Margot Mertz for the Win

Chapter 1
Margot Mertz on the Campaign Trail
I
 was in a small, nondescript room. The kind used for office storage or interrogating a murderer. I was told it might be a while, and that I should make myself comfortable. But I d only just sat down when the door swung open and a woman in a blazer burst in.
Bah! the blazer woman shouted. I thought this room was empty.
Uh. Sorry, I m interviewing to be an intern, and I was told to wait here for Jim? Jim Bilwort?
No, she said.
No? I asked.
I mean . . . sorry. He s not going to interview you, because he just got fired. She shook my hand. Priya Deshmukh. I m the new communications director, aka the asshole they saddled with Jim s job.
She tried to play it cool, but I could see she was proud of her new title. She couldn t have been more than a couple years older than me. But despite her youth, she radiated authority. She had light brown skin, big brown eyes, and the world s tiniest nose ring. (I think? It could just have been a mole. Hard to tell in that lighting.)
I m Margot Mertz, I said.
Priya squinted. Follow me. She led me out of the room and down a long, narrow hallway. What made you want to volunteer for the campaign? College credit? Sense of duty? Boredom?
All three? Sort of. But mostly Shep has some policies that I really like.
Priya raised her eyebrows. Oh yeah? Are you, like, a policy wonk?
Not really, I told her. But I m interested in his proposed amendment to 245.
Now Priya really looked surprised. That s very specific.
Shep Green, whose ownership of several area car dealerships made him something of a minor celebrity in North Webster, was running to be state senator for the 57th District ofthe State of New York. The district had been held by Republicans for years, but recent demographic shifts made it more of a toss-­up this year. Shep was running mostly on expanding health care coverage, bringing jobs to Western NY, and pledging to finish construction on the

Carrie McCrossen is a writer (The New Yorker's Daily Shouts, Funny or Die), an actor (Divorce, Adam Ruins Everything), and a longtime performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
 
Ian McWethy is a playwright whose plays have been performed in over fifty countries and are routinely among the top ten most produced one-acts in the US.
 
This is Carrie and Ian's debut novel. And thanks to years of counseling, it did not destroy their marriage.
 
You can visit Carrie online at carriemccrossen.com or follow her on Twitter @CarrieMcCrossen.
 
You can visit Ian online at ianmcwethy.com or follow him on Twitter at @IanMcWethy.