iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Dear Oklahoma family, friends, siblings, and cousins - I did not run booze in a big, black, overpowered Dodge for my great-uncle's rural speakeasy in a dry county, just for you to kneel and lick the books of authoritarianism.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

have a new short story collection that came out this year called IN TRANSIT: STORIES ON THE MOVE. All the stories are "on the move," whether by train, spaceship, automobile, or even on foot. I'm pleased with this collection. Bonus: I created a playlist for the book for you to enjoy as you read.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Apparently, the government's security apparatus has been spying on my church, even going so far as to plant agents inside, disguised as visitors during Sunday services. This tells me that the church I attend (First Universalist in Minneapolis) must be doing something right.

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Queen of Swords Press @qospress.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

#Booksky Did you know that we have a terrific urban fantasy set in #Minneapolis? LAST CAR TO ANNWN STATION by @mmerriam.bsky.social is Welsh mythology meets Uptown, circa 2007. Ghostly streetcars, the Hounds of Annwn, fae creatures + a sweet sapphic romance! queenofswordspress.com/product/last...

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

One day, you are young and fun. Then, suddenly, you find yourself sitting in your bathrobe on your sun porch, talking to your cat about yellow-throated warblers while enjoying your morning coffee.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

While I let the Pony Express novella rest a bit before the next draft, and while I have thinky thoughts about a possible space opera piece, I'm reworking an old secondary world fantasy novel I wrote over a decade ago and...it's not half bad.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

My cosmic horror haunted-radio-station story will appear in this upcoming anthology! Enter SUMMER26 at checkout to redeem a 25% discount; the offer is exclusively available on the Waterstones website and the Waterstones app. I checked, and Waterstones does ship to the USA. Get your copy reserved!

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Danielle Froom 🏳️‍🌈 @danifroom.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

D&D has released an official statblock for Jimothy

Jimothy statblock from DnD: You cannot gain XP by fighting him. He has agile and compact frame traits; his action is hurl garbage.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

The untitled Pony Express novella is complete in the first draft. It only took me 17 damned months to finish this thing.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

On Monday the 13th, I submitted my resignation from my day job. I will remain with them until the end of July. At 61, I thought this would be my final stop, that I would stay here in some capacity until my working days were over or I died face down on my keyboard, but sometimes life has other plans.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Join us today at 1:30. I am looking forward to this discussion.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Have other authors seen an uptick in spam and phishing around your books? People trying to scam money, saying they represent large book clubs (hundreds of readers!) or that they can position your book to reach maximum readership through Goodreads and other platforms.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

4th of July is over. If you keep firing off those illegal in MN fireworks, you are a fucking piece of shit, and I hope you stumble in a parking lot full of garden rakes and get hit in the face by the handles repeatedly.

static.klipy.com

Sideshow Bob Rake

ALT: Sideshow Bob Rake

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Yes, because I've come to love Minnesota over 25 years of living here, warts and all, and my home city as well. I will ride and die for Minneapolis.

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C. Robert Cargill @crobertcargill.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

ICE observers in Minneapolis have begun receiving visits from FBI agents sent to intimidate them. A close friend-combat vet, mother, no criminal record-who was a volunteer observer during the ICE crisis, had a visit and was threatened for taking photos and videoed, claiming that filming was illegal.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

600 new words on the Pony Express Weird Western. I can see the ending from here.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Why are printers the most hateful and hate-filled pieces of technology?

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Queen of Swords Press @qospress.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

#Booksky Have you read author/playwright/poet Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social’s books yet? We publish two of them: Minneapolis sapphic urban fantasy, LAST CAR TO ANNWN STATION and Weird West TERROR AT TIERRA DE COBRE, both terrific reads - queenofswordspress.com/product-cate...

queenofswordspress.com

Michael Merriam

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Burial Books @burialbooks.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Our next writer in the upcoming sci-fi anthology Strange Tales of Space and Time is Michael Merriam with his story "Mother Carry Us Home". Michael is author of the Sixguns & Sorcery series with fourteen books and over 100 pieces of short fiction published. Learn more at michaelmerriam.com.

michaelmerriam.com

Michael Merriam - Author

Visit the post for more.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

New Badge Ribbons have arrived! See you at the local conventions and book events!

