Spotlight and Guest Post: Afghani by Brendon Patrick
A century of struggle, a search for belonging—where history, heritage, and humanity collide.
💖Welcome to my stop on the iRead Book Tour for Afghani by Brendon Patrick!
If you enjoy thought-provoking historical fiction that bridges generations and continents, you won’t want to miss this one. Today’s feature includes a special guest post from the author, who shares his journey as a self-taught writer and how his Afghan-Australian heritage inspired this remarkable dual-timeline novel.
👇 Keep scrolling for the giveaway.
📝 All About the Book
AFGHANI
By Brendon Patrick
Published by Independently Published on 08/01/2025
Genres: Adult Fiction 18+, Historical Fiction
Formats: eBook, Hardcover, Paperback
Pages: 422
Discover AFGHANI, a powerful journey across time where two worlds collide in unexpected ways.
When young Australian soldier Patterson finds himself thrust into the chaos of modern Afghanistan, he never imagines how deeply his story mirrors that of George Sher Gul, an Afghan cameleer who braved Australia’s unforgiving outback a century earlier.
This isn’t just another war novel. Through Patterson’s eyes, you’ll experience the raw, unfiltered reality of Australia’s longest military engagement—where idealism crumbles against the harsh landscape of conflict and corruption.
Meanwhile, travel back to 19th century Australia where Sher Gul navigates the complex terrain of a new country still defining itself, bringing his essential skills to a land that both needs and rejects him.
I’m a goddamned Cameleer, and there’s nothing more to it! Sher Gul’s powerful declaration echoes across generations, reminding us of the forgotten pioneers who helped build Australia while facing the bitter sting of exclusion under White Australia policies.
Between breathtaking descriptions of Afghanistan’s demonic and razor-sharp craggy edges and the sun-scorched Australian outback, Brendon Patrick weaves a tale that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about both nations’ shared history.
As a retired Australian soldier and veteran of Afghanistan who also descends from the very Afghan Muslim Cameleers he writes about, which brings an unparalleled authenticity to this narrative. His unique perspective bridges cultures and centuries, revealing how war leaves its mark on souls across time and how resilience shines even in humanity’s darkest moments.
Perfect for readers who crave historical fiction with contemporary relevance, AFGHANI challenges, enlightens, and ultimately reminds us that the stories we forget are often the ones we most need to remember.
Content Considerations: War themes included, but nothing highly explicit
📚 Where to Find Afghani
Available on Amazon
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🛒 KINDLE | PAPERBACK | HARDCOVER
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Prefer to shop local?
🛍️ You can also purchase Afghani from your favorite indie bookstore online.
Bookshop.org is an excellent option that supports indie authors—and book bloggers like me—while avoiding the big-box route.
Also available at:
📘 Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | BookBub
🖋️ Guest Post from Brendon Patrick
Brendon Patrick’s own life echoes the dualities found in Afghani—discipline and creativity, heritage and discovery, war and peace. In today’s guest post, “The Journey of a Self-Taught Author: From Afghanistan to Australia,” he shares how his experiences as a soldier, storyteller, and descendant of Afghan cameleers shaped both his worldview and his writing voice.
His reflections are candid, insightful, and deeply human—reminding us that every writer’s path is as complex and courageous as the stories they tell.
Keep reading for Brendon’s full essay below.
The Journey of a Self-Taught Author: From Afghanistan to Australia
I’ve officially entered a quieter period of my life.
The long winter, I’ll call it.
Gone are the all-night pub crawls, partying, and general shenanigans, because now I like to go in search of peace, calm, and uninterrupted privacy.
To me, this means yoga mats, sips of good coffee, and even a dash of single malt whiskey, once the sun goes down.
But I do find myself reflecting on the wild and unpredictable path that led me to become an author, too.
It’s a journey that spans several lifetimes (because it feels as if I have lived as many), from the quiet unsuspecting town of Beaudesert, Queensland, and all the way to the war torn dashts of Afghanistan… then right back to where my story began.
Finding My Voice in a World of Words
Born in rural Queensland, and only a short drive west of the Gold Coast hinterland, I grew up with the stories of ANZAC in my blood, and how my great grandfather caught a bullet in the head—somewhere on the Western front—only to survive until he was 90 years of age.
I thought my family were pretty tough, too. Most Queensland kids are. We have to be. And although I’m of Irish/German descent, there’s an Afghani segment to my family that has profoundly shaped my perspective and my writing, because they all proved to be about as tough as they came!
But I didn’t know too much about that side of my heritage, which is what lured me into creative writing—the path of self discovery and understanding!
On writing. I’m completely self-taught, and I often tell people when they ask about my literary education that: I don’t really have any.
Instead, I’ve relied upon reading other people’s books to teach myself how to write.
There’s something beautifully organic about learning the craft this way which enables you to absorb the rhythms and techniques of great writers. And it’s in these spaces where one begins to discover and nurture their own unique voice.
