Life In Light Speed is the official author site of J. Adam Lefever.. Read short stories about life in the Post-Post-Post-Post Modern world and get information about the upcoming first novel in The GOD Machine series, Trial Run, coming soon.
I am a St. Louis native, born and educated in St. Louis, although I spent some time at college abroad in Thailand, and have also visited South Africa, Israel, and too many cities in the U.S. to bore you with listing.
I attended Webster University and graduated with a BA in Advertising and Marketing in 2004. During those years I stumbled into online marketing, which I’ve followed as a career until present. I’m currently responsible for e-commerce at St. Louis Medical Supply, and also work on various marketing and web development projects including my online marketing blog which I’ve passively neglected as I’ve devoted more of my time to writing.
Which, actually, brings me to the crux of this little blurb. Reading and writing is probably not a trait engrained in our DNA, but it was certainly impressed on me at an early age. I have fond memories of reading Dr. Seuss books with their colorful and bizarre illustrations that seem so superficial on the surface, but stories that unfold with profound ideas. For me, the favorite is “And to Think that I saw it on Mulberry Street”. It was Dr. Seuss’s first children’s book, rejected so many times he nearly burned the manuscript. Reading that book enlightened me on something I think many adults forget: I can dream up pretty much anything I dare to.
Through most of my childhood and teenage years, reading fiction was a nightly habit. It occasionally still is. In college I read mostly non-fiction. I suppose I grew to appreciate it more. These days I write far more than I read (although a good book is a prerequisite for any traveling I do). I’m a careful reader who spends time intimately with a book, and with so much to read I rarely go back to read again unless I’m looking for a passage in a favorite book. Sometimes I’ll skim a chapter because, after all, a book needs a little attention every now and then. (Even if you don’t want to relive the entire relationship.)
For me, ideas sprout from my observances and interpretations of things. They are thrown into my brain, tossed into the vortex of thought and the occasional dying brain cell, and my characters share their perspectives about these creations, whether they be things, events, people, places, robot, pet, Simulant, or a tube of Nutri Rub.
For many years I’ve had all sorts of ideas, but it was about three years ago I became very motivated to write. What started originally as a small pithy essay about synthetic biology became something much larger, and before I realized it, I was exploring the rest of the future, too.
Welcome to my world, and I sincerely thank you for reading.
Eternally grateful,
~ J Adam Lefever
Self-Discovery in a Post-Post-Post-Postmodern World
Year 2217 is a time of great peace, prosperity, abundance and exciting debauchery. America is amidst the most profound technological revolution since the Golden Age of Robotics in the mid- to late-21st century; a revolution empowering the average American to produce more biodiversity on Earth than the planet has ever seen. The Genetics and Organism Designer, dubbed ‘The GOD Machine’, gives all individuals the power to curate nature to their liking for both Function and Vanity. Mission, human, age 22, stumbles along the path of self-actualization through a rapidly changing America where the most conventional beliefs of every generation are being challenged – and those paying attention are poised to redefine the future.
Privacy, in any conventional sense, hasn’t existed for at least four generations. Mission wants to be alone; he spends his hours plugged into FuturePlots, a private simulated world of his own design, aspiring to be the next great architect of the 23rd century. But things planned so meticulously never go as intended, and soon Mission finds himself thrust center stage in New Portland’s most eccentric personalities: Dr. Origin Peck – his mentor, a robot psychologist and repairman with a crafty scheme to reverse engineer immortality, James, his robotic best friend and notorious hypochondriac, Fritz – a knee-jerk opportunist, George – the monkey with human hands, and Prose – his neo-frugalist robophobic ferret-hoarding mother. As Mission is drawn further into their world (and those around them) he realizes his presence in their lives is key to discovering his own sense of self, fostering new and unlikely relationships, and dragging him down the path of self-discovery he has been seeking all along.
Trial Run is about life in a disjointed world with every purpose but your own; the curious, quirky people that influence our decisions, the events that twist our perception of life beyond conventional logic, the technology that enlightens us and tests our core philosophies, and the choices we make that move us closer – or further – to understanding our connection with the world we inhabit.
Trial Run is Book One in a trilogy being written and edited as you read this. In lieu of finishing the novel, I am also publishing a variety of short story prequels; each story, free to read on Adamlefever.com, introduces one more or characters of the Post-Post-Post-Post Modern world and provides insight & background into the events of the series.
Your readership is the most gracious compliment a writer could ever hope for. I sincerely thank you for your attention. Stay up-to-date on the release of short stories and news about the upcoming novel by signing up for the mailing list – all subscribers receive first access to content including first peek at the finished novel and a discount on purchase a copy in print or e-book.
by J. Adam Lefever
Keith waits impatiently for his entry license and land deed in Netherica, the public access virtual world commissioned by the United States government. Ninety percent of the US population arrived on the first day. Government incompetence forces him to face his social phobias. Meanwhile, the Netherican News Network pieces together a mosaic of post World War 3 American culture through the stories of those who came to find a better life for themselves and their families.
by J. Adam Lefever
Soon-to-be-mother Prose Lytle and her best friend Origin Peck meet at Median’s Cafe in New Portland for a not-so-average lunch. This story is free to read on Adamlefever.com and as a downloadable e-book (PDF)
by J. Adam Lefever
The awakening of man-made consciousness through the perspective of James, a fresh Protocol III model humanoid robot. He is activated in Bismarck, the robotic production capital of the United States. James is a character in the upcoming novel, Trial Run. This story is free to read on Adamlefever.com and as a downloadable e-book (PDF).