A Conversation with #thriller author, Jim Adameit #mustread #Interview @JimAdameit

A Conversation with 

Thriller author,

Jim Adameit

Please give a warm Coffee Pot welcome to Jim Adameit.

MA: It is so lovely that you could take time out to chat with us today. Before we begin, could you please tell my readers a little about you.

JA: Hello, my name is Jim Adameit. As I explain on my website, my surname supposedly means ‘son of Adam’ (the ‘eit’ suffix = ‘son of’) in German / Lithuanian. I was taught to pronounce it ‘ADD-a-mitt’, but my relatives in Europe, pronounce it differently.  I’m a young 63 years old (I still listen to and enjoy rock and roll music - from the Stones, and Led Zeppelin to the Black Keys). I work a full time day job as a proposal manager/writer for a US construction company (Williams Industrial Services Group, LLC).  So I write novels on the weekends, striving to become a successful full time novelist one day soon.

MA: I have read your book, The Definition of Experience, and I thought it was fabulous. Can you tell us what inspired you to write The Definition of Experience?

JA: I’ve read thriller novels for years and wondered why I didn’t see any novels about the industry in which I’d worked for many years, that of Electronic Manufacturing Services.  It’s a $500 billion global industry that presumably not many people know about, much less have heard of. Michael Crichton got somewhat close with his ‘Disclosure’ novel, which had an electronics product manufacturer as back-story & setting. Joseph Finder wrote business / corporate thrillers about twelve years ago, but then he shifted over to start writing spy novels. Donald Westlake wrote some darknovels about business.   No one wrote about MY industry though.  So one day some years ago, I thought of a story idea (which became this novel), and I started writing plot points, then scenes, then it evolved into this, my debut novel ‘The Definition of Experience’.  It’s a ‘what if’… What if a few executives from a successful electronic manufacturing services company had a legitimate business side, and also a covert illegitimate business side - the latter of which where they planted financially desperate product design engineers into companies – Original Equipment Manufacturers (ODMs) to steal design packages and sell them on a black market for their own financial gain?  To be honest, I’d be surprised if that hasn’t already happened, or is going on now in real life. My story is overly detailed as to some of the nuances of the business activities, admittedly, as it’s meant to be a primer of sorts. I thought it’d be interesting though, to share an inside look into just some of what goes on in those companies. 

My intended audience is for adults, and in the spirit of full disclosure, my novel has 3 fairly racy chapters (20, 68 and 78) along with some f-bombs and adult language. But that’s REAL life and the world in which we live. This isn’t a kid’s book. I’ve been told it’s deliciously complex like a Tom Clancy novel, and wildly entertaining like a Finder or a Crichton, so I’ll take that. I hope other adult readers will agree too!

MA: Well, your novel certainly had me gripped. How did you come up with your setting and your characters?

JA: I’ve lived in various states in the US, including Colorado. And I’ve travelled internationally in a prior life, including a 3 month stint in Dublin, Ireland. So I chose those two locations for the main physical settings. Then I incorporated my story setting of life in this electronics manufacturing business setting.  As for the characters, I made up an excel matrix of character names, profiles, attributes and visual characteristics. And I thought of actors and actresses who came to mind when I thought of each one. I copied and pasted thumbnail pics of each character, so as I wrote the story I used each one as a mental image making it easier for me to describe along the way. For example, I envision Tom Hanks as Dan Gamble, and Dana Delaney as his wife, Lori. (I now call this my ‘casting catalog’, in a nicely formatted pdf format showing my visualizations of each major character, if anyone would be interested in seeing it – but not so as to spoil each reader’s mental images of characters)

MA: There are many books in the techno-thriller genre. Can you tell us three things that set your novel apart?

