Jon Davis

Jon Davis was born October 16, 1980 in Mount Vernon, Washington state, USA. The child of working class parents, much of Davis' childhood was spent dreaming. Before he graduated sixth grade he was writing stories that he presented to video game makers like Nintendo and Sega, hoping he would be the narrative voice behind the next Legend of Zelda or Mega Man. After being rejected he turned his attention to the world of athletic shoe design, having been inspired by Reebok Pumps. Both Reebok and Nike declined to consider the work of a ten year-old boy. Having been scorned by the video game and shoe design industries, Davis quickly found a new focus: movies. An opening night screening of Jurassic Park convinced Davis that the best creative path for him would be writing and directing films. But his fascination with the movie quickly led to the original source material, the Jurassic Park novel by Michael Crichton. Davis became a huge fan of the author's many works and began to consider writing novels instead of screenplays. Davis spent nearly an entire summer writing in the backseat of his mother's minivan while she performed her job as a visiting nurse. By the time he started seventh grade, Davis had completed his first novella, Alien Island. The manuscript, photocopied from the original notebook paper, was promptly turned down by every publisher in Manhattan. At this point Davis decided to give film school a try. A visit to Los Angeles just before high-school graduation proved fruitless. The film school he was determined to attend had the prestige of a taco truck and the neighborhood he planned to live in was overrun with gangs, prostitutes, and fast food establishments. Instead of relocating to the San Fernando Valley, Davis decided to go to college near Seattle. He worked at a grocery store chain while in college, dreaming of something greater and more glamorous. In 2002 he quit his job and bought a one-way flight to New York City, a city he'd never been to but was sure he could make a fresh start in. For two weeks he lived at the Waldorf=Astoria while trying to secure a job and an apartment. Unable to find either he returned to Seattle dismayed. Quietly, Davis began writing. If he couldn't live the life he wanted then he was going to write about it. He began almost autobiographically, telling the story of James Minor, a closeted young man who'd abandoned his childhood farm town for an adult life in the city. In his new life James befriends a famous heiress who transforms his world and shares with him the misery that comes with being a public figure. When he is not busy writing, Davis enjoys drinking whiskey gingers, reading novels from the 1940s, and criticizing reality television while simultaneously being addicted to it. Thieves, Whores & Dinosaurs is Davis' second novel and will be released July 3, 2012. Davis’ first novel, Excruciating Bliss, was released in 2011 by French Press. He lives in Bellevue, Washington.