When did you start writing and what inspired you to start?
I began writing down prayers for various intentions and circumstances in my life when I was a sophomore in high school. Over time, as I realized my attraction to academia, I began writing in different ways – researched pieces, literature reviews, things like that – but ever continuing to write prayers and spiritual meditations and essays. I suppose you could say, then, that my inspiration has always been found in the various circumstances in my life at the time or in retrospectively looking-back.
How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
Four, which include the titles “Faith-Filled Fragments,” “Sport & the Spiritual Life,” “Beyond I Am,” and my newest, “Worth Holding On To.” I can’t quite choose one favorite from the four because they are all generally different. “Sport & the Spiritual Life” is one of my two favorites because it combines two of my greatest loves in life: both my spiritual relationship with God and my affection for sports and athletics. Now, “Worth Holding On To,” I also like, but for different reasons. That one was a novella based entirely on the most significant romantic relationship I’ve ever experienced and though the relationship has long since been over, there are good things about the young woman with whom I shared the relationship that I never want to forget… and that’s partly why I wrote it… So the memories are always there, in print.
“Sell” your latest book in 120 characters – Tweet style
Some people are impossible to forget! Remember someone you still love and re-discover yourself in the process. 🙂
The current trend in publishing is toward series novels as opposed to stand-alone books. Is your most recent release part of a series? If so, where do you see the story going (ie how many books in the series)? If not, do you have a series you’ve written or plan to write, and if so, what is it?
I don’t have plans for any series novels or series books. My interests drift around too often for that. Haha.
When your latest title is adapted to film, and the producers ask for your dream cast, what will you say?
“I think I would want my cast to consist of rising stars with little recognition thus far. I say that for two reasons:
1) Whether we realize it or not, as human persons, we always subconsciously compare actors and actresses with whom we are familiar to their previous roles and performances and my experiences were so unique, I would be very opposed to having them trivialized to mere comparisons.
2) Why not give someone else with real talent, though little known they may be, a chance to rise to prominence in their acting careers? ”
Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?
Absolutely. Whether its primarily a more scholarly or researched book (like Sport & the Spiritual Life) or something entirely narrative (like Worth Holding On To) or even devotional in nature (like Beyond I Am and Faith-Filled Fragments), I always try and convey and present the truth of eternity rather than a temporary and fleeting experience or a sort of impermanence. Sure, our athletic abilities, our love for certain persons, our finances, even our health and memories may fade over time, but there is an eternal life ahead of us where all of these things will be not only restored, but made indestructible. And that is a beautiful thing.
Do you have a new book coming out soon?
Possibly. Right now, I am focusing on academic pieces as I pursue another degree so there might be a lull in my book roll-outs for a moment, but you really never know… There’s always a chance. 🙂
Who are some of the authors you particularly admire or who’ve had some influence on your own writing?
I really enjoy works by Walker Percy because not only was he also a great Southern writer of recent memory, but he often weaved positive, uplifting, often religious and spiritual undertones into his works. I think that is so important in our increasingly secular world.
List your favorite quotation or words you live by.
“I have two favorite quotes; one is by the British play writer, John Galsworthy, who said:
“”Love has no age, no limit, and no death.””
and the other is from St. Teresa of Avila who said:
“”God withholds Himself from no one who perseveres.””
I also like to live my life focusing on one simple line from the end of The Apostle’s Creed:
“”I believe in the Resurrection of the body, and the life of the world to come.”””
Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
I feel like I say a great deal to them in my writings, but I think it is important for every person, whether they read my works, like them or not, to know quite simply and quite honestly that “You are loved!” And that is either by your friends, your family, your significant other, or by God Himself. And that love is more than enough reason to keep living, and to stay hopeful.
You can purchase “Worth Holding On To” and all of Anthony’s books through our bookstore and connect with Anthony on social media and read his biography on his author page.
Past, Darkly Hunter S. Jones
Judy Nickles, also writing as Gwyneth Greer, has been spinning tales since she could hold a #2 pencil. When bad weather threatened, her elementary teachers called on her to tell stories to keep the other students from focusing on the storm clouds outside. For better or worse, she still hangs on to the faded copies of her own 1950’s era parodies of the popular television show Dragnet: Fishnet, Hairnet, and Butteryfly Net, and most of the essays, stories, and poems she wrote in junior high and high school. Later, she wrote The Big Valley ‘fan fiction’ for an online site.
Anthony M.J. Maranise, Obl.S.B. is a research scholar in the Department of Religion & Philosophy affiliated with the Master of Arts in Catholic Studies Program at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee. He is an Oblate of the Order of St. Benedict in the Catholic tradition, having dedicated his life to academic research and instruction with specializations in the intersection of Sports, Spirituality, and Religion, Catholic Spirituality, and Benedictine Monasticism.
