She began reporting for The Times Record, a daily newspaper in Brunswick, Maine, and spent the following eight years corresponding for The Boston Globe. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, Family Circle and other regional and national publications. Most recently she has written for Harvard University. Merrill has regular columns with The Portland Press Herald, Maine’s largest newspaper, and Down East magazine, where she is a contributing editor. Her memoir, “Redeeming Ruth: Everything Life Takes, Love Restores” releases in May 2017.