Robin Hood: Legacy (book one) By James R. Martin

10/27/2024

Debut author and teacher, James R. Martin introduces us to his historical fiction novel, “Robin Hood: Legacy”:
England in the year 1290 is a world in turmoil. An ever-increasing social awareness is met with sharper attempts at oppression from those in charge. The Church is at odds with the Crown over rights of taxation; the Crown is at odds with the people, who are evermore bent on self-direction and oversight; and the people are at odds with both Crown and Church, feeling the pressure of taxation from both sides, the frequent tug-of-war between Clergy and King over whose rules took precedence (dividing loyalties of the citizens) and of an increasingly more hectic life driven by a population boom.

In the midst of it all, the fires of rebellion are lit by the unlikeliest of lawmen, as he strikes back against the royal injustices committed against those he is sworn to protect. The story of the man known as Robin Hood, and how that name became a legend which would span the generations.

Based on the extensive historical research of author James R. Martin, discover a new and likely true identity of the original Robin Hood, through connections to real-life individuals, places, and events.

How was one man able to carry out acts in so many parts of the kingdom, simultaneously? How did he resurface in so many different time periods? In the most original and realistic Robin Hood epic to date, learn the answers to these questions and more as we explore Robin Hood: Legacy (Book One.)

The author has taken historical bones and wrapped a great story around it! Intrigues abound and evildoers seem to be around every corner whether courtly, ecclesiastical or commoners.
This period of amassing as much personal wealth by any means extends even to our modern times. People haven't changed mostly, they have found different ways to accomplish their desires.
No spoilers from me! I wish I could say more.
The author has crafted a marvelous tale of historical fiction.
I award 4.9 stars, I am picky about certain things. You are going to love this book.

You can buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Robin-Hood-Legacy-Book-One-ebook
https://www.goodreads.com/-robin-hood-legacy

You can connect with the author:
https://x.com/jaymo1978
https://www.facebook.com/-James-Martin-author
https://www.instagram.com/jaymo1978
https://www.threads.net/@jaymo1978
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaymo1978

Medieval, British, action, intrigue, adventure
Copyright © 2024 Mark L. Schultz except for the author’s introduction

41 Comments

James R. Martin link

10/28/2024 09:36:48 am

Good morning, Mark! Thanks so much for your kind words and your time in reviewing this book! This is a great site, and a very useful promotional tool for authors. I'm looking forward to chatting here!

Mark

10/28/2024 10:52:14 am

Good morning to you. I am honored to help you promote your book. I enjoyed the story a great deal. I remember playing Robin Hood as a boy.

First question.

Please, tell us more about yourself. Perhaps something a little bit beyond your bio.

10/28/2024 06:13:36 pm

I am a teacher and technology specialist outside of Houston, TX for my day job - I currently teach 5th grade and have been in education for 23 years (which sounds like a lot when I say it out loud! :-) I was born and raised in Clinton, IA (shout-out Hawkeyes, Mounties, and River Kings) and moved here in 2001.

My parents are two of the greatest people on the planet, and they have always supported me in everything, including my writing, which is not always the case in some families, sadly. In addition to spending as much time with them as possible, I am also a huge animal lover (not just dogs and cats, but really, any animals you can think of including wild animals.) I love reading, writing, video games, film, TV, really a wide variety of interests. I actually started my writing journey writing screenplays (and still do that - my producer, Dee Brantlinger, and I are still working to get in the door to as many places as possible with some really "big idea" stories!)

I've also been Type I Diabetic since I was 8 years old, so that does present some challenges in life, but I'm still here! (Life can't get rid of me that easily! :-) I'm sure there are some things I've left out, but those are the broad strokes!

10/28/2024 07:34:04 pm

Broad strokes, indeed!

Twenty-three years is a good start! Teaching can be wonderful and frustrating at the same time, but then most jobs have that quality. Peers and management make a big difference in career enjoyment.

New questions.

What are your three favorite genres to read for pleasure?

Has writing changed the pleasure of reading for you?

