Christine Merrill she/her

a cat is standing on its hind legs in a room and dancing . Alt: a cat is standing on its hind legs in a room and dancing .

Chapter a day goal completed. On task to finish final draft of book by the end of the month.

Shades of excitement!

Was that when my Grandparents lost their farm? That happened between the times he was drinking, beating his sons and kicking his daughters out of the house at 14 for being useless. And his damn kids kept wanting milk (which was for sale) so he was sensible and gave them coffee.

Good times...

At the Movies: The Bride! Go see it. Because I said so, that's why.

I went to THE BRIDE!

I liked it. If you don't? Maybe it's a chick thing and you don't understand. My thoughts below...

open.substack.com/pub/christin...

I miss the old days, last week when it was only 1984.

I do not like Dr. Strangelove and 1984.

Watching a documentary on MAD Magazine, and finally realizing why my Dad told 15 yr old me that it was pornography.

They went after J Edgar Hoover.

And my Dad? Was a Catholic who didn't like Kennedy and told me that Joe McCarthy had some good ideas.

And no, he couldn't stop me from buying MAD.

I told my agent the hardest part of doing a Heated Rivalry knockoff would be learning about hockey.

But if I am forced to transplant? I will learn to speak the language. Go Maple Leaves!

One of my kids is trans and I will hang onto that knowledge for them, hoping they never need it.

But I am betting Canada is not looking for romance novelists, esp now that Harlequin has cut me loose and I can't claim a Toronto employer.

The video that resonates with me is "Canada is not your mother's basement."

A lot of us have said, "I'll just move to Canada" over the years.
But you guys don't want or need us. I always look at it as the place I'll stay for 6 months while figuring out where I can live.

Or, we can fix our mess.

I understand. Our mess, we should clean it up. Damned if I know how.

As an individual, or even a crowd like in MN, it is hard to get action to carry through and effect the people in charge. But lack of action could crash the entire world.

That's the daily dilemma, now.

At this point, something happens every day that we move on too quickly from. How do we keep up?

christinemerrill.substack.com

I love it when characters in my stories want to eat things that i don't know about, and end up giving me recipes.

Tonight's dinner:

Moqueca de Ovos.

Why does this not surprise me?

Damn straight!

a close up of a man 's face with the words " until death do us part " Alt: a close up of Frankenstein's face with the words " until death do us part "

Went to see THE BRIDE.

What a wild ride that was.

More of a fairy tale than a horror movie. Lots of literary allusions and feminism. Romantic at its core.

A lot of people will hate this movie for the reasons I loved it.

Warped for Life You can't go over to the dark side if you're already there.

Want to see something really scary?

So do I.

open.substack.com/pub/christin...

Spring forward And fall asleep.

The time is changing early for me.

open.substack.com/pub/christin...

YouTube video by Andiroo Reacts GEN Z First Time Reaction to Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart - Sweet Dreams Are Made of This

@jamesdean15.bsky.social

There isn't a normal time measurement on how old this makes me feel. We're onto the geologic timeline, I think.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwOJ...

To the sadist who arranged the hymn we sang in choir today:

We need a safe word.

That measure that is six beats when all others are eight, where the harmony is a minor third and the notes don't match the phrasing in the lyrics?

Rutabaga. RUTABAGA, YOU SICK SON OF A BITCH!

We acheived our aim a lot sooner than expected, so the bombing will continue until the end of the week as we bought all these bombs with us and it would be a shame to just take them home again.

Now shut up and eat your liver.

Why have I never heard of that movie?

Dammit, Covid.

Quotes so weird I had to look them up for a thousand, Alex.

For a change, I am far enough ahead on the story due Monday that I was surprised not to feel guilty about not writing more of it, today.

Finishing tomorrow. Easy Peasy.

It's amazing how much easier to write it is when you are scared shitless to look at the news.

Buffering? Really? NOW?

The last episode of Bridgerton is the only thing standing between me and madness, and my internet is throwing me to the wolves.

@scalzi.com

Thanks for wring a book about the need to keep writing your story, even at the end of the world.

Some of us need that, today.

The day was going so well...

And then, I woke up.

Do I watch Bridgerton and yell at the TV like I'm armchair quarterbacking the Super Bowl?

Yeah. That's part of my job.

If I can hang on for another hour, I can have margaritas and chips and maybe some chilis poblanos at a restaurant.

But there is liver spread and crackers in the kitchen.

Damn you, RFK jr.

We were hoping for "Let them eat cake."

Now, it's "Let them eat liver."

I'm happy with that, but for most people, that's "Eat shit and die."

Another day of wondering whether readers will research the recipes I'm using and argue that a Regency vegetarian would refuse wow wow sauce because of the beef stock.

Then, remembering that, according to Harlequin, I don't actually have any readers.

Also, assuming Cook would sub veg or fish stock