Jennifer Martin is a writer and former educator living in northern California. She holds a BA in English/Drama and an MA in Educational Administration and is listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, 1998 edition.

A published author since the age of ten, Jennifer is the co-author, along with Rosemary Dean, of The Angels Speak: Secrets From the Other Side and has stories in the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series: Chicken Soup for the Writer’s Soul (co-authored by her husband, Bud Gardner), Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul Letters, and Chicken Soup for the Sisters Soul 2. In 2007, two of her stories have been published, one in Chicken Soup for the Women Golfers Soul and one in Chicken Soup for the Soul Christmas. She also has a story in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Christian Teen Talk, 2008.

For many years, Jennifer has had an abiding interest in Hawaiian metaphysics and spirituality. At writing conferences. she has been a speaker on the subject of metaphysical fiction and the “cultural creatives” as well as encouraging people to tell their own story. In addition, she often gives talks at schools about the value of writing and the need for improving writing skills in public education. One of her favorite programs is done in conjunction with William Shakespeare's birthday.

Her interest in Huna began in the 1980's when her metaphysics teacher, Barbara Klein, picked Huna, the Ancient Religion of Positive Thinking by William Glover as the book to study for a metaphysics group in which Jennifer participated. Jennifer became a member of Huna Research, Inc., an organization that promotes the Huna philosophy worldwide, to which she still belongs. In 1983, she received her certification to teach Huna and has given many workshops in Huna in northern California. Her latest novel, The Huna Warrior: The Magic Begins, is the result of combining her passion for Huna with her vast experience as a high school teacher and administrator. For the past year, she has hosted a monthly Huna Healing Circle at her home in Roseville, California. She is also a recipient of the Northern California Publishers  and Authors  Best Media Package award. Her first novel, The Huna Warrior: The Magic Begins, won a Bronze Medal at the 2007 IPPY awards in the category of Visionary Fiction.

For over twenty years, Jennifer has hosted and produced television programs in the Sacramento area and has hosted a national show, Tahoe Weekly Magazine, on the Travel Network. With the exception of the latter, her productions have always centered on educational and metaphysical themes. Additionally, she has been the on-camera talent for many local television commercials and industrial movies and has appeared in movies such as Wisdom with Demi Moore and Fortune Dane, starring Carl Weathers. She has also worked with Edward James Olmos to help cast his movie American Me.

Because of her interest and experience in television and film media, she has begun to write screenplays. Her first one, The Hunatics (rhymes with lunatics), a coming-of-age drama about teenage kahunas in Maui, has won the Columbine Award at the Moondance International Film Festival in Boulder, Colorado, in August, 2008. The Columbine award is given to work which exemplifies non-violence solutions to problems. Isn't that the Huna way of life? The Hunatics also received an Honorable Mention in the Television/Movie Script category from the 77th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition, placing 26th out of 100 entries. And, lastly, The Hunatics has been named one of the top three screenplays in the nation by KIDS FIRST!, a film and video festival sponsored by the Coalition for Quality Children's Media in 2009.