10/29/2024 08:10:30 am

Ooh, that's a tough one - I love most things in the science fiction/fantasy realm (everything from Star Trek & Star Wars to Tolkien) and am a big fan of realistic fiction, whatever the sub-genre may be (Dan Brown is a favorite of mine, I love books that blend facts with fiction, to give the reader that feeling of, "Wait, could this be true?")

For my third choice, kind of in general, I love historical fiction, particularly classic literature. I have a growing collection of classics, and something just feels more "real" about reading a story set in a certain time period when the author is from that time (or at least closer to it than we are.)

I don't think writing has affected my love of reading at all, just because I've always approached creating a story from a different mindset than consuming one. When you read a book/watch a movie/watch TV, etc. there's this suspension of disbelief where you just go with the flow of the story and try to enjoy it for what the creator is presenting. I always feel like over-analyzing goes along with that, so I try not to impose my own ideas onto someone else's vision. That's not to say there aren't things I watch or read that I just don't enjoy, or that once in a while a glaring story point or plot hole doesn't leap out and make me say, "where the hell did THAT come from?!"

10/29/2024 09:35:38 am

We have very similar tastes! Tolkien's LOTR was my introduction to fantasy and I fell in love with it. Sci-fi has always been my favorite genre but fantasy is a close second followed by historical fiction. CS Lewis is another favorite author. Narnia is a family favorite.

Lewis wrote so many different books. He even has a sci-fi trilogy which is rather prescient. He modeled the protagonist closely after his good friend, John Ronald Reul Tolkien.

New questions.

Why do you write?

How has writing changed your life?

10/29/2024 09:54:27 am

I think one of my biggest reasons for writing is just the desire to share what I think is a good story with the world, and hoping others find it as exciting as I do. I've been writing for as long as I can remember (all the way back to book reports in 1st grade that nobody asked me to write, through short stories later in elementary and middle school, creative writing and research papers in high school and college, and so on.) I think writers have this eagerness to share their love of a great story, and to do that we want to craft it as meticulously as possible. I also think, if we're honest with ourselves, every creative person is something of a showoff - even people who do it with a personal respect and appreciation for the art form itself want others to see it and hope their work reaches someone or affects someone's life, way of thinking, etc.

I think for how it has changed my life, it's only been in positive ways - I've met a lot of great people starting with my screenwriting, and now my venture into novels, people who continue to be friends to this day. I also feel it gives me a great outlet, it's a huge source of relaxation for me - we often read books or watch movies/TV as an escape, just to blow off steam or spend some time in another person's shoes. With writing, for me, it's the same - the ability to bring characters and stories to life and sort of enjoy the flow of the story along with the characters as you write it is a very enjoyable experience!

10/29/2024 02:04:24 pm

You were born to write! How nice.

I struggled with creative writing all through high school. Reading was not an issue. I zipped through writing assignments so I could read the rest of the period.

Many writers hope that their writing touches a person. (Future question)

I certainly agree with you. I have met a lot of wonderful people who write on Twitter and in real life events.

New questions.

Does your work, past or present, have any influence on your writing?

Who was the first person to inspire you to write something to publish?

10/29/2024 06:38:46 pm

Oooh, this is a good one. So, I have to say that, whether deliberately or inadvertently, my work definitely influences my writing both past and present. I've been in educational technology for a long time, and while it isn't obvious in a book set in the 1290s, I have some other scripts that I want to work on adapting ASAP which definitely draw heavily on my love for technology and all things "advanced." One of my favorite quotes is from Arthur C. Clarke, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Another is Carl Sagan, one of my favorite scientists and authors, who wrote, "I set before you two ways: you can use your technology to destroy yourselves, or to carry you to the planets and stars. It's up to you." I feel like there is so much in both of those quotes - the magic of the impossible suddenly becoming possible is fertile ground for creative projects, and from a social standpoint, we very much live in the world of the second quote - we have so many ways to simultaneously tear ourselves down and lift ourselves up that we, in our collective ambitions, seem so often at odds with ourselves. So much new technology is dived into without thought for the consequences, and it's a lot harder to put the genie back in the bottle when you see its purposes are malign.

But I digress! To continue with your question, teaching is also in my blood, and I really hope a lot of that comes through in my book, not in a preachy or dull way, but in a way that shares uncommon knowledge in an interesting and approachable way (and hopefully, which is indistinguishable from the fiction!)

