Aspirations choose our path, however our response to life's obstacles is mostly forged from the slag of desperation. We see their specters building on the horizon, all too often, choosing to believe they don't exist. Tee and Emma Haskins now know those obstacles are there, the question is, can they live with them. It wasn't until 2017 that Tee Haskins had to confront those obstacles, the issues that had been neatly packed away for twenty-seven years. His position as a Church Pastor in the college town where his wife Emma taught, helped him forget the alienation from his family long before they were married and the success of their son, as an up and coming attorney, validated the fact that life was good. Good that is until their world fell apart, a world that wasn't as accepting as they had come to believe - a world that said they had to be separated - a world that was not all of what it seemed to be - a world that tore open the wounds long thought healed. Recent racial tensions had galvanized public sentiment around those who promised restoration of order, yet it is within the illicit cohabitation of fear and protection that fascism is always born. Wanting the riots to stop and tension to ease, no one envisioned the ramifications of the sought after solutions or the speed in which they were implemented, especially since it had been barely over a year since the 2016 elections. Separatism was certainly not considered a blueprint for social justice today, or at least that's what everyone thought. Everyone that is, except the scheming elected officials who railroaded the legislation by duping the American people and the few dedicated souls that knew it and kept up the fight to undo the resulting injustice - the few who had lost the most. Tee, his best friend and a group of strangers connected only by the internet kept pressing forward, determined to succeed at any cost - they had to let others know the truth if they ever stood a chance of putting their own lives back together. The Bliss of Ignorance leaves the reader with the unsettled feeling one gets when fiction skirts too close to reality and keeps them engaged as the characters struggle through this improbable turn of events. Racial tensions, political intrigue, passion, loss, and the strength of personal character are all uniquely blended to connect us to the story and its participants as Tee and Emma model the kind of love and commitment many of us wish for.
About the Author: The author of two non-fiction books, Ray Filasky has lived just outside of Richmond, Virginia for nineteen years and recently retired from a career that encompassed self-employment, direct sales experience and over 25 years of various levels of managerial positions. Holding both a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Business Administration, his educational background and work experience have made him a staunch proponent of the responsibility of any organization to cultivate an atmosphere that champions the creativity and autonomy of the individual. Taking a detour into the world of fiction, this is Ray's first addition in a three-book series dealing with the unintended consequences of quick fixes for the complicated problems of current day society. His desire, in both fiction and non-fiction, is to influence others in positive and entertaining ways by having them view their surroundings from a different perspective.