It’s been quite the year in the world of books and elsewhere, and no one is more aware of our ridiculous good fortune than all of us here at Upstart Crow Literary. So we are counting our blessings. And boy oh boy, do we have lots of reasons to give thanks as the holidays approach.
Because we will be taking a break from our (almost) daily blogging to spend time with our loved ones, Chris, Danielle, Ted and I have compiled a list of the things that inspire us to clasp our hands together, roll our eyes heavenward, and say, Thank you!
In no particular order, we present to you our first annual “Things the Agents at Upstart Crow Literary are Thankful For List.”
(just rolls off the tongue, don’t it?)
- The launch of our new agency!
- Strong coffee
- The much-remarked-upon beauty and oft-envied design of our website, by renaissance man and grand master of awesome Symon Chow
- That BEZ has bounced back from sickness like a g.d. superhero
- The liquid bliss that is strong coffee
- The New Yorker‘s Anthony Lane—painfully witty, a brilliant stylist, and full of a passionate and deep understanding of movies and literature. And yet the greatest thing he does is to spare us from having to read David Denby’s film reviews every single week.
- Our cartoon crow by the breezily brilliant Crab Scrambly
- The many recent brave and wonderful film adaptations of children’s books, such as Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are, and Henry Selick’s Coraline.
- The heavenly nectar that is strong coffee
- Cats and dogs and all the little long leggedy beasties (No, seriously: We love pets here at the Crow.)
- Librarians, editors, and readers
- P.G. Wodehouse, because it is a great good thing to laugh, and funny can never be overrated
- This holiday specifically designed to remind people to be thankful. Well, that and as an excuse to overeat.
- Google image search (where else can we find such ridiculous photos?)
- Spel czech
- Coffee. (Even when it’s weak it’s better than no coffee at all.)
- And—not to devolve into complete sentimentality—all of you, who care about books and good writing to such a boundless degree that it is almost like a sickness; you who are driven to abandon spare time and good sense and often the company of loved ones in order to sit by yourself and pull from the ether threads of story and character and event in the hard work that to others doesn’t look like work at all. The only thing that allows you to endure is the faith that with care and attention and far too much effort, you can create something that matters and is worthwhile. It is too often a thankless task, but not today and not from us. So: Thanks to all of you.
Don’t forget to add coffee on the list!
~Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday. Wishing you wonderful days that lead to lasting memories. THEN — drink a strong cup of coffee …er ummm liquid bliss … er ummm heavenly nectar -er ummm any good caffeine fix – and work through those queries so some of us have a really, really happy day!
😉 Thanks for the blog and continued support!
You guys rock! Even though I’ve recently found representation, your agency will always be at the top of my list for “coolest agents on Earth!” Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and most especially to our four-legged, furry friends. 😉
You should check out Anthony Lane’s book NOBODY’S PERFECT. It’s fantastic!
. . . until next week, Happy Thanksgiving!
I agree with Debra, definitely a great blog. Thanks Upstart.
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Thanks for a great blog! Happy Thanksgiving! 🙂
Thanks for the informative and always entertaining blogs.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving with lots of coffee!
I’m thankful for brown gravy.
I’m thankful for Jack Daniels.
I’m thankful for Jack Daniels in brown gravy!
Amen.
Haste yee back 😉
Yer a darlin’ and yer photo ops cracks me ups. Good Turkey on ye.
OK, that pictures is not only strange, but kind of disturbing on a couple levels. . . !
🙂
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hey–what about us tea drinkers?
Jane
Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for all your great blog posts. I so love coffee too and couldn’t survive without it.
Dear Jane,
I’m thankful for dark tea.
I’m thankful for Southern Comfort.
I’m thankful for Southern Comfort in dark tea and all of Jane Yolen’s books!
Amen.
Haste yee back 😉
I’m thankful for pumpkin pie.
I’m thankful for vodka.
I’m thankful for pumpkin pie and vodk…..ooh ick. No. That’s just gross.
I’m thankful there’s a cool website named Upstart Crow where I can stop along the way down this road called writing. You make a long, sometimes painful journey a little shorter and a lot sweeter. Thanks!
I’m thankful my bro in law is a big dog at Starbucks Corp. in Seattle. (Neener neener neener!).
I’m with you on the coffee thing – except for weak coffee being better than no coffee. Weak coffee is the same thing as no coffee to me – maybe worse, because there’s the frustration factor of thinking I was getting real coffee followed by acute disappointment.
Congrats on all your accomplishments this year and Happy Thanksgiving!
Wow. It’s so cool to see P.G. Wodehouse on this list. My friends all think I’m a dork because I love his stories. Yeah,that’s why…
Lovely. And a pile of us are thankful for you.
Ah, I’m all choked up! Seriously, you guys. So glad you stuck together when when Firebrand closed. Your good chemistry is clear. Makes me wish I worked at Upstart Crow. Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m thankful for having an agent (and agency) who (that) believes in my work enough to carry it into the breach.
I’m also thankful for that cat in the pilgrim costume.