I tell wonder-filled stories about hope and healing
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!
“I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.” ~Anna Quindlen
This quote popped into my inbox at just the right time. I am almost done editing the galley of my novel, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters. While I gave myself a short timeline to turn this around to my editor, I’m also making a concerted effort to enjoy this edit, the last edit I will ever do on this book for this print run. If there is joy in the doing, it shows in the done. And I want that joy to come shining through to everyone who reads these words.
“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.
On Thursday night, I went to a networking event and then had a chunk of free time before meeting my friend, David, for a drink after his show. I grabbed a piping hot slice of cheese pizza, eating properly off of a paper plate while walking around Hell’s Kitchen. It was a perfect, cool evening that filled me with inspiration and possibility. Then I settled in for dessert, coffee, and wine at the wine bar where I was meeting David. I sat down and wrote the second chapter of the prequel to my novel, long-hand in my notebook. It’s told from the perspective of Oliver, Emerson’s father. It didn’t go at all the way I planned. I didn’t see any of it coming until the words came flowing out of my pen.
This is what happens when we spend a lot of time with characters. We don’t have to worry about what they’ll say or do next. We just sit down, tune out our world, and tune into their world to watch, listen, and get it all down as authentically, honestly, and quickly as we can. The story broke my heart. The characters say and do things that they regret. They hurt each other and love each other in equal measure. They’re stubborn, intelligent, and righteous. They’re real people with deep flaws and immense gifts. They’ll be their own undoing and their own saviors. They’ll have to be.
This second chapter will be released to the members of my mailing list on Saturday, July 1st. To receive this exclusive content, add your information to my mailing list.
“It’s a real book!”
That’s what my friend, Alex, said to me when she saw the layout proof of the first page of my novel. She’s right; everyday Emerson becomes more real. For many years, her spirit lived in my mind. I had to introduce her to the world. So I started to write down her story. There were nights I didn’t go out. Places I didn’t go, things I didn’t do, people I didn’t see because I chose to stay home and write. I could have poured that time and effort into many other things. Some people thought I should (and told me so); they thought writing the book was a waste of time. All creative work looks like a waste of time until it’s done.
Now that the book will be published on November 1st, it’s easy to say and see that I wasn’t wasting my time, that it was worth the effort. But that’s not always the case. I toiled for years with no outward progress on it. Many times creative projects are like that—slow, uncertain, and frustrating. The thing is that I couldn’t stop writing the story. It would have haunted me. Emerson’s voice would have gotten louder and louder and louder until I had to sit down and write it. Creators have to create as much as they need to breathe, eat, and sleep. It’s a vital process.
So if you’re in the midst of a creative project, one that’s taking longer than you’d like, one that other people don’t understand, it’s okay. Every person who’s ever created anything has felt exactly what you’re feeling at some point in their own process. That’s part of the journey. Do the work you know you need to do, and tune out the noise. When it’s done, and I promise you that you can finish it!, the amount of pride and gratitude will be overwhelming in the best possible way.
Yesterday was a pretty thrilling day: I got a glimpse of the print layout of my novel, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters. To see it coming to life bit by bit is very exciting and keeps me motivated to write the next chapter of the prequel and to get started on the second book in the series. When we see progress, however slowly, we begin to realize what’s possible and that is a powerful tool to spark our creativity. Once we see and hold what we can do, we know how much more is out there for us to explore and accomplish.
“Why don’t you finish your second book in the Emerson Page series by Labor Day?” my friend, Colleen, said to me.
My response: Blink. Blink. Whaaaaat?
But since she said that to me, I can’t get the thought out of my mind. I’m moved into my new apartment, I’m interviewing and job searching, and I’m catching up with friends. I can do this. I wrote my first novel, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, while working full-time at a startup in a new city.
The first novel sets up so many threads for the second and the world building piece, the heaviest lift, is done. I just need to get it all down so why not set a wild writing goal for myself? And look, Toni Morrison wrote her first novel in 15-minute increments before falling into bed each night while she was a single working mother. She made time to write. I will, too.
Thank you for the push, Colleen. I’m going for it. First draft of Emerson’s second book has a deadline of Labor Day, September 4, 2017.
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!
“I like stories where women save themselves.” ~Neil Gaiman
Screw patience. Do what makes you happy now. If someone asked me how I got to the point I am in my life now, as a person and as a writer, my answer would be “I’ve always been my own savior.” I’ve never expected anyone to fix anything or do anything for me. I don’t want or wait well. All I really know how to do is roll up my sleeves and get to work. Sometimes that work is with other people like my experience in theater, and sometimes that work is on my own like sitting down to write my book. Some call it feisty, others call it fiery, and I call it building a life I love.
Our time is so precious and so short. It flies by despite our efforts to slow it down. Every day matters. Don’t bottle yourself up or tell yourself , “Someday, I’ll do what I love.” Do it now. Some day is today, every day. I promised myself a long time ago that I wasn’t going to die with the music, or the books, still in me. I was going to live and write out loud. However improbable my book seemed, I was going to find a way to get it done. And I did. You will, too. Keep writing.
In New York City, I find inspiration on every corner. My novel is set on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and deep below the streets of New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park, and the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History figure prominently into the story and serve as powerful settings for the events that unfold for Emerson and the other characters. This weekend, I walked through areas of the Upper West Side that inspired bits of dialogue and the actions of the story. I could feel them as I walked down those streets. I could see scenes play themselves out. Being a writer is the best virtual reality system there is—all of a sudden the world becomes a stage and you create every detail of the players who move through it. I wonder what stories are still waiting for me on those magical streets.
Christa Avampato 