Tell us about yourself.:
I am honored to have this amazing opportunity.
My real name is Saji Madapat, and for the past two decades rocking and rolling' on the banks of the mighty Mississippi river (Memphis, TN) and Great Lakes (Chicago, IL).
My pen name is "EPM Mavericks". EPM (Enterprise Performance Management) is the strategic financial engineering system used by CFO's (Chief Financial Officer) office. I am an EPM professional to feed my kids, and this book is my passion for greenwashing my guilt😊
I am also known as Tiger Rider, which I used for my photography hobby website
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?:
I am born and raised in God's Own Country (Kerala, India). In the second half of my life, I am a globe-trotting explorer (as of now ~20 countries with camera & gear) searching for new horizons with Eastern roots and Western guts.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My book is NON-Fiction book (with mult-dimensional perspectives including Finance, Geo-Politics, Economics etc.), and I am afraid the name is a long title😊
What authors have influenced you?
I am born and raised in God's Own Country (Kerala, India). In the second half of my life, I am a globe-trotting explorer (as of now ~20 countries with camera & gear) searching for new horizons with Eastern roots and Western guts.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
"If you can dream it, you can do it.
Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."
― Walt Disney
As I mentioned earlier, I paid a high price for my dreams and it was worth every penny. I had approached professionals, including from the leading publishing firms. Almost all of them turned me down. When the darkness rolled in, through thick and thin, an amazing community was there for me with helping hands.
Believe it or not, in addition to my network, I had used dozens of great PAID editors in Reedsy, FIVERR, and UPWORK. Since my book is a bit of a niche, my editors may not be strictly applicable to others. I highly recommend you to interview them, test them with samples. I had also immensely benefited from the professional editors in addition from the USA, from India, Pakistan, Nigeria, UK, Australia, Canada etc., to have multiple perspectives on the geopolitical Tiger I am catching by the tail.
Even on the book cover, I had reached out over a dozen artists and even attornies😊 When I reached out to Getty images, just the cover images alone were estimated to cost several thousand. Finally, one of those professionals advised me to check it out on the White House website albums – that saved me thousands in addition to all the legal troubles😊
In summary, I do have gratitude to countless, and I will be doing an injustice if I miss anyone😊
What is your favorite book of all time?
"The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else" by Hernando de Soto. That book helps me initially address my answers to the distorted reality fields of Capitalism to be born again to The Mystery of Capital Gospel.
Coupled with my Chinese GIFT executive leadership program (https://global-inst.com/learn/) in Cambodian jungles opened my perspectives from the bottom of the pyramid.
What has inspired you and your writing style?
When I wrote this book (May 2020), there was anarchy breaking out; a civil war is going on right in front of my home in the heart of Chicago. Quoting a recorded call from the Chicago City Council, "it is 'a virtual war zone' where 'gang members armed with AK-47s were threatening to shoot black people.' They are shooting at the police." Meanwhile, in the mayor's office, the City Council's recorded strategy discussion that was intended to resolve the problem, devolved into a profanity-laden shouting match reminiscent of the Chi-Raq banana republic. I wondered what the future has in store for us if this board up can happen to my centennial home? Even one of the most exquisite and iconic ivory towers in the world (Britannica's last headquarters) protected by a private militia, seems to be unsafe.
I took the One Shared World pledge to be an advocate and safeguard, not only of my beloved United States, but humanity at large. I believe it is my moral responsibility to educate others about a predictive, preventative, and responsive infrastructure that might protect us from shared existential threats.
The consequences of that moral responsibility are this book😊
How do you decide what tone to use with a particular piece of writing?
What is the book about?
The namesake of this book comes from the 1980 Comedy film "The Gods Must Be Crazy," in which an empty Coca-Cola bottle is dropped from a plane onto a community of African bushmen. The bottle has a gift from the gods, but after it ensues fighting among the villagers, the tribal leader decides to return it to the gods by journeying to the end of the world. Through my own metaphorical coke bottle, I can see the dawn of the new empire. This book serves as a testament to restoring the current empire (Capitalism and enterprises) before it is too late.
Please don't waste time on this book if you are not open to contrarian Geo-Econo-Political perspectives. This book is not meant for B&W Ereader. This book has over 100 high-resolution color graphs/graphics.
If you could share one thing with your fans, what would that be?
Life is too short to regret: Think different, challenge the statuesque, rules are meant to break, forgive quickly, love truly, don't be trapped by dogma, live the moment, and never regret anything that makes you proud…
Wow! What Year-long learning! I, too, had an excruciating year, to begin with, including COVID taking my storyteller's (narrator) soul to heaven.
The past year is the darkest in my close to half a century life. During these trying times, to channel some of my challenges to something purposeful, I started writing through my own metaphorical coke bottle, of "The Gods Must be Crazy!". During these trying times, many of my liberal networks ridiculed me, including those with whom I volunteered over a decade, disowned me (many dis-invited me from LinkedIn) by judging me by the cover. Ironically, I find ultimate solace in some of the unusual places.
Then came my savior. Narration is his passion, and for bread and butter, he works as an EVANGELICAL church coordinator (Audio-Visual) in the South (USA). He was barely trying to survive with the menial income from church even after long work hours and doing the Voice-Artist job on the side over FIVERR & ACX (when I spoke with him July/August 2020, he was planning to switch to full-time Voice Artist). Considering the nature of the content, he and his family had a detailed discussion before even entertaining my request. He came back and told me that the book personally resonates with him since he is living through some of those). He wholeheartedly wants to contribute to the project and offered to do it for FREE. Sadly, he had all sorts of personal and financial tragedies in his life in the past couple of months. He tragically lost his mother recently, his house was hit with lightning, and he lost all his electronic types of equipment, including the audio recording studio, etc. He was too busy serving God and couldn't even find the time to record the updates of my book. Ironically God ultimately decided to take this amazing God's COORDINATOR's life on earth earlier this afternoon. Bryan left his bride (suppose to marry her in a couple of weeks) and little kids on earth…
When the darkness rolled in, through thick and thin, an amazing community was there for me with helping hands. Just as an example, we cracked the code of BIG Publishing houses and achieved something even crème de la crème writers could dream about. Within a few months, thousands read the Gods Must Be Crazy in over a dozen countries, offering over 50 rave reviews (Amazon + GoodReads), and even achieved the #1 bestseller rank in many Amazon categories!
Above all, I do have the amazing honor to donate the royalty from this book for a greater purpose to Mother Teresa Mission (Missionaries of Charity).
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