Slowing Down

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

They’re waking up when I come into town. Shopkeepers, housewives. A few beggars. This town doesn’t have very many—I remember that from the last time I came through. I’m not sure they like that sort.

I probably look like a beggar to most of them. My shoes are getting thin around the soles, and my jacket’s been threadbare for, oh, nearly a hundred years now.

They don’t make things like they used to.

I head for the pastry shop first. This town has an impeccable pastry shop, and if I remember rightly, it’s run by a very sweet young lady with a streak of gray in her hair. I don’t make many friends on my rounds through the country, but I’ve always counted her as one of them.

Her daughter answers my knock. Her daughter with the cold eyes and ash gray hair. Her mouth pinches when I ask about my friend, and she tells me that particular grave is more than a dozen years old.

I’ve been gone longer than I thought.

I mumble apologies—and my condolences—and buy three sweet rolls and a chocolate bun, although the smell in the shop isn’t nearly as heavenly as it was years ago.

The price of time, as they say.

The woman’s sharp gaze fastens on the pennies I’m counting for her, and the silver coins mixed in with the coppers cause her eyes to widen greedily. I want to laugh. I want to tell her that those particular silver coins won’t bring her any luck or happiness. They never have for me.

But I don’t. I pay for my meal and wander on, munching a sweet roll and studying the town. It looks worn thin. The streets are thick with dust, and the buildings slump wearily, although I’m willing to bet they’re not half so tired as I am. Nor half so old. I’ve been charged with bringing the life back into these places—this town and about a hundred others scattered all over the western coastline. I travel to them each in turn, leaving pieces of my soul behind, and they never used to get in such bad shape while I was gone.

I think I’m slowing down. Getting old.

A thousand years as a cursed man will do that to you.

Quite a few of the shops in the main square are empty and boarded up. People left, I guess. They must have gotten tired of waiting for the grass to grow and the flowers to bloom again. The fields around the town are nearly dust themselves, but that will change soon enough.

I sit down by the fountain in the middle of the square and finish my bun. I used to rush through the towns, when all of this first started. When I was a young, newly murdered conquerer, and the gods sentenced me to spend a thousand years undoing the damage I’d done to the western coastlands. I’d rush through the town without stopping, flipping my silver coin into the fountain as I passed by, somehow thinking that if I hurried, I’d get through a thousand years a little quicker.

I’m not in such a hurry these days. I’ve got time to buy a few sweet rolls, talk to a few drifters, maybe make a friend if a shopkeeper doesn’t mind my worn-out coat and whiskers.

They don’t last long, those friends. I learned that the hard way. I miss them when they’re gone, more than I ever missed anyone when I was alive. I don’t think I appreciated life the same way back then, but I’ve grown to treasure the moments a little better now.

A thousand years as a cursed man will do that to you.

I brush the crumbs off my coat and dig a silver coin out of my pouch, dropping it into the fountain before I head off on my way. It’ll be raining soon, probably before I get out of town, and before the week is out the trees will push out new leaves and the flowers will be blooming in the hollows again.

I can’t wait around to see it, of course, but it’s nice to know the trip was worth the effort. Maybe I’ll shuffle a little faster this time around, and get back before the last of the day lilies die out.

I have a friend who might like a few on her grave.

Doubling Down

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

I took a couple of days off work this week.

So I could . . . work.

Extra.

Because I party hard, y’all.

See, my husband left on Monday to go hunting with some buddies and I had the house to myself. First time overnight separation since the wedding! Woohooo!

I didn’t like it.

But I did figure I should use the extra time to double down on a project I’ve been doing on the side. You know, when I’m not writing for the radio show or managing this blog or doing any of the other million things I’ve been juggling.

Yeah, I needed a couple of completely obligation free days to get some real, solid work done on it. Before it slipped into obscurity.

So I took Monday and Tuesday off. I haven’t done any serious, focused, non-radio-related writing in a while, to be honest. I’ve done five hundred words here and eight hundred there, but most of my days I get between three and four hundred done after I finish at my nine-to-five and before my husband comes home after his nine-to-five.

