WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - After three adult books and two children's books, Anthony DeStefano has gained the reputation for being a writer who can take the complex and express it in simple, clear and understandable language that inspires.

Following "A Travel Guide to Heaven" and "Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To," he now tackles the world of invisible, where angels, demons, and the Holy Spirit are at work. Through Scripture, personal anecdotes and clear explanations, "The Invisible World" reminds the reader that there is much more beyond the realm of the five senses.

Released by Doubleday in March of this year, "The Invisible World: Understanding Angels, Demons, and the Spiritual Realities That Surround Us" has already charted at the number one best selling hardcover for the Summer 2011 according to the Association of Catholic Publishers.

In addition to his writing, DeStefano is a successful businessman and serves as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors for Priests for Life, the largest pro-life/pro-family organization in the world.

His goal has always been to communicate in clear terms about complex subjects. A fan of authors like Tolstoy and Hemmingway, he had always been impressed with the way they could address profound ideas in more fundamental ways.

"It's difficult to write simply," he mentioned in a recent interview. "It is much easier to write mysteriously and obscurely. A lot times, however, it's merely a mask or camouflage for a lack of talent or just laziness, when you don't want to take the effort to make things really clear."

When writing about theology and spirituality, he immerses himself in the subject through a comprehensive reading list and then distills what he discovers into reasonable portions, finding ways to explain and describe it to the ordinary person in the pew.

"The key is to keep the truth in but at the same time make it clear,' he explained. "That's always been my goal. Whether or not I've always been successful, who knows. sometimes more than others."

In developing his down-to-earth writing style, he had great help along the way. He was a student at Stuyvesant High School in New York City, where his English teacher was Frank McCourt, the noted author of "Angela's Ashes."

"He wanted to break us out of writing elaborately, as high school students tend to do; we were learning how to write more simply. One way he did this was to make us write a children's book. It was at that time I wrote 'Little Star.'"

"Little Star" was published 30 years later and is considered by many to be destined as a Christmas classic.

In his latest book, "The Invisible World," DeStefano covers a massive subject, the realm of the invisible - the world of angels and other heavenly creatures as well as Satan and his demons. The realm where the Holy Spirit carries out His mission.

"There are plenty of books out there," he stated, "dealing with the invisible realities. A lot of books on angels, books on grace. There are also many books on demons, the devil and exorcisms as well as those on suffering and the nature of God.

"The idea I had is to take all of these invisible realities and put them into one place to impart a vision. This is the basic contribution I've tried to make in this book."

He said his one fear was that people would get the disproportionate and somewhat erroneous idea that "if I'm guided in something, it must be my angel."

"It may be your guardian angel," he states, "but it very well could be the Holy Spirit Himself. The bottom line is that it all comes from the same place; it all comes from God, it all comes from the Holy Spirit but sometimes He chooses to use creatures."

"It's impossible for anyone to really know for sure the manner in which God is helping them at any particular moment, whether it is through a creature like a guardian angel or whether it is the direct action of the Holy Spirit. These things are invisible."

I asked if he saw a need for people to be more "heavenly minded." Are
we too caught up in the seen world?

"We live in a very secular age," he said, "which actually began over two centuries ago. We have what I call the 'superstition of materialism,' where we tend to think that everything in life - our ideas, our philosophies, our religions, our accomplishments; all the notions that we have of honor, love mercy and hope; all our art and our music; all the deepest mysteries of science and faith - that all this is simply the result of random dance of molecules in our brain. This is the disease of the age."

"But we also have to remember that there are those who are just the opposite in their mindset; who believe all that we have to do is lock ourselves in a room and pray. As vitally important as prayer is, there is also a time when you must get into the battle."

"We are called to live in a balance of body and spirit ...