Media Kit for Appearances and Classes
If you need something additional please contact Merien directly at merien@meriengrey.com. Thank you!
General Biography - Long and Short
Short Biography - Merien spent a decade traveling the world as a military intelligence analyst. She has multiple degrees specializing in Anthropology, Sociology, English, and Communications Technology. She is currently a member of the RWA national ethics committee. The last ten years she been an active volunteer with several RWA chapters, to include board member, board liaison, webmistress, and conference committee positions. Merien lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier with her husband, incorrigibly lazy dog, and a little one who rules the land with an iron hand at least until bedtime.
Long Biography - Available on request specific to venue/event/class.
Long Biography - Available on request specific to venue/event/class.
Headshots
Photos were taken by Merien Grey (via mirror, timer and tripod) so she owns the copyright. These photos may be used by organizations where she is speaking, teaching or appearing to promote any classes or appearances she is scheduled for.
Download this photo with the link below.
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Download this photo with the link below.
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Professional Linkage
Website - www.meriengrey.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/merien.grey
Twitter - https://twitter.com/MerienGrey or @MerienGrey
Email - Public - merien@meriengrey.com
Email - Business - meriengrey@yahoo.com
PLEASE DO NOT SOLICIT TO THESE ADDRESSES.
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/merien.grey
Twitter - https://twitter.com/MerienGrey or @MerienGrey
Email - Public - merien@meriengrey.com
Email - Business - meriengrey@yahoo.com
PLEASE DO NOT SOLICIT TO THESE ADDRESSES.
Class Kits
Piracy For Authors - Understanding the Problem
This image was purchased from Shutterstock by Merien Grey with permissions for this specific use. She is allowing the photo to be used for banners, etc. as needed for organizations where she is teaching this class. This photo is NOT released for public use and is copyrighted by Shutterstock with use permissions to Merien Grey. If you plan to use the image in such a way that it will garner over 500,000 views please contact Merien for commercial use permissions.
Merien spent a decade traveling the world as a military intelligence analyst. She has multiple degrees specializing in Anthropology, Sociology, English, and Communications Technology. She is currently a member of the RWA national ethics committee. The last ten years she been an active volunteer with several RWA chapters, to include board member, board liaison, webmistress, and conference committee positions. Merien lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier with her husband, incorrigibly lazy dog, and a little one who rules the land with an iron hand at least until bedtime.
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Short Blurb - This class is for authors who want a working understanding of literary piracy. The class covers how piracy occurs, where readers find pirate sites, how the sites work, and where the files they use come from. It covers what Digital Rights Management is exactly and in what ways it is and isn't effective.
Class Description -This class is for authors who want a working understanding of literary piracy. The class covers how piracy occurs, where readers find pirate sites, how the sites work, and where the files they use come from. It covers what Digital Rights Management is exactly and in what ways it is and isn't effective. We will discuss the various sides of the issue and why some people feel they have every right to pirate authors work and why some authors don't bother to worry about it. There are various interviews and comments from best selling authors on what they do or don't do and why. There are recommendations on what authors can do to lessen the impact of piracy and what they can do to advocate for better enforcement industry wide. Examples of take down notices will be given and various opinions given on how effective they are as well as why they are useless sometimes. An extensive bibliography of articles and websites concerned with literary piracy will be provided at the end of the class.
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Volunteerism - Make it Worth Your Time and Theirs
This image was purchased from Shutterstock by Merien Grey with permissions for this specific use. She is allowing the photo to be used for banners, etc. as needed for organizations where she is teaching this class. This photo is NOT released for public use and is copyrighted by Shutterstock with use permissions to Merien Grey. If you plan to use the image in such a way that it will garner over 500,000 views please contact Merien for commercial use permissions.