Thankfully, my nine-to-five is more of a seven-to-three. So I’ve got a gap. Long story.

But what I really needed was a full, uninterrupted day to get a solid chunk of work done. So at 8 AM, I sat down with a cup of tea, my trusty computer, and a few encouraging notes from my writing ladies, and . . . I wrote.

I was kinda shocked. You know how you usually carve out time to do something and then all your inspiration goes out the window and you could care less about whether you get the thing done or not?

That didn’t happen!

I was expecting it to. Just sitting down was nerve-wracking, because I could just feel the words trying to decide whether to show up or flee and leave me to drown my sorrows in tea. But I actually buckled down and—get this—very nearly doubled the size of my project.

Yeah.

I mean, I was pretty close to the beginning still, but four thousand words in one day is nothing to sneeze at. I was pretty excited. I felt like a word ninja. It was awesome.

Then the next day I tried again, and the empty page mocked me and I gave up and had to make dumplings instead, because apparently you can only have one really good writing day at a time. C’est la vie.

What are you working on at the moment? Any special projects? Tell me about them in the comments!

Finding A New Normal

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

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I’m working exclusively from home these days.

I think most of us are, right? Those who can anyway. I’m so, so grateful to have a job that transferred to my house as easily and smoothly as mine did, and that continued to supply the same amount of hours that I’d been working before. Still, the transition has been a little strange, and I am still getting used to my new routine and the changes it’s brought into my life.

For one thing, I dropped the eight-to-five-with-a-lunch-hour routine and now start my workday at six AM on the dot. My best writing time is always in the early morning anyway, and this new schedule leaves me with an afternoon that’s free and clear.

I’ve planted a lot of seeds.

And found a lot more time for my own writing projects.

Mostly though, I’ve been learning to balance things again. To find the routine and the rhythm that gets me into work in the morning and out of it when I finish up in the afternoon. See, before, I had my commute to rely on for that. An hour’s drive with an audiobook or with my dad for company went by much quicker than you’d think, and by the time I reached home, I was ready to be home instead of still having my head stuffed with work.

Now, I finish work on one computer and immediately feel like I should be picking up the second one to ‘get on with it’.

Except that’s not realistic.

Neither is starting work five minutes after I’ve dragged myself out of bed, which is also tempting.

So, I’ve been making habits. Habits with alarms in the morning, workouts in my tiny living room, showers and a change of clothes after work is done, time in the sun, and time with people I love. The little things make all the difference right now, and I’ve been seeking out the things that keep me sane—sunshine, fresh air, new growth, and space to breathe.

Basically, I’m building a new normal. Something sustainable, until the world starts up again and life outside our homes can continue on safely. I hope you all are doing the same!

What are you doing to keep yourself sane in your ‘new normal’? Tell me about it in the comments!

Spring Is Late

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

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Not really.

It’s not late.

It’s only March, and March still feels like an arctic tundra in Colorado. I’m ready for warm temperatures and days that are not windy and freezing. We’ve had a couple. One or two. I even worked outside on my porch one evening. With my jacket. For about fifteen, twenty minutes. Then I got cold and went inside.

I’m ready for spring, basically. I’ve been on walks and hikes and tried to spend as much time outdoors as possible.

It hasn’t worked out for me.

I’ve frozen a couple of times.

I keep hoping it’ll somehow magically be warm when I step outside, and somehow, it never is.

My editor is sending me pictures of her gorgeous warm weather in Missouri. The trees have leaves, everything is green, and the river looks like heaven.

I’m so jealous.

Since I’m working from home for the next few weeks, it would be the absolute perfect time for warmer weather. I could work outside on my porch, get some actual sunshine, maybe get a tan. I can hope, right?

Maybe if I plant enough of my garden for this year, it’ll get warm. I’ve been adding to the collection of sprouts growing on my kitchen counter. I have peppers, three kinds of squash, and turnips growing there now. And some flowers. And a few other things that I’ve forgotten. Peas maybe? Basically, I’m just going to wait until everything pops up and figure out what I have then.

