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I was born in Connecticut, educated as a mechanical engineer in Massachusetts, and moved to Ohio for a job in a Fortune 200 company. I've since left the safety of that career, having been in multiple manufacturing roles, including: engineering manager, plant manager, and an acquisition captain, as well as an internal consultant for numerous manufacturing plants on Lean methodology. I have now set about consulting part time and writing the rest of the time.
I was always a maverick as a child, and an adult, and was never quite able to draw inside the lines or follow certain rules. I did however, figure out how to fit into acceptable society and not be a pink monkey. This, and the engineering training I had, taught me to question everything, and never automatically believe in anything. Consequently, I was always a handful for anyone I reported to. Once they knew me though, they pretty much let me run free with the reservation, "If anyone asks if I knew about this, I didn't." - since the things I did usually didn't fit into the nice neat corporate boxes or standards, but were effective at getting the job done.
This personality trait, possibly due to playing with mercury as a child, influences my writing to be somewhat different than others. My hopes are that it will make reading more entertaining for you, with a fresh approach to viewing the world around us, by removing the usual paradigms and blinders we impose on ourselves through our culture's influences.
I've done some pretty dumb things while learning about writing as a career. The first thing is, how darn hard it can be, and I've taken classes, and read several books on writing. The second is how easy it is to make a mistake, such as over-write a good file with a draft copy and promote it to 35,000 people. Yikes. That was a nightmare. I'm much more careful now.
If you are someone that doesn't always feel you fit in all the time, and sees things somewhat differently than most, or looks at things and says, 'What if?' then you might like my work.
If you like a more lighthearted group of somewhat irreverent characters, you might like my Reluctant Gods Series. If you've been in business and know some cold and cruel characters, you might like Dr. Roland Vandergrift in 'Power, Control, Conformance.'
If you are a person who is set in their ways and beliefs and can only see things a certain way, you might not like any of my work.
I hope you enjoy what I've done. If you don't like it, remember you can always return it, though I've had few returns so far. Remember, I did warn you.
Reviewed by Maria Beltran for Readers' Favorite
Power, Control, Conformance is a chilling science fiction novel written by A.J. Aaron where the business world is dominated by psychopath Roland Vandergrift who aims for world domination. A Lean Transformation allows Dr. Vandergift to close a number of manufacturing plants and lay off many of his workers. To do this, he needs the cooperation of Sedric Jace, who, unlike his boss, is an empath capable of empathizing with other people’s sufferings. Roland also seems to have the ability to kill people solely through intention. While working with him, Sedric battles with his innermost feelings, as he and his wife are lured into an elite circle where wives are turned into Stepford wives to make them servile and meek towards their husbands. Can Sedric turn Jace into a psychopath and together achieve a goal that will create havoc in the lives of many?
In Power, Control, Conformance, we are reminded that there are people who will stop at nothing to amass great fortunes and wield power over many, even if it means the destruction of other people’s lives. Author A.J. Aaron’s main protagonists are Roland Vandergrift, a psychopath with a PhD in Neuro-physiology and Psychiatry, and Sedric Jace, an empath with a doctorate in Physics. It is interesting to discover the differences in each other’s characters and the interesting dynamics between them. This is because the writer does a great job in defining their depths and weaknesses. Throughout the book, the ambiance is consistent, making the theme clear and vivid. The development of the story is also quite effective and it successfully creates a sense of urgency in the reader to follow the story’s plot up to the end. A very entertaining and chilling read!
