Photo by Joanne Beck
As someone who has struggled to overcome his attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and Asperger’s Syndrome, with a history of loss and abuse as a child, Jeremy Fink certainly has a story to tell.
Written under the pen name J.F. Richards, this Batavia resident has chronicled that story through the character of Luke, along with his friends Will, Jake and Alexis, in “The Legend of the Sacred Knights.”
And he learned a thing or two more about himself in the process.
“Finding the part of you that you already had, like courage, that you keep hidden but you never see it at first, such as each of my characters has a different flaw of their own, but they all have to try to overcome it in various ways,” Fink said during an interview at Richmond Memorial Library, a local home to his book. “ I had to find a lot of courage in me, a lot, because a lot of people had harsh criticism towards me, especially towards my unusual behavior. Because at the time, not many people didn't know how autism worked, or ADHD, and they mostly believe one side of the story from other people who have had a bad rep from that.”
The 27-year-old went through a self-healing exercise. While writing his book, he also took notes about memories as they came up and corroborated one with the other. He learned more about his past as he worked toward his future aspiration of being an accomplished author.
“Part of my character’s backstory is grounded in reality because, like him, I was raised by my grandparents. I lost my mother when I was 12 years old,” he said. “My dad wanted to have custody of me, but he really, actually didn’t care about raising children because he had no sense of responsibility towards others. So he decided to just use me as a pawn just to get money.”
He suffered much emotional and psychological abuse, he said, and by getting his memories out on paper -- or computer -- he “felt relief” from the experience.
“Especially because of my living with my grandparents, I felt much happier because they were both kind people, and they have always been kind to me, but due to dad’s influence, he made me have a dark view of them for no reason. I didn’t understand why I had this urge to not like them,” Fink said.
As for other inspiration for the book, he’s a “die-hard Harry Potter fan” and lists Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” as his two favorite books of all time. Readers may note those influences in the cover, depicted by dark woods and imaginative, other-worldly fantasy characters.
Fink began his tale during the COVID lockdown, spending a lot of time streaming shows and conjuring up a storyline. When back at work at Batavia Walmart, he would put notes about the four mystic knights into a phone app.
“Each is gifted with their own powers,” he said. “They encounter many things beyond this earth itself.”
Once he completed a first draft in March 2021, Fink wondered, “How was I going to get this done?” His late uncle’s friend, Timothy Benson, who was familiar with screenwriting and editing, helped him with the next step. A book came together through other friends and finally a publisher. He saw the first copy this year.
“I felt excited; the first adventure has just begun,” Fink said. “I have two more, of a series, in progress. I’m very acute with remembering specific details about my character; I haven’t even revealed a lot yet.”
The story is about four human teenagers who enter a gateway to a magical world inhabited by magical animals. In this world, they band together as a team of mystical knights, each gifted with their magical powers; they embark on a quest to seek out ancient treasures to prevent a powerful evil from being unleashed.
His alter ego, Luke, is a 16-year-old boy who lives with his grandfather. After traveling through a portal, he becomes Lycanwolf, a wolf who is the former Prince of SilverLoc and leader of the Knights. He possesses the power of water and wields a sword that he can call to his hand whenever he needs it.
In fact, each of the characters eventually discovers a magical power after their curious time with the curator.
Later that afternoon, when the class was preparing to depart, the curator walked up and asked the students to help him with something.
“We are doing a survey of the area, I would like if some of you would volunteer to stick around and help me with the survey,” requested the curator. “Do I have any volunteers?”
The curator scanned the students and then pointed at Luke, Jake, Will and Alexis. “I wonder if you four could volunteer to help,” the curator asked, which bewildered everyone.
Everyone agreed to volunteer with the curator, but not everyone was okay with it.
While the class headed to the buses, the volunteers went with the curator, traveling up the stairs to the new area that was not open to the public. The entrance to the new area looks like an archaic archway. Everyone walked into the room and all gasped. Before them were four pedestals in the room, each holding a weapon.
“A sword, a hammer, a bow, and an axe,” Will said aloud.
“What are they here for?” asked Luke curiously. “I wonder if these four weapons or treasures are what the warriors from the mural left behind,” Luke wondered. “That I hope to find out once they have been studied” explained the curator. “Now, could each of your grand a weapon and help bring them outside.”
Everyone walked toward a different weapon to carry it out. Luke Gazed at the sword, curious about the mysterious blade. It was long and straight, like it was forged to be the perfect blade. He reached out, placing his hand on it. As he firmly grasped the hilt, then without warning it began to glow blue.
Jake touched the axe, and it started to glow red. Next, Alexis touched the bow, and it started to glow green. Then, finally, Will touched the hammer, and it glowed yellow.
Luke and the others freaked out, placing the weapons back hurriedly from where they picked them up.”What just happened?” Jake blurted out in astonishment.
“I don’t know,” said Luke, “but that was strange.”
After witnessing the strange glow, the curator looked at his watch, “All right. That’s enough for today. If you need help with anything, come to my cottage near the entrance to the ruins,” the curator said with urgency scooting everyone out without a reason He looked excited for some reason, then calmly asked them to leave, “Please go home kids.”
The group walked away and headed home, curious about what had happened and why. The four of them called their folks for a ride home. They stood in silence, while they waited for rides, each pondering what had just happened. The curator watched from afar, a smile from ear to ear blanketing his face.
“Now it begins,” the curator announced.
“Everyone has a story they want to tell,” Fink said. “We usually find a way to craft it to tell others.”
He devised his pseudonym after his beloved grandpa, Richard Sands, who is pretty well known in Fink’s family hometown of Bergen. There was a time when he wasn’t certain about his family, due to his father’s undue influence, however, the more sober and fully aware the young man has become, he now realizes how fortunate he has been to have the love and foundation of his grandparents, he said.
The friends all ran back home to their parents and enjoyed the rest of the day. Luke saw his grandpa by the door and rushed to hug him. While it was amazing to be an anamorphic, superhero warrior who saved two worlds, Luke was happy to be home.
Although that may seem like a sweet ending, there is an epilogue and, Fink said with a bit of a mischievous expression, a cliffhanger.
He said his grandmother bought and read his book — and she loves it. His niece had her picture taken while holding a copy of it, and his two brothers and friends have also read and given positive reviews, he said. He appreciates those thumbs-up ratings now more than ever as he has been working to get book sales off the ground — he has sold at least 100 so far — and has them available at most online book and Big Box stores (Walmart, Amazon, Barnes and Noble). There are limited copies on the shelf at Richmond Library in the local author section as well.
Heidi Urban, his care coordinator, has been surprised at the amount of work he has taken on independent of anyone pushing him with deadlines and motivation beyond his own personal goals.
“I’m just shocked at the writing, self-publishing, and figuring out a cover and distribution; it’s such a giant undertaking. I’m just amazed by it. I’m really amazed by him,” she said. “Throughout the process of getting to know Jeremy, and I’m not sure it aligns with the book, so I have to attribute that to the book. I feel like he’s just really gained confidence; he has come out of his shell and just become more open.”
He hopes to further step out into the limelight with a future book signing at Richmond (the date has yet to be determined). For more information or to connect with J. F. Richards, check out his website.