I have so many influences in my writing that it's hard to say exactly who directly inspired me to not only get published, but just to write in the first place! I fondly remember reading Tolkien in 4th grade and loving it so much I wanted to read it again almost right away. I also loved the intense detail of writers like Stephen King and Tom Clancy. I think maybe it was Michael Crichton - the attention to detail and blending of fact and fiction, science and history of works like Jurassic Park and Timeline, that really first got me into the idea of writing for production and publication. That, and I have to mention George Lucas (with the fantastic imagination to create this entire universe that is still with us today) and Gene Roddenberry (whose vision was so prescient that we have many of those technologies today!)

10/29/2024 08:18:56 pm

That quote from Clark might be my favorite of his. If the technology is not discernable then only magic remains.

Sagan is quite right also! As recorded in Deuteronomy 30:19 "...choose life or choose death..." Humans have a poor track record for making wise choices, it seems.

Those are all fabulous authors; their books have sold in the millions.

Roddenberry and Lucas are geniuses of the first order.

New questions.

What inspired you to write this book?

Why did you choose this genre, or do you feel the genre chose you?

10/29/2024 10:40:03 pm

This is an easy one for me to answer! I've always been a fan of the Robin Hood legend and all of its various versions, but I've always been plagued by two things - first, the fact that there are literary references to him so far back, and that so many different time periods are cited as his origin, and second, the fact that historians largely just shrug and say, "Eh, he didn’t really exist."

So, I came upon my own idea (which really necessiated the genre too) in 2010 when I read a nonfiction account by Washington Irving called "Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey" in which he travels to visit Sir Walter Scott and tour the ruins across England. One of his must-see items on his list was Newstead Abbey, the boyhood home of Lord Byron. This is where Byron fell in love with Mary Ann Chaworth, the inspiration for so much of his poetry.

Long story short, Chaworth lived at neighboring Annesley Hall, and while he was there he toured that house as well. The last stop on the tour was the Great Hall, where the caretaker highlighted "Sir Robin's Boots and Armor." Irving basically put it off to the fact that it's the middle of Nottingham and everyone had some claim to the RH legend, but none were probably true.

It got me thinking what a great story it would be, though, a modern family with some connection to the real person, just as a complete fiction story. As I started researching, though, I discovered the first of many things that made me realize I could be on to an actual believable explanation to what really happened - the second owner of Annesley Hall, way back in the late 1200s, was also the Sheriff of Nottingham.

I don't want to give away any more than that, but suffice to say, there were a lot more real discoveries, tied to real historical figures, and also clues within the text of some of the original Robin Hood ballads that made me realize I had to tell this story as a realistic historical fiction. I only call it "fiction" because some of the backstories are fleshed out, and there will never be a document discovered to definitively say "this was him," but with all of the documented events and people, I hope it comes across as a believable possibility!

10/30/2024 07:34:39 am

"What if..." I think more stories have had their origin in those two words than any other. You had a definite "What if" moment. I must say that your train of thought makes a lot of sense.

I imagine that your research was relatively easy in the 21st century. People have been diligently scanning historical documents and putting them online for many years.

New questions.

For how many generations did the legend of Robin Hood persist in England?

Have you ever seen a UFO or UAP, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena?

Have you ever seen a cryptid, an animal unknown to modern zoologists, or found evidence of one?

10/30/2024 08:51:52 pm

So, the conventional wisdom out there generally focuses on a time period anywhere from the 1100s (at the very earliest) to as far forward as the 14- or 1500s based on the different versions (Howard Pyle wrote one set in 1190 focusing on a Robert Fitzooth, which Thomas Percy also used. Many modern tellings, such as Prince of Thieves or Ridley Scott's RH are set around that time during King Richard's reign. However, one of the oldest surviving written versions of Robin Hood from the 1400s, taken from the oral tradition, states that the King was Edward, which means the earliest he could have lived was in 1275 at the start of Edward I's reign. Also, the Hood versions set in the 14 or 1500s can't be his origin (but could be later conspirators) because the earliest literary reference to RH was in 1377 in Piers Plowman!)

