I emerge from my peaceful, blanket-wrapped cocoon this morning, during those brief minutes when the mind is roaring to life with a smorgasbord of ideas. I stumble groggily into the bathroom and squeeze an oversized glob of whitening toothpaste onto my brush when my thoughts drift to current events. In the past few weeks, a pervasive fear has seeped into my blissful existence. I have become a veritable news junkie - at home and in my car - waiting for an authoritative voice to come on after the fast-food commercial and reassure me that the world is not going to shit. "We have taken care of everything. You can now resume your monotonous life, filled with overblown North American problems", the God-like voice says. At that point, I wake up from my dream to find the television on, broadcasting "Breaking News" on CNN.

As I continue to take my frustrations out on my gums, a cliche comes to mind. Actually it's a French proverb. "The more things change, the more they stay the same", rings truer than ever. Haven't we learned from the painful lessons of history? Didn't we emerge from two world wars with more compassion, understanding and tolerance of our fellow human beings? Did we not abolish slavery, establish equality of the sexes and eliminate discrimination? According to tv and social media, it appears that many of us have been infected by a disease. Not one like the virus spreading across West Africa, but by a severe case of delusion and denial. Have we settled too much into our comfortable lives to notice the dangers looming ahead? Or are we just too afraid to face the truth?

I finish brushing my teeth and stare into the mirror. What will become of the world and how will it affect my children's future? When I started writing my novel, Interfearence, many asked me what the book was about. At first I had trouble formulating a simple, concise answer. Interfearence is a thriller. It's a love story. It's a glimpse into Soviet history and culture. It's a gripping tale of friendship and family. It's about failed political ideologies. Some may argue it's a tragedy. Mostly, Interfearence is a story of the hopes, dreams and actions of people living in difficult times. But is it relevant to today's reader? A good predictor of the future is a lesson from the past. As I watch the real-life drama unfold on tv,, I realize that the messages in Interfearence are as modern as can be, and although ironic, not limited to the situation in Ukraine. Evil will always exist, in one form or another. But it must be confronted. If we are afraid to stand up against the tide of hate and evil, we will inevitably be drowned by it.. Click. For now, the only thing I can do is to drown-out the voice of that CNN newscaster.