Tag: writing

creativity

In the pause: As a writer, you can shake the world

Christa Avampato

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” ~Gandhi

Writers, you are leaving a legacy with every word you get down. Your words can change hearts and mind. Thy can connect you to people, and connect people to one another. If you write what you wish to see, you can then build it and inspire others to help you create that vision. You are brave to tell the world what you think and how you feel. So many people keep themselves and their thoughts locked away from others. I urge you now to tell your stories. There are people who need to hear them. There are people for whom your stories will help them get through a difficult time. Your work has value but only if you share it. Sharing is caring. Writing is giving. Care and give.

 

creativity

In the pause: Food, books, and the spirit

Christa Avampato

“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture of their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered [people] have torn down, [people] other-centered can build up.” ~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I heard this quote yesterday at the Capital Area Food Bank’s Hunger and Health Summit. The excellent panel of nonprofit leaders and doctors explained that we may be on the doorstep of realizing as a society that healthy food is the most critical social determinant of health, that food is to our health what books are to our minds, what freedom is to our spirit. In these past weeks, I have been thinking about what I can do with the Breaking Bread Podcast to bring together my passions for food (particularly in terms of providing healthy food for those who are challenged with food insecurity), books, and meaningful conversation. If I toss all of that into the blender, there’s something there. I’m not sure exactly what it is just yet, but it’s starting to become clearer. I’m open to ideas and suggestions so if you’ve got ’em, fire away.

 

creativity

In the pause: People will tell you that you’re not a writer. Ignore them and write.

Christa Avampato

“There are always going to be skeptics. Prove them wrong.” ~Robert Kiyosaki

10 years ago this month, I made a pledge to write every day and it’s a pledge I’ve kept. Being a writer was the only thing I ever really wanted to be. I had a lot of people in my life who were very supportive of that path. But there were skeptics, some of them very loud. Once a close friend of mine told another close friend of mine that I was wasting my time trying to be a writer. I should just focus on my business career because that was something I was good at, and being a writer wasn’t. I was shocked and hurt. It stung. A lot. To be honest, it still stings all these years later. It shouldn’t, but it does.

On your path as a writer, wherever you might be right now, you may encounter similar people. And it may surprise you who those people turn out to be. Skepticism can really hurt, but it can also make you very strong. When my friend said that about me, I was upset and I decided right then and there that I was going to prove him wrong. I was going to keep writing every day and I was going to get good at it, very good at it.

And you know what I found? His opinion really didn’t have anything to do with my writing. I wasn’t writing for him. I was writing for the people I could help, and I was writing to bring myself joy. I love writing. I am intensely passionate about my craft, sharing my work, and inspiring others to write. It’s the work I’m meant to do.

The skeptics are always going to be there. Turn down the volume of their voices to zero. They aren’t for you and you aren’t for them. Send them on their way—in the opposite direction that you’re going. Move toward your own voice and your own writing.

 

creativity

In the pause: How every author writes a book

Christa Avampato

“When your why is big enough, you will find your how.” ~Les Brown

From the base of the mountain, the climb always looks long and difficult, even impossible. Every climb, no matter how tough, progresses the same way—one movement at a time. Every book ever written has been written the same way—one word at a time, by first time authors and master storytellers alike. When you sit down to write you are taking part in a great ritual that has been around since the beginning of human language. Let the strength of that ritual carry you.

There are plenty of reasons to not do the work. Our distractions are endless, and when we use up the distractions we have, we can always find or make new ones.

Do this: give yourself five minutes. Just get something down. Anything. See where it takes you. It doesn’t have to be great. It doesn’t even have to be good. It just has to be yours. One word at a time. That’s all you have to do right now.

creativity

In the pause: Why I love writing fantasy fiction books

Christa Avampato

“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.

 

creativity

In the pause: My author’s note for my book, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters

Christa Avampato

It took me some time to write the author’s note for my book and I decided to structure it as a letter to young adult readers. I wanted to tell them why I wrote this book for them and to let them know that their creativity and ideas are important to me, and to the world. Here it is. (https://emersonpage.com is under construction and coming soon!)

Dear young adult,

I wrote this book for you for many reasons. One of the biggest is that we don’t have enough women and girls at the center of young adult literature. So few books feature female protagonists, and there are almost no books in which a female protagonist takes control of her own life and destiny. As a young adult, I wanted someone to listen to me, to see me. Really listen to my ideas, my hopes, and my dreams, and care enough to understand how I saw the world. And I wanted someone to believe that I could make my dreams happen.