Sorry, you can tell I love talking about this stuff!

Ah the paranormal! I love it! Believe it or not, I have seen a couple of things that are definitely unidentified in the strictest sense, but that's not to say there isn't an explanation. I remember vacationing with my family in Corpus Christi in the mid 90s, right on the Gulf, and one night we were sitting on the deck over the water. In the distance we saw this small speck of light and thought it was a plane. Over the next couple of minutes, it grew to about the size of a dime hanging in the sky. It moved laterally a couple of times, from a dead stop to full speed, and then a dead stop again. Basically, acceleration and deceleration unlike any capabilities we have in our "known" aircraft. After a couple of moves, it hung in the air a few more seconds, and then in the span of less than five seconds the light shrank and disappeared! Corpus is very near an airbase where they test out experimental aircraft, but it still seemed VERY advanced, so I've always wondered!

I've never seen any Bigfoot or anything like that, but I have definitely had some "hair stand up on your arms" moments that felt like a little glimpse behind the curtain... I'm happy to share if you think anyone would be curious!

10/30/2024 09:04:56 pm

No apologies needed. I asked because I wanted to know. I love talking to experts.

Your UFO experience is pretty cool.

My sisters have told me we saw a UFO when we were kids, but I don't have any memory of that.

I have had similar hair-raising experiences with no visible cause. I grew up in Bigfoot's area in the Pacific Northwest, but I have not had any encounters or found any evidence.

I know at least one person who would love to hear about your cryptid experience. Feel free to share.

New questions.

How many drafts did your book go through before publishing?

Is there anything unconventional about your writing technique? Why or what is that?

10/30/2024 11:20:28 pm

My book ultimately went through three drafts - once to get the basic story laid out, once to move a few elements around so that it flowed better, and then at least two proofreading passes which I'm lumping together as one official draft. Being my first book, I think the hardest thing was figuring out what my process was. I got through the first few chapters writing off the cuff and then really nailed down my outlining which helped a lot!

I think probably the most unconventional or unusual thing in my writing is that I love using the "Subjective Narrator." With Omniscient Subjective, you get to have a lot more fun with the subject matter. The narrator really can have the author's own voice, occasionally commenting on the events or state of the world, even offering a lighter feel when the content gets a bit heavy.

If you aren't sure what Subjective Narrator feels like, Douglas Adams was a master of that technique in The Hitchhiker's Guide!

As for my paranormal experience, I definitely haven't seen any cryptids, but I have two experiences that defy explanation- one took place in 2003 (before smartphones and such.) I was teaching computer lab at that time and had a lengthy conversation with one of my students about a topic that interested him, answering his questions. At that time, the internet was beginning to boom, and these fake sites were first cropping up which were almost exactly like the web address you wanted, but with a .com instead of a .net, and the fake site was just a generic placeholder, an ad page, or even a virus. Well, my student and I finished our conversation, and another student called me for help. As 2nd graders often do, she had gone to the wrong site (schooldistrict.com instead of schooldistrict.net) and when I got to her iMac, there on the screen was one of those generic placeholder sites with a complete transcript of the conversation I had just had with the 3rd grade student, complete with ums and pauses and everything. I was pretty freaked out, so I just helped the student close it and reopen the right site, like "Nope, that's wrong, nothing to see here, goodbye!" After though, I realized I should have taken a picture, so I hunted down a digital camera and went back to the .com site... and it was GONE. Not even a placeholder, just an error 404 page... still no explanation to this day!

The other one is maybe more easily explained - but that gets into dejà vú, prescience, and theoretical physics, so I might save that for another time! 😅

10/31/2024 09:01:20 am

The first book is always the hardest for a writer. The learning curve is steep. Many writers are pantsters, writing by the seat of their pants, the way that you started writing your book. Many gravitate toward outlining, also known as plotting. If I were a writer, I would definitely be a plotter. I heard about one author that was a pantster and a plotter. After he was happy with each chapter, he would make an outline of the chapter. He said it made finding a particular passage much easier.

I still want to read Hitchhiker. When it was quite popular, I was traveling in Europe and reading Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Interesting story, creepy also.

