Martin A Follose - A Fast Paced Read With Interesting Characters and Quirky Surprises

Martin A. Follose was a performing arts teacher at a small school in Southern Oregon for over 30 years, where he taught music and drama to grades 3-12. He continues to serve as the high school and middle school drama advisor. Martin started writing plays and musicals for his drama group and has over 15 plays and musicals published. Many of his plays are produced around the world. He recently started crafting his plays into novels. SNAPPED! was first a movie script filmed by his high school drama group in 2004. Later, he rewrote it as a stage play performed in 2019, and now a novel. As our Author of the Day, he tells us all about his book, Snapped.

Please give us a short introduction to what Snapped is about.

Snapped is about Lester, a freshman in high school, and how he develops from someone who gets picked on to someone who is confident and in control.

After discovering that he can snap his fingers and stop time, Lester first goes through a time when he uses his power to win a chess match and get revenge on Austin, the biggest bully in school. But when he and his two friends, Peter and Nellie, discover that Austin is selling drugs, they decide to use his power to expose Austin and his suppliers. Things do not go as planned when Lester is captured by the drug dealers and there is only one person who can help him escape and save Nellie and Peter, Austin, but will he?

What inspired you to write about someone who discovers he has the power to stop time?

Several years ago, my high school drama club wanted to film a movie rather than do a stage play. They wanted to do a movie about a superhero. Of course, we were limited in what we could create but with the use of split-screen and green screen, we thought we could stop time. We created the movie and then many years later I developed Snapped into a stage play, and then finally wrote it into a novel. All three versions have totally different endings.

Why did you use a school bully as the catalyst for your story?

I think almost everyone in their lives has been bullied and most everyone would love to have a way to get back at the bully. Since we were filming in and around school, the school bully was the perfect villain.

Tell us more about Lester. What makes him tick?

Lester is a kid who comes from a broken home, is not an A student, and is not an athlete. He wants to be known for something around school and becoming the Chess Champion is his best bet. He also thinks that nice clothes will get him noticed, but he later finds out that all these things do not raise his status at school. Lester learns that being himself is more important.

You used to work as a performing arts teacher. How has this influenced your writing?

I am still working with theater students and writing all the plays that my school performs. Seeing my characters come alive helps to see where the holes are and what scenes and characters need more development. I make changes while we are rehearsing. When I write a book, I always have to ‘see’ scenes in my head before I can write them. Also, just like Snapped, some of my future novels will come from my plays.

Besides writing, what other secret skills do you have?

I am very involved in community theater and love directing and designing lights. I also do some acting from time to time.

Lester initially uses his power in bad ways. Why did you allow him to do that?

Who wouldn’t? No one is perfect and I think it is important for my readers to see the flaws in my main character. I also think it is important for the readers to see a change in that character, hopefully for the good. This happens to Lester. He also rights some of the wrongs he has done.

Why did you title this book Snapped?

In the movie version, which ends with Lester finding out his snapping was all a dream, he runs out after seeing what he thinks is an FBI agent. Nellie asked Peter what’s the matter with Lester and Peter replies, “I think he snapped!” SNAPPED! was it!

Does this book contain an underlying message? What do you hope readers will take away from this?

Be yourself! I hope readers see that Lester discovers that he is best when he is himself. We all have tough times and as long as we are ourselves, we can make it.

Readers say the book had some laugh-out-loud moments. Why was it important for you to include humor in your storytelling?

If you have ever performed on stage, laughter is adrenaline for an actor. I think readers feel a bit the same when there are laughable moments in a book. When we laugh at the characters it makes them real.

Do you have any interesting writing habits? What is an average writing day like for you?

I write in bursts. I might go weeks without writing and then I sit down and can’t stop. I also play music while I write. If I am writing a sad scene, I listen to sad music. When I wrote a Christmas play, I listened to Christmas music. Music helps get me in the mood of the scene that I need to write.

What are you working on right now?

A month ago, I finished the first draft of Fading Gray from a play I wrote several years ago. Right now, I am writing about a pioneer boy and an Indian boy and their unlikely friendship. It is based on actual events that happened in the Oregon Territory in the mid-1800s.

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

My website, martinfollose.com, has information about myself, books, and all the plays that I have written.