Author: Christa Avampato

The short of it: Writer. Health, education, and art advocate. Theater and film producer. Visual artist. Product geek. Proud alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA). Inspired by ancient wisdom & modern tech. Proliferator of goodness. Opener of doors. Friend to animals. Fan of creative work in all its wondrous forms. I use my business skills to create passion projects that build a better world. I’ve been called the happiest New Yorker, and I try hard to live up to that title every day. The long of it: My career has stretched across Capitol Hill, Broadway theatre, education, nonprofit fundraising, health and wellness, and Fortune 500 companies in retail, media, entertainment, technology, and financial services. I’ve been a product developer and product manager, theater manager, strategic consultant, marketer, voice over artist, , teacher, and fundraiser. I use my business and storytelling to support and sustain passion projects that build a better world. In every experience, I’ve used my sense of and respect for elegant design to develop meaningful products, services, programs, and events. While building a business career, I also built a strong portfolio as a journalist, novelist, freelance writer, interviewer, presenter, and public speaker. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, PBS.org, Boston.com, Royal Media Partners publications, and The Motley Fool on a wide range of topics including business, technology, science, health, education, culture, and lifestyle. I have also been an invited speaker at SXSW, Teach for America, Avon headquarters, Games for Change, NYU, Columbia University, Hunter College, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The first book in my young adult book series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, was acquired by a publisher and launched in November 2017. I’m currently working on the second book in the series. A recovering multi-tasker, I’m equally at home in front of my Mac, on my yoga mat, walking my rescue dog, Phineas, traveling with a purpose, or practicing the high-art of people watching. I also cut up small bits of paper and put them back together as a collage artist. My company: I’m bringing together all of my business and creative career paths as the Founder of Double or Nothing Media: • I craft products, programs, and projects that make a difference; • I build the business plans that make what I craft financially sustainable; • I tell the stories that matter about the people, places, and products that inspire me. Follow my adventures on Twitter at https://twitter.com/christanyc and Instagram at https://instagram.com/christarosenyc.
adventure, writing

Inspired: National Novel Writing Month Begins Today

Christa Avampato
Where Emerson's adventure begins: Stargrass Paper & Books
Where Emerson’s adventure begins: Stargrass Paper & Books

Today marks the beginning of my next big writing project – National Novel Writing Month. By November 30th, I will finish the ~50,000-word first draft of my first novel, Where the Light Enters staring my heroine, Emerson Page. She is about to discover that her passion for books is intricately entwined to ancient secrets about her family. Books are in her blood, literally. She will learn that it’s her destiny to protect them at all costs, and the costs are dangerous and many. Her new-found heritage will take her and her friends on a wild ride of adventures around the globe, and under it.

Every day, I’ll post the number of words I wrote the day before. I’ll also include a description of the scenes I wrote, my favorite short passage from that day’s writing, and an inspirational photo for the scene. I’m really excited to share this project with you, and would love any and all feedback. You can also follow Emerson’s adventures on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Let the writing, and reading, begin!

holiday

Inspired: Halloween—Your chance to be anyone you want

Christa Avampato
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween!

Halloween is a powerful holiday. We can literally walk around in someone else’s shoes for a night. I love the idea of giving up practicality for the evening and fully investing in our wackiest, most creative ideas. It’s an excuse to indulge in personal reinvention. Dress up, eat candy, dance around, and have fun!

dreams, time

Inspired: A lesson from my MINI Cooper—now is the time for dreams

Christa Avampato
Me, my mini niece, my mini dachshund, and my MINI Cooper
Me, my mini niece, my mini dachshund, and my MINI Cooper

Yesterday I placed the next piece of the puzzle in the great re-engineering of my life—I bought a car. And not just a car, but my dream car. I had to decide between a MINI Cooper and a Honda Accord. I’ve wanted a MINI from the time I first saw them over a decade ago.

Thank goodness my sister, Weez, went with me yesterday. We test drove both cars and I was going to go for the practical Accord, even though it was slightly more expensive than the MINI. My sister wouldn’t have it. “The MINI is your dream car. If you aren’t going to go for your dream now, then when?” I bought the MINI. And I love it.

This lesson applies to everything we do. Now is the time for every dream. Today and every day, take your best shot.

courage, creative, creative process, creativity

Inspired: Create and taste the stars

Christa Avampato
Starry night
Starry night

“Come quickly, I am drinking the stars.” ~ Dom Perignon right after he created Champaign. Quote from The Fault in Our Stars.

