The Battle for Astry is the Dark Fantasy Revival We’ve Been Waiting For

NY Weekly Staff on July 10, 2026

If you are bored with reading the same fantasy narrative, perhaps a sudden, suffocating curtain of artificial darkness engineered by a powerful necromancer to shield a vampire lord from the blistering sun would be a change. This chilling phenomenon, known as the “false night,” serves as a perfect metaphor for Swiger’s narrative style in his book, The Lunar Pack Chronicles (Book 1): The Battle for Astry, which instantly wraps the reader in a shroud of tension that refuses to let go.

In a fantasy landscape saturated with sparkling immortals and flawless chosen ones, The Battle for Astry arrives like a broadsword to the chest that delivers a grounded, human-centric epic that prioritizes the heavy weight of armor, the exhaustion of constant travel, and the psychological scars of a perpetual war.

At the heart of this dark tale is a secretive fellowship of four warriors bound by an ancient oath and an unspoken trauma. Led by Ulric, a gruff, one-eyed commander sporting a silver wolf’s head eyepatch, the group operates under a rigid, pragmatic doctrine: always four, never less, never more. Alongside Ulric is Ivan, a sentimental yet deadly mountain blacksmith who keeps his grief drowned in a flask of divine liquor; Kyra Nighteyes, a lethal tracker with golden eyes and the tragic distinction of being the last of her slaughtered tribe; and Richard, a high-born former military general rescued from death by Ulric’s closely guarded, unconventional healing methods.

As the story progresses, readers will see these characters bicker over the expensive upkeep of Richard’s warhorse, counterfeit local currency to bypass exorbitant regional taxes, and weaponize cold logic over reckless chivalry. When debating how to handle a camp of road bandits, Richard casually notes that honor is a stupid reason to die, suggesting instead that an archer simply put an arrow through an opponent’s back.

This pragmatic friction is beautifully balanced by the arrival of Lady Victoria Sterling. She is an independent, wealthy merchant traveling with her imposing bodyguard, Umbassa. Victoria represents the reader’s eye, and through her interactions with the pack, this book is able to strip away the romantic glamour of the traveling sellsword, forcing Victoria (and the audience) to confront the harsh reality of cold dirt floors, meager rations of dried meat, and taverns that smell of stale ale and burnt flesh.

The narrative engine truly begins to roar when the group arrives in the defensible, stone-woven town of Whitburn. Ostensibly investigating rumors of petty cultists dabbling in dark magic at an abandoned nearby keep, the pack assumes they are dealing with a routine purification task. But Swiger masterfully builds an undercurrent of anticipation, and we are introduced to the vulnerable cogs of the town. A nervous young steward preparing for his first sermon at the Church of the Four Gods, an eccentric local historian attempting to preserve forbidden knowledge, and Little Eddie, a tormented street orphan caught between the desire to resurrect his murdered mother and the terrifying manipulation of a local dark mage named Zazor.

The author expertly juggles these converging perspectives, raising the stakes with every chapter. While Victoria and Umbassa set off on a seemingly mundane late-night delivery to a brilliant reclusive doctor in the neighboring village of Wellspring, Richard and Kyra venture into the ruined keep for what should be a routine scouting mission.

And with the sudden arrival of Gravewing, a terrifying, bestial vampire lord with massive leathery wings and razor-sharp claws, the characters’ calculations were thrown off. Alongside him is Devora, a brilliant, ruthless necromancer capable of commanding hundreds of armored, weapon-wielding corpses resurrected from the local farmlands.

The climax of the book’s opening arc is a masterclass in tension and heartbreaking execution, in which Richard faces a horrifying tactical reality that sets off an agonizing countdown. Will Richard be able to save Kyra before time runs out?

Kevin Swiger has crafted a wonderfully addictive, fast-paced opening salvo to a promising new series. His prose is natural, direct, and remarkably human, seamlessly shifting between lighthearted campfire banter and claustrophobic horror. By anchoring the fantastical elements in real human vulnerability, from Ivan’s faded memories of his lost wife, Umbassa’s haunting recollections of jungle warfare, and Victoria’s awakening to the harshness of the real world, Swiger makes the looming supernatural threat feel deeply personal.

The Lunar Pack Chronicles doesn’t just promise an epic war between the living and the dead. Instead, it promises a deeply psychological exploration of what it means to survive when everything you love has already burned to ash. As the false night deepens and the bells of Whitburn prepare to toll, fantasy fans will find themselves desperately turning the pages, trapped in Swiger’s web of suspense, waiting for the wolves to turn and fight.

Perfect for fans of dark fantasy, supernatural creatures, and tales of unlikely heroes, The Battle for Astry promises to captivate readers from start to finish. So, are you ready to join the fight and discover whether the light can overcome the growing darkness? The Lunar Pack Chronicles (Book 1): The Battle for Astry is available now in paperback and hardcover at leading bookstores.

Availability

Blending dark fantasy/adventure that follows a secretive, tightly knit pack of four powerful warriors who possess unique abilities and hunt an ancient, organized undead evil across the continent of Astry, this book will keep you glued to your seat. If you love high-stakes fantasy plots with twists and turns, thrills, revelations, drama, and a lot of action and unexpected curveballs, this book has to be on your reading list.

