Construction Sites

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

My child spends a lot of time on construction sites lately.

A lot of time.

Just watch. Because of this, he’ll grow up and go into construction, just like his dad.

Really though, he’s a trooper. I so appreciate that he’ll sit in his stroller and watch mama shovel, or frame up walls, or whatever I happen to be doing at the moment. It must be very boring.

He could help a little bit, though. Not trying to complain, but I wouldn’t mind a hand, even if it is a tiny one.

Joking aside, out house project is coming along. We are moving fill dirt in this week to level off the foundation. Crossing our fingers and hoping we can pour the pad so, so soon.

Lots of shoveling is being done. I think I moved five tons of dirt single-handedly. No, I’m not exaggerating.

Probably going to be a little bit sore tomorrow.

I can’t wait to have this place finished and finally be able to move in and settle. It feels like an impossible task some days, but bit by bit, we are chipping away at our list of tasks, and things are finally moving.

That’s worth being a bit sore, in my book.

Second Floor

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

We’re getting the second floor screwed down on our house.

It’s a good thing I’m not scared of heights.

I am. I am actually scared of heights. I’m very much scared of heights.

But we’re making progress, and I’m hopeful that by the end of this weekend, we’ll have the whole second floor done and ready for the next stage of building.

I’m so thankful for a husband who works in construction who can foreman our work days and tell us all what to do.

Even when ‘all of us’ means him, me, and my sixteen year old brother who always seemed to be around to help and deserves a medal.

Neither of us were quite ready for the amount of work and effort actually building our own house would be… especially a house that’s a converted airplane hanger which, when finished, should be around 4000 sq ft.

That’s ten times the size of our house now, guys. Ten times.

Yes, we’re crazy. No, I haven’t processed it fully yet.

Maybe after the second floor is finished?

You know what else I haven’t processed? That this is going to be our view.

Amazing.

Illustrations

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

I met with the artist who is doing the interior artwork for my book this week.

Spoiler alert, she’s my sister.

Crazy, right? I, who can draw stick figures and the occasional smiley face, have a sister who does artwork like this:

And this:

If you’re interested in her Instagram, btw, you can find her here.

Anyway, she and I had a meeting. She’s been reading my book from the very first day I started writing it, and now I finally get to commission her and her incredible talents for the chapter headings, a full page illustration for the title pages, and a map.

I’m way excited about the map.

Every good book should have a map in it.

That first picture is a draft sketch of the chapter headings we designed together.

It’s a mess now, but I can guarantee it’s going to be gorgeous later.

I promise.

New Logo

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

I am still chipping away at revisions for the book I have coming out at the end of this year. Once I finish with it, it will be sent off to my editor, and she will send it back with a million notes to tell me all the things that are wrong with it.

When you have someone like that, y’all, appreciate them. Not everyone is willing to be so wonderfully honest with you.

While I’m working on that, I’m also checking off the other thousand tiny tasks that go into getting a book published, including this lovely new logo.

I finished it last night. It’s perfect.

My book is being published through my business, Storynook Productions. The regular logo that I have, with my personal and business brand, is too complex for the spine of a book, so I had to come up with a similar, simplified version.

I think I managed it.

I’m excited about this, y’all. Getting a book from manuscript to finished product is an overwhelming amount of details, but I have been planning for this for years, and I am so ready to have it in my hands.

Plus, this is the kind of thing I enjoy. I mean, who doesn’t love seeing a dream come together?

Ten Years In The Making

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

I have a confession to make.

It’s horrifying. Are you ready to be horrified?

Here we go.

Ten years ago, I wrote the first half of my two hundred plus page novel in the notes section of my iPod touch.

No, I’m not kidding.

Yes, it was every bit as bad as it sounds.

By the time I finally succumbed and switched to a computer, I spent almost as much time scrolling as I did writing.

You know, because it was all one impossibly long document visible only through a tiny iPod touch screen.

It makes me overwhelmed just thinking about it.

What happened was this. Ten years ago, I graduated high school and promptly went on a week-long road trip with my dad to a school up in Idaho where he was lecturing. The night before we left, I started playing around with a story that I had been thinking about for a while. A medieval fantasy story about a bodyguard-turned-gladiator who is forced to gamble on his own soul to save his partner from the ring.

And, because I was leaving for Idaho the next morning, I wrote the beginning on my iPod.

Would I ever do this again?

Absolutely not.

Was it worth it?

Well . . . I’ll leave that to you to decide. Ten years later, I am still working on this book/series. (There are five!) And at the beginning of this year, my lovely editor and I began moving toward getting the first one ready to release into the world.

I’m panicking. It feels like I’m letting my baby out of the house for the first time.

Okay, my ten year old child that I should have set free a long time ago. But these things take time, okay?

Anyway, the books are ready, and this year, we are running through all of the many tasks necessary to get them released into the world. Edits, a few last revisions on chapters that need an update, cover design, interior artwork . . . I’m having way too much fun.

There’s gonna be a map, y’all. I have an artist lined up already.

I’m wildly excited.

There are a lot of steps ahead of me, so I’ll be sure to share all the exciting things as they appear! I’m crossing my fingers for a 2023 release date and promise to keep you updated.

Cold March Evenings

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

These days, it’s a little harder to find time and space to write.

You know, between nannying thirty to forty hours a week, building a house, and taking care of an infant with serious skin issues.

So finding time for my scripts, outlines, and short stories is a little bit difficult.

Finding time for my books is even harder.

But where there’s a will, there’s a way, so they say, and tonight’s way happened to be bundling myself up in my coat and sitting outside on our porch swing on a dark, cold March evening while my husband gave our baby a bath and got him ready for bed.

You do weird things for words when you’re a writer.

Weird, cold, uncomfortable things.

But words come and chapters are edited, and my goodness, I can’t wait to share this book with the world. It’s almost ready. I don’t dare give away too much just yet, but I hope to be holding it in my hands very, very soon.

Maybe even by the end of the year. What a crazy thought, after ten years. I can’t wait!