Merien spent a decade traveling the world as a military intelligence analyst. She has multiple degrees specializing in Anthropology, Sociology, English, and Communications Technology. She is currently a member of the RWA national ethics committee. The last ten years she been an active volunteer with several RWA chapters, to include board member, board liaison, webmistress, and conference committee positions. Merien lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier with her husband, incorrigibly lazy dog, and a little one who rules the land with an iron hand at least until bedtime.
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Short Blurb - Know you need to volunteer but don't know where to start? This class covers RWA volunteer positions (and a few other writing groups) from the top down. How much time is required, what they involve, how to get them, and a questionnaire for what you can and want to do with a recommendation of positions that might work for you specifically the final week.
Class Description -This class if for authors who know they want and need to network but don't know where to start and don't want to waste their time with no benefit in return. Which is OK! There is no reason to not get some personal benefit in return for your volunteer service. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it. Here we will talk about how to volunteer in a way to get something useful for your volunteer service ethically, without breaking self-promotion rules that govern non-profit organizations. We will discuss the general duties required at the national, chapter, contest, and conference level positions. We will discuss various types of liaison positions. We'll talk duties, work load, mutual benefit, plus how to get into and out of those positions while staying productive and professional. We will cover how to volunteer for the time you have, be it an hour here an there or a long term commitment you can get comfortable with. Volunteering does not have to take over your writing time, become a distraction, or be a thankless burden. During class students who wish to may complete a questionnaire of what they like and how much time they wish to spend and will get a list of recommended positions that might work best for them.
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Simple Sites for Non-tech Types
THIS CLASS MUST BE CAPPED AT A MAXIMUM OF TWELVE PEOPLE
This image was purchased from Shutterstock by Merien Grey with permissions for this specific use. She is allowing the photo to be used for banners, etc. as needed for organizations where she is teaching this class. This photo is NOT released for public use and is copyrighted by Shutterstock with use permissions to Merien Grey. If you plan to use the image in such a way that it will garner over 500,000 views please contact Merien for commercial use permissions.
Merien spent a decade traveling the world as a military intelligence analyst. She has multiple degrees specializing in Anthropology, Sociology, English, and Communications Technology. She is currently a member of the RWA national ethics committee. The last ten years she been an active volunteer with several RWA chapters, to include board member, board liaison, webmistress, and conference committee positions. Merien lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier with her husband, incorrigibly lazy dog, and a little one who rules the land with an iron hand at least until bedtime.
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Short Blurb - Need a website and not a tech type? This class gives three weeks of basic simple explanations on how sites work. The final week is class material and one on one sessions with each student to walk them through setting up a site. Students finish class with a functional website they will know how to update themselves. Please read full class description on website prior to registering, certain services will be promoted for ease of use.
Class Description - Need a simple site and not a tech type? This is a four week online course that provides the basics, in plain language, of how to build a simple website. Each week we will talk about what makes up a site, common terms companies selling website services use, the services those companies actually sell, and what will be needed information and budget wise to start and maintain a site. The class will take the confusion out of how sites are set up and updated, what domains are and who owns them, how to create your own email accounts, and the various fee schedules associates with everything mentioned above. The class is six lessons. The final week of class is for questions and all participants will have the option to schedule a one hour web session with the instructor and Merien will offer a shared screen consult to walk the student through setting up their own site, you guessed it, in an hour or less ;) This class is specifically for people who want an easy, simple site they don't have to pay someone else to update or maintain but they don't know the first thing about where to begin or what that entails.
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Disclosure Note: The webhost Fatcow.com and the Weebly site builder will be recommended for use during this class due to ease of use and the customer service of each being willing to work with people with no experience doing web work. Other host services and builders will be equally discussed and may be a better choice for some students. However, in the interest of full disclosure prior to the class those are the services that will be recommended. The instructor is not endorsing either and has not been paid by either service but has had excellent experience with them on several fronts. There will no pressure or requirement to use them. However, instructor reserves the right to refuse to build in a service that is overly complex and not suited to the students experience level.
