B-Side Detour: Wrestler-Author Chad R. Martin on Elvis, Storytelling, and the FAFO Podcast

Host Jesse Jackson welcomes Chad Martin, a Texas-born pro wrestler, author, and podcaster, for a B-side episode that steps outside the Springsteen universe into music, memories, and creativity. Chad shares how Elvis Presley shaped his childhood, how he discovered broader music through a mixtape, and how he found pro wrestling’s “magic” after training on carpet over concrete in a sweltering Arkansas building. He explains performing as the heel character Big Daddy Storm, the physical risks and trust required in wrestling, and how storytelling drives both promos and his writing. Chad recounts leaving the corporate world after a health scare in 2012, learning self-publishing, starting a publishing venture with his doctor, and finally finishing his novel Hale County after outlining it. He also discusses writing multiple books at once, launching the FAFO Podcast for open conversations grounded in facts, and answers the Thunder Road “Mary question.”

00:00 B-Side Detour Intro 00:37 Meet Chad and Tangents 01:40 Life Reset in 2012 03:24 Texas Roots and Elvis 06:36 Southern Identity Talk 08:02 Dad's Mixtape Discovery 09:44 Falling for Wrestling 11:15 Brutal Training Days 14:28 First Match Breakthrough 17:40 Big Daddy Storm Persona 20:23 Wrestling as Storytelling 25:02 Books Bigfoot and Sci-Fi 26:24 Writing Path to Publishing 29:06 Publishing Breakthrough 29:55 Finishing First Novel 30:26 Hell County Origins 31:44 Outline Then Sprint 34:47 Writing Multiple Projects 35:47 Building Bodhi World 37:48 Podcasting Advice 41:27 FAFO Podcast Mission 44:46 Facts Over Hot Takes 48:31 New Genres And Smut 53:40 Mary Gets In Car 56:20 Where To Find Chad 57:23 Final Sign Off

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