Merrill Wyatt: My name is Merrill Wyatt, and that is actually a pen name. My real first name is Amy, which I always thought was too short and too boring when I was growing up. So what's called my "maiden name," before I got married, my last name was Merrill, and then my husband's name was Wyatt. Well, I decided that Amy Merrill Wyatt was just way too much to expect any kid to read or any publisher to put on a book. So I chopped off Amy, which I always thought was too short and boring, and I decided to go with the Merrill and the Wyatt part of it. And that was pretty much it.