What inspired you to write such a thought-provoking book in today’s world?
Nowadays than ever-in, in this chaotic and sinister world plagued with its never-ending wars, murders, political corruption, cheating, lying, stealing, failing financial systems, and a never-ending list of other ethical and moral failures, I wanted the general public to understand how and why these evils escalate to the highest levels of government and what we can do amend these atrocities.
I believe that humanity is born with a penchant for love and understanding, but as we age and face the challenges of life, we succumb to the pitfalls of greed and power, and those evils intensify as we climb the ladder of success, mainly if one has chosen the political arena. In that environment, torture, mass murder, and subjugations of every nature become commonplace in the hands of those who hold the power of life and death over others. The commoner, seeing the so-called success of these evil doers and to satisfy his own lust for greed and power, joins forces with them by serving in their armies or their governments and committing any wicked deed delegated to them by those who hold the ultimate political power. This is the essence of the Devil. I have never seen the Devil per se, but I have studied the history of mankind-which includes me-and I know that the forces of good and evil are too virulent and enigmatic to be the mere whims of humanity. I am certain goodness (God) and evil (the Devil) are imbued in the heart and soul of every human being that has ever walked the face of the Earth. Salvation or damnation is thus determined by which path we choose to walk.
There is only one cure for this evil, and it must be borne at the grassroots level and migrated upwards to the mightiest levels of government. I don’t care if you call it the word of God, Jesus Christ, Allah, Buddha, Yahweh, Confucius, or any other source of divine providence-they all advocate the same thing: Love Whomsoever you believe in God and love your neighbor as you love yourself. For those of you who study Christianity, you would find, my friend, that those two simple rules encompass everything stated in the Ten Commandments. Those two elementary rules would help solve most of man’s problems except perhaps for physical or mental illness. Furthermore, mankind must expend his best efforts to do some things himself in order to prove his love of God and his fellow man.
Are you targeting a particular demographic or looking for a broad discussion?
I am absolutely not targeting any particular demographic! Love whoever you believe is God (or any other name your religion has assigned to identify Him), and love your neighbor as you love yourself has been and has been a fundamental aspect of every human being since creation. Our choice of good or evil has always been there. The existence of God and the Devil (the forces of good and evil) must be discussed, debated, and pondered by every human being of any nation on Earth in order to give each of us a fair chance at salvation or damnation should we choose to dance with the Devil.
How have your own experiences and temptations influenced your interpretation?
I had the good fortune of being born into a devout Catholic family, and early on in life, I learned the concept of good and evil. I have strongly believed in God all my life, and I am not ashamed to tell you that I still pray every day. There have been a lot of personal challenges I had to face in life, but my faith caused me to do the right things even though I suffered for them emotionally and financially. Please don’t think I am bragging about my actions because I am a sinner. But I feel extremely grateful for the love of my children as we endured long separations that were beyond our control. I believe there is a devil, although it may be in our mindset only, as the Lord might be using it to test our faith. But it doesn’t matter because evil is a reality, and therefore, branding our own internally generated temptations as being the Devil makes it easier to identify our iniquities.
What was the hardest passage of the book to write and why?
As strange as it may seem, the hardest part of the book to write is what I did not write. I wanted to compare the person who hurt me the most with the Devil as I would have a plethora of issues to write about. However, I didn’t do that, at least not consciously. The whole first chapter was the most difficult to write because it is racy, but I wanted the public to know exactly what this person did in order to be condemned to hell: lying, cheating, stealing adultery, and murder. I didn’t want to write about sex and adultery, but human beings are endowed with the organs that are used to propagate the species. Therefore, it seems safe to say the greatest number of sins committed by ordinary people revolves around sex with someone who is not their spouse. However, several trusted friends have assured me that the impact of the story would have been far less if I had written the opening chapter any other way.
Do you feel that you have to be someone of faith to engage with your writing?
I guess that depends on each individual. Perhaps it will arouse curiosity in a non-believer, such as an atheist. Or, perhaps someone who has never had the opportunity to be raised in a religious family will read the book solely for entertainment purposes.
Did you take inspiration from earlier work? Dante’s Inferno, perhaps?
No, I did not. I wrote this book of my own volition to make the general public aware of the evils of unrestrained governmental power and how an individual, by their own malicious actions, emphasizes malevolent politicians and supports their evil agenda by voting for them over and over again. Soon, those in prolonged political power come to believe they are unaccountable to the public for their actions and brazenly perpetrate a coup similar to what happened in America during the 2020 election. Such an activity is designed to undermine the rights of individuals by those that desire absolute power, such as Caesar, Genghis Khan, Hitler, and Stalin- and it is happening in the United States at this very moment as the left tightens its stranglehold on the US Constitution. That is how dictators come into power. The apathetic public tolerates their actions until it is too late!
Could you elaborate on the true-to-life moments in the book?