That hope brought Emerson Page into my imagination. A teenager who builds her own path through resilience, courage, and confidence, her touchstones are love and compassion. She’s strong and brave, and she cares about others—exactly the heroine I wish I had when I was her age. She’s the heroine you deserve to have now, and I’m so excited for you to meet her.

I want you to believe in the power of your creative spirit. It’s my greatest wish for you that you live the most beautiful lives you can imagine. Develop your mind, your heart, and your hands. They are the three most powerful tools you have to build a better world, one of your own design. You can’t always choose what happens to you. You can always choose your energy level, enthusiasm, and sense of hopefulness, and they will carry you through difficult times.

Life will undoubtedly hand you setbacks. When that happens, don’t give up. Make the setback mean something. Use it as fuel to work even harder. I always wanted to write a book and have it published. That has been one of my biggest dreams. I spent five years thinking about Emerson, writing down notes and ideas here and there. Then I spent two years writing her story, and another year pitching it and getting it through production.

Fourteen people rejected this book before I found my publisher. (And those are just the ones who bothered to send a rejection reply at all. Many others never even did that.) Don’t be afraid of rejection. Learn from it, but don’t let it stop you from moving forward. Your ideas have merit. Keep looking for the people who appreciate you, and don’t stop until you find them. You find what you look for. Believing is seeing. The book you hold in your hands right now is proof that dreams do come true so long as you don’t give up.

This book is also about community, and the power we have when we believe in ourselves and in others. Be good to each other. And when you see someone in crisis, don’t walk by. Help. You would want that help if the tables were turned, and someday they will be. Life is about give and take, and I’ve found that the more I give, the more it comes back to me.

More than anything, this book tells the story of a young woman finding her way in a world that is often confusing and frustrating. The same thing happens to us from time to time at every age. When that happens to me, I look to the stars. They remind me that we’re literally surrounded by miracles. That we are miracles. We are the stars and the stars are us, and we’re all connected.

When Jasper explains Emerson’s ancestry to her in the Library of Imagination, when Samuel sits with Max in the Crooked Willow Café, and when Nora finds Truman in the In-between, an adult is supporting and encouraging a young person who feels alone. No matter how old you are, I hope this book makes you feel less alone.

Whenever I feel down about the state of society, I remember that you will one day be in the driver’s seat, and that helps me to keep going. You are the hope and light of this world. I’m cheering you on and I’m rooting for you. I believe in your value and the value of your ideas. The world needs you.

I always welcome the chance to connect with readers; it’s one of the best things about being a writer. I look forward to the conversation.

Wishing you the most magical life you can imagine,
Christa

Email:
christa.avampato@gmail.com

Twitter:
https://www.twitter.com/iamemersonpage
https://www.twitter.com/christanyc

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorChrista

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/iamemersonpage
https://www.instagram.com/christarosenyc

Websites:
https://www.emersonpage.com
https://christaavampato.com

Sign up for exclusive content, giveaways, and fun event news related to my book, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, that will be published November 1, 2017: https://goo.gl/forms/GwZKMm8gR3zhFVGJ2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

creativity

In the pause: Write and live like you’re running out of time—another lesson from Hamilton

Christa Avampato

“Why do you write like you’re running out of time?” ~Aaron Burr, “Non-Stop” from the musical Hamilton

Sometimes the best thing you can do with your neuroses is accept them and work within them. I think that might be the secret to life.

Hamilton has a way of teaching us so many lessons, about history, economics, and life. There are many ways to describe Alexander Hamilton and I think there is one that stands above all others—non-stop. Something in him knew his life would be short; he had seen so much loss at such a young age. He understood how fleeting life can be. He wrote and worked and loved and lived like he was running out of time because he was. We all are.

I’m not suggesting that this is the only way to live. I’m not even suggesting that it’s a good idea to focus so maniacally on what we’ve lost as Hamilton did. I just know that this is how my mind works. I see time ticking by and do what I can to make the most of it because I can’t make it slow down. This is what keeps me moving forward, especially in times of difficulty.

I’ve never been good at waiting and biding my time. No one I know would ever call me patient. I sit for 18 minutes a day meditating, and that’s about what I can handle. I don’t dwell on things I try that don’t work out—and that goes for baking a pie to landing a job and everything in between. I learn from my experiences and try something else. “Netflix and chill” is never going to be a phrase I embrace (and by that I mean the clean version, friends). I wish I could; I just can’t do it and be happy. And I like to be happy so I embrace my work, my friends, and my curiosity. Those are the things that matter to me.

We’ve just got this one life, and no one is ever going to find a way to manufacture more time. Time is the most equitable resource on Earth. We all get the same 24 hours. Let’s use them in ways that mean something to us. Hamilton certainly did.

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 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: 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.