About Me
Son of a carpenter and a nanny, Rod Palmer was born in a historic Gullah Geechie community in Charleston, SC. He received his degrees in creative writing and Afro studies at the University of South Carolina. Currently he resides in Europe where he is a dedicated husband and girl-dad. He has authored eight novels and nowadays enjoys travel and writing the next novel.
Why/How Did I Become An Author?
Why/How Did I Become An Author?
Besides writing, I've had many talents; three different sports, canvas art, singing, and math. Writing is the only talent that came without any conscience effort to do it well or even to enhance it. From a young age, school teachers would always use my book reports, and later, analytical papers, as the shining example for the rest of the class to emulate.
My childhood, however, was challenging. At just age sixteen I moved out of a home of domestic abuse and went on my own, needing to work full time to pay bills; therefore, I also became a high school drop out. I was employed at a small restaurant where each employee had to wear many hats, so out of this necessity, I learned to be a quite capable sous chef. So, I decided at sixteen that that would be my career path for life.
...Until the most respected attorney in all of South Carolina read my handwritten letter and called me personally to say, "that was the best thing I have ever read." You see, my mother was a nanny for some very influential people in Charleston, and when she mentioned to her employers, that her son was in a car accident and seeking an accident lawyer, they got right on the phone and summoned Mr. Andrew Savage, a revered trial lawyer who doesn't even do accident settlements, but at the behest of such a respected family Mr. Savage took my case.
Once getting such high praise from such a highly respected figure, I could no longer deny that writing was what I needed to do. So then this high school dropout began doing everything necessary to become enrolled in the college with the best English program in the state, the University of South Carolina, where I later received my degree in creative writing. The first book I read by Toni Morrison I knew who I wanted to write like, so I read and reread her novels. Beloved, I've read over twenty-five times. It helped me find my literary voice.
My childhood, however, was challenging. At just age sixteen I moved out of a home of domestic abuse and went on my own, needing to work full time to pay bills; therefore, I also became a high school drop out. I was employed at a small restaurant where each employee had to wear many hats, so out of this necessity, I learned to be a quite capable sous chef. So, I decided at sixteen that that would be my career path for life.
...Until the most respected attorney in all of South Carolina read my handwritten letter and called me personally to say, "that was the best thing I have ever read." You see, my mother was a nanny for some very influential people in Charleston, and when she mentioned to her employers, that her son was in a car accident and seeking an accident lawyer, they got right on the phone and summoned Mr. Andrew Savage, a revered trial lawyer who doesn't even do accident settlements, but at the behest of such a respected family Mr. Savage took my case.
Once getting such high praise from such a highly respected figure, I could no longer deny that writing was what I needed to do. So then this high school dropout began doing everything necessary to become enrolled in the college with the best English program in the state, the University of South Carolina, where I later received my degree in creative writing. The first book I read by Toni Morrison I knew who I wanted to write like, so I read and reread her novels. Beloved, I've read over twenty-five times. It helped me find my literary voice.