The book is available on Amazon.

About the Author

Kevin Swiger grew up in Richmond, Virginia. As a child, he always wrote stories no one would ever read. He worked in retail for most of his life. As an adult, he didn’t have time for writing until his wife encouraged him to make the time. So, he put his overactive imagination to work and rediscovered a lost hobby, and the result of his passion is the creation of The Lunar Pack Chronicles (Book 1): The Battle for Astry.

Book Details

Book Name: The Battle for Astry (The Lunar Pack Chronicles Book 1)

Author Name: Kevin Swiger

ISBN Number: 978-1970440805

Ebook Version: Click Here

Hardcover Version: Click Here

Paperback Version: Click Here

Minnow’s Songs and Troll Tolls and Three Endings Waiting and Why Prince Adam’s Quest May Appeal to Fantasy Readers Right Now

NY Weekly Staff on July 9, 2026

By: Catalina Santorini

There is something unusual about a fantasy novel that announces upfront that its hero always wins and then spends its entire length making you uncertain what winning is going to look like. Terrence W. Walsh makes that move in the opening pages of Prince Adam’s Quest and sustains the tension it creates all the way to an ending that is actually three endings: history, comedy, or tragedy, with Prince Adam given the choice of which fate to claim. That conceit alone may make the book interesting to readers. The storytelling that fills the space between the opening and the triple ending gives it a memorable quality.

Prince Adam sets out from Leftovria to slay a dragon because that is what princes do when dragons are reported, and he brings with him Minnow, an apprentice bard who is still figuring out both the bard part and the apprentice part, but who has a gift for composing songs that change the mood of any room or road or troll bridge she happens to be crossing. The troll bridges are a notable part of the story. Walsh has imagined a species whose culture revolves around the imposition and collection of tolls with a specificity and affection that makes them feel like a society rather than a convenient obstacle, and Adam’s running struggle to meet their financial demands gives the quest a grounding comedy that can keep the more fantastical elements feeling consequential rather than arbitrary.

What Walsh brings to this material, beyond the pleasures of his comic invention, is the sensibility of someone who has spent a lifetime thinking about stories in multiple forms, fiction, drama, and poetry, and has arrived at a personal understanding of what stories can be for. Prince Adam’s Quest has been described as an instructive tale for people of all ages, and the instruction is woven into the fabric of the narrative rather than delivered as a moral at the end. Readers can absorb it through experience rather than declaration, through the specific texture of following Adam and Minnow across Leftovria and watching what their choices reveal.

The prose has the unhurried confidence of a writer who retired from one demanding career and discovered a second one that suited him. Walsh writes with warmth and wit and a precise comic timing that helps the funny moments land without crowding out the feeling underneath. Prince Adam’s Quest is the kind of book that may leave readers wanting to share it with someone else after finishing it.

For readers interested in troll bridges with personality, an apprentice bard finding her voice, and a hero who always wins but gets to choose what winning looks like, Prince Adam’s Quest by Terrence W. Walsh is available on Amazon. The dragon is waiting, and so are three very different endings.

Walking Along by Cynthia Kenyon Reminds Children That Nature’s Greatest Lessons Begin with a Single Step

NY Weekly Staff on July 9, 2026

In an era where childhood is increasingly shaped by glowing screens and fast-paced routines, Walking Along by Cynthia Kenyon offers something refreshingly simple. An invitation to slow down. This beautifully illustrated children’s picture book transforms an ordinary walk through the woods into an extraordinary adventure, proving that wonder isn’t something children have to search for. It is something they only need to notice.

With gentle storytelling, rhythmic repetition, and an infectious sense of curiosity, Cynthia has created more than a picture book. She has written an experience that encourages young readers to rediscover the joy of looking up, looking down, and looking all around.

Finding Magic in the Everyday

One of Walking Along‘s greatest strengths lies in its ability to celebrate the ordinary. There are no dragons to defeat, no kingdoms to save, and no impossible quests. Instead, readers encounter birds gliding overhead, butterflies dancing through the air, squirrels climbing trees, and tiny snails quietly making their way across the forest floor.

Each finding reminds children that adventure doesn’t always arrive with fanfare. Sometimes, it is hidden beneath a leaf, buzzing past a flower, or waiting patiently along a woodland trail. That perspective feels especially meaningful in today’s world, where moments of stillness have become increasingly rare.

Story That Invites Participation

Rather than asking children to simply follow a story, the book encourages them to become part of it. Its rhythmic, repetitive structure invites young readers to predict what comes next, turning every page into an interactive experience. The recurring pauses become moments of anticipation, encouraging children to imagine what they might discover if they stopped and looked around during their own walks.

It’s the kind of storytelling that naturally extends beyond the pages. After finishing the book, children are likely to head outdoors, eager to spot birds, butterflies, flowers, or perhaps even a curious frog crossing the path. Few picture books inspire real-world exploration as effortlessly as this one.

Nature as a Classroom

Without ever feeling instructional, the author introduces children to the incredible diversity of the natural world. Along the journey, readers encounter woodland creatures, insects, plants, and even gentle lessons about respecting nature’s boundaries, such as recognizing poison ivy from a safe distance.

