ICE DOGS announcement

photo credit www.sleddogcentral.com

Today I finally get to spill the beans and tell you my exciting news.

I've been waiting impatiently to be able to share, but now that the day is here, I'm actually a bit lost for words.

Here's someone else's words.
Deals from Publisher's Marketplace:

Children's: Young Adult
Terry Lynn Johnson's ICE DOGS, in which a 15-year old dogsled racer and sled dog owner loses her way on a routine daytime outing with her dogs; with food gone and temperatures dropping, her survival and that of her dogs and the mysterious boy she meets in the woods, is up to her, to Ann Rider at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's, for publication in Winter 2013, by Caryn Wiseman at Andrea Brown Literary Agency (world). caryn@andreabrownlit.com


My novel will be a real hardcover book in two years!!!

I cannot even begin to tell you how good this feels. My dream of being published with a big publisher has come true!! And I owe much to my amazing agent Caryn Wiseman of Andrea Brown Lit Agency.

also,

A GIGANTIC and GRATEFUL shout out to my long-suffering crit partner PAUL GRECI

who read the manuscript about 608 times without complaint.
He is beyond awesome. He is also a spectacular, uber talented writer.


Really, a writer's most important tool is her critique partners. I also have to thank

Sue Kay Quinn
Kendare Blake
Medeia Sharif
Cynthia Chapman Willis

also my good friend, and not even a writer Jackie White  who keeps me grounded with her honesty.

I also owe a debt to the good friends I have made this year at the ELEVENSIES

See the village of support I have? I am one lucky writer! And now, thanks to my support team, I am soon to be a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt author.

Pitch session and Muse Conference

I've had my first ever pitch session online. Since it lasted only five minutes, there really wasn't much to it other than me pasting my 100 word pitch and the publisher asking one question. She then gave me a special code to submit the first three chapters of my ms. Here's my pitch:

In Sled Dog Seasons, a 17,000 word middle grade novel, twelve-year-old Rebecca dreams of becoming a famous sled dog racer.

She's an inventive, but self-doubting musher who tackles freezing blizzards, wild animal attacks, puppy training and flying poo missiles. But all of her challenges seem easier than living up to the dogs' trust in her abilities.

Rebecca runs her huskies along the crisp trails near Thunder Bay, Ontario, where northern lights flare and dangerous beavers lurk.

Through the bond she shares with the dogs, Rebecca learns that hard work, dedication and living in the moment bring their own rewards.


Before my turn, I was gathered in a chat room with the other pitchers and somehow, that elevated my stress level. By the time my turn came I had worked myself into a lather and could hardly type. I was so nervous my ice cold fingers quivered on the keyboard. How embarrassing!
Since it will be at least three months before I hear back from the publisher, I will from this point forward wipe it from my mind and not dwell. Yup, no dwelling, or obsessing or worrying...

I'm heading back to the rockin' conference. I'll return when it's over and I'm full of knowledge.