New questions.

Who designed the cover of your book? Feel free to drop a link if appropriate.

How many drafts did the cover go through?

10/31/2024 10:54:38 am

I HIGHLY recommend Hitchhiker's Guide, and Adams's other books, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective series and his nonfiction Last Chance to See. Such a great mind we lost way too soon.

I actually did all of my cover design, showing it to a few friends in the writing and graphic design world to nail down things like the font size and so forth. I used GIMP 2.0 for the textures, things like the embossing and metallic texture in the text, and other image sharpening and so forth, and a program called Ibis Paint on my tablet to do the fine detail with my stylus and removing backgrounds from the different image elements that I layered together. Last, I put it all in Canva to get the layout just right and add the deep forest colors. That was fun! It actually went through two "major" drafts, starting out with a much more minimalistic cover, parchment with a Celtic ring and a small glimpse of the forest behind, but the final design tested a lot better! As for minor tweaks, moving text around, resizing text backgrounds, aligning the center character,etc. felt like there were about a thousand of those tweaks!

Oh, and the photo in the center is from Pexels, a royalty free image site - I mention the photographer in the acknowledgements, his name is Zaur Takhgiriev!

10/31/2024 12:04:39 pm

You are a talented man! Congratulations! Thank you for explaining in detail your process. I like the cover quite well, it expresses the idea and ideal of Robin Hood perfectly.

New questions.

Was it hard to come up with the title?

What was the process?

10/31/2024 06:24:50 pm

It's funny, aside from the cover, the title probably became the toughest thing to nail down - from the time I started it way back in 2010, as a screenplay, it has been through several different versions - it started out as "The Line of the Hood," and a writer buddy of mine, Dan Calvisi, and I kicked it around for a LONG time. Ultimately, after the scripts went through several rewrites, we sort of stumbled onto the idea that, wait, this is really looking at Robin Hood, where he came from, and what comes after, so... what about Legacy? It just seemed to fit! :-)

10/31/2024 08:24:13 pm

That was a good choice. The title is hard for a lot of authors to choose. Some start with several in mind and settle on one as a WIP title. Frequently, the actual title is changed for publication. Some authors keep experimenting with title or cover over a year or two. Still others like to refresh the cover every so often.

New questions.

Have you ever done NaNoWriMo, National November Writing Month?

If you have, what kind of preparation do you do before it starts?

10/31/2024 09:51:33 pm

I've never done NaNoWriMo, and that's one of those things where it's a tough call. I've heard good things about that movement in the past and seems like a great way to hold oneself accountable to an ambitious writing goal. On the other hand, I always hate to commit to something if there's a chance something could come up to interfere with it. Especially when life has such a tendency to be unpredictable!

I've also heard some controversy as of late regarding some of the use of AI, and possibly them supporting or at least not discouraging the use of AI? I don't know much about what went on there, but I do feel like AI is a dangerous double-edged sword. I never use it, but I can see how AI for productivity purposes could be powerful, with things like spellchecking, organization, planning, etc. Generative AI, on the other hand, is an abomination for creative purposes, a threat to intellectual property rights, and frankly it's insulting and more than a little dishonest to ask a machine to create something, make a couple of tweaks, and pass it off as your own.

Have you heard about any of that controversy?

11/1/2024 08:08:31 am

Today, as I write this, is November 1st, 2024, the first day of NaNoWriMo for a lot of people. Some writers would join groups for mutual support and encouragement. They would create a party atmosphere.

Generative Artificial Intelligence is a serious controversy. I think it has some wonderful uses; it can gather reams of information and collate that data generating useful conclusions sometimes. I agree with you, it is an abomination for creative purposes such as writing a book. Amazon requires authors to disclose AI usage in writing a book. I would read an AI-written book for curiosity's sake.

I read 40 to 50 books a year and I find spelling errors in all of them except one. Once a year, for 11 years now, I find one book without any obvious spelling errors. As a proofreader, I wonder if AI will generate spelling errors also because it has consumed a lot of books with spelling errors.

