Pennsylvania

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

Can we just be honest? May was a bit of a blur.

I remember about half of it.

The rest feels like something between a dream and a hallucination.

Since I had a fever for at least part of the month, it’s possible a good section of what I remember was actually a hallucination. When I figure out for sure, I’ll let you know.

The craziness that was May started with a friend’s wedding. My editor’s wedding, actually. She married the best guy. I’m so happy for them both. I flew down to help her with all the last minute details for the wedding, walk in her gorgeous, glorious woods, and fulfill all the duties of a bridesmaid.

All of this included being away from my husband for five days.

I was not prepared for how badly I missed him. Guys? I’m officially clingy.

Ouch.

After the wedding was over and we waved off the lovely bride, my husband and I set off on the second part of our trip. See, we figured that we’d made it all of eleven hours away from Colorado, and we might as well go a bit further and see a few things while we were at it.

A bit further meaning another fourteen hours to Philadelphia, PA.

Pennsylvania was a whole new experience for me. We stopped in Pittsburgh on the way to spend the night, and I instantly fell in love and was disappointed that we had decided to only spend one night there. The next day we drove to Philly, ate the best Philly cheesesteak sandwich available (according to Yelp), and had three glorious days to explore downtown Philadelphia.

We got lost. Like eight times.

Why can’t you turn left, guys? Why?

After Philly, we stopped in Scranton so that my Office loving husband could experience the Electric City, then went camping up at the most beautiful camp site I think I’ve ever explored. Pennsylvania is lovely, guys. Absolutely gorgeous.

Despite a few road bumps (fevers, bedbugs, a hotel room that smelled like smoke, and an encounter with what I was pretty sure was actually Bigfoot but was probably just my imagination going nuts in the middle of the night), we made it through and made it home and had an awesome time connecting with each other and exploring.

I’d call that a win.

When was the last time you took a road trip? Tell me about it in the comments!

Airports

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

Airports are weird.

I’ve spent my fair share of time in airports over the years. Probably about as much time as I want to, actually. Airports in Scotland, China, Cambodia, Spain . . . you get the idea. No matter what country you’re visiting, airports are just weird.

For example.

I flew down to Missouri to visit my editor for her wedding in May. Because of some issues with weather and rides, I ended up at the airport a little early.

About ten hours early, actually.

Snowstorms in Colorado make you do weird things. Especially when the airport is two hours away.

So, I sat around at tables, on benches, and in corners on the floor while I waited for my flight to come in. I had a book, my computer, and about a dozen projects to work on, but for a good part of the time, I got caught up in people watching.

Have I mentioned that airports are weird? Social norms go out the window. No one looks twice at the guy sleeping on the floor in the corner. Who knows how long he’s been there—but we’re sure he’s fine. A child can be screaming somewhere close by, but no one goes to check, because we understand. Airports make us want to scream a little too. People wander around in their pajamas. Some of them have pillows. Or teddy bears. No one questions it.

Airports are just like that.

When we were traveling through Southern Europe five years ago, I carried my sleeping bag with me through the airports. While we were on the plane, it stayed safely stashed with my carry-on in the overhead bin. While we were waiting for our planes, usually for three or four hours at a time, I whipped it out and slept on the floor.

I still wish I’d thought of that during my ten hour layover in China.

Concrete floors are not the nicest to sleep on.

What are some of the weird things you’ve seen or done in airports? Tell me about them in the comments!

Freedom

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

Now that I am not working full time, I have a little more flexibility in my schedule.

Obviously, I’m still getting up early to work out and spending the majority of my day at my desk, but since my only boss at the moment is myself, it’s a little easier to wiggle out of writing for a day.

If I have a good reason, anyway.

Lately, that good reason has been renewing some neglected friendships. Between Covid and work, my writer girls and I have not been getting together as much as we wanted to when we started our little group. We chat almost daily and sprint together and offer encouragement, but actual in-person interaction is rare.

I’ve missed them.

And their stories.

So we finally got some dates on the calendar to meet up and look over our stories, talk about our lives, and get some group writing done.

It was a blast. We missed one of our lovely members, who, unfortunately, couldn’t escape her job to join in, but the rest of us were able to meet up, have lunch at my house, spend a few hours outside in the glorious sunshine, and share a bit about where we are in our writerly journey.

Days like that are healing to my soul, let me tell you.

