Category: creativity

creativity

In the pause: Introducing Emerson Page

Christa Avampato

I really tried to wait, but I just couldn’t contain my excitement. My fantastically talented friend, Bonnie, is doing the illustration of Emerson for the cover of my book and I am just blown away by it. Bonnie is doing another similar version as well and then I’ll turn both of them over to the graphic designer to blend into the cover design. I’ll share Bonnie’s additional sketch and the full cover design when they’re ready. In the meantime, I’d like to introduce you to Miss Emerson Page. She’s pleased to meet you. Thanks for taking this journey with me. And to Bonnie, thank you a million times over. You brought my dream to life, literally.

For information on giveaways, exclusive content, and fun events for Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, click here to sign up.

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creativity

In the pause: The courage to go your own way – a lesson from Mitch Albom and Tuesdays with Morrie

Christa Avampato

“What if you just did it your own way? No rules, no right or wrong, just what you think is beautiful?” ~Sandra Magsamen, Living Artfully

There’s really something to be said for going your own way. I often talk about my Darden professor who warned us to “stay away from the boxes”: the ones people (will try to) put you in, the ones you put yourself in, and the ones you put others in.

I was reminded of that idea again today when I watched an interview with Mitch Albom.  He was a sports writer who wanted to write a book about his dying professor and the important lessons he was learning about life by visiting him. Publishers didn’t want the book. They told him to stick to sports writing. That’s what he was good at. That’s what he knew. And this book was too depressing. “No one will want to read that,” they told him.

Albom persisted because he wrote the book in hopes of being able to pay for Morrie’s medical bills. One publisher finally took it, several weeks before Morrie died. And it was a very slow build, not an instant best-seller. Fast forward 20 years: Tuesdays with Morrie is read all over the world. It’s sold over 15 million copies in 45 languages and is read by kids, seniors, and everyone in-between.

Albom has grown, too. He’s gone on to write novels, nonfiction books, and stage plays. On one of those now famous Tuesdays, Morrie asked Albom how he supported his community and Albom told him he wrote checks to charities. Morrie told him he could do more. And he has. Albom founded an orphanage in Haiti that he visits once a month and has 9 charities total that he runs. So much for all those publishers who told him to stick to sports writing. Thankfully for us, and the world, he didn’t listen to them. He refused to stay in that box.

Albom, and so many renaissance men and women around the world and throughout time, teach us that it’s okay to not be neatly defined. It’s okay to do a lot of things as long as they are meaningful to you. Look at the people who founded our country—not a single one of them was just one thing. Somewhere between then and now we got into this rut in our society of having one narrow focus for our careers and our lives. Let’s embrace the idea that we are complex, intricate, and multi-talented beings. Be proud of always growing in new directions. Let’s be all that we are.

creativity

In the pause: What would you tell your 13-year-old self?

Christa Avampato

Today I’m writing the Author’s Note for my book and I’m framing it as a letter to young adults to explain why I wrote the book. It’s akin to the idea of writing a letter to my younger self, specifically my 13-year-old self since my protagonist, Emerson Page, is 13 in the book. If you could give your 13-year-old self advice, what would you say?

creativity

In the pause: The editing process of my novel, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, is done

Christa Avampato

Great news from book land: the difficult job of editing is finally done and my novel has been sent to layout at the publisher. I am feeling so many things right now—relieved, grateful, excited, exhausted, and, if I’m really honest, a little sad and scared. Bringing Emerson to life over this last two and half years has been an amazing process. It’s been a long and winding road filled with blessing, disappoints, and learnings at every moment. Emerson isn’t just a character in a book to me. She lives and breathes and exists in the world, and I will miss traveling this particular road with her. It has been an honor and a challenge to tell this first part of her story, and to see the world through her eyes. What a journey!

And now a new one begins—getting the book into the hands of readers. If you’d like to get updates on giveaways, exclusive content, and fun events, add your email to my list at https://goo.gl/forms/nIZodlQQ993r4RXu1.

creativity

In the pause: Why I respect Sally Yates now more than ever

Christa Avampato

I was in the room yesterday when Sally Yates and Ted Cruz went toe-to-toe. Senator Cruz was late to the meeting, missed Mr. Clapper’s entire opening and most of the opening by Ms. Yates, waited to asked his questions, and then promptly left after Ms. Yates won the argument. Top of his mind: Hillary Clinton’s emails and Ms. Yates’s “misbehavior” in defying Donald Trump’s unconstitutional travel ban, not the ties between Trump and Russia which was the topic of the meeting.

Though Senator Cruz was undone by this heated exchange in which he tried to discredit Ms. Yates and defend Donald Trump’s reliance on executive orders as indisputable law, Ms. Yates was not.And let’s be clear, several Senators were incredibly disrespectful to her several times.One commented, “Ms. Yates, who appointed you to the Supreme Court?” as if the AG has no right to question the legal validity of the President’s actions. She never once lost her composure.

