Marty Essen began writing professionally in the 1990s, as a features writer for Gig Magazine. His first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, won six national awards, and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune named it a "Top Ten Green Book." His second book, Endangered Edens, won four national awards. Marty is also a popular college speaker. He has performed the stage-show version of Cool Creatures, Hot Planet on hundreds of campuses, in forty-five states. Time Is Irreverent is his third book and first work of fiction.