I’m going to have a fun garden.

Hopefully.

Most of it will be in pots, however. I’m going to do a container garden. So I can bring it in and out of my house and keep it safe from deer, grasshoppers, too much sun, frost, freak snowstorms . . .

Basically, Colorado.

Colorado kills gardens. Even in the spring.

Which, by the way?

Hasn’t arrived yet.

It’s late.

Are you ready for spring yet? Anything poking up where you live? Tell me about it in the comments!

Sick Days and First Drafts

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

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I was sick this week.

No, not with a virus.

Just a cold. I promise.

But it meant that I was out of the office on sick leave. Mostly, I just slept on the couch. And watched Toy Story. And drank way too much water and downed vitamin C’s like candy, because who has time to be sick, anyway?

Thankfully, I seem to be on the tail end of it. For which I’m grateful.

Being sick messed with my writing schedule, both at work and in my personal projects. And lately, my personal projects have been anything but perfect. See, I’m writing the first draft of a story.

And first drafts are hard.

You know why? Because I don’t know what happens in the story. I don’t know who all these characters are. I write ten chapters, then half of it gets deleted because the story took a different turn than I expected and what I wrote doesn’t fit anymore.

Characters do things I don’t expect them to do.

Things pop up in the most unexpected ways.

Settings refuse to let me see them, so I have to feel my way around in the dark and hope for the best.

It’s all very confusing.

You’d think I would be better at first drafts by this time. After all, I’m a writer. A (sort of) professional. I get paid to write stories, and every story begins with a first draft. (Unfortunately.)

So I should have the process licked by this time, right?

Right?

Well, not exactly. Because the reality is, first drafts are hard. They don’t make sense. The characters wander in and out and change as you write them, and the setting never looks quite the way you imagined it would. Some parts are wordy and boring and others happen so fast that you forget to put any emphasis on the important bits.

For goodness sakes.

But, first drafts are not supposed to be beautiful. They aren’t supposed to be put together, or comprehensive, or elegant. They are supposed to exist, inconsistent characters, choppy dialogue, major plot holes and all. So I am embracing this new story in all its messy wonder, exploring this world without worrying about the gorgeous chaos I am causing. The characters can change and the setting will grow, and I will snoop my way through all of it until I have made a lovely, glorious mess of colors and lights and words scattered across the page in a completely incomprehensible muddle.

And when the first draft is finished and the last words are written, I can start completely over and make something understandable out of it.

When I get over this cold, anyway.

What kind of things are you allowing to be messy and beautiful in your own life? Tell me about them in the comments!

Snow Days

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

I’m snowed in.

Again.

Can you tell? This is the view out my front door. By the way, can you spot the deer in this picture? There’s a big old buck sleeping under the trees behind my swing there. You can just make him out if you squint.

Poor thing.

We’ll see if I get to work today. We have about five or six inches of heavy, wet snow, so it’s going to be a toss-up. Maybe my dad and I will risk it. Maybe we won’t. Who knows? Not me.

Is anyone else sick of snow?

Like, I love snow. I love Colorado. I love the wintertime. There’s nothing better than the feeling of watching snow fall next to my wood stove with a cup of tea and a book to read (or to write).

But enough is enough.

Seriously.

My driveway looks like a war zone. First ice, then way too much snow, then mud when it melted, then more ice, then more snow—you get the idea. It may never be the same. I mean, it was a dirt track in the first place. Now it’s a mud slide.

Plus, I have already gotten stuck—like, really, really stuck—once this year, been late to a meeting that was centered around my presentation (boy, that was fun), and had more snow in my boots than I ever care to think about.

It’s cold in Colorado.

Unfortunately, there is no end in sight. We’re at the beginning of March and snow doesn’t usually stop for another two months. Last year we had a major three day blizzard in May, so I’m hunkering down for a long wait.

