Published May 18 in the Appalachian News Express

Former EMS supervisor now an author

By RUSS CASSADY
Appalachian News Express Staff Writer

Kentucky EMS Connection Editor's Note: J. Todd Akers is a former EMS dispatcher and on-shift supervisor for East Kentucky EMS. He is also a former volunteer firefighter and chief of the Island Creek Volunteer Fire Department in Pikeville.

PIKEVILLE — The idea that he has a published book fell into place for Pike native Todd Akers when he got on yahoo.com a few days ago and did a search for his pen name Jeremy Todd.

At the top of the results page, as a sponsored link, was the line, “Buy Jeremy Todd Books at Barnes and Noble.”

That, according to Akers, was an amazing revelation for the first-time author, whose book Untouchable Legend only officially came out yesterday.

Akers, who now lives in Louisville, was a founding member of the Island Creek Volunteer Fire Department and a former Pike County sheriff’s reserve deputy.
Akers, a 1994 graduate of Pikeville High School, said he attempted to become an officer with the Jefferson County Police Department and might have made it if budget cuts had not eliminated some positions.

He currently works as a safety dispatcher for a large chemical company, a job he said is similar to law enforcement in some ways.

“You never know what you’re going to be dealing with from one day to the next,” he said.

A love of writing came naturally for Akers, who said he never minded writing assignments in high school.

“All through high school, I enjoyed writing those blasted portfolio entries,” he said.

While a law enforcement student at Prestonsburg Community College, a professor held up a book the class had been assigned and informed them that it was written by a secretary who had never written before.

The professor then said there were some in the class who could be capable of writing their own book.

Akers said he took it as a personal challenge.

“I sat down and immediately started working on it,” Akers said.

However, he found it difficult to write continuously toward finishing the book, and took several breaks after beginning.

“It took me about one to 1-1/2 years to write it,” he said.

After that, he searched unsuccessfully for a publisher until a news article led him to Publish America, which accepted his book quickly.

“I thought you’ve got to be kidding me,” he said.

The book is a fictional account of Texas Rangers assigned to investigate a series of ritual murders, closely resembling a case the father of one of the rangers was working 25 years earlier when he went missing.

The book ends with a setup for a sequel, Akers said, which has perturbed some of his early critics.

“Thus far, I’ve had no negative complaints, except about how it ends,” Akers said.
Those same critics, however, have been surprised at the work, especially in light of Akers’ normally goofy nature, he said.

The book was purposely written in a simple manner, something Akers said he prefers in a book.

“I don’t want to be impressed by an author’s extensive vocabulary,” he said. “I’ve got a story to tell and I want to tell it as simply as possible.”

Although Akers’ mother has been supportive of the effort, he said she has also offered him one of the few negative criticisms he has heard.

“She said it was a little gory,” he said, laughing.

Untouchable Legend is available at most online bookstores, including direct from the publisher at www.publishamerica.com. The book can also be obtained through special order from bookstores.

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