Blogging is an extraordinary thing. Now the Greenhouse is ‘out there’ and submissions are pouring in (about 40 today and counting; do I laugh? do I have a nervous breakdown?), I’m starting to get the sense of an embryonic GH community developing.  It’s an amazing feeling - so many people I’ve never met opening the Greenhouse door and peeking in.  So, whether you’re from Wyoming or Wolverhampton, Denver or Dorset, a warm welcome to you! I do hope you’re enjoying the site and that your writing is producing some new green shoots as a result.

I expect you’re expecting an insightful word from me on the state of the literary scene. Well, I’m afraid it ain’t going to happen tonight because literary agents are real people too. Here I am with a half-packed suitcase, papers everywhere, and on course to get a flight back to the US tomorrow that has had to be postponed by a day due to unbelievable numbers of crises (today’s: a large crack developing across the ceiling that has needed emergency treatment from a builder before it falls down). I’m looking forward to getting back to Greenhouse HQ and looking through your submissions to the comforting backdrop of the snoring Greenhouse hound. There are many excitements coming up:  1) a long-awaited manuscript to read on the plane by a really talented new writer 2) a second new author I’m dying to sign up and 3) a Big Book going out to publishers at the end of February. Plus 4) the manic countdown to Bologna just beginning. All pretty cool, eh!

Have to admit, it’s not been an easy week. So a big thank you to Robert from Who-Knows-Where for sending me the kindest of notes.  Cheers! (As we British like to say.)

Hi there, y’all, from a cold and bleak London, where the sky today hung heavy as white lead. It’s been a crazy few days - two cities, two flights, but one common thread:  SCBWI (for anyone who doesn’t know, this stands for the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators).  New York was a hectic weekend and my first taste of the SCBWI US Winter Conference. The size, impact and diversity of SCBWI US is quite inspiring, and it was great to meet so many old and new friends, from SCBWI organisers to publishers to authors and illustrators. There’s no doubt that if you’re an American would-be writer, there’s no shortage of support and guidance available - all fabulous, so long as it doesn’t stand in the way of actually writing! Highlights of the conference had to be author Carolyn Mackler’s funny and touching speech about her journey as a writer, and Susan Patron’s disarming story of her life-changing year as a Newbery winner for THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY.
Then it was a flight home (delayed,and returning to a power failure!), a quick unpack and repack of suitcases, and back to the airport the next morning for my flight to London - my first trip back for four months (thanks to US immigration) and a reunion with much-missed family as well as business meetings.  But the highlight of the trip must surely be last night’s reception at Foyles in Charing X Road (London’s most famous bookstore) for the twelve winners of SCBWI UK’s very first ‘Undiscovered Voices’ writing competition (sponsored by my parent company) for which I was one of the judges last Fall.  Wonderful David Almond (author of SKELLIG, among many other award-winning novels) spoke about his own at times bumpy journey along the road to publication, and I really believe he had a word for every aspiring author in the room who has started to face that unpredictable rollercoaster ride. It was lovely to see twelve newly recognized writers finding their feet and published for the very first time in the special anthology that has been put together to showcase their work. Good luck to you all!
So here’s to the wonderful SCBWI, all branches thereof, and huge thanks to an organization that does so much to promote writing for children and teens around the world.  And I’ll see you all again soon - back at my desk in the Commonwealth of Virginia!

There was a fascinating article in the Washington Post this week - the author (appropriately enough, Thomas Washington) an upper-school head librarian in nearby McLean. Quoting the usual dire statistics about literacy and reading (less than a third of 13 year olds are daily readers; the percentage of ‘non-readers’ at age 17 has doubled in the last 20 years to 19% in 2004; multi-tasking kids can’t focus on any item for longer than nine minutes), Washington concludes that the tipping point in information overload has finally tipped, that we’ve turned into searchers rather than readers, and that none of us is immune from the daily barrage of information, emails, documents and other literature that has to be scanned at speed if we’re to keep up, to distil what is crucial, in order to move on to the next task. He quotes Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff: ‘Increasingly we deal in atomized bits of information, the hors d’oeuvres of education.’ And which of us grown-ups could say we’re immune?