The educational value emerges organically through discovery rather than explanation. Children aren’t told why nature matters. They experience its beauty firsthand. This subtle approach allows curiosity to become the teacher, making learning feel joyful rather than prescribed.

Celebration of Shared Adventures

While the book begins as a personal journey of observation, it concludes with something equally important: togetherness.

As friends join the walk, the story quietly shifts its focus from individual discovery to shared experiences. It’s a reminder that some of life’s happiest memories are created not through elaborate plans but through simple moments spent exploring with people we love. This emotional transition gives the story unexpected depth, leaving readers with a lasting sense of warmth and connection.

Gentle Invitation to Step Outside

At its heart, Walking Along is a celebration of curiosity, mindfulness, and the quiet beauty waiting just beyond the front door. Cynthia Kenyon doesn’t rely on spectacle to capture a child’s imagination. Instead, she trusts in something far more enduring: the natural world’s ability to surprise those willing to slow down and pay attention.

Takeaway

In doing so, she has created a picture book that speaks to children, parents, educators, and caregivers alike. Walking Along is more than a story to read. It is an invitation to explore, observe, and reconnect with the simple pleasures that too often go unnoticed. Sometimes, all it takes to discover something extraordinary is the willingness to take that very first step.

10,000 Miles, One Commitment, The Untold Emotional Journey Behind a Marine’s Gulf War Journal

NY Weekly Staff on July 6, 2026

History often remembers wars through strategy, politics, and battlefield victories. Behind every deployment is another story. One measured not in military campaigns, but in missed birthdays, unanswered phone calls, and families waiting thousands of miles away.

10,000 Miles to the Delivery Room: A US Marine’s Private Journal from the Call to War and His Race to Get Home Before the Birth of His First Child by Gregory S. Davis offers a striking reminder that the most vital conflicts are often deeply personal. Drawn from journals written during his deployment to Operation Desert Storm, Gregory’s memoir shifts attention away from the spectacle of war and toward the quiet, relentless emotional endurance required to survive it.

Rather than reconstructing events through decades of hindsight, Gregoryallows readers to experience uncertainty exactly as he lived it, one journal entry at a time.


Race Against Time, Not Just Distance

The title itself reveals the book’s emotional center. The 10,000 miles separating the Persian Gulf from home represent far more than geography. They become a countdown. A race against time as the author struggles to return before the birth of his first child.

While military history frequently celebrates courage under fire, this memoir explores a different form of bravery. Maintaining hope while living with the possibility that life’s most meaningful moments may unfold without you.

The author does not portray himself as an invincible Marine untouched by fear. Instead, he acknowledges the recurring anxiety that followed him across oceans, not fear of combat alone, but fear of absence. Fear of becoming a father his daughter might never know. Fear of leaving behind a young wife forced to face motherhood alone. Those deeply human concerns transform the memoir into something universally relatable, regardless of a reader’s military background.

Journal Becomes a Lifeline

One of the manuscript’s greatest strengths lies in its authenticity. The journal entries were never intended for publication. They were written as private reflections by a young Marine facing uncertainty day after day. That absence of performance gives the narrative unusual emotional credibility.

Readers encounter homesickness, frustration, humor, exhaustion, and hope without literary embellishment. The repetitive declarations that he will return home are not rhetorical devices. They become psychological anchors, illustrating how ordinary rituals can sustain extraordinary resilience.

The pages show military life beyond combat. Endless waiting, cramped sleeping quarters, unbearable heat, maintenance work that demands perfection, and the emotional isolation that quietly defines deployment. These are experiences rarely dramatized, yet they reveal the everyday realities that shape service members long before, or long after, battle begins.


People Waiting Become the Mission

Perhaps the memoir’s most compelling insight is that the greatest motivation for survival often exists far from the battlefield. For Gregory, every repaired helicopter, every completed inspection, every sleepless night aboard ship ultimately pointed toward one objective: returning home.

His wife Audra and their unborn daughter become the invisible companions present throughout the deployment. They are reminders of identity beyond the uniform, proof that soldiers never stop being husbands, sons, fathers, or friends simply because they are sent to war. That emotional duality gives the narrative remarkable depth. Duty to country never diminishes devotion to family; instead, each strengthens the other.

The result is a portrait of military service that feels both patriotic and profoundly personal, avoiding sentimentality while embracing emotional honesty.

Story That Extends Beyond One Generation

Although rooted in the Gulf War, 10,000 Miles to the Delivery Room speaks to contemporary readers with surprising immediacy.

Its themes, uncertainty, sacrifice, resilience, and the longing to return home, remain timeless. Military families today continue to navigate similar separations, making Davis’ reflections as relevant now as they were more than three decades ago. More importantly, the memoir preserves an emotional history often absent from official records. It reminds readers that every deployment creates two journeys. One undertaken by the service member overseas, and another quietly endured by loved ones waiting at home.

Takeaway

As publication approaches, Gregory S. Davis offers more than a memoir of military service. He offers a testament to endurance, love, and the promises people make to themselves when circumstances leave them powerless to control anything else. Sometimes the longest journey is not measured in miles at all. It is measured in hope.

