Jeff Adams is here today talking about his new release from Harmony Ink, Tracker Hacker. He's also offering an ecopy of the book, so be sure to enter below. Good luck!
I'm excited to be at Boy Meets Boy to talk about my latest release Tracker Hacker which is the first book in the Codename: Winger series. The book is the first adventure for Theo Reese, a high school student who is hockey player, computer genius and an agent for Tactical Operational Support. His computer skills got him the job with TOS, the agency his parents also work for. In Tracker Hacker, Theo is taken out of the safety zone of working behind the scenes at his keyboard as both a security specialist and software designer for some of the agencies gadgets. Here he has to go on his first field mission and it opens up a whole new world of danger for him.
One of the things that was interesting to work on while constructing the series was for a teenage hero with some serious consequences--far more than the average teenagers.
Theo has known since he joined TOS at age 11, which happened after he had hacked his parents’ phones, that he's often dealing in life-and-death situations. If a program he’s working on fails, an agent's life at risk. If Theo’s working with an agent to assist in the field he knows a wrong move could be very detrimental. Theo, however, has never been directly in danger before.
That all changes in Tracker Hacker.
Because of his understanding of the TOS systems that are hacked and because the bad guys base of operations happens to be underneath the rink where high school hockey competition is happening, Theo is the perfect person to send in to thwart the bad guys.
It was interesting as an author to write these consequences--truly life-and-death in some cases. Most of my writing to date, including my young adult novels, have romance at the center. Of course, there are consequences in romance novels because without some conflict the story could be rather boring. For Theo, much of the conflict he deals with is extreme and it's interesting to see how a younger person--someone who's just a couple years away from being a legal adult-- handles it.
He's smart enough to know what he needs to do in many of the scenarios but he's also aware that he's hampered by his inexperience. He'll berate himself when he's feeling scared or might be on the verge of tears because of the stress he's under. He doesn't want to disappoint the adults he works with and so he has these considerations along the way. He also sees the ramifications of his actions on the people around him, especially his boyfriend who he can't be completely honest with.
On the other hand he is keenly aware that what he does is important, which also gives him in a sense of pride and fulfillment. He even tries to use his connections to help people when he sees the needs. There's a subplot in Tracker Hacker about a classmate, Cullen, who knows Theo has expertise in computers. Even though Theo is busy, and he knows his help might make a bad situation worse, he still looks for a way to help Cullen.
This is part of what makes him a good agent--he's constantly trying to do good. Occasionally trying to do the right thing can have personal consequences. He doesn't always get what he wants.
Working out the wins and losses and how Theo copes with them was not one of the challenges in writing the book. It was also fun. Deciding where Theo would have his success and failure took some planning because he couldn't always win. If he always won, it wouldn’t be realistic. So, as much as it would be cool for Theo if he could always come out on top he needed to have some losses that were equal to his wins. How he overcomes the failures is key to his growth as a character.
Below is an excerpt from the book, showing a bit of Theo in the aftermath of botched kidnapping attempt. You’ll also find the blurb, buy links and a Rafflecopter that will give you the chance to win a free copy.
Excerpt
This scene takes place in the garage at Theo’s house right after he’s gotten home from his boyfriend’s. The day before Theo was nearly kidnapped and he’s dealing with the after effects—both physical and mental. Here he gets a call from his Dad, who is currently in the field, which is why he’s calling on the secure line.
As I was typing, my phone vibrated with a TOS call.
“Winger. Defender here.”
It was Dad!
“Hi. I…. Thanks for calling. I don’t know where you are but thanks.”
“Snowbird was able to reach me and told me what happened. Are you okay?”
“Um, yeah.”
The silence lingered. I knew I didn’t sell my condition well enough.
“No,” I finally admitted.
“Are you secure? Can we go video?”
“Sure,” I said and activated my video connection.
Dad’s face filled the screen. I couldn’t tell where he was, but it was good to see him.
“Winger, tell me.”
