First Post

Hi, my name is Mike Silva.  Welcome to my new blog.  I have no idea why I’m doing this.

Well, maybe that’s too harsh.

I’m in the process of writing my first novel, and both my wife and daughter suggested I start a blog about it.  I had already used up my quota of “NO” for the day, so I agreed.  Inspiring, right?

The novel is something that has been floating around in my head for decades, though in a much different form than I now envision.  It is about angels and demons, and how it would be if they became embodied and we could see them in action, and interact with them in a more concrete way.

Over a period of about a year I had almost daily thoughts (insights?) about the interior life of angels and demons, and how they might interact with humans.  I should add that the angels and demons I speak of are the classic Catholic creatures, created by God out of the same generosity that led Him to create us.  The demons are those angels who turned against God, probably for the same reasons some humans turn against God, and were cast out of heaven.  Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that they fled heaven, the radiant love of God being too oppressive for them to tolerate.

The title of this novel will be “A Gift of Dragons,” the dragons being the embodied demons.  If you wonder in what sense demons could ever be considered a gift, it is in the sense of “felix culpa,” the “happy fault” of mankind’s original fall.  That was a happy fault only because it brought the world our savior, Jesus Christ.  So the gift of demons is a gift only because of what it ends up bringing into the world.  More about that in future posts.

Hmm, did I mention that I’m a Catholic?  A Catholic revert, to be exact.  However, if I end up writing a story that only Catholics can enjoy, I have done a very bad job indeed.  I like to think that I will be telling a story that will be fascinating to anybody, religious or non-religious or “other.”  Time will tell.

I have read, and I believe, that it is difficult to write of a perfectly good character, and a true angel must be perfectly good.  No edgy, moody, errant angels for me!  No, my angels will retain their angelic perfection.  At the same time, I will fill in a lot of missing details with my own thoughts/insights/inventions, and I don’t think my angels will be at all boring (nor my demons!).  It has been quite fascinating to muse over a prolonged period about both angels and demons, and I think the results of that musing will give the story much of its flavor and character.

By the way, did you know that St. Thomas Aquinas taught that each angel is essentially its own species?  You could spend a lifetime just thinking about that!

So take a moment now to think about your own guardian angel, the angel that God gave to you to guard and guide you throughout your life.  A creature who always beholds the face of God, and who at the same time serves you night and day.  Felix culpa!

One final thing.  I also owe to my choir conductor wife Diana a love of sacred choral music, so for her and all of you (and because music is the language of heaven):