Stephin Merritt releases albums under the band names the Magnetic Fields, the 6ths, the Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes. Merritt has written and recorded ten Magnetic Fields albums, including his popular 1999 album, 69 Love Songs. The song "The Book of Love" was covered by Peter Gabriel and has become an unlikely wedding favorite. Merritt composed original music and lyrics for several music theater pieces, including an off-Broadway stage musical of Neil Gaiman's novel Coraline, for which he received an Obie Award. Merritt scored the academy award nominated film "Pieces of April" (dir. Peter Hedges). In 2012, Merritt released a Magnetic Fields album, Love at the Bottom of the Sea, and in 2013 he released a Future Bible Heroes album, Partygoing. Currently he is composing for theater, television, film, and dance, as well as his album projects. 101 Two-Letter Words is his first book.