit visas to leave some countries.

My novels and blogs since living abroad are influenced by those overseas years. I return to certain topics: immigration, current Arab unrest, and American Christians’ views of both Islamic culture and their own country’s role in international events.
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Ann Gaylia O'Barr’s books

Average rating: 3.91 · 147 ratings · 60 reviews · 15 distinct works

	A Simple Dying 4.21 avg rating — 24 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Night Watch (Mark Pacer #3) 3.84 avg rating — 19 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Distant Thunder 4.19 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 2012 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Singing in Babylon 3.94 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 2010 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	If Winter Comes (Mark Pacer #2) 3.93 avg rating — 15 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Searching for Home 3.92 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Sense of Mission really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 2012 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Thy Dross to Consume 3.33 avg rating — 9 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Where I Belong (Mark Pacer #1) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 6 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Second Grieving (Mark Pacer, #6) 3.14 avg rating — 7 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Ann Gaylia O'Barr's Blog

The Less Fortunate and the Foreigners Among Us

My family is descended from long ago immigrants who came to America before the American Revolution. None of us, as far as I know, became wealthy, but we seem always to have had enough to eat and clothes to wear. With bad timing, perhaps, my parents bought a house just before the Great Depression of… Read More » Read more of this blog post »

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Published on March 07, 2026 15:12

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Series by Ann Gaylia O'Barr

Mark Pacer (3 books)
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Ann Gaylia O'Barr (Goodreads Author)

3.90 avg rating — 40 ratings

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Ann Gaylia O'Barr wrote a new blog post The Less Fortunate and the Foreigners Among Us My family is descended from long ago immigrants who came to America before the American Revolution. None of us, as far as I know, became wealthy, but Read more of this blog post »
Mar 08, 2026 01:01AM · like
Ann rated a book really liked it The Cater Street Hangman (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt, #1) by Anne Perry	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I had finished a series and wanted another. Think I've found such a series. Serious crimes yet redeemed by the beginning of friendship between Charlotte and Thomas, as well as by watching a family change in a rapidly changing time. ...more
Nov 19, 2025 09:03AM · like · see review

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Ann’s Quotes

“She thought of the library, so shining white and new; the rows and rows of unread books; the bliss of unhurried sojourns there and of going out to a restaurant, alone, to eat.”
― Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown

1204 likes

“Reader's Bill of Rights

1. The right to not read

2. The right to skip pages

3. The right to not finish

4. The right to reread

5. The right to read anything

6. The right to escapism

7. The right to read anywhere

8. The right to browse

9. The right to read out loud

10. The right to not defend your tastes”
― Daniel Pennac

tags: books, reading, rights

7000 likes

“Author:
A common gadabout who freely wanders over the landscape with wanton disregard. His days are spent picking up all the stray free words he can handle and squirreling them away for later use.
Subsequently, (days, months or years later) working by candlelight and hidden away in his dank, musty secluded lair, the rogue simply rearranges the collected words on yellowed bond with a sharpened quill ink pen fashioned from the tail feather of a bald-headed vulture.
Once finished, the dastardly cur audaciously attempts to sell those assembled pages for fleeting fame and profit.”
― Leopold Throckmorton

tags: author, morality, vulture

4 likes