Orleans Resident’s New Book Draws Inspiration From George Harrison; Current Events Inform Eastham Man’s Satirical Fantasy Novel

An imaginative nonfiction book on spiritual living in our chaotic world and a satiric fantasy novel that looks at current politics were recently released by two different local authors.

 A.M. Britwell’s first book is “Sitting by the Windowsill of Life with a Spiritual Friend, Vol. I” (Granalli Publishing, 2026).

 As Britwell writes in a brief introduction, the book is “an interpretive exploration of George Harrison’s spiritual beliefs and philosophical journey, reflected in his life, music and public statements.”

 Harrison, who died in 2001, was the Beatle who, in the late 1960s, embraced Eastern philosophy and religion and introduced the sound of the sitar to the band’s songs. His 1971 song “My Sweet Lord” was an international hit.

 Britwell first felt an affinity with Harrison as “a second-generation listener of the Beatles — and who can deny that their music has been a constant in our lives?” she said in an email interview last week. “On my spiritual journey, I rediscovered George not just as a Beatle, a solo artist…but as an inspirational visionary and mentor. There is something about George that has moved me toward a deeper understanding and appreciation of love, peace, spirituality, oneness with others and God, freedom, the need for people to expand their consciousness, and the importance of living in the present moment.”

 In “Sitting,” Britwell offers 166 numbered poems, divided into eight sections. The poems ruminate on such topics as “Love, Light and Song” and “Love and Nature Heal the Soul.”

 “It is through the light that we can see/not just what we want to see, but the truth,” she writes in #154.

 Britwell grew up in Boonton Township, N.J. and has lived in Orleans for 29 years. She is an integrative health and energy medicine practitioner and a Reiki master. She also has a background in writing — her undergraduate work focused on English and communications, and when her four children were young, she worked as a freelance writer and editor. She has now completed 50 percent of a companion volume to “Sitting.”

About her book she says, “The general consensus is that everyone can take something away from it. It speaks and answers what’s troubling the soul on any given day.” When she reads from her book, she often combines energy medicine sessions and wellness circles into the event.

 Britwell will sign copies of “Sitting by the Windowsill of Life with a Spiritual Friend, Vol. I” at Yellow Umbrella Books in Chatham on Saturday, June 20 from noon to 2 p.m.

 In “Prince Adam’s Quest” (Bent Nail Press, 2025), Terrence W. Walsh of Eastham serves up a political satire in the guise of a fantasy story complete with a ferocious, fire-spewing dragon, a king, a prince, a bard and a castle. The book’s subtitle is “An Instructive Tale For People Of All Ages — Including Yours.”

 The debut novel opens with this line: “Prince Adam always won.”

 If that, and later references to the Prince as a “consumer of entertainment” and to his own show “starring as himself,” don’t stir up anything in your mind, then surely this line will: “The ninth version of You’re Fired! had broken records, possibly because the predictable ending was omitted.”

 You’re Fired? Where have we heard that catchline but on the 15-season reality TV show “The Apprentice,” starring Donald Trump?

 “There is an element of satire here,” Walsh says. “That’s one of the strengths of fantasy.”

 Walsh points to the cover of “Prince Adam’s Quest,” which features a dragon (as well as a lady in blue, a prince in armor, a horse and, in the distance, a castle). “It is clearly a world other than our own,” Walsh says. “Even so, worlds mesh. One is much like the other. You can tell someone Truth — here, an objective, absolute, complete thing, thus the capitalized Truth — but will they believe?”

 At the start of the novel a messenger informs Prince Adam of Leftovria that a dragon is loose, killing people and stealing sheep. When the messenger dies, the prince callously remarks, “I prefer messengers who do not die!” The prince is then fitted out in armor and issued a lance and a horse. But he cannot go on his quest without a bard to record his deeds. Enter Minnow.

Later, as the pair seek the dragon, they are attacked by wraiths disguised as dragonflies. A troll asks if these are “foreign wraiths.” Why? It turns out that the prince “really hates anyone who comes from another place. Maybe he’s afraid of them?”

 Walsh retired from a career in the U.S. Coast Guard that brought him to New York, Hawaii, Wisconsin and Virginia. A graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, he served on two Coast Guard cutters and one Navy frigate. He completed his career working in personnel for 14 years in Washington, D.C.

 He previously published a short play called “Round Tuit” in 2014 and he is currently working on a trio of stories about justice. 

 “Prince Adam’s Quest” is available in online bookstores.