Author Marty Roppelt Joins Us

Marty Roppelt was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He was brought up with Grimm's Fairy Tales at bedtime. Marty later ran across horror novels that his mother borrowed from the local library, by contemporary masters of the horror genre—Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Peter Straub.

Small wonder. Marty's parents emigrated from Transylvania.

Marty's original profession was acting. He lived in New York for a while, and appeared in a few shows Off-Off-Broadway at the Spectrum Theater, and as an "extra" on the soap opera, Guiding Light. After returning to Cleveland, he continued acting on stage, in local commercials and training films, and in feature and cable films.

Marty also worked a wide variety of day and night jobs. He has cleaned swimming pools, delivered newspapers, been a security guard, waited tables, and tended bar. Today, when he's not writing a new short story or novel, he works as a Starbucks barista. He enjoys finding ways to use his diverse life experience to enhance his story-telling.

A pet project involves St. Herman's House, a men's homeless shelter in Cleveland. Always a bit controversial, the home ran into bad press, through no fault of the men living there. Nevertheless, donations dwindled dangerously in 2011. Marty saw a financial need he could not fill. So, over four years, he wrote short Christmas stories which he published and sold online to raise money for St. Herman's. He continues to look for ways to help the home.

Marty lives in northern Illinois with his wife, Becky, and their eccentric cat, Fritz. Mortal Foe is his first novel.