JA:

a.     The most unique thing setting it apart, is that it’s the first-ever novel written about this specific industry, that of Electronics Manufacturing Services. Anyone reading this on an electronic device (computer, iPad, Kindle, Internet, etc.) is using an electronic device made by a company in this industry. As one reviewer said, “…It is highly recommended reading for those seeking something satisfyingly different than so many overdone spy and terrorism novels..."

b.   I’m looking to focus on several under-served sub-genres to perhaps create a new sub-genre, which I believe is missing from today’s novel choices. Part -

·      Techno-thriller (more technology thriller focus, and less typical - often far-fetched - ‘techno’ thriller components of sci-fi and military themes).

·      Corporate-noir.  The dark side of corporate life.

·      International crime mystery. This with a different slant, with story topics, and plot points markedly different than any others written about.

c.    Many novels have characters that are all good or all bad. I seek to create characters that are multi-dimensional and notably human, each with their own private, personal arsenal of ethics and morality.  I try to have my characters exhibit a bit of their ‘situational morality’ along the way. Hopefully readers will contemplate their own morality as they read the story. Could they (readers) imagine themselves in that situation having to justify taking a particular action?  Could or would they do as this character has done?  Each person’s ethics, morals, along with a bit of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, our fight or flight reflexes, and our own individual instincts also drive behavioural choices in each of us.  Human behaviour can be fascinating but often unpredictable.

MA: One last question, can you share with us what you are currently working on?

JA: I’m currently writing the sequel novel, called ‘The Definition of a
Secret’, which I plan to self-publish by June 2020. This will be part techno-thriller, part corporate noir, and part international mystery thriller, which takes place in China and the US. My inspiration of this story came from real life events, so I hope readers will find it as fascinating to read as I find it is to write.  After that, I have in mind the next novel in this series, tentatively called ‘The Definition of Revenge’. This novel’s story is inspired by a 1983 movie I saw, that’s left its mark on me ever since.

MA: Thank you so much for joining us today. 

If you would like to learn more about Jim’s book, then you know what to do. SCROLL DOWN.

The Definition of Experience

 (Dan Gamble, Book 1)

By Jim Adameit

One Man’s Stand Against the Corporate Machine

An edgy, racy, action-packed business / financial / technology thriller, about the global industry that manufactures and brings us all our smart phones, laptop computers, cloud servers – and virtually any other electronic products you can think of.

Think this is boring stuff?

In a US$500 billion global market – with careers and that much money at stake?

Think again…

A primer on an industry that most people don’t know exists…

A cautionary tale for those people who do…

Excerpt

At Henry’s, patrons were welcomed to throw darts virtually anywhere on that left wall - but only on that wall. All other walls were off limits. And from no further away than the red line taped on the floor, about ten feet away, discouraging bad aim and errant throws.

Of course, patrons who happened to be already sitting along that wall, positioned in the line of imminent fire, were both encouraged and compensated to move elsewhere for a few minutes, so as not to become unwilling collateral damage.

But that was all part of the experience. Sip on your beer, talk with your friends, and at any moment you might have to move aside for someone who wanted to hurl a few pointed projectiles your way. Those sitting or standing on the right side or at the bar up front opted out by definition.

Anyone who threw a dart anywhere else was quickly bounced out and told not to return. 

Henry knew how to have fun, and he encouraged the same for his customers, but he wouldn’t tolerate anyone challenging his authority or not playing by his rules.  

The house rules were specific, and Henry enforced them to the letter. Small paper targets could be taped on that wall. Some of those were traditional targets with red circles in the middle, surrounded by concentric red or black rings. Some targets were the faces of rock stars, movie actors, sports figures, or politicians past or present – even current or former husbands or wives were permissible targets. No one was off limits except for pictures of kids or animals.

The First Amendment was alive and well at Henry’s, but not when it came to kids or pets.

Henry’s pub, Henry’s rules, period.

        

Pick up your copy of

The Definition of Experience

Amazon UK • Amazon US • Smashwords

Jim Adameit

Jim Adameit is the author of ‘The Definition of Experience’, his debut thriller novel in this series. Jim is a 30+ year seasoned veteran of the Contract Manufacturing / Electronic Manufacturing Services industry, in which he’s held various senior level global positions, including sales & marketing, contract administration, and project management.

Connect with Jim: Website • Facebook • Twitter.