Here, you are not forced down by the rules, and I view my lack of writing education as a boon—
On voice. Mine tends toward the sparse and minimalist, and although I write with a degree of spontaneity, I do like to keep things interesting.
When I write, it’s like I’m hearing music.
But sometimes the music just isn’t there, so I often find myself shooting for my Spotify cruxes in Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk or Mahler.
Their rhythm and beat loosens up my brain. It gets the words moving forward… at just the right cadence while also serving to block out most distractions.
Guest Post Continues Below the Giveaway ⬇️
“In the second half of his guest post, Brendon shares how his time in Afghanistan shaped Afghani and what the writing journey has taught him about purpose, resilience, and voice.”
✍️ Meet the Author: Brendon Patrick
Brendon Patrick is an Australian storyteller and veteran with a passion for uncovering forgotten histories. As a descendant of Afghan cameleers, his writing explores Australia’s multicultural roots and the people whose stories often go untold. His debut novel, Afghani, intertwines his family heritage with his lived experience in Afghanistan, capturing a century of resilience, displacement, and rediscovery.
When he’s not writing, Brendon can often be found exploring Brisbane with his camera, listening to jazz, or spending time with his beloved bulldogs—who inspired the name of his imprint, Bulldog Publishing.
Connect with Brendon Patrick:
Website | X/Twitter | BookBub | Goodreads | Amazon
✍️Closing Notes
Thank you to Brendon Patrick and iRead Book Tours for the opportunity to feature Afghani on the blog today. This thought-provoking novel bridges generations and cultures while asking the timeless question: What does it mean to belong?
Be sure to follow the full tour for more reviews, excerpts, and insights from the author.
Keep scrolling for the rest of the author's guest post⤵️
Save this to your favorite TBR board!
🎁 Giveaway!
Enter below for your chance to win an author-signed copy of AFGHANI (one winner)(USA only)(ends Nov 14)! Be sure to follow the tour for more chances at every stop.
Giveaway
Enter below for a chance to win the Afghani Book Tour Giveaway courtesy of iRead Book Tours and author Brendon Patrick!
AFGHANI by Brendon Patrick Book Tour Giveaway
Full Tour Schedule
🖋️ Blog Stops
Oct 20 – Locks, Hooks and Books
Oct 23 – Gina Rae Mitchell
Oct 28 – fundinmental
Oct 28 – Book Corner News and Reviews
Oct 30 – Cover Lover Book Review
Nov 4 – China Sorrows
Nov 5 – Liese’s Blog
Nov 6 – Happily Managing a Household of Boys
Nov 7 – GetUrBook!!!
📱 Social Media Stops
Oct 21 – @youngpink_bibilophile
Oct 22 – @Leannebookstagram
Oct 22 – @readwithinsoul
Oct 24 – @readsandmusic
Oct 24 – @countrymamaswithkids
Oct 25 – @bubbleswrapherbooks
Oct 27 – @michellegodardricher
Oct 29 – Deanna’s Bookstagram
Oct 30 – @reader_ceygo
Oct 31 – @my_fair_fiction
Nov 3 – @this.human.reads
Nov 5 – @tia.reads
Nov 6 – @pebi_books
Nov 7 – @lizzies.reading.recs
Nov 7 – @adriftinfictionalworld
Follow along with all the hosts for more features, guest posts, and giveaways throughout the Afghani iRead Book Tour!
If the giveaway box is not visible, you can click here to enter directly.
Now that we’ve seen how Brendon found his writing voice, let’s follow him into the next chapter—one shaped by real-life experiences, resilience, and the stories that inspired Afghani.
Afghanistan Experience + Reflections (Part 2)
From Afghanistan to AFGHANI
One of the oddest experiences of my life occurred half a world away from where I was born.
And it was never really a bucket list item, but more so an off-chance opportunity which presented itself, in the middle of a war zone.
A notification reached my inbox, declaring that a half-marathon was going to be staged around the Tarin Kowt airfield.
That alone isn’t such a strange experience—if you’ve ever been around the military for a while—I had just never entertained such an idea before.
But living and working in war zones can be quite a suffocating time that’s often sleep-deprived, devoid of any semblance of a social life, and can often feel like you’re living inside a prison camp.
So, to escape all the humdrum I ran this half marathon, in the heart of Afghanistan.
I ran extremely well on the day, too, despite the altitude and the crippling dust and the almighty heat, but the experience aptly captures the complexity of my time in Afghanistan, where the biggest fight proved to be in keeping my own sanity.
These experiences… of sacrificing my best years for a cause I no longer agree with was eventually crystallised into my debut novel: AFGHANI.
[Afghani is the collective name given to the early cameleer pioneers who helped shape early Australia]
The end of the Afghanistan war and the immediate Taliban takeover was also a catalyst for this book, but I could never see myself crafting such a novel without mentioning the cameleers, and my own Afghan heritage.
What I did not predict is that side of the story taking over much of the novel.
AFGHANI explores what war is truly about, and that’s a question which is becoming increasingly relevant in our current global climate. But to me it’s all a little bit of history repeating itself. So… the cameleers took centre stage.