Break Into Webinars - Teach From Anywhere
This image was purchased from Shutterstock by Merien Grey with permissions for this specific use. She is allowing the photo to be used for banners, etc. as needed for organizations where she is teaching this class. This photo is NOT released for public use and is copyrighted by Shutterstock with use permissions to Merien Grey. If you plan to use the image in such a way that it will garner over 500,000 views please contact Merien for commercial use permissions.
Merien spent a decade traveling the world as a military intelligence analyst. She has multiple degrees specializing in Anthropology, Sociology, English, and Communications Technology. She is currently a member of the RWA national ethics committee. The last ten years she been an active volunteer with several RWA chapters, to include board member, board liaison, webmistress, and conference committee positions. Merien lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier with her husband, incorrigibly lazy dog, and a little one who rules the land with an iron hand at least until bedtime.
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Short Blurb - Are you an instructor who wants to get into giving webinars or want to be able to offer chapters the ability to "pipe you in" to teach at meetings? Or are you a board of a RWA chapter who wants to see what it would take to be able to bring in speakers via video conference? This class covers the ins and outs of webinars. It covers what tech is required, the etiquette, and the how to pay and get paid.
Class Description - This class is for new and experienced instructors who want to add webinars to their offerings. It is also good for chapter boards who wish to start offering webinars in their workshop offerings or monthly meetings. Being able to offer a webinar option means an instructor can teach anywhere in the country anytime from their own home. It also means chapters can afford instructors they would not have normally been able to consider due to travel expenses.
The class covers the types of classes that work well in webinar format, the various software options with the advantages and drawbacks of each, how to coordinate for a webinar, and how to arrange for payment after. We will discuss how to offer webinars direct to students and how to offer a webinar through another organization. | ||
Fights In Fiction
This image was purchased from Shutterstock by Merien Grey with permissions for this specific use. She is allowing the photo to be used for banners, etc. as needed for organizations where she is teaching this class. This photo is NOT released for public use and is copyrighted by Shutterstock with use permissions to Merien Grey. If you plan to use the image in such a way that it will garner over 500,000 views please contact Merien for commercial use permissions.
Instructor Biography:
Merien has multiple degrees specializing in Anthropology, Sociology, English and Communications Technology. She spent ten years traveling the world as a military intelligence analyst learning and observing all manner of people and their behavior. A large portion of her job was assessing weapons proficiency and the mental effects of suffering and conducting violence on various types of people. Before becoming an author and speaker, her occupations ranged from bartender to infrared security systems instructor to a handful of years as a 911 operator. She currently lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier with her husband, a lazy hound dog and a kiddo who rules the land with an iron hand at least until bedtime. |
Class Description: Want to know what it feels like to be hit? Come find out. This class discusses information directly from interviews with fighters, police, soldiers, and emergency medical personnel. This class doesn’t teach how to punch, it teaches what it feels like to be hit, how if feels to recover, warrior mentality, and what various other wounds and injuries feel and look like. It is appropriate for all genres.
Fights are like making love as far as evoking emotion. If done properly, a reader can tell more about a character in those few minutes than they can in several paragraphs or even chapters worth of backstory. This class is to give authors insight into the various story-enhancing opportunities they have in fight scenes. This class teaches authors to present more than just a thrown punch or ringing slap. It shows them how to research and exploit the emotional aspects of confrontations to add as many emotion invoking tools to their writers tool box as possible to create detailed realistic fiction. Note to organizers (not for print or publication with class description above): This is not a how to fight class. It is not a martial arts class. It covers only minimal blocking (physics of a fight) as required to make the points in the body of the class. It deals mostly with the physical aspects of being in fights and the emotions evoked when people commit and suffer violence and shows ways authors can get more out of those emotions instead of glossing them over. | ||
Making Time - Project Management for Writers
Promotional Image:
This image was taken by and is owned by Merien Grey. The watch pictured is hers as well. She is allowing the photo to be used for banners, etc. as needed for organizations where she is teaching her class. This photo is NOT released for public use and is copyrighted by Merien Grey. You may download it below. 
