Agency News, and a Few Hard-Won Words

How awesome is that logo?

The crow's out of the bag, so I can share in brief: agent and former editor Michael Stearns has left Firebrand Literary to form Upstart Crow Literary, and my agent, Chris Richman, has joined him, as has agent Danielle Chiotti.

Alice Pope, editor of Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market, blogged the news this morning with this statement from Michael:

"Chris and Danielle possess that mix of literary savvy, good taste, and dedication to their authors and books that marks them as either potentially crazy or simply crazily dedicated. I feel fortunate to embark on this new venture with the two of them, as well as with our talented list of authors, all of whom will be following us to our new home.

"We'll be making our first Upstart Crow submissions next week, and when the site goes live the week after that, I hope you'll stop by and take a look at what we've got in the works."

When Upstart Crow's website goes live next week, I'll link to it via the logo in the left sidebar.

When I heard the name of the new agency, I Googled it and found this on Wikipedia:

It is not known exactly when Shakespeare began writing, but contemporary allusions and records of performances show that several of his plays were on the London stage by 1592. He was well enough known in London by then to be attacked in print by the playwright Robert Greene:

"...there is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a Player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country."

Scholars differ on the exact meaning of these words, but most agree that Greene is accusing Shakespeare of reaching above his rank in trying to match university-educated writers, such as Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe and Greene himself. The italicised phrase parodying the line "Oh, tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide" from Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part 3, along with the pun "Shake-scene", identifies Shakespeare as Greene’s target.

So, it's a Bard thing, which you guys prob'ly already knew.

Also in writing news: New Words!

Exactly 792 of them, and it was like trudging through sand to get started.

I dithered with my scene list . . . I made a playlist on iTunes . . . I sat on my yoga mat and willed my brain to complete character arcs . . . I stared at my screen.

Even though I know my planned revisions are going to make BRIAR-BOUND exponentially better, I was overwhelmed by the task. Dave wisely suggested I choose a moment I know is going to happen with the new girl character, and just write it.

So I pulled up my big-girl pants and wrote it.

And it feels great.

I haven't found her voice yet -- right now the scene's written in my voice -- but it's a start.

It's also creepy in the way märchen used to be, so . . . sehr gut, ja?

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