MEET THE AUTHOR
Russell L. Martin, known to his family and friends as Rusty, was born and raised in Grant Parish, located in central Louisiana. His family lived near the poverty level throughout his childhood. With a limited education and a strong desire for a better life, he hired out with a traveling construction company that installed oil and gas pipelines all across the U.S.A. Starting out at the bottom of the food chain, working as a laborer with little to no money, he would camp out near creeks and rivers to survive the high cost of living away from home. When his strong work ethics became noticed by his supervisors, he was allowed to advance and work in all phases of the oil and gas industry.
After several years of working on land, Rusty decided that it was time to get a taste of installing pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico. To further his education in this part of the industry, he received commercial diving degrees at The Ocean
Corporation in Houston, TX. After only a couple of years working in the Gulf as a diver, he went back to land-lay operations, due to a family crisis. He continued working freelance for multiple pipeline companies until finally retiring after 34 years in the oil and gas industry.
It was not until he decided to settle back down where his roots of life started in central Louisiana, that he surrendered to becoming an author. His love for God, paired with many strange events throughout his life, left him with a gift of telling amazing stories. He has stated, and truly believes, God led him to the keyboard of his old work laptop. Surprising his family and friends, he unveiled a hidden talent that no one realized he possessed, including himself.
After writing the Christian novel, "Scars of My Guardian Angel", several proofreaders were asked to give an unbiased opinion of the book. Their incredible reaction and positive reviews inspired this new author to continue writing, what is now called "The Portal Series". The second book, "Bloodline of the Scrolls", was self-published in December of 2018. Russell is now writing a third book of the series, "Revelation of the Scrolls", with intention of publishing in 2019.
Thirteen wonderful Christian songs are among the collection of Russell's writing. He and his wife enjoy sharing them in local churches around their community. Playing his Taylor guitar and singing Christian music is truly a deep passion of his heart.
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Rusty and his wife, Laura, live a humble and quiet life on a few acres nestled in the middle of Kisatchie National Forest. They enjoy spending time with their two beautiful horses, Ellie Mae and Hollywood. This couple also loves three stray dogs they rescued out of the deep woods. The one they call Daisy Lou, looks like she might be a Redbone Coonhound. Another, Moushie, the most recent addition, looks very much like a Mountain Cur. Lastly is Benji-faced Nibbles, well he's just a dog with a cute little underbite.