Instructor Biography:
Merien spent a decade traveling the world as a military intelligence analyst. She has multiple degrees specializing in Anthropology, Sociology, English, and Communications Technology. She is currently a member of the RWA national ethics committee. The last ten years she been an active volunteer with several RWA chapters, to include board member, board liaison, webmistress, and conference committee positions. Merien lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier with her husband, incorrigibly lazy dog, and a little one who rules the land with an iron hand at least until bedtime. |
Class Description:
Are you tired of people telling you if you want to write bad enough you will make time? Most of us would do that on our own if we knew how or even where to start. You are not lazy or unmotivated and you know you want it bad enough. You just need someone to give you some hints on how to actually do it. With a corporate and military background in process, project and time management Merien will give a full hour of specific, do-able proven ways to make minor changes and create more time to write. She will also teach you how to assess your situation and personal practices to see how to get the most out of the time you already have for yourself, your family and your career. | ||
Hardwired For Hot
This image is a public domain image downloaded by Merien Grey. She claims no personal ownership of this image. She is submitting the photo to be used for banners, etc. as needed for organizations where she is teaching this class. You may download it below.
Instructor Biography:
Merien spent a decade traveling the world as a military intelligence analyst. She has multiple degrees specializing in Anthropology, Sociology, English, and Communications Technology. She is currently a member of the RWA national ethics committee. The last ten years she been an active volunteer with several RWA chapters, to include board member, board liaison, webmistress, and conference committee positions. Merien lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier with her husband, incorrigibly lazy dog, and a little one who rules the land with an iron hand at least until bedtime. |
Class Description:
Ever wonder why, we as humans, find the things we do attractive? There are biological reasons we enjoy sex but what about before we get to that part? As humans, we are hardwired to find certain things "hot". This workshop examines the newest innovative theory behind what determines what we find attractive and why. It will cover what catches our eye in the first place and why we immediately have the urge to leave or stay. There will be an extensive list of traits and mannerisms the average human female instinctually finds hot, with scientific explanations why. The material is based on cutting edge anthropological, biological and sociological concepts that are beginning to unravel the mysteries of initial human attraction. | ||
Seven People To Meet Before You Need Them
This image is a public domain image downloaded by Merien Grey. She claims no personal ownership of this image. She is submitting the photo to be used for banners, etc. as needed for organizations where she is teaching this class. You may download it below.
Instructor Biography:
Merien spent a decade traveling the world as a military intelligence analyst. She has multiple degrees specializing in Anthropology, Sociology, English, and Communications Technology. She is currently a member of the RWA national ethics committee. The last ten years she been an active volunteer with several RWA chapters, to include board member, board liaison, webmistress, and conference committee positions. Merien lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier with her husband, incorrigibly lazy dog, and a little one who rules the land with an iron hand at least until bedtime. |
Class Description:
When a writer is creating those first few books they may feel like they can't do much more to toward becoming a published author except write and build their numbers on social media. When it comes to the business side of writing there are seven key business connections that can be made before an author "needs" them or is in the midst of trying to market a release and build a brand in earnest. For example, finding an attorney before there is a contract to review or a copyright infringement notice for a random image picked off the internet and used on the authors website can cut down on stress. More importantly, it can mean the difference in an attorney the author trusts and likes and who has the author's best interests in mind and one that will simply do. There are specific skill sets that can be very valuable to authors if they knows how to seek out professionals that have them. Finding the right business contacts is time consuming but can be done in small increments and with minimal effort if started early in an author's career and doing so can save time, stress and usually money for the author. This class covers how to find, vet and take on services of a literary attorney, accountant (with literary experience), webmistress/master, business insurance agent, business specific banker, secretary of state representative and a department of revenue officer. It also covers how to select and vet seven service providers. This portion of the class includes tips on how to find branding consultants, web hosts, newsletter services, offsite data storage, formatters, editors and cover artists. | ||
Bringing Something to the Table - Being a Sought After Speaker Before You Publish
Promotional Image:
This image was taken by and is owned by Merien Grey. The pistols pictured are hers as well. She is allowing the photo to be used for banners, etc. as needed for organizations where she is teaching her class. This photo is NOT released for public use and is copyrighted by Merien Grey. You may download it below. 
