Ever since he was 3-years-old, Cherry Hill resident Michael Geisinger dreamed of having his own book published.
At the age of 15, Geisinger’s dream has become a reality.
Geisinger’s book, “Death of a Pharaoh,” was released this month at area bookstores. The book is also available for purchase online at BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com.
This is Geisinger’s first published work, though he has written plenty of short stories and poems in the past. Geisinger is also very passionate about ancient civilizations and mythology, so he thought writing a story revolving around those subjects would be fun.
“I’ve been interested in ancient mythology and I always wanted to write a book,” he said. “I thought I could put the two together.”
Geisinger’s book is a historical fiction adventure story for kids in grades three to six. In the book, two orphaned brothers named Sam and Roger are transported back in time to ancient Egypt. There, they have to solve the murder of Thutmoses II, a pharaoh who died under mysterious circumstances. Sam and Roger are thrust into a power struggle between Egyptian gods and must overcome numerous challenges to solve the murder mystery.
While most of the characters are fictional, Thutmoses II was a real Egyptian pharaoh who lived about 3,500 years ago.
“He actually did die of mysterious circumstances, and some historians believe he was murdered,” Geisinger said.
Geisinger wanted all of the historical aspects of his book to be accurate, meaning he had to do lots of research before he began writing.
“I had to do research on mythology, history and anthropological theories,” he said.
It took about six months for Geisinger to write the book. Early in the process, he enlisted the help of his friend Jack Granite to help. Granite, listed as a contributor to the book, added some ideas to the story and helped Geisinger with some of the typing early in the process.
Geisinger was able to complete the first draft of the book in about six months. He then created a list of 32 different agents and publishers who he thought would be interested in his work. It took him more than a year before Anansi Publisher LLC offered to publish the book in July.
“They thought it was a very interesting premise, and they liked that I was a very young author,” Geisinger said.
Geisinger said receiving a print copy of his book at home made the many hours of researching, writing and editing worth it.
“I was very excited,” he said. “It was honestly one of the best moments of my life to hold a copy of a book I actually created.”
Geisinger is excited to meet young readers in the coming weeks. He will be at Inkwood Books in Haddonfield on Saturday, Sept. 26 from 3 to 5 p.m. and at the Collingswood Book Festival on Oct. 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to sign copies of his book. He hopes telling the story of his journey will inspire others his age to write.
“I hope I can try to inspire some kids, because they have the ability to write stories, too,” Geisinger said.
“Death of a Pharaoh” may be just the first of many books from Geisinger.
“I’m already writing a sequel,” he said. “It will be with many of the same characters, but there will be a few new characters and new places.”
