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Steve Merrill

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first registered 08.11.09

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about me

The author formerly known as Puny Human.

I live in Vermont with my wife and two daughters and have a degree in writing from LSC. Following the advice given to most writers, I didn't quit my day job, or in my case, my night job, and work in a machine shop on the 3 to 11 shift.

For those who enjoy rock and roll history combined with lame humor, please join me on my ongoing thread and minor personal obsession Proto-punks Rule.

Eudora Welty once wrote, "Without the act of human understanding--and it is a double act through which we make sense to each other--experience is the worse kind of emptiness."

favourite books

To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury
Cannery Row, John Steinbeck
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Lord Of The Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

my websites

    

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my books

Running On Empty

Steven Merrill

In the wake of a friend's death, youths search for meaning in a late 70's wasteland of dead-end jobs, drugs and no future.


Spencer Bellamy was a special kind of person, the "greatest, coolest friend" you would ever know. And when he dies it leaves a vacuum in an already bleak late 70's, post Watergate, post Vietnam war, rural New England landscape of booze and drugs, dead-end jobs, and no future. Now his best friends, Miles, Ripley and Pokey have to decide if and how to move on, and maybe if they will even remain friends, now that Spencer, the glue that held the group together, is gone.

Tired of 1st chapters? Try chapter 17, or 19, or perhaps 22. Though each part of the book has a purpose, these chapters are easily understood without having read the first few, and can be enjoyed on their own. Chapters 9 or 11 are good ones too, and can be read almost as short stories.

Cover by Bradley Wind.

 

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latest

BeeJoy wrote 8 days ago

Hello...how is your day? Would you want to swap reads and comment? to....

RobRow wrote 10 days ago

Hey Steve: If the subject of the thread I started interests you I'....

Brian G Chambers wrote 11 days ago

Hi Steven I am currently at No 15 with my Mary's Magic Muffins & Oth....

Jack Cerro wrote 13 days ago

Who is that in your Avi, Derek Anderson?

KirkH wrote 16 days ago

Hi Steve, I hope you get a chance to read my steampunk story. Cheer....

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my comments

latest

I wrote 82 days ago

I remember backing this book long ago under the old system, and am putting it on my shelf once more. Superior prose, charming characters, great title. view book

I wrote 235 days ago

Entirely fascinating. Your choice to use the story of the brother being taken away was a good choice for the prologue, as it immediately pulls the reader into the story. We want to know what becomes of Pietro. A little rough in spots. Paragraph 5 of Train to Hell, you write "Finally the train wa... view book

I wrote 264 days ago

I have only read you're first chapter, but would like to offer my thoughts. I think there are some strong points, and a few weak ones. First I would like to say, taken as a whole, the chapter works very well as a beginning chapter. I see that this is one in a series of books, but not having seen the... view book

I wrote 288 days ago

I've read the first several short stories. It reminds me much of when I was a kid reading Eerie magazine. Surreal and quirky, I'm not surprised that these stories have each been published. After reading the first three chapters I wondered if there wasn't some sort of wheelchair motif connecting the ... view book

I wrote 298 days ago

Baby bird is funny and charming. "R's baint scared." I can see children absolutely falling in love with that character, because she isn't all sweetness. She's grumpy and feisty, like real kids can be. This is the kind of book parents and kids can enjoy reading together. Having read on for anoth... view book

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