Rod Martinez was born in and grew up in Tampa, Florida and was attracted to words at an early age. His first book “The Boy Who Liked To Read” was done with construction paper and pencil in grade school. His teacher kept the masterpiece to 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. As a student in school he was drawn to reading, writing and art 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.” Needless to say - he followed her advice.