Merrick Tull-Johnson is a writer and poet from Boston, Massachusetts. He's currently a UMass-Lowell student, majoring in English with a concentration of Journalism. He's been writing for a very long time, hard at work on many projects including a script and a poetry book. Connect with Merrick online: at his website / with his book: Soiled Grounds / or IG: @merricksbooks
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GB: Merrick, thanks for taking time to talk. Can you share a bit about yourself? Any background info that's NOT in the bio?
MTJ: Thank you for giving me this chance, Glen. A little about myself huh… I don’t even know where to start, so I’ll start with the simple stuff. I’m twenty-two (I’m young, I know). I was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. I’ve been writing for forever of course. I’m into the arts too, my favorite paintings are the old guitarist by Picasso, Chop suey and nighthawks by Edward Hopper. I attain to dabble in a little bit of everything. As you know Glen, I’m an author. But I’m also a poet. I have a poetry book cooking in the oven, as well as a script for my very first book. Sooner or later I’m going to have screenwriter in my credentials. Oh, and I’m also a student for UMass Lowell. My major is English with a concentration in Journalism, so I’m going to be writing my entire life basically. I trust the process! And anything you see on my book, like the covers, editing, synopsis, I do all of that myself!
GB: How and when did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
MTJ: I was always writing if I can recall. I’m pretty sure I was writing since elementary school. But I never could really finish my works, and that goes on into middle school. Then in high school, I went through a phase of solitude, and in that solitude, I was writing all the time. I finally finished my first short story and then I was like, “I think I want to do this for real now,” it felt so refreshing to be able to tell myself I wrote something. You learn so much about yourself in the process. I encourage everyone who reads this to try it out.
GB: Is there any advice you have for someone looking to launch their writing career?
MTJ: Advice for someone looking to launch their writing career, huh? I’d say be patient, be disciplined, be courageous and don’t let your self-doubt get the best of you. And always write even if it’s a page. Go at your own pace you know (slow and steady wins the race), rack up on the caffeine while you’re at it, if need be sleep on it, be well-rounded, don’t forget to give yourself a break, and trust the process. I mean hell, writers are blessed, not a lot of people can say they wrote a novel, a poetry book, or anything that has to deal with writing. We’re blessed even if it’s 50 pages or 100 pages. It’s your art, you gave birth to from the bottomless pits of your mind. Love it, trust it, have faith in it and yourself. Caterpillars turn into butterflies at some point! And don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. It sucks I know, but we have to do it at some point to get our works out.
GB: What styles and genres do you prefer to work with? How comfortable are you with stepping out of those boundaries?
MTJ: Personally, I am a mystery writer. But I mainly write neo-noir which is basically, “New-noir.” The only difference is it’s just more modern, and the rules of classic noir aren’t as imperative as it used to be. But I did add classic noir aspects in my recent book Soiled Grounds, which is a futurist neo-noir novel with utopian and dystopian concepts. The classic noir aspects I added was the Femme-Fatales. For those of you who don’t know what a Femme-Fatale is, I will explain it. Femme-Fatales are women who are very beautiful and seductive. The main character then follows her orders, but no matter how crazy it may be, he does it. But for my first two books (which are not available for purchase right now) I used both neo-noir and noir aspects evenly. With the classic noir aspect, I used the traditional detective, Femme-Fatales, and so forth. Mixed with the neo-noir and how the rules don’t have to apply. Such as, having a character that’s a vigilante, a journalist, a gambler whose luck ran out, and some badass supporting characters that you don’t want to mess with. At the moment I’ve been doing well stepping out of my boundaries. I’m guessing you mean how comfortable am I with stepping out of my comfort zone. I’m 123 pages deep in my fantasy novel. So I guess I’m doing well and making it finally work. It’s been a challenge though, but Merrick is always up for a challenge.
GB: What's your creative process like? Do you have any takeaway routines or strategies? A method to the madness?
MTJ: Great question, I think everyone does in their own little way. During the day I might make coffee to give myself the extra focus when I work, and when night time comes around, I might have a drink or two to get the juices flowing. I usually work at night, so it’s like an end to my day type-of-thing. I get to finally settle down and then do my work when I can finally work at full capacity! I like to keep things simple. I’m a simple person.
GB: If you could use one word or phrase to describe your work's message, what would it be and why?
MTJ: A message in the book I’m working on now? I have a few, there’s redemption, teamwork, faith, strength. A phrase, that I can say is: “Be well-rounded.” It’s good to be sound in multiple things. Appeal to the tastes of everyone. The readers would love it!
GB: What does "success" mean to you?
MTJ: Success to me is not how big my name is, or how many books I sold. It gets a little deeper than that for me. It’s about being consistent and putting the work in day in and day out. Everyone goes to sleep, but you’re up at 3 or 4 in the morning trying to finish up THAT last scene before you call it a night. To me, success is the amount of effort you put into your craft to get you that success. You get what you put into it. The hustle, the grind. Malcolm Gladwell said, “To become an expert it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice.” The “10,000 hours of deliberate practice,” is the SUCCESS that makes you into a success.
GB: What's next for Merrick Tull-Johnson? Got any forthcoming projects we can keep an eye out for?
MTJ: What’s next is called “Siege” -- I’m really excited about this because I’m a mystery writer. This is my first, so far, successful fantasy story in which I got past page ten. It’s been an adventure so far, and I’m enjoying every second of it. I’ve always wanted to do one since it challenges my creativity levels. I mean, you are building an entire world from the ground-up. I can’t wait to see what it looks like finished.
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