The novel follows a dual timeline and features a main character loosely based on myself (or at least inspired by my own experiences), and all of my stories are very much character-led, because I like to dig deep inside and see what makes them tick.
The Writer’s Life: Jazz, Dogs, and Homer Simpson
When I’m not writing, you could find me at the park with my dogs.
And I suppose that’s how I’d choose to spend my final day on Earth if I knew tomorrow wasn’t coming.
My English bulldogs aren’t just beloved pets; they’re my spirit animals and the inspiration behind my imprint, Bulldog Publishing.
They mean everything to me. Even if they do drive me a little bonkers at times, but if you asked me to describe myself in five words or less, I’d say: I’m just an average dog-dad in search for life’s true meaning.
That’s also the philosophical bent which drew me to writers like Charles Bukowski, John Fante, Ernest Hemingway, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, whose Notes from The Underground is a book I believe everyone should read.
My hero?
Homer Simpson; believe it or not.
Yes, he does have the IQ of a doorknob, but there’s a simple, and almost carefree approach to his life that I think we could all benefit from.
There are no dull days in Homer’s world, but he has love and a devotion to his family that is both unrivalled and one of his most endearing features. People admire that in Homer, and that is something which I strive to create within my writing.
The Craft Behind the Creation
Many people ask me about my process.
How do you find time to write is the most common, and the answer is straightforward: I keep a well-thought-out and planned weekly schedule.
Writing AFGHANI took me 3 plus dedicated years to craft, and its significant investment of time that I don’t foresee translating into any financial reward. But that’s also not why I write.
Writing a book is perhaps one of the hardest things a person can achieve, and it’s a labour of love where the rewards lay in people engaging with my work.
That being said—and knowing that most writers don’t make money from the years of work they put into a finished product—I think that’s something readers should seek to honour more, because we are doing this for the love of all things books!
Do I believe in writer’s block? Not at all.
Writer’s block, to me is just ego standing in a writer's way.
But most literary ambition also begins from a place of ego, so it can’t be ignored, but I’ll tell anyone who is struggling with a blank page this: let go, completely.
Do not try to sound like somebody else, and especially not your heroes. Go in search of your own unique voice by writing with complete abandon… almost like it’s a journal that no one will ever read.
That’s the path to (self)discovery, and that’s the voice readers want to hear.
Nothing has been more liberating, in my own journey than understanding that!
Looking Toward the Horizon
My current work-in-progress is a coming-of-age novel about a boy who runs away in pursuit of his dream. It will be titled: Beneath a Southern Cross.
After that, I plan to write a novel that I can adapt into a screenplay, but that idea is still up in the air and won’t see any further exploration until the current WIP is complete.
The main character in my upcoming book is based on my grandfather, who during World War Two skipped school for a 60-mile journey through the Australian bush to witness a famous plane landing in Brisbane.
These connections to family history make the writing process especially meaningful and fuels my passion for developing potentially exceptional stories.
The Future of Storytelling
When it comes to the publishing industry, I’m in the self-publishing camp, and I believe it’s the way of the future because the democratisation of publishing has opened doors for unique voices that might otherwise have gone unheard. The traditional gatekeepers are being pushed aside.
What makes a good story: In my view, it’s a strong lead character and a deep thematic resonance. I think readers connect with those two things more than anything, especially if they can relate that back to their own lives.
My writing Kryptonite: Over-complicating the narrative.
Sometimes, the simplest stories cut-through the deepest.
Final Thoughts from the Journey
If my book AFGHANI had a scent, it would be lavender.
It’s a calming contrast to the turbulent themes it explores, and although the book has previously been described as masculine, there is a softer side to the novel, and it smells like lavender.
The cover, designed by Coven Press in Ballarat Victoria, visually captures this tension between beauty and struggle, but is also minimalist in design, much like my own prose, and I think the team there performed an exceptional job.
As I sit here, balancing yoga and whiskey, writing and reading (currently The Nightingale by Laura Elvery—another local Brisbane based writer), I’m grateful for this path I’ve chosen.
It’s been a journey of continuous learning and growth.
And finally… if I were to become a world ruler: I would be one who only made accurate measurements.
I am Brendon Patrick, the author of AFGHANI
For more insights into my writing process and updates on Beneath a Southern Cross, and Afghani follow my journey on Substack or visit my website, ALoP, where the adventure continues, one word at a time.
📌 Quick Book Tour Recap:
Book Title: AFGHANI by Brendon Patrick
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 422 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Bulldog Publishing Australia
Publication Date: August 2025.
Tour dates: Oct 20 to Nov 7
Content Rating: PG-13 +M: War themes included, but nothing highly explicit
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Congratulations on your super book.
Im looking forward to checking this book out. Thanks for sharing.
[…] into a sweeping dual-timeline story that bridges Australia and Afghanistan in Afghani by Brendon Patrick. Inspired by his own heritage and military experience, Patrick explores the human cost of war, the […]