Rod Martinez was born in and grew up in Tampa, Florida and was attracted to words at an early age. He wrote his first book “The Boy Who Liked To Read” (about himself) with construction paper and pencil in the first grade on his own – wasn’t a class assignment. His teacher then decided to keep the masterpiece and show other students in class what they could do if they applied themselves.

Later in life, aside from multiple trips to the public and school libraries, Rod discovered Comic Books and was determined to work for Stan Lee once he was old enough. As a student in school he was drawn to reading, writing and drawing and by high-school had completed several comic books of his own creation. It was his Creative Writing teacher in his senior year that pulled him aside and told him “You should delve into short story writing, give the comic books a rest.”

Writing short stories next came natural, it was like telling a story – but using words hands instead of pictures. Within a few years he’d have several short stories done and pursued publishing, but not with the vigor most writers had, he wrote for the love of it and liked to share his photocopied stories with friends and family. It wasn’t until adulthood that he got serious about writing.

The next step, of course was to try and write a novel, which proved a VERY fun task. A novel was the embodiment of a comic book in prose form.

“Writing a story is like sitting in front of a stage and watching the performers direct me. I have a basic idea of the storyline, but the characters take over and I’m just their tool.” Rod confesses.

In his spare time he spends lots of time on the internet, or reading, or writing his short stories, novels and comic book scripts or in his music studio built into his garage – the room he also does his writing in and the place referred to as “the other woman” by his wife. Of course, when he can - he spends time with his wife and son.