He’s right - it’s very hard nowadays to take time to admire form, rhythm and content. Did it used to be different? Yes, I think it did.  Whereas high school ‘texts’ are now so much about comprehension in sliced-up form, I remember reading incredibly widely during my final two years at school, keeping a special book to log what I’d read.  Did it seem terribly difficult to fit it in? Not really; and yet I know most schoolkids today would find that kind of eclectic reading virtually impossible amid all the testing.

So what should we agents and publishers make of it? Does it really matter what books hit the shelves if no one’s really concentrating on them anyway? Yes, yes and yes, it does matter.  Because out there words ARE hitting the spot - and they can change lives. For me, discovering a passion for books and a delight in language as a young teenager brought me self-belief - and a brilliant jewel box of meaning that I could play with and savour. Language liberated me and empowered me - and a few years later gave me my path in life. Good stories take you to faraway places, they make you wise beyond your experience, and they give you friends you would never have had otherwise.  Am I just living in the past? Has that world totally vanished?  No, because our neighbours’ daughter Miriam is just like I was - hungry to read, thrilled by words, and in awe of great writers.

So to Miriam - and to all the young people out there who are finding themselves through words . . . Keep reading! It will change your life. 

It’s a beautiful day here in lovely Virginia and the sun is pouring through the white plantation shutters of the Greenhouse.  The floor is occupied not only by piles of papers and manuscripts, plus accoutrements of my smart new Blackberry, but also by the resident Greenhouse dog - an elderly, snoring Golden Retriever named Hogan, comatose under my desk. But it’s also a scene of great activity! Apart from the fact that I’m reading the most dazzling manuscript (just revised by one of my wonderful debut authors), which is making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up with excitement, I’m also in full throttle booking appointments for the upcoming Bologna book fair.  For those of you who don’t know, Bologna is not only a gorgeous, ancient Italian town - it’s also the scene of the annual international children’s book fair where all the children’s publishers of the world gather to network, do business, exchange tips on what’s hot and what’s not - and eat some glorious dinners.  For me, this Bologna will be one of the most exciting ever - my first time as an agent, and the first Bologna outing for the Greenhouse.  In three days of meetings - roughly every half-hour from 9am - 5pm (or later) I shall be seeing American and British publishers, film scouts and other industry movers and shakers.  It’s a glorious opportunity to talk about my authors and what excites me about their work.  Then it’s out for dinner and it all starts again, laced with some great food and wine, until one staggers ‘home’ somewhat late, all ready to be up bright (well, maybe not) and early for next day’s appointments. This is what makes children’s publishing so fantastic - friends and colleagues all over the world, all with a common passion for good writing, all looking for the very best books for their particular market.
So the schedule’s starting to fill up and my thoughts are turning to Italy . . . Roll on, March 30!  (Oh, and if you’d like to meet up with me in Bologna, do drop me a line!)

Hi there! Welcome to the brand-new site of the Greenhouse - and to my blog. On the site’s pages you can read all about the agency and what we’re aiming to do over the coming months and years. By being in on it from the start, you can follow what has been and still is a truly epic personal and professional adventure. Am I exaggerating?  Well, let me tell you that when you decide to dive out of your comfort zone (in my case, a 13-year-stint with a major and very successful London publishing house, an apartment, my family and friends) and into a brave new world (marriage to an American, living in Virginia, and setting up a brand-new British and American literary agency) you will find yourself challenged in most areas of your heart and mind. It’s like sailing up the James River looking for a place to land, or heading West in a wagon train - you don’t know what lies ahead but it sure is exciting. For me, the Greenhouse is about everything I’ve achieved and assimilated over my entire career - how to work with authors, what constitutes a great book, what publishers are looking for - and how to walk time and time again into roomfuls of people you’ve never met before and convince them you have something to offer (other than a funny English accent).

I’m looking forward to making the journey with my authors (not least, the three who are already my co-pioneers), with all the fabulous publishers I know in New York and London - and with you, my blog-friends.

I guess you should know what I’m reading:  Just finished Sherman Alexie’s terrific ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN (editor - the lovely Jennifer Hunt at Little Brown) and Patricia Cornwell’s BOOK OF THE DEAD (I’ve been a huge Scarpetta fan for years; but what on earth will happen to Marino? OK, he’s an idiot but we still love him . . .) - not a vintage one. Just started on OUT STEALING HORSES by Per Petterson - beautiful lyrical writing. Let me know what you’re reading and enjoying?