Instructor Biography:
Merien spent a decade traveling the world as a military intelligence analyst. She has multiple degrees specializing in Anthropology, Sociology, English, and Communications Technology. She is currently a member of the RWA national ethics committee. The last ten years she been an active volunteer with several RWA chapters, to include board member, board liaison, webmistress, and conference committee positions. Merien lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier with her husband, incorrigibly lazy dog, and a little one who rules the land with an iron hand at least until bedtime. |
Class Description: Merien Grey has been teaching professionally for fifteen years and been a paid speaker on the literary scene for five. She believes all aspiring authors can bring something to the teaching table and build their reputation by teaching what they already know or what they are willing to learn, even if they aren’t published yet. She will be teaching authors how to find relevant and interesting material in their own backgrounds, how to build engaging one hour presentations, how to present them in a dynamic manner at meetings, conferences and online to build an author’s reputation, and if they are good, even make some money. She will also cover how to promote and market yourself effectively as a speaker.
Available as a one hour and fifteen to one and a half hour in-person class if in the Seattle Area, a one to one and a half webcast presentation for any other area or a four week web/loop class. | ||
Military 101 for Writers
Promotional Image:
This image was taken by and is owned by Merien Grey. The equipment pictured are her personal items as well. She is allowing it to be used for banners, etc. as needed for organizations where she is teaching her class. This photo is NOT released for public use and is copyrighted by Merien Grey. You may download it below. 
Instructor Biography:
Merien is a ten year US Air Force veteran. She spent her tours of duty traveling the world as an intelligence analyst working various multi-service and multi-national assignments. She has worked in twenty-two countries, with long term deployments to the Middle East, South America and throughout Asia. She has degrees specializing in Anthropology, Sociology, English and Communications Technology. Before becoming an author and speaker, her occupations ranged from soldier (obviously) and bartender to 911 operator working police, fire and medical emergency dispatch for several years. She currently lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier with her retired Ranger husband, Baghdad pup and a kiddo who rules the land with an iron hand at least until bedtime. |
Class Description:
One of the many new markets for contemporary romance is military romance. The military is like a small country. It has its own culture, customs and laws. This workshop touches on branch structure, culture in and out of uniform, the lexicon and slang, tradition and various other details of what it is really like. It will also touch on common myths and misnomers. We will cover why female and male soldiers who work together can be prosecuted if they get involved, as can adulterers and why there is really no such thing as off duty. We will talk about special operations and why females being allowed to enter those fields has generated strong kickback within the services. (Hint: It has little to do with women being able to do the job.) These and several other topics make for an four week class full of information vital to those wanting to accurately represent soldiers and vets. | ||
Worldbuilding from an Intelligence Point of View
This image is a public domain image downloaded by Merien Grey directly from NASA. She claims no personal ownership of this image. She is submitting the photo to be used for banners, etc. as needed for organizations where she is teaching this class. You may download it below.
Instructor Biography:
Merien has multiple degrees specializing in Anthropology, Sociology, English and Communications Technology. She spent a decade traveling the world as a military intelligence analyst learning and observing all manner of people and their behavior. Before becoming an author and speaker, her occupations ranged from bartender to infrared security system instructor and developer to many years as a 911 operator. She currently lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier with her husband, two dogs and a kindergartner who rules the land with an iron hand at least until bedtime. Additional Class Promo (Optional): I spent eleven years in the military intelligence. I learned a lot of things and specifically ways to pick things apart to determine what significance each tiny item has. As writers we always look for ways to make our jobs easier. If you are building a world from scratch you have enough on your plate. One of the things intelligence professionals do is build country studies. They are very similar to what an author does when they build their world. I wanted to teach other writers what they were and how to use them. It is very easy to take one or two country studies that have a characteristic based on something in your story and find dozens of cause and effect relationships to build conflict. All you have to do is know where and how to look. In this class I teach that. By the time we are done you will know how to build one of your own and how to use the ones already available. |
Organizations may chose either description.