Being a freelancer also has the added bonus of being able to work where I want, when I want. This particular month, that means working down in Missouri while I help a friend prepare for her wedding, and writing in the car while out road-tripping with my amazing husband.

We’re camping.

I’m gonna tell you all about it, I promise.

When it’s over, and I’m back in my house and can get my head on straight.

Until then, I’ll be working away from wherever I happen to be and enjoying the May sunshine. Yay for spring!

What spring activities are you enjoying this month? Tell me about them in the comments!

Wait… HOLLYWOOD??

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

Well, sort of.

This has been the craziest month for me, and the last week has reached new heights of surreality. I’m running on low sleep and lower caffeine, so bear with me while I try to make sense of everything that’s happened, okay?

Great. Thanks.

So . . . a week ago, I drove into work with a suitcase and got on a plane with my manager, my boss, and a coworker, and flew to California.

I have never been to California.

It is apparently very hot in California.

Who knew?

So, while it snowed in Colorado, I relaxed in a hotel room in California and took in the sights.

Ha!

That was a good joke.

Actually, I spent four consecutive days going to ten-hour-long seminars on story structure, plot, character design, and scriptwriting. By the time it was over, I had been screaming on mute for three days, had almost fifty pages of notes, and could see sounds. I was also molded into the shape of my chair.

But! I learned so, so much, and I’m excited to get back to Colorado (hopefully) today and begin to apply what I learned. If I make it through the snow and actually get home, which we are definitely rooting for!

Besides going to the seminar, which was a whirlwind and definitely adventure enough for little homebody me, I also had the chance to attend a session at the recording studio in Burbank and watch an episode of the radio drama I write for be recorded. I met some of the actors involved, watched another of the writers direct, and had the chance to start up a discussion with one of the original creators of the show.

So, yeah, I learned a lot. And it was very exciting.

After six days of nonstop rushing, however, I am ready to be home. I’m typing this in an airport in Las Vegas, NV, and my flight should (again, hopefully) be taking off in the next half an hour or so.

So wish me luck! Send up a prayer if you think of it! I’m excited to get home and hoping to beat a snowstorm back to my cozy cabin in the woods, where I will immediately curl up with some hot chocolate, my kitty (who I have missed excruciatingly), and my sister (who I have also missed excruciatingly). Colorado, here I come!

I have been so out of commission this week! What did I miss? Tell me about what’s been happening to you lately?

“…All At Once, Summer Collapsed Into Fall”

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

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Don’t you just love that quote by Oscar Wilde? It never fails to make me feel cozy.

Seriously though, this year fall seemed to come in with October, and we have had a nip in the air and yellow leaves ever since. I love fall with all of my cozy heart, and my sister and I have certainly been embracing the fall days. We’ve got a pumpkin in our pantry, several types of squash in the fridge, and enough wood to (hopefully) last us all winter. We’ve had fires at night, hot chocolate, and I have piled so, so many blankets on my bed to keep from freezing at night.

So, yes, fall is here.

October always seems to go by much too quickly for me. It’s my favorite month, and every year I blink and it’s gone. This year will be no exception, I think. I’ve got a lot going on this month, and already the first week has sped past. I’ve got a book coming out this month, I’ll be out housesitting for more than a week, and I’m headed down to LA at the end of the month. (What?)

In the midst of all the bustle and hurry, I am also trying hard to just enjoy October. The chilly nights and warm days are my paradise, and I want to take as much time as I can to savor it before winter sets in and those fires I mentioned become messy and start getting me up every two hours in the night to put more wood on.

So . . . I am lighting candles. And not begrudging myself a mug of hot chocolate when I curl up to read. And taking long walks down our dirt road with my sister when I get home at night. I have Anne of Green Gables sitting on my side table, complete with a bookmark, because I, too, am so glad that I live in a world where there are Octobers. I have my eye on several lovely acorns just outside my workplace in town, two or three of which I intend to ‘rescue’ as soon as they are ripe and ready. I’ll wrap them in damp tissue, stick them in a plastic bag, and pop them into the back of my fridge for the rest of the year, and they’ll be my new round of trees in the spring. I have new boots and sweaters and scarves for work, and I am stockpiling cardigans because working in an office during the winter is cold business. I also have been cooking more, enjoying the simplicity of soups and comfort foods. Yesterday, I spend the entire afternoon making homemade sweet potato gnocchi.

I haven’t decided how I like it yet, but making it was definitely an experience!

