Interview with Author Scott Martin

Today we're talking with Scott Martin, author of Anthology


FQ: Sir, I wish to begin with Lorraine and the lovely story that she penned. I can truly see the passion you both felt for NYC. Is it safe to say this is your favorite location?


We both care very much about the neighborhoods and people of New York.

FQ: Is there any specific place in the world that you haven’t been able to go as of yet that you would like to discover and research?


I’ve only been out of North America once in my life, but yes I’d love to see the rest of the world.

FQ: There are so many of us writers in the world, as well as readers, who love history. Is research a hobby or have been a fan of historical data, statistics, research all your life?


I discovered population statistics in my mother’s 1961 World Almanac. The numbers were from the 1960 census. I love it when the new census is released.

FQ: In a way, this book is truly therapeutic for readers, as you touch quite vividly on lives lived and what they provided to the rest of us-is imagination a large part of this, or have you actually seen all these particular landmarks, etc. that you mention?


I did a great deal of reading about the founding fathers in the 1980’s and 1990’s. I realized that there is immortality for most of the people of the earth, that Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison are still around and based on my friend Bray Brooks’ lesson on Blacks and Cherokees that some of the founding fathers are American Indians-why they called it the Continental Army, that the Indians populate the continent.

FQ: I was surprised by some of the innovators and what they accomplished. I even found out new information about Shakespeare when I assumed everything in the world had already been written about him. How do you discover all this? Is there a specific research plan or a certain way of how you go about gathering data?


I have submitted some extensive bibliographies in other writings as well as at the end of the history paper in Anthology. Reading all these books gave me food for thought. Action in terms of exploring neighborhoods and towns you don’t know contributes to revelation. I have studied the Bible, Gita and the Koran as well.

FQ: There are so many counties you speak of that still remain untouched by human hands. Do you still sit in wonder when going down those back roads or through those small towns, about how it all came to be? Or how, the City once looked to the eye of a magnate like Scribner.


Mr. Scribner was a master of forestry before he organized his group of contractors to build New York City-the movement to make New York a giant metropolis began in about 1865. Mr. Scribner is the founder of a little school in upstate New York named Paul Smith College that specializes in forestry.

FQ: What is your personal opinion of the publishing industry now? Would the icons from back then be upset, or thrilled with how it has come along?


Some of those icons are turning up the juice to make people accept technology and some are rearranging Reed Publishing who own the ISBN office and Publisher’s Weekly. I’d rather do business by personal check, but I think despite all the changes those who are assertive will find it worthwhile to master the new game.

To learn more about Anthology please read the review at: Feathered Quill Book Reviews.