So, since the snow is pretty deep, I’ll probably end up working from home today. Since I brought my computer home on Friday, that’s fortunately an option, and I’ll go back to my days as a homeschooled child, sit around the kitchen table at the Big House with some of my younger siblings, and work while they do their math. Maybe I can convince my mom and my sister to join us while they do their artwork, and we’ll have a school/work party with hot chocolate while it snows, and I won’t have to brave the rough roads and try to figure out how to get through the drifts in my short boots.

That is, if I can actually get out of my house and down the path to the Big House. That snow looks pretty deep.

What is your favorite way to spend a snow day? Tell me about it in the comments!

Small Improvements

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

img_3194I’ve been working on my house lately. Improving it. Fixing things.

Specifically my kitchen.

Because it’s old, and a little bit of a mess.

It needed some TLC.

So, I ripped out the old faucet, the one that leaked and was also determined only to have as much water pressure as it absolutely had to, and replaced it with a shiny new one. I can actually fill up a jug now. Or water my plants. Then, I fixed a few broken and loose tiles on the pad for my woodstove and started tiling the backdrop behind my stove. Because I was getting a little tired of grease-stained paint.

Ew.

These kinds of projects are completely new to me, and I have been figuring them out for myself—with a little encouragement from my sister and roommate. Two years ago, I would have looked at projects like these and said, “Nope. Sorry. I can’t do that. I don’t know how.”

Isn’t it funny how often I don’t know how becomes all-consuming? How quickly I can’t becomes the answer to . . . just about anything? I never realized how many walls I put up around my abilities by saying I can’t.

I couldn’t fix the problems in my house.

I couldn’t speak in public.

I couldn’t run a half-marathon.

I didn’t know how.

The last eight months have been a kind of releasing for me. I can’t has become I’ll try, and I don’t know how has become I’ll give it a shot. On Friday, I decided to see just how far I could really run and ended up with my first half-marathon under my belt. The week before, I participated in a week-long writer’s meeting and spent a whole day pitching my ideas to the group and talking about why I liked each one or thought it was important. Since starting my job, I’ve said yes to being videoed, recorded, critiqued, mentored, and even to semi-public speaking. 

Now I’m tiling my backdrop and planning for the spring, when I will be building an addition onto my home. (Because every writer needs a library.)

Suffice to say, I’ve gotten sick of the edges of my comfort zone acting as a fence. My efforts may not be completely perfect, but I can’t hasn’t factored into any of them.

I’d count that as an improvement.

What are some things that you have been doing outside your comfort zone lately? Tell me about them in the comments!

Interview With An Artist

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

Eeek! Guess what?

I got to interview the beautiful woman who did the illustrations for my books: Of Mice and Fairies and Of Bullfrogs and Snapdragons. I could talk about her forever, but she talked a lot about herself, so I’ll let you hear it from her. 

What’s it like working for an author? (Specifically . . . me.)

It’s like making Christmas presents for people, but with more serious deadlines. It’s definitely more stressful because you can get it wrong. The lead up to showing them the illustrations is fun and exciting, but then they might not like everything you do. You’re essentially taking the world in their head and putting it onto paper, without being able to see what exactly is in their head in the first place. It’s tricky to capture the magic.

What were you the most nervous about when you started this job?

Probably the deadlines. I had a lot to do in a very short amount of time. Reading the book took a while, then rereading it over and over again to choose which illustrations I wanted to do and where to put them. Finding something in each chapter to represent the feel of it was really tricky because there wasn’t always a physical object that would fit the feel and the style. 

What was the most difficult character to draw in the books?

Probably Lumpkin, because he was one of the ones I did with a full face and figure. I’ve seen so many other illustrations in books where they’ve done too much detail and left no room for imagination. I really tried to avoid that with all of the illustrations I did for these books. I chose to do mostly animals or an indirect view of the characters so as to leave more room for imagination.

Which character do you relate to the most in ‘Of Bullfrogs and Snapdragons’?

Oh, that would definitely be Lester Winklestep. Hedgehogs are very homey individuals. They like peace and quiet, and they are very laid-back. But, they are also curious and interested in life, despite doing life in a very relaxed way. Also, I just want to be a hedgehog. They are the cutest.

