Rod Martinez was born and grew up in Tampa, Florida. He wrote his first book “The Boy Who Liked To Read” (about himself) with construction paper and pencil in the first grade. 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.

http://rodmartinez.us

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/rodmartinez

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25729426-who-is-the-gray-man

Also by Rod Martinez:
The Juniors

Orphans of Danica

Winning entry in ESSAY CONTEST

The 2017 Jerry Spinelli Scholarship

Jerry Spinelli is the celebrated author of over 25 novels for children and teens as well as collections of poetry and picture books. Jerry noted the high level of writing in all of his applications. Jerry selected Rod Martinez as the recipient of his scholarship because of the nuance Rod brought to his story. Jerry said, ‘Here comes a fresh, intriguing take that pulls the reader in immediately. Bravo!’
Rod Martinez, 2017 Jerry Spinelli Scholarship Recipient

Rod Martinez was born and raised in Tampa, Florida. He has always loved words. In grade school, he wrote his first story, The Boy Who Liked to Read. His teacher encouraged Rod to keep writing. In high school, Rod discovered comic books and, thanks to praise from a teacher, started writing short stories. Rod’s road to becoming a writer was paved by motivating teachers. Rod’s middle grade adventure, The Juniors, was published in 2011. Rod selected Books With Bite as the 2017 workshop he will attend.

Writing for kids was a choice that I made after my son challenged me to pen a story about him and his friends, like The Goonies. I did it, and that story opened up the floodgates of writing mysteries and adventure stories, all with paranormal twists. My passion is the written word, and my goal is to share these stories with as many young readers as possible.

Announcing the Recipients of the 2017 Artist-in-Residency Scholarships