I recently saw an ad for a new audiobook process. An author can train the AI to their voice and become their own narrator. Narration is more than just reading a story aloud. I have been saying for several years that AI wasn't going to destroy the audiobook narration industry it was going to cause it to expand and grow. A savvy narrator will be able to offer multiple price points, starting with a primitive, robotic-sounding voice to more natural voices. The narrator could train AI to the narrator's voice. Celebrity voices will be licensed and available probably sooner than later. The ultimate price point will be actual human narration. There are those who would pay extra for that.

New questions.

Have you written and published any short stories before writing your book?

If so, how long had you been writing before the first short story was published?

11/1/2024 02:17:05 pm

I've definitely never had short stories published,but always loved writing that format when I was younger (middle and high school.) I did have a couple of poems published in high school, though!

11/1/2024 05:34:54 pm

Short stories are a great way to refine your writing techniques and experiment with different writing styles. Contests can be fun also to see how your writing measures up against other writers.

I have recommended to writers that short story writing contests, especially those that provide feedback from the judges, can help a writer improve their writing skills. I do have a warning, there are a lot of shady contests out there. Some want to extract as much as they can from your wallet, others want to steal your intellectual property. Here is a copy-and-paste link about those things: Beware Bogus Writing Contests! Look for These 8 Red Flags. https://annerallen.com/2019/05/beware-bogus-writing-contests. You can also use the search box below to find the link. There are other blogs I have links for on my Highly Regarded Blogs page.

New questions.

Is this the first book you have written?

If you will be writing more books, what can you tell us about them?

11/1/2024 06:32:31 pm

This is definitely my first book, but I can tell you it won't be my last! It's been a lot of fun to create, and I have SO many stories that I want to tell. I'm one of those people who doesn't like to pigeonhole myself into one specific genre, so, while there will definitely be a Book Two and beyond for Robin Hood: Legacy, I have other much more modern stories to tell as well! And a few of them are stories I already have established and copyrighted as screenplays, so the bones of the story are already in place!

First, I plan to venture into the world of international intrigue and science fiction in Doppelgangers. A young science-and-technology whiz who brings his genealogy company into the 21st century through a social media platform that connects users who share a genetic link. His database is secretly hacked by an enemy country, leading to an entirely new and deadly form of identity theft.

In New Australia, when the future of Mars Colonization is stalled by a general public concern with the potential health dangers of prolonged space exposure, combined with the reality of a "one-way trip," America turns to another source for potential colonists: the recruitment of nonviolent criminals who volunteer to be Mars' first colonists in exchange for a second chance at freedom.

In What Goes Around, a psychologist must connect a bloody killing spree (committed by his childhood friends' son) with the local legend of a merry-go-round haunted by the spirit of a serial killer long-dead - a serial killer he helped convict decades prior.

There are definitely more, but those are my big three to start with! :-)

11/1/2024 07:11:44 pm

Those ideas sound great! You do have a fertile mind! I hope you keep an idea journal. Many authors use an idea journal in one form or another, to prevent losing any ideas. I recommend limiting ideas to one or two per page so there is room for notes if the idea is expanded upon in the future.

Many authors hear from their muse at odd hours and therefore keep a pad of paper and a pen on the nightstand. One author told me she heard from her muse at 2:30 in the morning regularly. Some mornings she can even read her nocturnal notes. Another author lamented how she heard from her muse frequently in the middle of her shower and lost so many ideas because she couldn't get out of the shower fast enough. I suggested she get a Fisher Space Pen and a notebook with waterproof paper.

New questions.

Have you encountered a troll reviewing your book?

How did you handle it?

11/1/2024 10:24:50 pm

I'm very fortunate, I've not encountered any trolls with regard to my work. I'm not totally sure how I would respond in that situation, but it probably depends. The thing with trolls, though, is that they're only interested in a reaction, so they have an excuse to keep on trolling. A person like that doesn't magically see the error of their ways if you call them out. Ignore them and they do one of two things - give up and go away because they aren't getting their payoff, or keep at it and just end up looking like a fool.