Giorgio Ribaudo on I Want to Race: How Motorsport Became an Exclusive Club Instead of a Talent Arena

NY Weekly Staff on June 30, 2026

The first lie of modern motorsport is quiet. It does not shout. It reassures. It suggests that talent and dedication are enough. Then, almost politely, it presents the bill.

In I Want to Race, Giorgio Ribaudo begins exactly there, at the moment when illusion meets structure. Not with resentment, not with nostalgia, but with an observation few insiders are willing to articulate. Motorsport did not drift into exclusivity. It was engineered into it. At some point, speed stopped being the decisive variable. Capital took its place.

Ribaudo writes from experience, not abstraction. His voice carries the weight of someone who has moved inside the system long enough to understand how it protects itself. The book does not posture as rebellion. It reads more like an autopsy. Karting paddocks that once hosted raw potential now resemble financial waiting rooms. Junior categories operate less as proving grounds and more as economic filters. The defining question has quietly shifted from Who is fast? to Who can afford to remain visible? This is not a scandal. It is a pattern.

Midway through the book, Ribaudo introduces a comparison that reframes the entire conversation. Motorsport, he suggests, now behaves like a gated market rather than a competitive arena. Entry barriers rise incrementally, almost invisibly. Costs compound year after year. Risk is individualized while access is rationed. Talent remains abundant, but opportunity behaves like a scarce resource.

The data support the intuition. Budgets that once launched careers now barely secure participation. Sponsorships gravitate toward familiar surnames before lap times are considered. Development programs adopt the language of inclusion while practicing exclusion by arithmetic. The track has become a reflection of broader economic systems, not an escape from them.

There is a striking restraint in how Ribaudo handles his own story. He refuses the comfort of exceptionality. He presents his experience as symptomatic, not heroic. His frustration is not personal. It is structural. This distinction matters because grievance invites dismissal, while diagnosis demands engagement.

Here, the book reaches its conceptual fault line. When a system claims neutrality while consistently producing exclusion, it stops being competitive and becomes ideological. At that moment, I Want to Race ceases to be about motorsport alone. It becomes a study of power.

The reader is asked, implicitly, to reconsider the nature of fairness. The problem is not that some win and others lose. The problem is that many are never permitted to compete. You, reading this, have seen this architecture elsewhere. In education systems that reward pedigree over capacity. In financial markets, where access precedes performance. In politics, visibility often substitutes legitimacy. Whenever resources determine entry, merit becomes narrative rather than rule.

Ribaudo is careful not to mythologize the past. Motorsport has always required money. What changed is proportionality. The distance between talent and access widened until it swallowed the former entirely. Like a bridge designed for a different load, the system did not collapse. It adapted, selectively.

There is an echo here of Michael Sandel’s critique of meritocracy. When outcomes are framed as moral verdicts on individuals, systems absolve themselves of bias. Success becomes virtue. Failure becomes fault. The structure disappears from view.

This is where the book becomes quietly unsettling. Not loud, not polemical, but precise. Dangerous in the way accurate descriptions threaten those who benefit from opacity.

Ribaudo does not argue for the removal of money. He argues for clarity. A sport that confuses investment with ability inevitably optimizes for investors rather than competitors. The distinction is subtle, and that is why it matters.

One of the book’s most effective analogies compares modern motorsport to an orchestra where instruments are auctioned before auditions begin. Exceptional musicians may exist, but only those who can purchase a seat are heard. The performance continues. Applause persists. The composition slowly erodes.

What gives I Want to Race its authority is discipline. Ribaudo avoids redemption arcs. He does not promise salvation. He maps incentives, feedback loops, and consequences. He writes like someone who understands that systems change only when their logic is exposed, not when they are shamed.

There is a brief outward glance, almost understated, toward alternative architectures. Technology, cost rationalization, and redesigned pathways are mentioned not as slogans, but as possibilities. It is here that Ribaudo’s parallel work as a constructor enters the narrative.

The book resists closure. It refuses reassurance. Instead, it leaves the reader with a question that lingers longer than any solution. If talent is everywhere and opportunity is not, who is the system truly built to serve?

The question loops back to the beginning, to the invoice disguised as merit. Motorsport did not become an exclusive club overnight. It became one the moment no one asked why the door kept getting heavier.

And when a system stops asking that question, it no longer selects the best.
It simply filters the rest.

William Wilkinson’s Book Rediscovers Australia’s Forgotten Indiana Jones

NY Weekly Staff on June 29, 2026

By: Nic Abelian

James Cook, John McDouall Stuart, and Burke and Wills are synonymous with Australian exploration. William Wilkinson deserves to stand among them, displaying all the qualities of an Indiana Jones-style adventurer, complete with hat, horse and saddle, but minus the archaeological pursuits.

Australia’s Forgotten Explorer is a remarkable account of courage, endurance, and service in the Australian outback. Originally written in 1947 by pioneering outback priest Percy Smith MBE, under the title The Strenuous Saint, the book chronicles the extraordinary journey of William Wilkinson, an Anglican priest who travelled more than 12,000 kilometres on horseback through some of Australia’s most remote and unforgiving regions between 1913 and 1915.

