Today my young adult book about Emerson Page arrived on my doorstep and I burst into tears. I’ve waited so long to see her. It’s overwhelming to say the least. Thank you to everyone who believed she would find her way into the light. Pre-order is available on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2wAhmvG.
Tag: reading
In the pause: Looking for bookstore and community center partners for my young adult book
Do you have a great local bookstore? Do you know of a local organization in your city where I could offer writing, storytelling, and publishing workshops?
Part of my marketing plan for my young adult book, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, is to offer writing and storytelling workshops to young people and adults. Topics could include storytelling, publishing, and book branding and marketing.
If you have a great local bookstore or community center that focuses on storytelling, please let me know as I’d love to partner with them to promote and support their work. Stories change the world.
In the pause: How fantasy writing helps us understand reality – a lesson from Dr. Seuss
“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living; it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.” ~Dr. Seuss
Escaping through books is a valuable exercise whether you’re a writer, a reader, or both. When we let go of the world we know and enter into another world, that distance gives us greater perspective. We breathe a little easier. Our muscles relax. A little distance, a short escape, can help us see more clearly and act with more purpose.
If you’re wrestling through a challenge right now—personal or professional—take a break. Read a book, preferably one that has absolute nothing to do with the challenge you’re trying to manage. Let the dust settle and let your mind go somewhere else for a while. You’ll be surprised by what appears.
In the pause: Chapter 2 of the free prequel to my book is now available
Chapter 2 of the free prequel to my novel, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, is flying into the inboxes of the people on my mailing list right now. It’s a page from the private diary of Oliver Page, Emerson’s father, as he takes a stand to protect Emerson. Would you like to receive it? Just send me your email address and I’ll send it over to you!
In the pause: What I learned about writing by reading The Little Paris Bookshop
“With all due respect, what you read is more important in the long term than the man you marry, ma chère Madame.” ~Monsieur Perdu in The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
I fell in love with the book The Little Paris Bookshop on page one. I suppose what Monsieur Perdu is saying is that the right books can stick with us for a lifetime on our own terms, longer than most loves. When I think of it that way, I guess it is true, at least for some people.
Monsieur Perdu owns a bookshop in Paris, a peculiar one on a barge in the middle of the Seine that he consider a literary apothecary. He’s a book doctor, or at least a book pharmacist, prescribing books to heal whatever ails his customers. I read the first few pages of the book while crossing the East River on New York City’s B train for a meeting in Brooklyn to chase a dream. In that moment, I moved Monsieur Perdu’s barge to the East River and for me, he prescribed a book to bolster my confidence and stoke my courage.
It’s clear in these few pages that Monsieur Perdu has lost someone he loved, that he spends his evenings in an apartment that used to be filled with love, laughter, and a cat. Now it’s just him surrounded by his familiar neighbors of 20 years whose lives echo through the walls. They’ve loved and lost, too. All of them.
Though the story starts on a sad note, I smiled while reading it because the connection to the characters and the emotions it evokes are exactly what I want my novel, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, to do. I want readers to know Emerson as quickly as I came to know Monsieur Perdu. I want them to root for her to be okay, to be better than okay, to be her own savior. The Little Paris Bookshop shows me that this is possible, a goal worth striving for.
In the pause: Chapter 1 of the prequel to my novel is arriving in inboxes right now
I’m so excited to announce that Chapter 1 of the prequel to my novel, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, is arriving in inboxes at this very moment. I created it to send as a free gift to everyone who signs up for my mailing list. I’ll deliver a new chapter on the first of every month between now and October as we lead up to the launch of the book on November 1st. The only way to get the prequel is to sign up for the mailing list.
Each chapter will be told in the first-person and from the perspective of a different main character. All of the chapters take place on the same day so readers will be able to see this critical event in the book from many different angles.
Chapter 1 is a diary entry from the perspective of Nora Page, Emerson’s mother, as she makes the decision that will change Emerson’s life forever. Simply sign up for my mailing list and I’ll send it right over to you!
In the pause: Why I love writing fantasy fiction books
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” ~Neil Gaiman, Coraline
“No one is too old for fairy tales.” ~Anonymous
The remarkable thing about fiction is that it can be such a help when trying to survive and thrive in the real world. Turn to any news source and you’ll see our country is in the midst of some bizarre twists and turns. Fiction can help us survive these kinds of circumstances by giving us a brief reprieve and it can help us thrive by showing us what’s possible. I wrote my book to help readers feel less alone, give them strength, and fortifying them with hope. Though it’s fantasy, it’s rooted in the very real circumstances of coping with loss, pursuing truth, and finding the will to love in the darkest of times.
Fiction teaches us that there are dragons everywhere. The good news is that there are warriors everywhere, too, in fiction and in the real world. Our protagonists in fiction inspire us to be the warriors the world needs.
In the pause: Back cover art for my book, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters
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!)
In the pause: The launch date for my book, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, is November 1, 2017
Yesterday was a wonderful day! My publisher and I set a launch date for my book, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters. On November 1, 2017, Emerson’s story will be released to the world exactly three years after I started writing the first draft as part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Thumbkin Prints, an imprint of Possibilities Publishing Co., and I are planning fun giveaways, exclusive content, and fun events as pub day approaches. To stay in-the-know, take a second to sign up for my email list at https://goo.gl/forms/GwZKMm8gR3zhFVGJ2. I promise no spam, only goodness!
Wonder: Recording an episode about YA literature with the Lit to Lens podcast
I’m so excited to head to Georgetown today to record an episode about YA literature with the Lit to Lens podcast team. I’ll be talking about my book, Where the Light Enters, my creative process for writing fiction, and why I think YA literature is such an important genre for all readers and writers. When the episode goes live, I’ll be sure to let you know!
Christa Avampato 