Here's more with Dave, and his views on how the idea of The Faustian Host, came about...
In 2009, while my wife and I were on vacation in Cancún, we visited Chichén Itzá, the most popular Mayan archeological site in the world. Crammed in a bus before the crack of dawn, we began the three-hour drive to the ruins, expecting to supplement our sleep during the drive. Then our tour guide began to talk, and talk, and talk. He began with the creation of the world (from a Mayan perspective) and took us step-by-step through every development in Mayan mythology.
As it turned out, our guide was a genuine Mayan descendent, which was interesting for the first few minutes he spent talking about the history of the ancient culture. But as he droned on and on about Mayan religion, customs, and calendars, I found myself dozing off. I was awakened from my stupor when the young man trailed off from whatever mind-numbing information he was covering with, "But that won't matter, because the world will end in 2012 according to the Mayan calendar, and none of us will be here."
My wife and I chuckled to each other, until we realized he wasn't joking.
"So I don't know about you, but I'm going to try to enjoy my life for the last three years we have."
As an ancient history buff, I was very familiar with Mayan dates and lore. I had also encountered my share of misguided zealots who seemed to believe the world was going to end soon, but I'd always lumped them together with Y2K freaks and flat-earthers in a category labeled "kooks." It never occurred to me that there was a larger contingency that genuinely believed in imminent doom.
Then the movie 2012 was released. And the History Channel specials on Mayan prophecies began. And the earthquake devastated Haiti. And the volcano erupted in Iceland. And the tsunami hit Japan. And the news stories kept coming back to the end of the world. Clearly, a handful of Mayan descendants weren't the only people speculating that there might be something up at the end of 2012.
Fear is a deeply-rooted, enigmatic emotion in the human heart, perhaps the most primal emotion we have. I'm not an alarmist, nor do I subscribe to a predictable end-of-the-world philosophy, but as we walked around some of the most magnificent structures ever conceived - pyramids, ballcourts, cenotes, and temples - the idea for The Faustian Host was born. Despite all logic and reason, there's something that grips us when disasters and plagues strike, and every one of us entertains the idea, if only in a passing thought, that this might be the end of it all.
It's no coincidence that The Faustian Host was released in 2012. But it's also no coincidence that I've planned sequels to be released after 2012. If I'm right in suspecting there's nothing to the Mayan calendar, we'll be able to follow the adventures of Tony and his friends for many years. If not, I guess our Mayan friend is right - none of it really matters.
In that case, perhaps The Faustian Host could serve as a sort of guidebook. Probably not, though. What are the odds that two different prophecies could come true in the same year?
The Faustian Host can be found on Amazon.
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