She was prepared and passionate, while maintaining professionalism and grace. She stands with conviction and justice, even in the face of being fired from a job she loved. It was more important for her to do the right thing than to do what it would have taken to keep her job. That is patriotism.

creativity

In the pause: Today I’m at the Senate hearing on Russian Interference in the 2016 United States Election

Christa Avampato

Today marks a significant day in history: a public Senate hearing on Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election. I am attending and will live tweet it on my Twitter feed at @christanyc.

The Honorable Sally Q. Yates, Former Acting Attorney General of the United States, and The Honorable James R. Clapper, Former Director of National Intelligence of the United States, will testify in front of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism.

While other committees will likely hold many additional hearing in the near-future, this is the first time the public will hear from Sally Yates. Though the hearing won’t be televised, it will be live streamed on the subcommittee’s website at https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/russian-interference-in-the-2016-united-states-election.

creativity

In the pause: Honor your mother on Mother’s Day with a gift to the Capital Area Food Bank

Christa Avampato

This Mother’s Day, honor an amazing mom, or someone who is like a mom to you, by giving the gift of food and hope to mothers who are working hard to feed their kids with the help of the Capital Area Food Bank. It’s one of my favorite charities because they support over 700,000 D.C. area residents every year who battle food insecurity. They’ve set up a special fundraising effort for us to honor mothers by helping mothers and families who are less fortunate: https://www.capitalareafoodbank.org/mothers-day/.

I honored my mom with a donation to CAFB this year and I hope you’ll join me! And if you need a first-hand account of all of the incredible work CAFB does, read this story by CAFB team member Christel Hair:

“IN HONOR OF MY STRONG SINGLE MOM

Everything is a struggle when you’re a single mom with kids. I know this first hand.

After losing my father, my mom was a single woman in the 70s with two girls to raise. It wasn’t always easy, but she was smart, hard-working, and tough. Sometimes we ate whatever was on hand – Hamburger Helper, toast, applesauce, a vegetable. But she served up everything with love, and we felt comfortable and safe.

I followed her example when, years later, my husband passed away and I was raising two little boys on my own. I was fortunate to have a job and the support of my family, but there were still times when getting dinner on the table after a long day at work was a challenge.

During my time at the food bank, I’ve met so many women who are working and raising children like I was, but doing it without enough food. And as hard as it was for me, I know it can be much harder.

This Mother’s Day, honor an amazing mom – or someone like a mom – in your own life by giving the gift of food and hope to mothers who are working hard to feed their kids. Moms make sacrifices all the time. With your help, food doesn’t have to be one of them.

And to my own mom: thank you for showing me how to lead and love my family with strength and pride.”

creativity

In the pause: What to do with fear

Christa Avampato

It was 8:30pm last night and all of a sudden I was in my living room crying. I’ve been pouring myself in my book this week and I have a cold, but that’s not it. As I close this current chapter of my life and begin a new one, there’s a certain level of fear mixed in with my excitement. For a moment, that fear got the upper hand.

I’ve been through loads of changes like this before. I’m moved to new cities, left jobs, left relationships, started companies, closed companies, dealt with the loss of loved ones, and had great fluctuations in my income over the years. And let’s not forget my apartment building fire, the bullet through my lobby a few months ago, and that small matter of my airplane being hit by lightning in mid-flight causing an emergency landing just before the wing fell off on the tarmac. Life’s a real kick in the pants sometimes.

The difference for me right now is that I’m so unwilling to compromise when it comes to how I spend my time. The only thing I seem to have any appetite for now is building a better world. We are facing so many challenges that I want to be a part of solving, and there are brief moments when that becomes overwhelming. Last night was one of those times.

And then J.K. Rowling flew into my inbox, like fairy godmothers often do. Her advice? “Stopping worry about paying the rent. Concentrate on your public speaking phobia.” Doing heartfelt work often requires us to take our fear and put it over there so that we can get back to what we need to do. Cry it out. Dance it out. Yell it out. Write it out. Hell, eat a donut if need be. Do whatever you have to do to exercise the fear. Then, get on with it. The world needs you.

creativity

In the pause: Philly’s Rooster Soup Co. is doing everything right in the food world

Christa Avampato
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Check out Rooster Soup Co at http://www.roostersoupcompany.com/

I have to give a big shout out to Philly’s Rooster Soup Co. Recognized today as one of the best restaurants in the U.S. by Food & Wine Magazine, this tasty place produces zero waste and donates 100% of its profits to charity to help vulnerable Philadelphians live a better life. This is the kind of business we need to celebrate – good product and service, good for the planet, and good for the community. This is a triple bottom line we can all believe in and support.

creativity

In the pause: Back cover art for my book, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters

Christa Avampato

I’ve been hard at work with the artist designing the cover of my book, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters. Here’s our work-in-progress for the back cover. What do you think? Sign up for giveaways, exclusive content, and updates at https://goo.gl/forms/ZsMC4d1kN9jKpZhD3. (Please pardon the image watermark as we’re still locking down the design!)

back cover