I can’t believe it’s almost here! On Friday, May 31st, at 7pm I’m hosting my first ever book launch party for my novel, Emerson Page and Where the Light Leads.
Details: To start the party, I’ll be in conversation with Matt Misetich, Senior Executive and Partner at Pipeline Media Group. We’ll talk about the creative process of being a writer, the publishing industry, and transforming books to film. There will be delicious food-to-order, 2-for-1 drink specials until 8pm, cake with a bit of magic, raffle prizes, and free giveaways for all guests. Then enjoy the cozy and relaxed bar with a hidden outdoor patio, pool table, and Caribbean vibe.
The launch of this book has been wonderful, and I’m so excited to celebrate with everyone. I hope you’ll join us!
Before you share one more post on social media about climate doom and gloom, please take a deep breath. And then, please post something else. Anything else.
The goal of sharing climate change stories is to drive actions that will halt and reverse climate change to protect the planet and human well-being. While doom and gloom stories such as alarming statistics (of which there are many, sadly!) drive more sharing, clicks, comments, and engagement on social media than any other type of climate story, the largest research study on the topic recently found they drive the least amount of climate action and do almost nothing to change climate change beliefs or support climate change policies. They actually backfire, even causing people concerned about climate change to take significantly less action than they otherwise would.
How could this be? Doesn’t instilling fear for the survival of our species cause so much alarm that of course we’d change our ways? That is a logical, rational assumption. For many years, this was the prevailing wisdom. If you just show people how much damage climate change can do, they’ll change their behaviors and habits to protect themselves and the people they love. This is why we see country leaders, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, leaders at environment nonprofits, and climate activists all over the world sounding the alarm. This is also why so many of us have posted about the climate emergency so often. It’s also why we aren’t seeing enough action taken at a fast enough rate. These stories depressed and demotivated people right into paralysis.
But if that’s the case, then why is there so engagement on climate stories? The clicks, likes, shares, and comments are through the roof. If there’s so much engagement, why is there not enough action? Being engaged on social media or with mass media isn’t the same as taking action in the real world. These stories have absolutely raised the consciousness around climate change, but they haven’t successfully moved people to physically do something about it. Fear-based messaging is somewhat effective at driving one-time actions. However, most climate action requires behavior, habit, and systems change, not one-time actions so the fear-based climate messages don’t give us the long-term and repeated actions we need.
So, what messages can we share that will drive climate action? That is an excellent question. Research points us to a few options that motivate climate action:
Scientific consensus coupled with a clear call-to-action Sharing the science of climate change, and that the vast majority of scientists agree on it, is critical. However, just providing the science isn’t enough. We also need to give people specific, actions to take. And all the better if we can give them a mix of one-time actions (such as voting) and remind them to take habitual actions (such as buying only the amount of goods we need to reduce waste). And we have to make them as simple as possible to get broad-based engagement.
Appeal to ethics and morality with a clear call-to-action Most people like to see themselves as having strong ethics and values. We want to protect our neighbors. We want to take care of our communities. We want to be healthy and happy, and we want people we love to be healthy and happy, too. Taking care of the planet is a way to take care of ourselves and others, and appealing to our collective nurturing nature makes a difference. And again, give people a clear call-to-action to help them do this.
There are other theories about what may work that need further study. There is a hole in the research about which messages will move people from engagement to action. We desperately need more research on this, so we tell the stories that motivate the actions we need to protect ourselves and all species with whom we share this planet. My master’s dissertation has a few additional findings that I’m excited to share soon, and I’m thinking of continuing this line of research and work because it’s so critical to protecting the health of the planet.
6 years ago I was in Dublin, Ireland doing research for my second novel, Emerson Page and Where the Light Leads, that came out this week. There are a few key settings in the book in Dublin – the Brazen Head (Ireland’s oldest pub dating founded in 1198), Trinity Library (both the Long Room and the stunning Book of Kells), Temple Bar (a cobblestone street in Dublin filled with interesting characters), and St. Stephen’s Green (a park filled with nature and art where I spent a lot of time people watching and writing). Beyond Dublin, Newgrange, the Dark Hedges, and Giant’s Causeway also inspired scenes in the book that let me showcase the retellings of some of my favorite Celtics myths, legends, and folklore.
By a wonderful stroke of synchronicity, I was also in Dublin during the 2018 International Literature Festival Dublin. Neil Gaiman, one of my favorite authors who’s influenced my writing more than anyone, was the headliner. I grabbed a ticket. He talked about how Ireland inspired his comic, Sandman, and how he reimagined his favorite stories from Celtic mythology in his 2017 book, Norse Mythology. Now he felt even more like a kindred spirit to me!
Of all the beautiful advice he offered that evening, this quote is the one that affected me the most because it helped me give myself some grace as a writer:
“I’m not an outliner or someone who free writes. I’m more of a gardener. I plant seeds and I see what grows. I plant pumpkins and I expect a pumpkin. But if I get a tomato, I’ll figure out what to do with a tomato. That’s how I write. I love that magic moment when something happens on the page I’m writing that I didn’t know was going to happen. I get to be the first reader of my work, and it’s very exciting. And quite frankly that magic doesn’t happen often enough. A lot of writing is just laying brick.”
I’m a planner (probably because I grew up with a lot of instability). I like order and organization. I like to know what I’m doing and where I’m going, and I absolutely hate wasting time because I know what a precious and finite resource time is. I can’t imagine a world in which I completely let that go. However, Neil made me realize I could be a little less afraid and loosen the reins a bit.
As I walked back to my hotel in Dublin that night, I let myself entertain the idea that I don’t need the next bit figured out before I sit down to write every single time. I could be okay with planting seeds, seeing what grows, and figuring it out as I go. It was at least worth trying, and giving something a try is where everything begins.