Wilkinson’s expedition took him from north-west Queensland through the Gulf of Carpentaria, Katherine, Tennant Creek, the Tanami Desert, Charlotte Waters, and Hermannsburg, where he met missionary and anthropologist Carl Strehlow. His journey coincided with the outbreak of the First World War, which tragically took the life of his youngest son in Belgium, and lasted an astonishing 847 days.

Accompanied by sixteen horses and two Indigenous guides, Wilkinson visited many significant landmarks, including Chambers Pillar, Attack Creek, Central Mount Stuart, and the Devil’s Marbles, often following the route forged by explorer John McDouall Stuart along the telegraph line.

What makes Wilkinson’s story particularly inspiring is the man himself. Deaf and in his late fifties, he relied on a brass ear horn to communicate. Yet he carried out his mission with unwavering determination. More than a clergyman, he was a bushman, blacksmith, medic, messenger, and counsellor. He shoed his own horses, treated the sick and injured, delivered mail, helped people write letters and wills, and brought comfort and companionship to those living in isolation.

The book vividly explains the hardships Wilkinson endured. He faced extreme desert heat, frigid nights, disease, thirst, exhaustion, dangerous river crossings, crocodiles, quicksand, and the loss of horses to snakes and illness. He encountered cultural tensions, crime, and tragedy, yet continued his work with resilience and compassion. These challenges highlight the extraordinary commitment that drove him to continue despite the physical and emotional toll.

Wilkinson’s story captures a largely forgotten chapter of Australian history. Through Wilkinson’s experiences, readers gain insight into the realities of life in remote Australia during the early twentieth century and the vital role played by individuals who connected isolated communities.

The book is both an adventure narrative and a tribute to selfless service. This special reprinting, featuring a foreword by Percy Smith’s grandson, Mark Smith, reveals new details on Wilkinson’s early life, such as his seven children, and never before seen photographs, adding further layers to the story. Mark reflects on Wilkinson as a man, ‘who looked for no praise, sought no reward and received no recognition.’ This observation encapsulates the humility and dedication that define Wilkinson’s legacy.

In an exclusive interview, Mark told the New York Review he decided to publish this new book after the positive feedback to his speech for South Australia’s History Festival called, ‘Home via Hermannsburg: William Wilkinson’s 847 day. Top End. Red Centre Quest,’ for the Friends of the Lutheran Archives.

Naturally the gathering was interested in Wilkinson’s five-day visit to the Lutheran mission at Hermannsburg and meeting with Carl and Freida Strehlow at the Finke River Mission, as anti-German sentiment was peaking. Understandably, the Strehlows were anxious about the safety of their children, who went to live in Germany in 1910 for schooling, as war in Europe became ferocious.

“Shouting into Wilkinson’s brass ear horn, the potential for the Anglicans to take over Lutheran missions became a controversial discussion topic,” Mark said.

A history graduate from Adelaide University, filmmaker and writer, Mark studied his grandfather’s text based on original journals, photographs and papers obtained in the 1940s for what is a republished edition of The Strenuous Saint, to mark one hundred years since Percy Smith’s ordination as a priest in 1927 in Brisbane.

Mark said, “One thousand copies of Percy Smith’s book were sold to raise funds for St John Hostel in Alice Springs and St Francis House in Adelaide, which were both places set up by my grandfather to support Indigenous children to access education and find their way in life.” St John’s Hostel and St Francis House played a role in the early lives of Indigenous trailblazers such as Charles Perkins, John Moriarty and Gordon Briscoe who achieved university education and became leaders of the 1960s civil rights movement in Australia, which mirrored the efforts of Dr Martin Luther King Jnr such as the freedom rides to expose systemic racism.

The book includes photographs, thought lost for decades, taken by Wilkinson of anthropological value along with a comparative analysis of the shared legacy of Wilkinson, Percy Smith and champion sprinter and later priest, Ken Hampton OAM, who lived at the famous St Francis House and was an Alawa man from Roper River, in the Northern Territory. A place Wilkinson visited in 1914.

“Wilkinson has sadly been forgotten in the pages of history, but that would not have mattered to him. When he died in 1935 aged 81, he would have drawn comfort from the fact that his call to Central Australia had finally been answered by Percy Smith in 1933,” Mark said.

Overall, this is an engaging and inspiring read. It offers a fascinating blend of adventure, exploration, history, faith, and human perseverance. Readers interested in Australian history, outback adventures, or stories of remarkable individuals will find William Wilkinson’s journey both compelling and unforgettable. With help from Sean Connery, Wilkinson may just have been able to find the Holy Grail.

The book Australia’s Forgotten Explorer: William Wilkinson can be purchased from the Live Heart Press at: www.liveheart.com.au

William Wilkinson’s Book Rediscovers Australia’s Forgotten Indiana Jones

NY Weekly Staff on June 29, 2026

By: Nic Abelian

James Cook, John McDouall Stuart, and Burke and Wills are synonymous with Australian exploration. William Wilkinson deserves to stand among them, displaying all the qualities of an Indiana Jones-style adventurer, complete with hat, horse and saddle, but minus the archaeological pursuits.

Australia’s Forgotten Explorer is a remarkable account of courage, endurance, and service in the Australian outback. Originally written in 1947 by pioneering outback priest Percy Smith MBE, under the title The Strenuous Saint, the book chronicles the extraordinary journey of William Wilkinson, an Anglican priest who travelled more than 12,000 kilometres on horseback through some of Australia’s most remote and unforgiving regions between 1913 and 1915.