Which character do you most want as a companion?

Oh, Eve. She’s super spunky and tons of fun and I feel like she would bring a lot of energy to whatever environment she was in. Also, she would fit in my pockets. Which I find enjoyable. She would be quite easy to carry around. And she’s not as sassy and obnoxious as Belinda. (But don’t tell her I said that.)

What other work do you do outside of illustrating my books? Brag on yourself a little.

I am a pyrography artist. For people who don’t know, pyrography is defined as ‘writing with fire’, which I find super cool. I mostly do animal portraits. I’ve been commissioned to do people’s pets before, but my more enjoyable projects are of more exotic animals—tigers and moose and ducks because ducks are the best animals in the world. I am obsessed with detail. I cannot do sketches, because I do it way too detailed and it ends up not being a sketch any longer.

What made you want to be an artist?

I first started liking the idea of doing artwork when I was probably about six. One of my older sisters would draw horses for me to color, and she inspired me to start drawing animals of my own. But my career really began when I started creating board games with my brother. Together, we would draw fantasy animals and name them and create worlds for them. I still have those animals. They had weird names.

Where can people find other drawings you’ve done?

In Wayne Thomas Batson’s book, The Sword in Stars, for one. The design for the Stormgarden coat of arms was done by me. Also, my pyrography work can be found in my Etsy shop, ENoelBurnings. And I have plenty of pictures on my Instagram. I also post progress shots, because I love progress shots.

And, last and more importantly, because I personally want to know . . . if you owned an elephant, where would you keep it?

Probably in my library. Sitting on an elephant while reading would open up a lot of space for imagination. That would be grand. Also, my library is going to be huge, so there will be plenty of room. A library is the most important room in the house, so if you had something as special as an elephant, that would be the place to keep it.

Isn’t she wonderful? I love her so much. Go check out her artwork at ENoelBurnings, and get your copy of Of Bullfrogs and Snapdragons on Amazon!

FREE BOOKS!

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

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It’s MONDAY!

Is anyone else ready for this week? Because I’m totally ready. I spent all last night prepping food for my week, which mostly meant making hummus, frying way more bacon than was strictly necessary, and dancing around my kitchen to celebrate the fact that I finally, finally have an oven again and can actually BAKE things! What an amazing feeling!

But, despite being so ready, I have a killer of a week ahead of me. So, since I won’t be around HALF as much as I would like to, I have a present for you all!

Not a Christmas present, though. Because Christmas is so, so far away.

And I have NOT been listening to Christmas music already. No way. Totally would be so crazy if I was.

Haha.

Ahem.

So! I have THREE FREE BOOKS for you all! Just because I love you!

The Birdwoman, a collection of short stories for all ages, is FREE on AMAZON until TOMORROW NIGHT! Which means if you want a copy, you’d better grab it quick!

Of Mice and Fairies, the first book in my fairytale series, is FREE on AMAZON until TOMORROW NIGHT! Which also means if you want a copy, you’d better hurry!

And finally . . . 

My newest book, Of Bullfrogs and Snapdragons, a charming, cozy story of a forest witch and a gnome and the trouble they get into when a snapdragon moves into their hollow, is FREE on AMAZON ALL WEEK! Which means you have until SUNDAY NIGHT to snag a copy!

I hope you love the gifts, reader! Enjoy them, and have a cup of tea for me when you sit down to read!

NEW BOOK!!! (And Freebies!)

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

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Of Bullfrogs and Snapdragons is live on Amazon!!

WOOHOOOO!

I am so excited to finally share this book with you all! In case the title didn’t clue you in, it is the sequel to Of Mice and Fairies – which, by the way, is FREE on Amazon today!!

This book is everything I love packed into one tiny perfect package. Fall, dragons, fairytales, and so, so much coziness! I can’t wait for you to read it!

As always, I would be so grateful to those of you who can leave a review on Amazon after reading it! Reviews are an author’s bread and butter, and it would mean a lot to me.

Love you all!