Five years ago, when I began to imagine a future Europe, I had no idea how quickly I would see my ideas begin to manifest in our society. In The Freedom Dance, I chose the setting of a post-war world where billions died but used tribal civil wars as the mechanism because it seemed a more authentic way for that may people to die and for a lone figure to rise to savior status. My fantasy projection seemed just that—fantasy—yet here in 2018, we are hearing pundits talking seriously about civil war. Violence from the left and right has increased and it seems that everyone is taking sides.

At least that is what the traditional and social media would like you to believe.

One of the main themes in The Freedom Dance is community and friendship. As I wrote my first novel, I wanted to focus on the relationship between my lead characters. They are a couple of siblings who drive each other crazy and whom love each other dearly. Living life together is the strength that drives them to succeed. They need each other to be successful and to grow. Throughout their journey, it is their familial bond that drives their actions.

This is my hope for our society as times seem to get darker. Family and community are the only thing that will help us move into the future without tearing each other apart. When we focus on social media and the screaming between sides, we lose our focus on the fact that no matter what part of the country we are from or what belief systems we hold, civility and love are the only way we can agree to disagree. Through the process of intellectual curiosity and caring for each other, we will find that most people agree on a lot of things, we just disagree on the solutions.

The core message of my book is hope. Hope is not found in screaming at your friends and enemies on Twitter. Hope is not found in digesting information from an echo chamber. Hope is only found when we love our community and work together to find solutions to the problems. Hope is found when we raise the next generation of heroes who believe that freedom is found when we love and respect the people around us, even when we don’t agree with them.