This quote explains exactly how we should feel whenever we create something whether we write, paint, tinker, or bake. We should be delighted by the process and the end product. Once our creations make us feel like we are drinking the stars, we know we’ve found everything we’ve been looking for—happiness, success, wonder. Creation isn’t a luxury; it’s a vital force of human existence. It’s the meaning of life and it gives life meaning. It protects us from oblivion. Have courage. Create.

choices, creativity, happiness

Inspired: Make what makes you happy

Christa Avampato
"Do your thing and don't care if they like it." ~Tina Fey
“Do your thing and don’t care if they like it.” ~Tina Fey

Too often we make choices—what career to have, where to live, or what to make for dinner—based upon what we think other people will like. Next time you make something, anything, make it for you. Make what delights you, what makes you happy, what fills you up. Who cares if it’s good? Who cares if anyone else likes it? If we aren’t entertaining ourselves then what’s the point? Create for you.

action, art, creativity, writer, writing

Inspired: I practice method writing to get into character

Christa Avampato
Choose your own adventure
Choose your own adventure

Writers spend a lot of time writing, and they also need to *really* live to infuse life and authenticity into their writing. Writing is theater; it’s a one person show and the writer plays all the parts. To help me get into character, I practice method writing. Like method acting, I imagine how the characters in my writing would act when they experience events in my every day life. I read the news with their eyes. I consider how they’d make the decisions that I face. As an author, I live life many times over; it’s like skipping ahead in a choose your own adventure story to see which ending I like best. Despite deadlines, all writers need a life. Your characters will thank you for it, and so will your readers.

action, dreams, time

Inspired: Your time is now

Christa Avampato
Go for it now. The future is promises to no one.
Go for it now. The future is promised to no one.

Every once in a while, usually in the middle of the night, I question everything I’m doing. “This is insane to try to be a full-time writer given my business background and education,” I think. It is insane, and it’s also necessary. I have to do this or for the rest of my life I’ll wonder what I could have done if I had just had the guts to try. The future doesn’t make any promises to anyone. It doesn’t owe us anything. It won’t work for us, nor against us. It’s going to just be, and what we do with it is entirely up to us. If you really want something, the time to go for it is now.

art, creativity, passion, time, writer, writing

Inspired: Writer Toni Morrison proves we have time to follow our passions

Christa Avampato
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison taught me two priceless lessons: I can always make time to write and never give up. As a single mom with 2 kids, Morrison wrote her first novel, The Bluest Eye, in 15-minute increments each day. That’s all the free time she had. It took her 5 years to write it. She kept writing despite her novel’s low sales. 3 years later, her next novel was nominated for the American Book Award. Her following novels received mixed reviews, but she remained determined. In 1987, 17 years after publishing her first novel, she won the Pulitzer. If you have a dream project, work on it bit by bit. Don’t let critics sap the joy you get from your work. Morrison followed her passion. You can, too.

art, balance, writer, writing

Inspired: What the U.S. Constitution taught me about writing and perfectionism

Christa Avampato

U.S. ConstitutionThe original U.S. Constitution is filled with flaws: typos, changed words, carets with additions, notes in the margins. It’s all there for us to see, encased in thick glass in D.C.’s National Archives. It has an underground where it will retreat should the nation come under attack. The Founding Fathers had no idea how to create a democracy. They wrote a draft document, and a rough one at that, but they went for it full throttle. They didn’t get it perfect, but they got it right enough to keep going. We revere a draft.

If the Founding Fathers can let go of perfectionism, then so can you and I. With National Novel Writing Month, I’m doing just that. I’m cooking up some plans to give everyone everywhere access to my first draft in a variety of formats in real-time. I want feedback to bring Emerson Page to life and make her story an inspiring beacon to encourage all people to courageously and compassionately create. I’m working on the details of my sharing plans and will have them solidified next week. Let’s do this together!

adventure, books, creativity, fiction, writer, writing

Inspired: Be an adventurer. Write fiction.

Christa Avampato
Go get your adventure
Go get your adventure

Writers know where their characters will be on the last page of the book. That focus creates the flow of our characters’ actions and ups the ante when the many necessary conflicts and complications arise. Here’s the game of writing fiction: my character is on this side of the field and what she wants is on the other side. A million proverbial land mines lie in wait for her missteps. (And misstep she will!) She must learn to deftly navigate her way across the field to claim her prize. She needs to get help from others, build skills, and ditch her fears to fulfill her potential. By the time I type those two sweet words “The End”, she has to transform into the person who can traverse the risky landscape that stretches as far as her eyes can see in every direction. Writing fiction is an adventure.