Website: http://www.timothydavisauthor.com/

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Pacifica, CA, United States
Tim Davis got into trouble at age 12 for reading Treasure Island under his blankets by flashlight when he was supposed to be sleeping. When he grew up, he pursued his love of children’s literature by earning a PhD in English and teaching Children’s Literature at university. He left academia in order to move to the San Francisco Bay Area and teach elementary school under an emergency program that let college graduates teach if they worked in the inner city. Tim Davis still lives in the Bay Area with his family, and recently began writing a series of children’s books that he hopes will get some other kids in trouble for reading under the blankets with a flashlight.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Airport Hitchhiking


In my teens, as I was doing one of my cross-country runs, I decided to hitchhike through Canada to the East Coast.
One sunset, I had my thumb out on a Modesto, CA highway, but the cars kept zipping by. Looking around for some sign of hope, I spotted the Modesto Airport. Why not fly?
I went in, asking the pilots if any were heading north.
“You want to go north?” asked a lanky, sallow guy, without smiling. “I’ll fly you to Seattle.”
“Hey! Great! Thanks!” I enthused.
We walked out toward a lovely Cessna, but went right by it. Behind it was the oldest, smallest, plane I’d ever seen. Its canvas cockpit was faded like an overused tent.
“Your door doesn’t really lock,” he said, as I slid onto the miniscule ripped seat. “You’ll have to hold it closed.”
He fired her up and we bounced along the runway, the plane starting to take off and then jolting down again.
“Interesting plane.” I said. “How long have you had it?”
“I just got it today,” he answered, finally pulling the contraption into the air.
“Oh, that’s great!” I tried to hide my alarm. “How long have you been flying?”
“I just got my license today,” he replied.
Oh. I sat paralyzed, half from the numbing cold that poured in my door, and half from fear. Things couldn’t be any worse.
Abruptly he clutched his chest. “Geez. I’ve been having these pains.”
Criminy!  Worse?  What if he died?  Where would that leave me?
Trying to sound casual, I began quizzing him how to tell where an airport was among all the lights on the ground, and then how to fly and land the plane.
You’d think he’d be delighted to share his knowledge, but he was a suspicious type. “Why do you want to know?” he asked. “Are you planning to push me out?”
Now we each flew in fear, and I made no protest when he said he needed to stop for the night. He swooped down at an airport. But we were going much too fast. I closed my eyes.
“Oops. Not this time,” he murmured, and up we went again. He tried again. Same thing. On the third try the plane came bouncing to a stop. My door flew open.
             That was the last of my airport hitchhiking.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

A Sample of Sea Cutter


I disappeared into my cabin, opened the hatch, and crawled down to Snake.
“Now’s the time,” I whispered, slitting his bonds.
With my dagger at his back, I made him climb topside and drove him to the side of the Sea Cutter.
“Tell me where you hid the letter, then jump off.”
He turned around and folded his arms with a cocky expression. “I’ve changed my mind.”
“You can’t change your mind!”
“I can’t swim. I’d rather face Wayland.”
“You’re not going to see Wayland.”
“I could shout for him.”
“Go over.” I held the dagger to his chest.
“You see, Nat,” he grinned, “we are alike. You’re ready to drown a man. You’re a murderer like me.”
“I’m not at all like you!” I hit him across the jaw with the flat of the dagger.
His head snapped back, his eyes rolled up, and he fell backward into the water. A minute passed. Three. Five. He didn’t rise.
My fury vanished. What had I done? I’d knocked a man out, sending him to die.
A pistol shot rang, an impact hitting my back. Time slowed. My dagger fell, flipping leisurely. Then the green water slowly came to meet me as I tumbled over. The sunlit roof of water closed above me like slow curtains. The bullet in my back throbbed as I sank deeper into the darkness.
Then I remembered what lay at the bottom of that darkness—Snake’s corpse. My foot hit sand and, terrified, I shoved myself upward.
A cold dead hand gripped my ankle.
The last of my air went out in a silent scream.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Sea Cutter is blogged on "Time to Review Books"

Hi Kids & Parents. Sea Cutter is blogged on "Time to Review Books". Until Oct. 15, Sea Cutter is free at Timothy Davis - Author

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Sea Cutter blogged on "This Kid Reviews Books" -- a 9-year-old.

Hi Kids & Parents. "This Kid Reviews Books," a blog written by a 9-year-old, has reviewed Sea Cutter. See it at http://thiskidreviewsbooks.com/2011/09/10/sea-cutter-book-i-in-the-chronicles-of-nathaniel-childe/ .

Sea Cutter is FREE at my website until Oct 15: http://www.timothydavisauthor.com/index.html

Thursday, September 8, 2011

"Bookworm Blather" Has Blogged Sea Cutter

Hi Kids and Parents. "Bookworm Blather" Has blogged my children's/YA novel Sea Cutter at http://michelleisenhoff.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/sea-cutter-book-one-in-the-chronicles-of-nathaniel-childe-by-timothy-davis-2011/ . Sea Cutter is free at my website: http://www.timothydavisauthor.com/ . Thanks for looking!