CRESTLINE, Ohio — Sixteen-year-old Jacob Martin is now a published author.
The junior at Crestline High School recently published his first novel of a four-(potentially five)-part series, “Winter: The Seasons, Book 1.”
“The concept for the story has been in my head since before I was even writing,” Martin said.
Martin began writing the book at the beginning of his freshman year of high school after his mother encouraged him to do so.
The protagonist is Eric Johnson, who discovers that he’s the season of Winter and that he has three siblings, each of whom possess powers of their respective season.
The book’s synopsis reads, “An organization called the Council of Ice is after [Eric]. They want to use his magic to cause another Ice Age. At least, that’s what the Seasons are told. Regardless, they now have to go on an adventure to save Eric’s life.”
Read the first chapter of the book by clicking on the attached PDF.
“When I didn’t have writer’s block, there wasn’t a moment that I wouldn’t be writing this book,” Martin said.
He said the four main characters represent an aspect of his personality. “Eric is my insecurity–I’m a very insecure person, even though it never seems like it,” he said. “Jenny is supposed to be my friendly nature, Mark is my very horrible sense of humor, and Ava is my more intellectual, logical side.”
Martin completed the novel just a few days before his 16th birthday.
His math teacher, Lauren Sauer, edited it for him. “While she was editing it, I completely wrote the second book,” he said.
Artist Kiwi Byrd created the cover for the book.
Martin self-published his book through Kindle Direct Publishing. It is available on Amazon.com as an e-book.
The e-book is over 300 pages long and the original book file is 452 pages, he said.
“Hopefully it’s going to become a physical book soon,” Martin said. “There are people who have told me that they have it on their Christmas list and I’m like, ‘I want to deliver,'” he said.
So far, he’s sold 29 copies and has received tons of support from his family, the community and his fans.
“I love the fan art,” he said.
He hopes the book will be made into a movie, video game and graphic novel.
He said he’s currently working on the third book in the series. “It’s coming along a bit slowly, but I know what I want to happen, and everyone’s going to hate me for it,” he teased.
He also has several other series planned.
“I am definitely going to do a sequel series to ‘The Seasons’ called ‘The Holidays,'” he said. “As opposed to four kids with the powers of the seasons, it’s five kids who are the children of the icons of the major holidays. And they’re going to have equally cool powers, but they’re going to be completely different.”
Martin said his passion for writing ignited when he began writing short stories and poems in the sixth grade.
“People paint pictures with paint; I paint pictures with words,” he said.
He hopes to be an inspiration for others his age who are interested in writing their own book, he said.
Two authors who inspire him are J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan. Riordan is his “all-time favorite author,” he said, adding, “If he read my book and he liked it, my life would be complete.”
Martin aspires to become a screenwriter for his own cartoon show on Cartoon Network.
“The only problem is, I want to go into cartoons and I’m a horrible drawer, he said with a laugh.
“I even have an idea for a show I want to make. It’s called ‘The Celestials,’ and it’s about these three ancient beings who have a 15-year-old niece and nephew who are half human.”
Keep up with Martin’s latest projects by following him on Tumblr.
