Merry Farmer's Blog, page 28

Top Five Songs of 2013

Yes! The best thing about the end of the year, in my humble opinion, is that it’s when everyone does their “Year in Review” or top ten or so lists! 2013 was a pretty good year for me, when all was said and done (much better than 2012), so I’m going to celebrate it with […]

It Gets Harder

I love the positive affirmation of the whole It Gets Better campaign. I would have loved to have heard that when I was in high school. High School Merry was pretty miserable and could have used someone assuring her that it gets better. In that case, it did. MUCH better. My life now is a […]

Religion in the Old West (and the East too)

Last week in my History Monday blog post I talked about theater in the Old West and beyond, because the heroine of my forthcoming novella, The Indomitable Eve, has lived the last couple of years of her life as an actress. It was a wild, often risky, and only marginally socially acceptable way for a […]

2013 Book #32 – The Seduction of Lady Phoebe, by Ella Quinn

Finally! I finally had a chance to read Ella Quinn’s debut novel! I’ve been waiting to read this one since well before it came out. Ella is a writer friend of mine (full disclosure) and I pretty much counted down the days until The Seduction of Lady Phoebe came out, then counted down more days […]

Why Writers Should Travel

As you may know, a couple of weekends ago I took a long drive from Philadelphia up to Halifax, Nova Scotia. When people asked me why I was going, I invariably shrugged and said “Because it’s there”. But I have to admit, I had a deeper motivation to making that trek. On the one hand, […]

Life Upon the Wicked Stage – 19th Century Entertainment

I’m sure you’ve seen it. What good Old West movie worth its salt doesn’t have a scene or two at a saloon or hall with girls on stage lifting their skirts and kicking up their heels? Or a beautiful enchantress singing songs to soothe the savage cowboy? Or even a comedic performer making them all […]

2013 Book #31 – America, 1908, by Jim Rasenberger

Some things never change. No, seriously. It’s really easy to look at old photographs and see people wearing different clothes and living in a world without cars or computers and to say that the world is so, so different now, but if there’s one thing I took out of America, 1908, by Jim Rasenberger, it’s […]

Epic Road Trip – Part Two: New Brunswick and Nova Scotia

So there I was, driving north through Maine and loving the sights I was seeing out the window. I didn’t see any moose or bears, but I guess I’m okay with that. (Someday!) After leaving Bangor, things grew more and more remote. I didn’t realize that that part of Maine was so hilly! By the […]

Epic Road Trip – Part One: Maine

When I told some of my coworkers at the day job that I was going on a quick 5-day vacation to Halifax, Nova Scotia and that I would be driving the whole way up and back, a few of them said I was crazy. Their first question was, “How long of a drive is that?” […]

Happy Thanksgivukah!

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! Happy Hanukah too. I think it’s pretty cool that these two holidays fall at the same time this year. I don’t know as much about Hanukah as I should, but I do know that it’s a time to celebrate with family, to remember the gifts we’ve been given, and […]