In the 6 years since I heard Neil speak in Dublin, I’ve learned how to let more air into my writing and life. I’m still a planner, and I also plan to be delighted by surprise. There’s a time for hard and serious work, for laying bricks, and there’s also a time for fun and play. There’s room for the unexpected, for magic. My second Emerson Page novel that came out this week embodies that. I’m so grateful to Neil for helping me grow as a writer, and also as a person.
A special treat for eBook fans! To celebrate the launch of my second novel, Emerson Page and Where the Light Leads, and as a big thank you for helping the book hit #1 on Amazon on its first day, my publisher is running a special price promotion for the eBook on Amazon. It’s $0.99 now through May 20th — an 80% discount.
Synopsis: It’s New Year’s Eve in Times Square. Just as Emerson Page is about to celebrate the start of her 15th birthday, she comes face-to-face with a family friend-turned-traitor. They begin a dangerous race against time, both willing to give their lives for the lost treasure her mother died trying to protect: an ancient book authored by the Greek muses, Emerson’s ancestors, that contains the secrets to unlimited creativity. Its wisdom is both a powerful tool and a dangerous weapon.
To find the book, Emerson, her friends Skylar and Truman, and her service dog Friday, have to entrust their lives to a series of mythological creatures to usher them deep below the streets of Dublin, Ireland into the land of the faeries. There, they’ll have to convince the faeries to give them the book by exchanging it for a priceless gift of their own.
Can Emerson and her best friends finish the work her mother began and protect the power of human imagination forever, or will her enemy capture the book to boost his own power?
Two notes: Local bookstores and libraries can order the book with ISBN: 978-1-958901-80-9. The book is distributed by Ingram.
These are the days that make all the years of effort an author puts into a book worthwhile. Today, I got to hold my second novel for the first time, and it was even more magical than I imagined it would be. She’s beautiful! Emerson Page and Where the Light Leads launches globally everywhere books are sold on May 14th, a week from today! Pre-order available now at https://www.amazon.com/Emerson-Page-Where-Light-Leads/dp/1958901806
I talk about my five jobs as a writer: cartographer, painter, mason, tourist, and sculptor. I also discuss how I manage multiple writing projects and critique, my writing process, the relationship between my business experience and my writing, and advice for other writers. Thank you to Julie and Chapter Break for all you do for writers and readers.
Closing out the week on a high! I just found out that my upcoming novel, Emerson Page and Where the Light Leads, is an official selection for the 2024 New Media Film Festival in Los Angeles in June. One of my big goals for Emerson is to have her story made into a film or series so bumps like this within the film industry mean a lot. I’m grateful for this honor and I’m hoping I can get to LA for the festival in June.
On Coverfly, a platform that curates film, book, and media awards, my book is ranked in the top 34% of over 135,000 projects in all genres and formats, and top 19% of books and manuscripts.
Thank you to everyone who continues to champion Emerson and support me in my creative work. Your encouragement means everything to us.
On May 14th, the book will be available everywhere books and eBooks are sold. Pre-orders can be placed now on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble. The first book in the series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, is available now in paperback and as an eBook everywhere books are sold.
In the aftermath of the World Central Kitchen tragedy that took the lives of 7 humanitarian aid workers in Gaza this week, I wrote a letter to President Biden on Wednesday evening. The text of my letter is below. My hope is that my letter will inspire other people to not just post on social media but also to write to all of their elected officials and policy makers as a way of pushing for change at a system level.
“Dear President Biden,
On the news tonight, I heard you’re speaking to Prime Minister Netanyahu tomorrow. I know you receive a multitude of letters and that mine will likely never reach you but I’ve been so racked by grief at the tremendous loss of life in Gaza, especially the aid workers from World Central Kitchen, that I had to write to you.
This war’s made it unsafe for Americans to be abroad and unsafe to be Jewish, even in a city as diverse and accepting as New York City, where I live. This war is starving millions of people. It’s killed tens of thousands, the majority children and women. It’s maimed, disabled, and orphaned an untold number of innocent people. The people of Gaza are penned in with nowhere to go, no safe passage out and no safe space within.
I know the situation is complicated. I know the Jewish people have suffered for decades, for centuries. I know October 7th was a horrific unspeakable act by Hamas. And I also know what Netanyahu’s government is doing now is as cruel and inhumane as what has been done to them. The people of Gaza and Israel deserve better. They deserve peace. Netanyahu will never give them peace. And so, we have to use every resource we have to stand for peace: A stop on weapons, funding, and support for Netanyahu.
The second term of your presidency is on the line, and with it the future of our nation and the world. We’re asking you to lead, to protect us, to stand on the side of humanity and peace, and that means we cannot stand with Netanyahu. That way lies another Trump presidency, more anti-Semitism, and more anti-American sentiment. We and the world cannot afford any of that.
This war must end and Netanyahu must go. And you must be the one to take that stand. It’s as simple and as complex as that. I know it’s painful. I know it’s difficult. It must be done and you must do it, for all our sakes.
What does a sustainable New York City look like to you? I imagine lush micro gardens, biophilic architecture (a building methods that connects people with nature), rooftop farms, and clean transit, air, and water as pathways that give people, plants, and wildlife the opportunity to live side-by-side-by-side in ways that benefit all.
In biomimicry, we begin our design process by asking how nature would solve a specific problem we have with a question framed as “How would nature (the problem we want to solve)?”. My question above would be framed as “How would nature build a sustainable New York City?” This is a question that has occupied by headspace for years as I traverse through different projects and future visioning sessions.
In the spirit of an image being worth 1,000 words, I created these images with Canva Magic Studio AI to show how nature might build a sustainable New York. Is this a city you’d like to visit? Is this a city where you’d be happy to live? What are the first steps we can take now to make this our New York?
Christa Avampato 