Wilkinson’s expedition took him from north-west Queensland through the Gulf of Carpentaria, Katherine, Tennant Creek, the Tanami Desert, Charlotte Waters, and Hermannsburg, where he met missionary and anthropologist Carl Strehlow. His journey coincided with the outbreak of the First World War, which tragically took the life of his youngest son in Belgium, and lasted an astonishing 847 days.

Accompanied by sixteen horses and two Indigenous guides, Wilkinson visited many significant landmarks, including Chambers Pillar, Attack Creek, Central Mount Stuart, and the Devil’s Marbles, often following the route forged by explorer John McDouall Stuart along the telegraph line.

What makes Wilkinson’s story particularly inspiring is the man himself. Deaf and in his late fifties, he relied on a brass ear horn to communicate. Yet he carried out his mission with unwavering determination. More than a clergyman, he was a bushman, blacksmith, medic, messenger, and counsellor. He shoed his own horses, treated the sick and injured, delivered mail, helped people write letters and wills, and brought comfort and companionship to those living in isolation.

The book vividly explains the hardships Wilkinson endured. He faced extreme desert heat, frigid nights, disease, thirst, exhaustion, dangerous river crossings, crocodiles, quicksand, and the loss of horses to snakes and illness. He encountered cultural tensions, crime, and tragedy, yet continued his work with resilience and compassion. These challenges highlight the extraordinary commitment that drove him to continue despite the physical and emotional toll.

Wilkinson’s story captures a largely forgotten chapter of Australian history. Through Wilkinson’s experiences, readers gain insight into the realities of life in remote Australia during the early twentieth century and the vital role played by individuals who connected isolated communities.

The book is both an adventure narrative and a tribute to selfless service. This special reprinting, featuring a foreword by Percy Smith’s grandson, Mark Smith, reveals new details on Wilkinson’s early life, such as his seven children, and never before seen photographs, adding further layers to the story. Mark reflects on Wilkinson as a man, ‘who looked for no praise, sought no reward and received no recognition.’ This observation encapsulates the humility and dedication that define Wilkinson’s legacy.

In an exclusive interview, Mark told the New York Review he decided to publish this new book after the positive feedback to his speech for South Australia’s History Festival called, ‘Home via Hermannsburg: William Wilkinson’s 847 day. Top End. Red Centre Quest,’ for the Friends of the Lutheran Archives.

Naturally the gathering was interested in Wilkinson’s five-day visit to the Lutheran mission at Hermannsburg and meeting with Carl and Freida Strehlow at the Finke River Mission, as anti-German sentiment was peaking. Understandably, the Strehlows were anxious about the safety of their children, who went to live in Germany in 1910 for schooling, as war in Europe became ferocious.

“Shouting into Wilkinson’s brass ear horn, the potential for the Anglicans to take over Lutheran missions became a controversial discussion topic,” Mark said.

A history graduate from Adelaide University, filmmaker and writer, Mark studied his grandfather’s text based on original journals, photographs and papers obtained in the 1940s for what is a republished edition of The Strenuous Saint, to mark one hundred years since Percy Smith’s ordination as a priest in 1927 in Brisbane.

Mark said, “One thousand copies of Percy Smith’s book were sold to raise funds for St John Hostel in Alice Springs and St Francis House in Adelaide, which were both places set up by my grandfather to support Indigenous children to access education and find their way in life.” St John’s Hostel and St Francis House played a role in the early lives of Indigenous trailblazers such as Charles Perkins, John Moriarty and Gordon Briscoe who achieved university education and became leaders of the 1960s civil rights movement in Australia, which mirrored the efforts of Dr Martin Luther King Jnr such as the freedom rides to expose systemic racism.

The book includes photographs, thought lost for decades, taken by Wilkinson of anthropological value along with a comparative analysis of the shared legacy of Wilkinson, Percy Smith and champion sprinter and later priest, Ken Hampton OAM, who lived at the famous St Francis House and was an Alawa man from Roper River, in the Northern Territory. A place Wilkinson visited in 1914.

“Wilkinson has sadly been forgotten in the pages of history, but that would not have mattered to him. When he died in 1935 aged 81, he would have drawn comfort from the fact that his call to Central Australia had finally been answered by Percy Smith in 1933,” Mark said.

Overall, this is an engaging and inspiring read. It offers a fascinating blend of adventure, exploration, history, faith, and human perseverance. Readers interested in Australian history, outback adventures, or stories of remarkable individuals will find William Wilkinson’s journey both compelling and unforgettable. With help from Sean Connery, Wilkinson may just have been able to find the Holy Grail.

The book Australia’s Forgotten Explorer: William Wilkinson can be purchased from the Live Heart Press at: www.liveheart.com.au

Patrick N. Turner Announces Poetry Collection A Poetic Life

NY Weekly Staff on June 24, 2026

This New Poetry Collection Explores Life, Love, Emotional Change, And Shared Human Experience.

Wichita, Kansas — Patrick N. Turner has announced A Poetic Life: Life in Rhythm and Rhyme as Seen Through My Eyes, Heart and Soul, a poetry collection centered on the experiences, emotions, and questions that shape everyday life.

