Cavalcade of Authors and some awards

What's been going on with me? 

First - I've been touring!

Cavalcade of Authors in Washington last month was incredible!

While I was there, Michelle Lane, the event coordinator, organized some middle school and elementary school visits for me which included dogsled races down the hallways of course. And lots of laughs.

DOGSLED RACES!

This was my first Cavalcade and wow, what a day! The Cavalcade workshops were intense and full of magic - feeling the buzz of energy coming from all those enthusiastic readers.

There were 15 authors - what a thing to organize, yet they still made time for the little things like GIFT BASKETS!

my first ever GIFT BASKET waiting for me in hotel room! OMG!

I also had two personal assistants who took care of me - drove me around, made sure I made it to dinner, to my presentations, book signings, and to the airport! I don't know what I would have done without them!

A huge thank you to Michelle and all the brilliant organizers who made things run smoothly. I feel so lucky to have been a part of this.

Fun classes waiting for me to say something dog-tastic

B&N book signing - the line up went to the door!

Cavalcade of Authors book signing - where I learned what 1400 students in a gym sounded like

A treasured momento from Enterprise Middle school - all kids signed!

What's been going on PART TWO - 

Awards for ICE DOGS!

Children's Choices Book Award nominee with the CBC - you can go here to VOTE.
Ice Dogs is in the Grade 5 and 6 category!

Kiss the Book Top 50 List - Utah Librarians

Black-Eyed Susan Book Award - Maryland 2015 - 2016

Maine Student Book Award - Maine 2015 - 2016

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award - Vermont 2015 - 2016

And finally - PAPERBACK NEWS

Not every book automatically comes out in paperback. It's often determined by sales whether it will have a second release. So I'm extremely thrilled to announce:

Ice Dogs is coming out in paperback November 3, 2015

Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this happen! 

Book Tour

Ice Dogs is going on tour in Seattle!

August 7 - 10, 2014

If you live in the Seattle area, I'd love to see you! Here's my schedule of events


Aug. 7

Barnes and Noble signing 2 - 6pm
Pacific Place, Seattle


Aug. 8

Barnes and Noble signing noon - 4pm
Lakewood


Books by the Bay Festival, Reading Foundation Website
Port of Olympia Plaza 6 - 8pm

Silent auctions, food, live music, and authors! All to benefit South Sound Literacy Programs. More details on website. I'll be doing a presentation at 6:45 with signing to follow

Aug. 9

Barnes and Noble signing noon - 2
Kitsap Mall, Silverdale, WA

Barnes and Noble signing 4 - 6pm - Pop Culture Day - also meet a Ninja Turtle!
Northgate Way

Aug. 10

Barnes and Noble signing noon - 2
Andover Park, Tukwila, WA



I hope to see you!

.... seriously, please come and smile at me. I'll be the one dressed as musher and looking enthusiastic but big-city-terrified.

Skyping for Read Aloud Day

What have I been up to lately?

Here's my living room turned into a teaching nook. I'm getting ready for epic Skype sessions - 8 per day. After I took this photo, it reminded me of something. 

Does anyone else think this looks similar to the set of The Friendly Giant? Pull up a rocking chair next to the fire. (Needs Rusty and Gerome.) Look up. Waaay up. 

I loved that show. Life is so funny.

I've been making lots of new friends from all over the States, the UK, Australia and Canada! I'm skyping with 39 classes in the next three weeks to celebrate World Read Aloud Day.

I'm so grateful to meet all these amazing young readers with such smart questions about dogsledding and writing and being an author. I'm hearing lots of stories of pet dogs too.

• Pet dogs who drink out of toilets
• who run their butts across the carpet
• who walk on their back legs

I'm new to Skype, and now I'm a fan!

Best of 2011

Favourite picture of the year. Sled Dog Central

Top Five reads

1. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
2. The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan
3. Prized by Caragh M. O'Brien
4. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
5. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Dogsled Dreams book tour 2011. Dog race mascot came over to admire my books!