11/2/2024 05:42:41 am

You have an excellent perspective about trolls. I know some authors who perseverate about a troll's review. I tell them that the bad review validates the good reviews because no one has ever written a book loved by everyone. The bad review also proves that the good reviews are not just from your friends and family. Most of the time the troll hasn't bothered to read the book and their review makes that obvious. Here's hoping that the trolls never find you.

New question.

What was the first paying job you worked as a kid and how old were you?

11/2/2024 05:09:02 pm

Ooh, this is a fun question! So, I don't remember what age I was, but I always look at my first real "paying" job as working for my mom's family business. I was probably in middle school, and she ran a pet sitting service (Critter Sitters) that had TONS of clients in our hometown! We would take care of people's pets while they were on vacation, or even had some daily clients to take care of while they were at work, for example. It was a fun job, because we've always loved animals and I learned a ton about them and just about business in general. Probably the most exciting animal we took care of was an African Serval, but they were all fun.

My first job outside of our family business was when I was in college, I did the PA announcing for my men's and women's basketball teams, baseball team, volleyball team, and even the local minor league ball club for a year before I moved to Texas! I ended up being the "Voice of the Mounties" for the whole time I was in college!

11/2/2024 09:24:08 pm

Those are great early jobs! My first paying job was selling seeds and greeting cards door-to-door. It was mostly the neighbor on each side, grandma and the aunts. Third or fourth grade. When we moved to a small farm I did babysitting and picked beans and strawberries. The first few days I made very little because I ate most of the berries and beans. It was a lot of fun.

New questions.

Other than the public announcing, have you done any public speaking?

If so, will you be doing more in the future?

11/3/2024 01:23:43 am

Hmm... well, I've not done any "professional" public speaking, just a couple of things in high school and college (National Honors Society and such.) I've always wondered what speaking on a topic professionally would be like, I imagine it would be a lot of fun!

11/3/2024 08:42:46 am

Being a public announcer would require smooth diction even with a rapid pace. That is a difficult task for me, I had a severe stammer all through school and struggled with normal conversation especially when nervous or excited.

Years later, as part of professional development for the company I was working for in management, I took a Dale Carnegie course in public speaking. I learned two great secrets. First, only speak about something that you are expert in, the audience has come to hear what you have to say. Second, you will still be nervous so use that nervous energy to your advantage to speak with passion and excitement.

I once spoke to more than 800 people and it was very energizing. I relish every opportunity to speak publicly because it is a lot of fun.

One of my favorite blogs is about pursuing the local author angle. How to be a marketing star right where you live. A copy-and-paste link or search the title in the search box below: https://annerallen.com/2019/08/hometown-book-marketing/

I would add a few tips, seek out literature teachers at the high school and college level to share in their class and there might be a club in the school. Local newspapers are a good resource for an interview as well as local cable access. There might also be a broadcast arts curriculum and/or a club at the high school and college level. Have some questions ready to hand the interviewer if they seem uncertain.

Senior centers are another good possibility and they usually welcome any sort of activity like that. Contact the events director.

If there are tourist destinations try and place your books with the local author angle. Museums, gift stores, motels, hotels, tourist attractions are all possibilities. Keep a box of books in your trunk. Get a counter-top holder for a few books, paste a picture of the cover on the holder behind the books and put re-ordering information on the back of the holder.

Consider renting a table at a comic convention, county fair, farmer's market or a flea market. Have free swag to hand out such as a bookmark and sell mugs or posters. There are so many ways to be the 'local author' I doubt I have exhausted the list of possibilities.

New questions.

Among present or past family members and friends how many are or have been writers or authors?

Is there anyone you know who might claim you as their inspiration for writing?

11/3/2024 03:28:14 pm

I don't have anyone in my family who has done any writing, but my mom is very gifted with language - I'm certain she would be great at writing, and she's where I really get my love of words and using them to express ideas. I have many friends who are writers, though, considering all of my screenwriting friends in LA and other parts of the US and the world!

I'm not sure if I've inspired anyone to write, per se, but as a teacher, I know my students know of my book and my other writing, and I'm their Reading/Language Arts/Writing teacher, so my sincere hope is that I inspire them to love writing as much as I do, and maybe to take it up as a career one day! I know that when we're working on creative writing projects or response journals, they are very excited to get back to that and continue their works in progress, so I feel like maybe my love of writing is influencing them in that respect!