The collection brings together poems about the ups and downs of living, the unexpected turns people face, and the role love can play in helping readers move through difficult and meaningful moments. Written from Turner’s personal perspective, the book explores subjects such as family, self-respect, work, grief, faith, relationships, time, and personal reflection.

Turner presents poetry as a way of observing life closely. In the opening pages, he describes poetry as something found in life, love, speech, motion, and the world around us. That view carries throughout the collection, giving readers a direct and accessible look at ordinary moments, emotional struggle, and human connection.

“This book is from my perspective,” said Patrick N. Turner. “It comes from a simple frame of mind, and the main idea is that love is what everybody needs the most.”

The book invites readers to pause, reflect, and recognize pieces of their own lives within Turner’s words. Through honest and relatable poetry, it speaks to moments of joy, pain, growth, uncertainty, and hope while offering a sense of comfort and understanding.

A Poetic Life: Life in Rhythm and Rhyme as Seen Through My Eyes, Heart and Soul is now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover formats. The book offers readers a heartfelt reminder that life’s experiences, whether simple or difficult, can become meaningful when viewed through the lens of love, reflection, and shared humanity.

About the Author

Patrick N. Turner is an author and poet whose work reflects everyday life, family, love, loss, faith, and personal perspective. His writing focuses on the emotions and observations that connect people across different stages of life.

Author Name: Patrick N. Turner Book Title: A Poetic Life: Life in Rhythm and Rhyme Coming Soon Published by: Author Path Publishers

Media Contact:
Patrick N. Turner
info@authorpathpublishers.com

The ADHD-addled Writer, the Frustration, and that Deadline.

NY Weekly Staff on June 23, 2026

By: Michael McKown

Tick. Tock. That damn clock won’t shut up.

You’re staring at the screen again. Another blank page. Another half-finished chapter gathering digital dust. Your ADHD brain is throwing a rave in your skull. Ideas are bouncing like caffeinated ping-pong balls. But the words? They ghosted you months ago. Your manuscript sits there like a sad, unfinished jigsaw puzzle, missing half the pieces and the box lid. Sound familiar? Welcome to the club. The “I’ll-finish-it-next-weekend” club. Population: every writer who ever lived.

You’ve got the story. The juicy one. The memoir that could inspire thousands, the business book packed with hard-knock wisdom, or that novel your friends keep begging to read. But life keeps hijacking your focus. Notifications ping. The dog needs walking. Suddenly it’s 3 a.m., and you’re watching cat videos instead of writing Chapter Seven. The ticking grows louder. Time’s slipping through your fingers like sand in a Corona beach commercial.

Enough is enough. You’re not blocked. You’re just one smart move away from freedom.

The wake-up call

Here’s the truth: if your manuscript has more versions than a Taylor Swift album, it’s time. If you’ve rewritten the same opening paragraph seventeen times and still hate it, bingo. If your brilliant ideas evaporate the second your fingers hit the keys, welcome to reality.

ADHD writers know this dance too well. One minute you’re a genius on fire. The next, you’re reorganizing your spice rack instead of finishing that killer plot twist. The frustration builds. The self-doubt creeps in. “Maybe I’m not a real writer,” whispers the little jerk in your head.

Stop listening to that jerk. Real writers get help. James Patterson doesn’t crank out hundreds of books by typing every word himself. Prince Harry didn’t lock himself in a cabin to bleed Spare onto the page alone. They teamed up with pros. Smart move. You can too.

Hiring a ghostwriter isn’t quitting. It’s playing chess while your brain wants to play whack-a-mole with distractions. It’s the ultimate hack for getting unstuck.

Finding a ghostwriter who doesn’t suck

Don’t just Google “ghostwriter near me” and hire the first smiling face. That’s how you lose your shirt and your story.

Start with referrals. Ask author friends, your agent, or that writer buddy who finally published last year. Real pros come recommended. They don’t hide behind fake testimonials.

Search for the writer’s name, or business name, and add “scam” to the query. Angry clients will deliver well-composed, detailed accusations. Check their track record. Read samples. Does their writing make you laugh, cry, or nod like a bobblehead? Good. Does it sound like you only smoother, funnier, and way more polished? Even better. Ask for a short test chapter. Pay them fairly for it. If they balk, run. Real talent isn’t afraid to prove it.

Chat with them. A great ghostwriter listens like your smartest friend who actually remembers details. They ask sharp questions. They get excited about your weird family stories or that one business disaster that taught you everything. If they talk more than they listen, drop ‘em and move on!

Consider working with a solid ghostwriting firm. They handle the paperwork, manage the schedule, and keep your project from derailing. Think of them as the responsible adult in the room while your ADHD brain throws confetti. For the record, my company has been around since 2002.

Dodging the scammers

Ghostwriting has its share of snakes in the grass. Watch your wallet.

Red flags? Promises of “bestseller guaranteed” or “finished in two weeks.” Well, that’s just bul- uhh, baloney. If it sounds too good to be true, it’s probably written by someone who’ll vanish after your deposit.

Never pay the full amount upfront. Ever. Staged payments tied to milestones keep everyone honest. Deposit, outline approval, first chapters, full draft, nice and steady.

