An Author’s Inspiration
By Jim Adameit
What
follows, entitled ‘IMAGINE’, is the introduction of my novel. Not a prologue per se, but important words to
set the stage for what story follows. As the saying goes, ‘art imitates life’.
Not a truer word spoken in my case. And yes, as is the nature of my own
experience, it was indeed a lot of ‘stuff that happened to me, that I wished
happened to somebody else’. But that kind of experience DID give me lots to
write about. I pray that this introduction provides enough interest for readers
to want to find out what comes next. Yes indeed, art DOES imitate life. I hope
you read these words and imagine how you’d feel if in the same situation.
IMAGINE…
Imagine
you’ve worked in a particular industry for over three decades… over THIRTY
years… An especially tough industry. Very competitive, very demanding - and
upon occasion just plain abusive - but you came to be an expert in this
business.
You also
became well respected through the years.
You’ve done everything fair and square to advance your career along the
way. You’ve never compromised your integrity, or sacrificed anyone else’s
career or reputation to advance your own.
No one got thrown under the bus by
you - or because of you. Sure, you may not have climbed the proverbial
corporate ladder like you hoped you might have, but you played by the rules,
and you could sleep reasonably well at night knowing you were moral and
ethical. You’ve worked full time
positions in this industry while earning college degrees in the evenings.
You’ve been a good husband and father through the years, but you put your
personal life and family on hold when each company asked you to travel out of
town, out of state, or out of the country for business… You put your blood,
sweat and tears into your work, always keeping the company’s interests and your
job’s responsibilities front and center.
And then
one day, out of nowhere, you get cut from a company in this industry, through
no fault of your own. Not only did you lose your job, but you lost out on the
huge six-figure profit-sharing bonus you were all but promised when you joined
the company - when you were heavily
recruited to join, that is. Bait and
switch. You were a pawn, unwitting and unknowing. Of course you didn’t realize
it at the time, but you did shortly
thereafter. You were used and taken advantage of. Others furthered their
careers on YOUR back. Not only did you
lose your job, but your career took a direct hit. Perception can be reality to
some, and the perception was that you became damaged goods. You weren’t, but
that’s what the water-cooler talk said.
Business market perception can be cruel like that.
How would
you feel? Really, how WOULD you feel?
That life’s not fair? It isn’t. That you
were used by someone else to further THEIR career? You were. Would you run off
with your tail between your legs, and try to carve out some end-of-life career
as best you could? Maybe. Imagine you’re
over fifty, no – imagine you’re over sixty years old – and you suddenly realize
you have many more years behind you,
than in front of you. Just imagine it, the sobering thought that it is. Let
that thought wash over you and soak in for a few seconds. You see, when you’re
young, you don’t think about your mortality much, if at all. Then one day it
happens. You begin to notice your joints start to hurt. Your eyes get tired
more often. Each day your body and your brain aches from the intense and tiring
workload and travel, as it takes its toll on each of us. But you know you still need to work.
You still
have some years left before you can retire – whatever that may mean. Would you be upset? Hell yes.
Would you be angry? There’d be
something wrong with you if you weren’t. Would you want to get even? Sure.
NO SERIOUSLY, would you REALLY want to get even? Maybe.
What if
you found out that not only were you let go unjustly – for no good reason - but
that the company was doing something immoral, unethical and most of all,
illegal. How would you feel THEN? Would
THAT push you to do something? That’s
the question now, isn’t it? When does a
person reach that breaking point, where they’re driven to take action of good
over evil? It’s not a rhetorical
question. Imagine it…
Seriously,
what would you do? If that question
challenges you to consider how YOU would feel, then read on… Read this story
and see if you’d do the same thing that Dan Gamble did. Maybe you wouldn’t.
Maybe you lack the balls, self-pride and gumption to be anything else but a
victim. Or maybe not? As the saying sort
of goes, evil exists in the world when good men do nothing. Maybe you’d embrace the prospects of getting
even, and relish the thought of taking down an evil company, just about more
than anything else you can think of.
You might
NOT be driven to take action and do what Dan did.
But then
again, maybe you would?
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
Denise was, indeed, paid well as a recruiter for Stygian. She made at
least twice the money that any other senior recruiter was being paid in the US,
her pay-check automatically deposited in her account every two weeks without
fail. And with quarterly profit sharing bonuses sent to her on top of that.
And she certainly didn’t want that to stop, so she put up with the
pressure from Bud and Archie and made sure she had her cigarettes and
kaopectate always nearby on her desk. She was also glad she had a bathroom
close by in her home office, in case she had any intestinal outbursts which
cigs or gut meds couldn’t halt.
Denise pulled open her bottom left desk drawer and pulled out the bottle
of Seagram’s Seven with her left hand. What remained of it, anyway; three
quarters of it already consumed during the week.
She reached her right hand over it to grab her coffee cup, an inch of
dark brew still inside, now cold. She poured a couple of inches of amber
whiskey over the coffee, not caring that she was mixing them together.
They all go to the same place, she thought, as she
took a few long gulps and emptied her cup.
Pick up your copy of
The Definition of Experience
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.
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See you on your next coffee break!
Take Care,
Mary Anne xxx