Robert Martin

Robert Martin grew up in Northern Alabama and spent a bountiful youth in the woods and waters, hunting and fishing with his family and friends. He received a Bachelors in Biology from the University of Alabama and M.S., and Ph. D. in Botany from Ohio University. Following a brief collegiate teaching experience, Dr. Martin entered the food industry as a senior research scientist for Kraft Foods and finished his corporate food career as a director of research and development in the ice cream industry. Dr, Martin has contributed many scientific works and seven industrial patents during his tenure in biology and the food industry. "The Caretakers" is the first work of fiction published by Dr. Martin and there are two more currently in the works.

I became an author of fiction because there was so much in my mind that wanted to find a way out and this format seemed a great deal of fun for me. I grew up listening to great stories around the hearth by my grandfather and father. They taught me that a good story is a journey to enjoy all the way through, not just at the ending, and that a good story should make one stop and wonder, throughout the ride. All my writing is hopefully designed to be fun, or at least provocative, in some fashion to make it enjoyable, while presenting it as realistically as possible.

"The Caretakers" came about as a story where the animals fought back and I needed a medium for the animals to communicate and that's how JT and the spirits came into the mix. They would become the generals of my animal army fighting the ruthless land developers. As I have experienced a great deal of wood lore, I thought it appropriate to use it mixed in with my formal ecology training.

Please e-mail your thoughts about the book as readers comments are always welcome. But above all, I hope you enjoy the read!