Read the contract like it’s the last chapter of a thriller. Make sure it says the work is yours. That means full copyright, “work made for hire.” Nail down how many revisions you get. Demand confidentiality. Your secrets stay secret.

If they pressure you or dodge questions, ghost them first. Plenty of honest, talented writers out there who treat your book like their own reputation is on the line. Because it is.

Making it happen without losing your mind

Once you pick the right ghostwriter, the magic starts. You talk. They listen. They interview you like a friendly detective. Record the calls. Spill the tea. Your job? Show up and be yourself.

They build the outline. You approve it. No more wandering in the writing wilderness.

Then come the chapters. You read. You laugh. You cry. You say, “This part needs more punch,” or “Add that embarrassing story from 2009.” They tweak. You approve. Stage by stage, the book grows.

You stay in control. Your voice stays front and center. But you don’t have to wrestle every sentence alone. The ghostwriter handles the heavy lifting while you chase the next shiny idea, watch more silly cat videos, or, you know, actually live your life.

The clock stops ticking

Remember that annoying tick-tock at the beginning? The one driving you nuts while your unfinished manuscript mocked you from the hard drive?

It’s quiet now.

Your book is done. Polished. Ready for the world. You hold it in your hands and grin like you just won the lottery. No more guilt. No more half-finished files haunting your desktop. Just a completed story that carries your name, your heart, and all those wild ideas that finally found their way home.

The frustration? Gone. The ADHD brain? Still bouncing, but now it’s celebrating instead of spiraling.

I run Ghostwriters Central, and I have ADHD too. That means when you call, I can hyperfocus on your project like a laser beam. I’ll dive deep into your story, ask the right questions, and then recommend one of my calm, non-ADHD writers who will do the writing with stunning discipline. Your ideas stay safe, your voice stays authentic, and the book actually gets finished.

Your story’s waited long enough. Time to set it free.

The Hidden Language of Armenian Catholicosal Vestments

NY Weekly Staff on June 18, 2026

In the quiet, dim-lit scriptoriums of medieval Armenia, monks did more than just preserve the word of God. They carefully documented the visual identity of a nation’s spiritual leadership.

A new study by Dr. Sofi Khachmanyan, The Iconography of Catholicos’ Vestments in the Armenian Medieval Miniature Painting, offers a deep dip into this world, peeling back the silk and gold layers of the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church to reveal a narrative of cosmic proportions.

More Than a Uniform

To the uninitiated, the elaborate robes of a Catholicos might seem like mere ceremonial splendor. However, the author’s research reveals that every stitch is a syllable in a complex theological language. The book is a vital bridge between the 13th and 18th centuries, using the vibrant, often microscopic details of medieval miniature paintings to decode the plot of Armenian liturgical history.

The core purpose of the work is to demonstrate that these vestments are not static relics. Instead, they are dynamic symbols that represent a man’s transition into a living icon. As the book describes, the process of dressing the Catholicos is a sacred ritual in itself. With each garment, from the simple linen tunic to the jewel-encrusted miter. The high priest recites specific prayers intended to shed his everyday clothing, as his earthly sins, and to don the armor of light.

A Journey Through Time

Dr. Sofi takes the reader on an interdisciplinary journey, arguing that the roots of these Christian garments reach far deeper than the conversion of Armenia to Christianity in 301. The study traces a direct lineage back to the Urartian Kingdom and the ancient ritual attire of Mesopotamia and Persia. This plot of evolution shows how the Armenian Church synthesized local pagan aesthetics with Byzantine and Western influences to create something entirely unique.

The book catalogs the hierarchy of these garments. While a priest or bishop wears specific items, the Catholicos alone carries the full weight of the Church’s history. He dons the vestments of all subordinate ranks, topped by the epigonation, an identifying piece hanging from his belt, a symbol of his supreme spiritual authority over the Armenian Apostolic Church and his role as the vicar of Christ.

The Geometry of Heaven

One of the most fascinating revelations in the author’s work is the role of sacred geometry and color. The book explores how medieval miniaturists used the circle to represent the zero point of creation and the square to represent the material world. The colors are equally intentional. Red for the sacrifice of the martyrs, blue for the celestial heights, and gold for the uncreated light of the divine.

By examining the works of master miniaturists such as Sargis Pitsak and Mesrop Jughaet’si, Dr. Khachmanyan shows how these artists didn’t merely paint what they saw. They painted the spiritual reality of the office. They often depicted historical figures, such as Saint Mesrop Mashtots, in the contemporary vestments of the artist’s era, effectively bridging the gap between the ancestral past and the liturgical present.

Takeaway

The Iconography of Catholicos’ Vestments is more than an art history book, it is a celebration of Armenian spiritual and cultural heritage. Through the lens of theology, history, and sacred art, it reveals the rich symbolism woven into Armenian ecclesiastical vestments and medieval miniature paintings.

An essential read for anyone interested in Armenian history, faith, and visual culture, this book invites readers to discover the deeper meanings behind these timeless traditions.

The Iconography of Catholicos’ Vestments in the Armenian Medieval Miniature Painting will soon be available in print and digital formats through leading online bookstores.

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