By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
Normally libraries are buildings in which silence is golden, but things changed a little bit Monday afternoon at the Crestline Public Library as local author and Crestline High School student Jake Martin was on hand to read excerpts from his latest novels.
Martin, who goes under the pen name J.A. Martin, signed books as well as read excerpts from his novels “Spring” and “Shooting Stars.” Martin’s first novel was the first of a seasons series titled “Winter”. Martin spoke about his seasons book series.
“The book series is the seasons, it is about four kids who embody the seasons, it is going to be four books and a fifth that is going to be a combination of two novellas, and their story is about discovering their powers and kind of developing them. They work off each other. Anyone can tell you, can’t read “Spring” without reading “Winter.” It is like trying to watch the Harry Potter movies from the third one on. You would just get lost.”
Martin spoke about the books’ characters as well as future plans for the books’ characters.
“The main characters are named Eric, Jenny, Mark, and Ava, their seasons are winter, spring, summer, and autumn respectively. The point of view changes for each book. The first book is from Eric’s point of view, the second book is Jenny’s, the third will be from Mark’s and the fourth will be from Ava’s,” Martin explained. “The artwork on the books are what their final form is. I am planning on a sequel to the books based on the holidays, and it will be different and the same at the same time, and it will have appearances from my characters in the seasons books, but it is going to be when they are adults.”
“For my ‘Stars’ books I am planning on doing something like Star Wars- trilogies with interwoven storylines,” Martin added.
Martin spoke about his two favorite authors and how he took their writing styles and fashioned them into his own.
“Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling, which Barnes and Noble actually compared my book to the two of them and it was the happiest thing ever, because they are my favorite authors,” Martin said. “I love their stories, I love their styles of writing, because there is a casualness to it. I try to picture my writing as kind of like having a conversation, which is why my books are in first person.”
Martin, who began writing in fifth grade with short stories, moved onto writing novels after a challenge was set forth from his mom, Katrina Martin, to write something longer. Katrina explained why she gave him that challenge.
“I thought that if I got him to write stuff out on his computer it would help clear his mind out, no it’s just he just puts more in there,” Katrina said.
That challenge got the ball rolling for Martin and soon he had his first book “Winter” published as an ebook around Thanksgiving 2015, with a softcover of the novel being released in December of that year.
Martin spoke about the difficulties of writing a series of books with intertwining storylines.
“Remembering things. There are times when I get to a part of a story and I have to scroll through things that I have written to make sure that I don’t forget,” Martin said. “Like there is a prophecy that I wrote in one of the books and for the life of me I couldn’t remember what it was, so I had to scroll through my past writings. Luckily, since it is all saved I can find it again. So that is not too much of an issue.”
The books, which were self-published through CreateSpace Publishing, have had some success with “Winter” selling 97 copies through the Mansfield Barnes and Noble store. According to Martin, the book sold out on his signing of the book in May of last year, and have had other sellouts at the store since.
The artwork for the seasons series of books was done by an online artist who goes by the name Kiwi Bird and they represent the final form his characters take within his books.
Martin noted that the “Summer” and “Autumn” books have already been finished, but will be released over the next few years.
Martin added that while it is nice to self-publish his books, he hopes to one day catch the eye of a publishing company.
“I would really like to find a bigger publisher to publish my books, so I have the chance to reach a larger audience,” Martin said.
After signing books for those in attendance, excerpts from “Spring” were read by friend Leah Bruce, as well as Martin. Martin also read excerpts from his “Shooting Stars” book.
Martin’s books can be found online at www.amazon.com, as well as www.barnesandnoble.com by searching “J.A. Martin” and then the title of his book. Martin’s books can also be found at the Mansfield Barnes and Noble location.