11/3/2024 04:05:01 pm

I got my love of reading from my mother also. She read a lot, encouraged me to read and made sure relatives sent me books for my birthday and Christmas. She subscribed to Reader's Digest Condensed Books, I read a few of those that were interesting to an 8- to 10-year-old boy. More as I got older.

Being a teacher is very influential. Many of those kids are eager to learn more. I have no doubt that many of them will look back and credit you for their writing achievements.

New questions.

I noticed that your book is in Kindle Unlimited. How is that working out for you?

Why did you choose that exclusive venue?

11/3/2024 11:29:28 pm

When I first published my book, Amazon was in the midst of their yearly Storywriter contest, and being in Kindle Unlimited was a requirement of that contest. So, I weighed all of the pros and cons of the program and decided it would be worth trying. I definitely feel like it's been worthwhile, I can see from my KDP profile that I've had a lot of page reads from that, and it also gives you the opportunity to enter a free promotional period to get more eyes on it! I highly recommend it.

11/4/2024 08:05:43 am

Amazon does push KU quite a bit. They must make a lot of money off of it and they share the revenue with the authors. I have been told authors receive a fraction of a penny for each page read. Those with multiple books in KU can make decent money. One author told me that KU pays enough to cover her electrical bill.

There is one small problem with putting all of your eggs in one basket even though it is a big basket. If Amazon ever decides it's not profitable, they will pull that plug in a heartbeat. Check the terms and start placing your books on other platforms when you can. After all, a lot of people prefer platforms other than Amazon.

Here is a copy-and-paste link about companies that can help with that for a fee. Aggregators just might be an author's best friend! https://www.kotobee.com/blog/everything-need-know-aggregators/

New question.

What is your favorite food and beverage?

11/4/2024 06:16:59 pm

This is a tough one for me - I don't have widely varied tastes, always had pretty simple tastes, but I'm kind of a "traditional food" nut - I love a great hot dog or hamburger with fries. (A ballpark foot-long on a poppy seed bun is really the BEST. :-) Beverage is MUCH easier for me to answer, I'm a Diet Pepsi fanatic - I've basically had Diet Pepsi ever since I was a kid, being diabetic, so I just got used to it and never really varied from that!

11/4/2024 06:24:44 pm

I am similar because I enjoy simple food also. But I also like to try new foods whenever I can. I drank regular Pepsi for many years. I switched to water at least 15 years ago. Especially if it has been filtered through hops, grain and yeast.

Last questions.

How many books are you planning for the series?

Any side stories?

11/4/2024 06:32:14 pm

Ooh, this is a good one. I have to say, I haven't planned out a definite number of books yet, because I can foresee the series spanning through many generations (at least, that's the hope!) I would like the current time period to be at least three books, not counting potential side stories, and then the mantle would be passed on from there. I REALLY would love to have multiple standalones that cover the backstories of all of the supporting characters, too! Eventually, I could see picking the saga up in different time periods, all the way up to and including modern times!

And when you start to add in all of the "Robin Hood" branding that gets applied to folk heroes from different cultures, it opens an exciting possibility for those characters to all tie into the main storyline! I won't reveal any more than that, but suffice to say that Book 2 will have a big connection to another folk hero of the time!

11/4/2024 07:26:49 pm

That is great news that your fans current and future will be ever so grateful for.

Since you are dealing with such an iconic figure, there are many merchandizing possibilities open to you. I recommend you get a lawyer experienced in entertainment and intellectual property law. One of my guest bloggers wrote a piece about his adventures in that arena. It's the latest on my Guest Blogs page.

Thank you, James, you have been a wonderful guest on the Word Refiner channel. I have enjoyed our chat immensely. I am grateful that you hired me to help promote your book.

Until next time, keep on writing.

11/4/2024 09:00:54 pm

Thanks so much for your time and effort, Mark, and thanks to all of your readers, too! This has been great fun, and I really appreciate the opportunity to get more eyes on my book! You offer a great service here, and I look forward to doing this again with my next book!

Robin Hood: Legacy (book one) By James R. Martin

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