He sounded like he always did when he knew I was holding back. He’d used the voice on me when I was eight and terrified of going back on the ice after I broke my leg. He’d used it when I was thirteen and trying to tell him I was gay. And here it was again. Of all the people I could talk to about this, Dad was the best because he got me so completely. And he always set me on the right path.
“I keep reliving yesterday. Crashing my bike into the van. The gun aimed at me. Eddie in the crushed Jeep.” I sat on the hood of the car. “Sometimes it ends differently—with one of us dead.”
“I’m so sorry. That shouldn’t have happened to you. When you started working for TOS, we didn’t like the idea of you getting too involved, but I don’t think we envisioned anything like this.”
“I didn’t either,” I said quietly. “I tried to fight back, as best I could, Da—”
“I have no doubt.” He cut me off before I could call him Dad, which I desperately wanted to do right then. “If you need to walk away from this, I think we’d all understand.”
“No. I can’t. Too many years helping on too many projects. Besides I want to make sure no one else gets picked off like I did. Even with your training, getting abducted still can’t be easy.”
“You’re pretty amazing, Winger. I don’t know if I’d have felt the same way at your age. Take care of yourself. I’ll be home in a few days, but if you need anything, pick up the phone. Okay?”
“I will.”
“Good. I gotta go.”
Dad put his hand on the screen and a wave of nostalgia crashed over me. He’d done this when I was younger as a way to hug me via video chat. I placed my hand over his.
“I love you, Winger.”
“Love you too, Defender.”
Book Blurb:
High school student. Hockey player. Computer whiz kid. Covert agent?
At sixteen Theo Reese is the youngest agent for Tactical Operational Support. His way with computers makes him invaluable. He designs new gadgets, helps agents (including his parents) in the field, and works to keep the TOS network safe. But when a hacker breaches the system TOS uses to track agents, Theo is put to the test like never before.
Thrust from behind the safety of his desk, Theo must go into the field to put a stop to the hack. He’s scared but resolved because one of the missing agents is his father. And just to make it more interesting, he has to keep everything a secret from his boyfriend and teammates.
Can Theo get the job done, save his dad, and make things good with his boyfriend?
Buy Links:
Bio:
Jeff Adams has written stories since he was in middle school and became a gay romance writer in 2009 when his first short stories were published. Since then he’s written several shorts and novels.
Jeff lives in rural California with his husband of twenty years, Will. Some of his favorite things include the musicals Rent and [title of show], the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins hockey teams, and the reality TV competition So You Think You Can Dance.
Jeff is the co-host of Jeff & Will’s Big Gay Fiction Podcast, a weekly show devoted to gay romance fiction as well as pop culture. New episodes come out every Monday at biggayfictionpodcast.com.
Learn more about Jeff at http://jeffadamswrites.com/
Someone from each stop on the blog tour will win an ebook and one lucky person from across all the stops will get an autographed paperback (I’ll ship it anywhere in the world).
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I loved this particular excerpt. My dad & I had never been close that's why it makes me happy to read about dad-&-son interactions or even siblings'. Is it weird that it doesn't make me sad? Of course, it makes me a bit sad. But it is what it is. Anyway, going back to your book, I'm really in awe of YA authors, of how you guys can place yourself in a young adult's mind/way of thinking, of how you would make them think like a teenager without going to the limit of thinking like an adult. Needless to say, the convincing element of a book plays a really big part in the success of any stories. =)
ReplyDeleteHi James. Thanks for your comment. I don't think it's weird at all. My parents divorced when I was young-like three or four--and I never saw him much after that. I've written a couple versions of fathers since then including great, like Theo's, and not great (see "Hat Trick"). I'm always a little sad when I write them, especially good ones, but I try not to stay there very long.
ReplyDeleteAs for writing teens...it's so fun. But it's a challenge too. Teen live today is very different than when I was Theo's age some 30 years ago. It's also different from other teens I've written because he's already got adult responsibilities. It's interesting to me to have him going between agent/adult mode and then into teen mode--wether it's with his friends or parents...or those moments when he gets a little stuck because he's a teen doing an adult job and sometimes doesn't have the life experience to make the right choices every time.