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Hey! So that you know, "In Transit" has a playlist. I listened to a bunch of different songs while putting this collection together. These are the most played. youtube.com/playlist?lis...

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Reposted by Michael Merriam

Kenneth Mark Hoover @kmarkhoover.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

I got @mmerriam.bsky.social new anthology today! Can’t wait to read it!

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Queen of Swords Press @qospress.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

#Booksky For the PM crowd! The Astreiant Series by Melissa Scott and Lisa A.Barnett, Point of Hearts is the example book, is eligible for the Best Series Hugo if you’re nominating! This series includes 1 Lambda Award Winner and 1 MIPA Award winner! Help us hit the big time. www.lacon.org/hugos/

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Eddie Clark @dreddieclark.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

This series is very, very good and imo exactly what the series Hugo should be recognising. Suspect a lot of people will be struggling to fill up their series ballot; if you have a spare you should absolutely nominate Astreaint.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Pony Express story update: I'm in the middle of thing, which is why I think I've bogged down (well, that and temporarily working two jobs). It is sagging a bit, but I've done this long enough to know I need to keep pushing, and I will break out as I head toward the end.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Well, I wrote 300 new words on the Pony Express story. I guess Iechnically I am still a writer.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Edits to the two short stories I have coming out in two anthologies this summer have been completed and returned to the editor.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Proof copy of IN TRANSIT on the way. The tentative schedule is to release this in time for @minicon-mnstf.bsky.social this year.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

This is Minnesota calling. This is Minnesota calling. We see you, Vermont. Hold the line. Hold the line. We are with you.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Story sale! I can't talk more about it yet, but I'm super pleased with this one.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

My therapist wants me to take a day off just for me to read and write and DO NO WORK unless it is art career-related. (looks at the calendar, books it for the third Thursday in August of 2031).

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Man, I wish my brain didn't hate me so much.

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Queen of Swords Press @qospress.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

#Booksky Look for Catherine Lundoff and Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social at MarsCon in Minneapolis this weekend! 2, count ’em, 2, former GoHs, one table! They’ll be working our table in the Makers Mart and will be on programming. marscon.org/sides/26sche...

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

It doesn't surprise me how many Minnesotans want to turn Minnesota into Mississippi; it just makes me sad and tired.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Hey Twin Cities Fandom – MarsCon Mpls is coming up next weekend. I’ll be there helping at the Queen of Swords table and also doing a few panels. Note, I will not be able to make my Sunday panel due to a conflict. I’m sad to miss it, and you should attend! Here is my panel

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

I’ve been stalled on the Pony Express story. I’ve been basically stalled on everything. The only writing I’ve successfully completed was a doggerel ditty about being three raccoons in a suit.

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Today, a white cargo/utility van with no markings and out-of-state plates parked in front of our house. Might have been nothing, but my wife stood on the porch and stared at it until the driver decided to move along. It might have been nothing. Maybe.

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Queen of Swords Press @qospress.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

#Booksky #Minneapolis Also, in addition to the offer in last post: if you buy a book by our MN authors: Catherine Lundoff, Emily Byrne, @mmerriam.bsky.social or @jenniegoloboy.bsky.social from our web store on 2/28, we’ll donate (more) to our neighborhood’s rent relief fund. queenofswordspress.com

Book cover for LAST CAR TO ANNWN STATION

Book cover for TERROR AT TIERRA DE COBRE

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Lucky, our newest member of Standish House. Border collie. About six years old. He was abandoned by his previous owners in rural Minnesota. The Heart of a Border Collie rescue took him in, and we adopted him yesterday. He is friendly, whip smart, and already integrating into the household

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Michael Merriam @mmerriam.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

I am not a person I'm three raccoons in a suit And some people call me vermin But I do not give a hoot I'll raid your trash and steal your socks And then let you boop my snoop Because I am not a person I'm three raccoons in a suit

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