If you pay even a little attention to the Dallas literary scene — and there is one — you have no doubt heard the name Merritt Tierce. You may have read her gut-punch of a debut novel, Love Me Back, or at least promised to get around to it. And maybe you’ve even come across stellar notices from the New York Times and The New Yorker and even Tim Rogers, saw that it was short-listed for this prize or that, and thought, “That Merrit Tierce is doing pretty alright for herself.” I thought that. But I was wrong.
In this essay for Marie Claire, she talks about quitting her day job just before Love Me Back was published and how it wrecked her financial life, which in turn wrecked her writing life.
For over a year after Love Me Back came out I woke up every day with this loop in my head: I should write. But I need money. If I write something I can sell it and I’ll have money. But I need money now. If I had money now, I could calm down and write something. I don’t have money now, so I’m probably not going to be able to calm down and write something. To have money now, I need a job. I should get a job.
Which is how she wound up becoming a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service. Read the whole thing.