Dancing with the Devil examines the true-to-life events that have occurred throughout the history of mankind. Dictators such as Caesar, Genghis Khan, Kaiser Wilhelm, Hitler, and Stalin are but a few of history’s worst mass murderers, and they held power by military force. They murdered millions of innocent men, women, and children by the sword, burning at the stake, crucifixions, firing squads, gas chambers, and other tortures. Currently, in the United States, the left seems to be attempting to establish a single-party system, which, in my opinion, is akin to that of a dictatorship. The left’s violations of federal laws are inadvertently permitted by the inaction of an apathetic public-grassroots America that keeps reelecting the same corrupt politicians over and over again. The current Democratic Party’s open borders policy is allowing millions of illegals entry into the United States, most of whom will eventually register with the liberal Democratic Party. They are flowing into our country in unprecedented numbers, and by their massive number of votes is how the left intends to continue to nullify the authority of our federal laws and shred our constitution, thus establishing a virtual dictatorship on American soil (if not by votes then by staging another coup like the one they pulled during the 2020 election). I am hoping that the factual tragedies of living under dictatorships exposed in my book, Dancing With The Devil, will awaken the soul of America as it delineates the inhumane condition of living under a totalitarian government or a single-party system, which is a virtual dictatorship!
What do you consider the primary reason for the existence of the devil to be?
Why does the Devil exist? I believe that every human being ever created is born with a premonition of the difference between right and wrong ensconced in their heart and soul. I believe in God, although I don’t always understand Him or what He desires of me. To me, His two greatest commandments are Love God and Love your neighbor as you love yourself, and they serve as my moral compass. As a person reaches the age of reason, it becomes easier to discern the difference between the two rules, and if there is any violation of either commandment mankind brands it as a sin. I have never seen the Devil, a name derived by placing a d before the word evil. But I have seen evil, and I am a sinner, and like all humans, my conscience wants me to blame it on someone or something else (the Devil made me do it). Therefore, the essence of wrong is the Devil, and I know evil is real as I see it in one form or another every day of my life, and so consequently, the Devil is real for me! This evil exists because the other entity most of us have faith in what is right and what we call God. I know God is real because I see acts of righteousness every day of my life in one form or another, and therefore, I truly believe in God and goodness. Why does the Devil exist? I think God loves us and gave us free will, and the Devil exists, perhaps because it makes it easier for us to see who and what we really are as we walk in the footsteps of His Beloved Son into what we call Heaven or follow the path of Satan into Hell. I have never seen Hell, and pray I never do. The God I believe in is a warm and loving God. Instead of punishing me in the fires of Hell, perhaps that fiery Netherworld is really the trials and tribulations we face here on Earth, and the ratio of our right to wrongdoings here determines our rank-our propinquity to the Lord, which could be the essence of Heaven. I certainly hope and pray this is true!
How did you ground yourself in the present when writing such an immersive topic?
I am thankful for my faith in the Lord, for He is my strength and courage. I looked at what is happening in America today and how our belief in God is being written out of our homes, our schools, our colleges, our sports teams, and our government. The number of church goers is steadily declining, and programs such a WOKE are destroying the moral fabric of our society. Even our American military leaders are succumbing to this liberal trend in order to bolster their military careers, particularly those in the three-star ranks and above. Satanic worship is on the rise, and the numbers in America’s middle class are declining. I am beginning to feel as though Congress is turning into a brothel as billionaires contribute to reelection funds, get legislation passed that is favorable to their businesses or other causes, and give politicians tips on upcoming stock prices or business mergers. The government is “weaponizing” federal law enforcement against private citizens or anyone seen as a political threat. I sincerely believe it will take the hand of God to straighten out the political corruption in American and other Western governments, halt runaway inflation, secure our border, return us to energy independence, salvage our deteriorating financial crisis, and deal with the wealthy who are hoarding assets in order to revive a medieval society where the two classes of people exist; the wealthy (the kings and queens of old) and serfs (the former middle class and the poor). May God have mercy on us!
How do you separate personal opinion from fact to create the right balance?
That aspect was the easiest one to write in Dancing With the Devil. My personal opinion really doesn’t matter as there are literally billions of people of various religions that share the same basic beliefs about good and evil- God and the Devil- although the names they are called right and wrong (meaning God and the Devil) vary. What gave my story credence and balance was history! The atrocities of dictatorships were clearly defined in every article I researched. Thus, I was able to insert my beliefs via my characters into the story, but they did not alter the truth of history! The most powerful aspect of history is truth, and there is always someone who knows with certainty what really happened. I am grateful for publications such as The Encyclopedia of the Holocaust for their vivid details of the horrors of the concentration camps and/or outright mass murder. Dancing With The Devil is a warning to America about what happened in other countries centuries ago and during recent history and what could possibly happen in our country in the near future, which may be the demise of our democratic form of government. History shows it happened in other countries, and thus, it can happen here.
