Oakwood teen collaborates with Dad on new business book

“He’s amazing,” said Mike of his son Adam.

Adam started his first LLC at the age of 10 and, by the time he was 13, he had published three series of fictional books in the horror genre, including the nine-book “Call of the Wolf” series, the “Knock Knock Man” two-book series and the six-book “Demon Hunter” series.

“It’s strange because I’ve never been a fan of horror movies,” Adam said. “Then I decided to watch one a few years ago and I had a scary dream about it.”

Rather than forgetting about the nightmare he had after watching the newest version of Stephen King’s “It,” Adam thought about an idea for a book.

“English and writing were always my best subjects,” Adam said. “I started jotting down ideas for a book based on that bad dream.”

Adam didn’t hesitate to share his idea about writing a series of horror books with his dad, who encouraged him to start writing.

“It’s hard to write a full-length book,” Adam said. “My dad was working hard, and I had school so neither one of us really had time for it.”

Adam decided to look for a ghost writer who would embrace his ideas and help him put the words on paper. He used Upwork, a popular freelance writing site, to find Matthew Thrush, a published author and ghostwriter.

“My dad and I had our first meeting with him (Thrush), and he fit in with our plans and ideas,” Adam said. “It went very smoothly, and we had the first book finished in four months.”

“Simon Says” was published in May of 2018 with the second book in the series, “Knock Knock,” following in August of that same year. Adam, writing under the pen name of Adam Dark, bundled the first two books in a buy one, get one free offer to help market them. And people started reading.

“We were just going to do two books, but Matthew became like a brother to me,” Adam said. “We decided to write another book set 30 years later (”Chosen”) and it ended up getting on two bestseller lists.”

Adam and Thrush published seven more books in quick succession until last year when his interest in horror writing began waning and he began thinking about a science fiction series.

“My dad said we needed to work a little more on getting my name out there first,” Adam said. “We started a new book about achieving success through capitalizing on all the opportunities we have.”

It may seem strange that an eighth-grader would be interested in writing a book about learning to enjoy life. But Adam said he was inspired during the pandemic shutdown earlier in 2020.

“We got stuck in Arizona and I didn’t have most of the things I owned or my friends nearby,” Adam said. “It was just me, my family and my pets.”

Adam said he felt himself falling into depression, staring at the same four walls day after day.

“I didn’t want anyone else to feel this way,” Adam said. “I started to think about writing a book to help people learn how to enjoy their lives and make money at the same time.”

“The Money Will Follow” includes both Adam’s perspective and Mike’s perspective as an adult business owner. It was published in 2020 and is based on the premise that if you do the right thing, good things will follow.

Adam, who will be a freshman at Oakwood High School in the fall, also enjoys video production and golf. He is also an avid Star Wars fan and collects action figures and props.

“If you are thinking about writing, the most important thing is to follow your heart,” Adam said. “Writing doesn’t come from the brain. It’s an art and you should always follow what you truly believe.”

Adam and Mike Emoff’s books may be purchased through Amazon.com