Class Description: Your setting is a character of its own. It can push characters to kill, love, despair or feel great joy. Everything in your story stems from and hinges on the world you build it in. When the stakes are high (life, love, money, freedom) the first thing any real organization (military or private) does is do a country study or some version thereof. These studies expose where potential conflicts may arise for those wanting to travel in this new land. As a writer you are after those potential conflicts, they ground your writing in reality and keep the cardboard out of your characters. This course is to provide you with new insights to how everyday things can change your setting. There are over forty key items intelligence professionals know before anyone goes near new territory. You will be given the perspective to look at your world like an intelligence operative would. Links to real world country studies will be provided along with how to understand them and apply that type of information gathering to your world making it fuller, more believable and roiling with conflict for you to capitalize on. Alternate More Technical Class Description: Merien spent a decade in the US military intelligence. She learned there is an art to calculating the real world effects of seemingly insignificant details and facts. One of the things intelligence professionals do is build country studies. A country study is a summary of political, military, economic, social and cultural aspects of a country that help others understand a place and anticipate conflict. As dry as it sounds, imagine a laundry list of all the things you need to create a world, sometimes with large portions filled in for you. Having a template of what goes into one and knowing the patterns that lead to predictable situations on micro and macro levels can save a writer a ton of time. Merien teaches other writers what country studies are, where to find them and how to use them to kick start their own worlds. | ||
The Culture of War, Weapons and Violence During the Regency
Promotional Image:
This image was taken by and is owned by Merien Grey. The pistols pictured are hers as well. She is allowing the photo to be used for banners, etc. as needed for organizations where she is teaching her class. This photo is NOT released for public use and is copyrighted by Merien Grey. You may download it below. 
Instructor Biography:
Merien Grey spent over a decade traveling the world as a military intelligence analyst observing all manner of people and their behavior. During her exploits, she was forced to develop a working knowledge of what many consider "historical" weapons since many third world countries still use them. This line of study took on a life of its own and became a hobby she has enjoyed and built on over the years. When she began writing Regency romance, it was a natural progression to make Regency weapons her main period of interest. It has been her favorite recreational study subject for over a decade now. Merien has degrees specializing in Anthropology, Sociology, English and Communications Technology. Merien currently lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier in Washington state with her husband, one lazy hound dog and a kiddo who rules the land with an iron hand, at least until bedtime. |
Class Description:
Working as an intelligence professional for over a decade, one aspect I always had to consider was how the cultures and peoples I observed placed value on life. I was required to determine everything from how desensitized they were to violence and suffering, to how far they would go to preserve a life or how easily they would take it. Character research in fiction is done via many of the same basic principles. Where characters are concerned, watching one make life and death decisions or if and how they use a weapon, can be as telling as watching them give a tender caress or make love. If done subtly, a reader can discern more about a character in a few seconds of violence, or how the character reacts to violence, than in several paragraphs or even chapters’ worth of backstory. This class will cover the culture of war and violence just prior to and during the Regency. It will also cover several classes of weapon and various individual weapons for the purpose of representing them and their use accurately. To cover a weapon without covering how, why and to what degree of ferocity it was employed provides only a small portion of the story. Over the month, we will cover how people who lived during the Regency looked at violence, how they came to feel that way, which weapons they might use for any number of confrontations and why. In each section, I will provide a list of programs, videos, photos and references. Upon closing, I will give each participant a free pass to ask about one class related aspect specific to their work in progress, at their convenience, off loop, to round out the subject matter and make sure every student takes something useful away from the class. | ||