When Robert Merrill retired as the owner of an energy solutions company a few years ago, he didn’t have to think long on what he wanted his next chapter to be. Becoming a writer.
Says Robert Merrill, “It’s something that I’ve always, in the back of my mind, wanted to do but unfortunately, because I chose to take heating, air conditioning and refrigeration in college, I gravitated to that. So I had to put writing on the back burner until I had more opportunity to write.”
When looking at the titles of Merrill’s novels, such as ‘Insurrection at Lock 24,’ you can immediately tell that Thorold is an important part of his stories.
“Some people like to say they like to put Thorold on the map. I would more like to think of it (that) I would like to put Thorold at the centre of the map. I’m also on the city’s tourism committee, I’m pushing for Thorold. There’s a lot of history here, a lot of history."
But it’s not only history that Merrill draws on. He also finds inspiration in the local news.
“My present book now, 'The Canal Bank Killer', it’s a thriller and a lot of it has to do with the recent renovations at Beaverdams Park. It just happened to be at the same time. I started writing it and it was just a coincidence so I thought to take advantage of the situation.”
Merrill’s latest endeavour is a Christmas story he is sharing with ThoroldToday readers.
“That one pretty much just came to me. It was my desire to write some kind of little fiction story about Santa Clause that people in Thorold could relate to, young kids could relate to, and trying to write myself into history a little bit.”
Even though Merrill ran a successful energy solutions business for many years, he hopes to leave his mark on the world with his stories.
“I wanted to write because I felt that we should make a contribution while we’re here on this earth. I just didn’t want that all there’s left is an ordinary headstone in the graveyard which people rarely visit. This way I felt like I could leave something behind, something of me, something that’s not just for my children, but for other people.”
You can find Robert Merrill’s Christmas story ‘Santa and the Canal’ here, and if you want to read more of his oeuvre, you can head over to his Amazon page.
