Storm Literary Agency

Boutique literary agency representing quality literature from exceptional authors and illustrators

First, there was a  teacher who loved books almost as much as she loved little children. Then, there was an artist who loved pirates, almost as much as he loved cats. As it turns out, that artist could also write, and that teacher loved the pirate stories he wrote. And she shared those stories with the children she taught. The children loved the pirate stories; they also loved the cats. They wanted more stories with pirates and cats. They also wanted an adventure. And the stories gave them so many adventures. And that is that: Storm Literary Agency came about because it needed to. The children requested it. And so did the cats. 

Storm Literary Agency welcomes submissions from unique and talented authors and illustrators, those who are not afraid to embrace their capacity to teach, to entertain, to engage and to honor people, young and old, who hopefully, will be changed by the work represented here.

Alastair Bland

 

Twitter: @allybland • Facebook: alastair.bland.1 • Instagram: figovelo/ • LinkedIn: alastair-bland-93306360/ • Website:

Alastair Bland was born and raised in San Francisco. Along with his two brothers, he developed an early love for water and a keen interest in fishing. These passions evolved into a fondness for all places wild, an from a young age Alastair and his family explored forests, swamps, mountain ranges, and foreign nations. Alastair often took fishing gear on these outings, but over time he leaned toward cameras, sound recorders and notebooks. Increasingly, he ventured from home alone and on a touring bicycle.

Today, Alastair works as a reporter for CalMatters, covering water-related policy and environmental issues. Before that, he spent more than a decade as a freelance writer, covering topics related to climate change, drought, river conservation, fisheries and agriculture. In 2010, Alastair followed a team of plant geneticists seeking new varieties of wine grape, fig and walnut in the Republic of Georgia. In 2012, he visited with river conservationists trying to protect the salmon runs of northwest Spain. In 2013, he and his twin brother Andrew cycled from Lima to Quito. Along the way, Alastair reported on the deadly interactions between Andean cattle ranchers and the imperiled spectacled bear. Later that year, Alastair wrote for NPR about the remarkable food canning culture of southeast Alaska. In 2014 he cycled through Romania to research the impacts of road development on brown bears of the Carpathian Mountains.

Alastair lives in Sebastopol, California on a property planted with more than 50 fig trees. When he isn’t working, he tends to a large garden with his girlfriend, cycles on country roads, daydreams of an Earth without plastic, and advocates for correct use of the word “literally.”

Not that it’s very important, but Alastair graduated from U.C. Santa Barbara in 2002 with degrees in physical geography and cultural anthropology. In the decades since, no one has asked to see his diploma.

Interviews with Alastair:

https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand/senate-newsom-veterans-row/delta-sf-bay-water

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/roundtable-californias-water-capture-efforts/id1124232135?i=1000601507022