Cecil alumnus releases newest book
Published on April 24, 2019
Jamie Davis (right) is seen here with his son Chris Davis during the annual Cecil Con Convention on the North East Campus of Cecil College.
NORTH EAST, Md. – Very rarely is it possible to combine all of one’s passions into a single focus to create a successful career. For one Rising Sun native, all his passions came together as a non-traditional student at Cecil College.
It is in Jamie Davis’ nature to help others whenever possible, and he finds inner peace while writing in his journal. As a volunteer firefighter for many years, these two passions slowly came together when he decided to earn his associate degree as a paramedic at Cecil College in his mid-30s. The seed was planted for what was to come.
Fast forward to 2019, Davis has released “Cyber’s Change,” the first book of his new series: “Sapiens Run.” Categorized under the fantasy fiction genre, this is Davis’ fifth series embraced by fans on an international level. “Cyber’s Change” comes on the heels of his 2018 release, “The Paramedic Doom,” the seventh book in the Extreme Medical Services series.
“This has become an international business for me,” said Davis, who was in Bali earlier this year for a fan conference of the top fantasy and sci-fi indie authors.
Davis began his career by earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism before working as a sound engineer for television stations in the Baltimore and Washington DC area. After completing his paramedic degree in 2006, he returned to Cecil College in pursuit of a nursing degree in 2008. He found returning to college at 40 was both challenging and more manageable at the same time.
“I took things a lot more seriously when I was paying the bill at Cecil College. It was hard getting back in the groove of studying, but I also found it helpful because my kids always saw me studying. I had a book open all the time, and I had drug medicine flashcards in the car and would study them at the traffic lights,” said Davis, who then worked for a few years as a nurse in a regional hospital. “The nursing program is very challenging at Cecil College. I have met other nurses from other programs, and they think Cecil stacks up against any four-year college program. I have met a lot of nurses and employers who respect the Cecil College nursing degree, which is why I chose Cecil.”
With his journalist and medical backgrounds and the urging of a close friend, Davis took a chance by submitting a rough draft of his first story to the National Novel Writing Contest. The reviews inspired him to redraft the story dozens of times over for the next 12 months. The release of Extreme Medical Services in 2014 was so well received, it climbed to No. 24 in the Amazon book store. The book follows the exploits of paramedics Dean Flynn and Brynne Garvey as they serve creatures of myth and legend living alongside ordinary human neighbors in Elk City.
Within five years, Davis released the Extreme Medical Services Series, the Eldara Sister Series, the Broken Throne Series, and the Accidental Gamer Fantasy Series.
“Every time I have a new book come out, especially one I’ve put a lot of personal value into, I get more than a little anxious. That is the crux of what it means to be a writer. You invest yourself in a project, giving it your whole being as you become invested in the characters and what they mean to each other in the story, and to you outside of it,” said Davis.
When Davis isn’t working on one of his storylines, he uses his medical and journalistic background to write articles for medical websites, medical journals, medical magazines, and news organizations. He attends several medical conferences annually to produce video and articles that are utilized to promote keynote speakers and new research.
“They hire me to bring in a camera crew and perform actual interviews with some of the speakers and key researchers. I have them talk about their research, what they learned, and what it means to the nurse on the floor. How can the front-line nursing staff take this research and make their patient care better,” said Davis, who has also written a non-fiction study guide for medical professionals and students. “Med Math Simplified” helps to calculate medication doses safely and efficiently.
“It is always good when I hear back from a nursing student or paramedic student who says ‘thank you’ because what I wrote helped them,” said Davis, who teaches both Introduction to Clinical Pharmacology and Social Media in the Health Care Setting at Cecil College. “Healthcare professionals need to understand Social Media can be used to promote healthful activities and promote good health.”
Davis is extremely grateful for the education he received from Cecil College. As an alumnus, he is granted access to all the databases to which the Veterans Memorial Library subscribes. These valuable tools have enabled him to research his free-lance writing topics and keep current on emerging techniques in patient care.
“I think people should appreciate that Cecil College, right here in our backyard, is such a top-notch educational institution. I don’t think people realize they have access to an institution that has opened so many doors and opportunities,” said Davis.