So! There’s my fall agenda. I should have release dates for my new book so, so soon, but until then, I hope you all enjoy your October! Have a glass of apple cider or hot chocolate and think of me!

What are you doing to celebrate fall this year? Anyone headed to a corn maze or a pumpkin patch? Tell me about it in the comments!

Life Is A Journey

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

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Having a life outside of work is really, really hard when work is your life.

I am discovering this.

My whole aim in the last seven years has been to get my writing off the ground. I applied only for jobs that would give me time to write, avoided dating relationships because they took up too much of my time, and basically scheduled my life around ‘writing time’.

Now, I have a job as a scriptwriter. And I write all the time, every day.

This was the goal.

It was definitely, definitely the goal, and I am so, so excited to get paid to write instead of working dead-end jobs with strange hours to support my dream.

But working as a scriptwriter means that my entire life, from the moment I wake up in the morning to the moment I fall into bed, revolves around words and story structure and character motivation and how many words I can pump out before my eyes cross. Because, of course, my own writing is still important to me. My books aren’t published yet, and some of them have yet to be finished. This blog, too, is still one of my passions—mostly because I love ya’ll—and it takes a lot of work to keep it moving.

So I am learning to find a balance between my dreams, my wonderful, challenging, brilliant job, and actually having a life that doesn’t revolve around words and how many times I can spell ‘definitely’ before it starts looking wonky.

Spoiler: it’s not very many times.

Weekend adventures are great—when I can resist the temptation to forgo them in favor of slamming out 2000 words on my current project. Because, yes, as much as I write now, I still very much love to write. Doing it on a schedule hasn’t dulled that love.

I’ve been looking at several ‘hobby’ projects to work on lately. Something to give me a feeling that life isn’t all about my word count. My sister and I have begun a habit of reading a book together in the evenings. We’re working through Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke right now. It’s one of my favorites.

Another possibility that I’ve been thinking about is diction classes, either online or actually in person, which would be terrifying. I’ve thought about doing a podcast for this blog for a long time, and one of my dreams is to—eventually, in the very distant future—teach writing techniques at conferences and workshops. Which is proof that your dreams for the future do not have to match up with your skills at the present, as long as you are willing to learn.

(That dream is a secret, by the way. Don’t tell.)

But, for both of those activities, I would need to be able to speak as well as I can write, which, unfortunately, is not a reality right now. Something to think about, eh?

Any advice on how to find a hobby that gives me a little relief from word counts? I’d love to hear about it!

Headed For Home

Posted on by A.R. Geiger

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I’m going to be honest with y’all.

I’m writing this while we drive.

I think we’re in Alabama right now. Somewhere near Birmingham, I think, although I am directionally challenged and it’s very possible that I’m wrong.

Guys. Alabama is hot. Like, ridiculously hot. Like, if it wasn’t so beautiful I would never come here again kind of hot.

But the trees have flowers and leaves instead of needles and the grass is lush and green, and everything is beautiful. Also, the dirt is red. And today is cloudy and misty. So I’m trying to ignore the heat.

We’re headed for Texas right now. Then, tomorrow, our wheels will be pointed toward Colorado and home.

I’m excited.

I miss my cat. And my family. And my house.

I can’t swear that anyone misses me, but I have a little—possibly vain—hope that my cat missed me. A tiny bit. A very tiny bit. Like, she went to sleep at night in my big empty bed all alone with no one to cuddle with and thought, “I wonder what happened to that one person who used to feed me and would whine back when I whined at her.”

I’ll admit, that’s a little bit of a stretch. But I can hope.

As much as I am excited to get back home, this has been a trip and a half. We’ve been through twelve states so far and have four more to go, and I have loved seeing the country change along the highway. We’ve crashed in hotel rooms, been hosted by wonderful friends, eaten way too much fast food, baked on beaches, swam in the ocean, in hotel pools, lakes, and backyard ponds. My brother made friends with a lizard, I found baby clams and ate my first Po’Boy sandwich, my dad drove us through the town where he grew up and showed us where his dad’s mechanic shop had been and the house he’d lived in. We saw flooded rivers, Florida swamps, the sea, and a telephone pole shaped like Mickey Mouse.

It was wild.

And now we’re headed for home. Tomorrow night, I will sleep in my own bed, and one week from today, I will start my first full-time office job and get paid to be a writer.

Life is crazy, y’all.

Anyone have any crazy road trip memories to share? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!