Top Five Things from this blog

1. This dogsledding video
2. My sled dogs
3. Best part of being an author - fan mail
4. Georgian Bay adventure
5 Announcing my book deal for Ice Dogs





Top Two Things from other people's blogs

1. Sandra Mitchell's post Eventually You'll Care Less
2. Tahereh Mafi on Being a Writer


What were some of your favourites this year?

SNOW! and other things almost as awesome



We've been hit with snow this week - little late for the two dogsled races that had to be cancelled, but just in time for March Break.

Tanzer on watch





"would you get off the blog and come snowshoeing already!"

about 30 cm more yesterday!

GOOD BOOKS

I haven't been writing as much recently, but I call this time in between "percolating". I'm also doing lots of reading. GREAT books lately. Here's a few paranormal suggestions:

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Haven by Kristi Cook

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Captivate by Carrie Jones

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Forgive my Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

Warped by Maurissa Guibord

And a story that I LOVED - one of my absolute favourite reads - I can't even talk about. It's a manuscript by my fabulous critique partner, Paul Greci. 

 Have you ever read a manuscript that you were so excited about you just wanted to tell the world?

BOOK TOUR

Lastly, I will be in CHAPTERS bookstore in Sudbury this Wednesday for a presentation and signing. Please come by and  say hello if you can!

Giant huskies, flying toilet seats, and a little moment

This weekend I went to the Cannington Sled Dog Races. Sadly, the actual race was cancelled due to lack of snow. But the festival drew huge crowds - about 5,000 hardy souls participating in events like the grapefruit fling, big-foot obstacle course, and the toilet seat toss. (I mean, really, if you can't have fun with a toilet seat, you may as well stay home.)

I managed to find a stray mutt wandering around and lured him over with cookies.



Cannington Sled Dog Races mascot poses with DOGSLED DREAMS

The Brock Library event went well. I brought along a dogsled, harnesses, dog booties, gangline, musher gear, and lots of stories. At the end of the presentation, three little boys approached and asked me to sign their booklets, and one showed off his new knowledge by naming all the dog positions in the team. He was listening! It completely made my day. 

And the weekend just kept getting better. On my way home, I stopped in at Chapter's Bookstore and found my book. Face out. On the shelf. What a moment that was!

cell phone picture. Little fuzzy. But real.

And the placement isn't too shabby either! Look at the little book I'm sharing shelf space with!

Thank you everyone, for all your suggestions for my library reading! Two more stops left.

book signing update - Dogsled Races

MARMORA SNOFEST 2011

photo by Peter Hellman

The good news:

 I've survived my first book signing on my book tour!

• 30 copies of DOGSLED DREAMS were snatched up!
• I made a pack of new friends. (Waves at 11-year-old Martina the avid reader, eloquent speaker, and sled dog enthusiast.)
• And I learned a ton about how to move your book at an event. Namely - you actually have to talk about yourself. Unabashadly. The natural (Canadian?) tendency toward modesty must be left at the door. How else are people going to know your book was selected as a Recommended Read by the Iditarod Education Department, unless you tell them?

Photo Peter Hellman



Photo Peter Hellman

 I LOVED being around all the amazing mushers and sled dogs! 100 howling dogs outside my motel door each evening and morning. Too beautiful for words. I choke up just remembering what that sounded like.

photo by Glen Milligan

The bad news:

I really really wanted to get videos of the start of the races. I wanted to share the absolute joy of the dogs before they run. I taped amazing shots of crazed dogs running past, full teams screaming and lunging on the ganglines. Mushers slipping and wrestling to the start line. It was all so AWESOME!

Then I came home to watch and edit for you and ... AND ...

photo Glen Milligan

I had the recorder off when I thought it was on and on when I thought it was off.

I've got brilliant shots of my feet running in the slushy snow with insane barking in the background.

I didn't get even one photo! (luckily, some did, thank you Peter and Glen)

I'M SO HEARTBROKEN!!!

Photo Charmaine Collins

But - I'll be doing all this again on my next stop in CANNINGTON, Ontario in a couple of weeks. My man will be coming this time. He has graciously volunteered his skills to do the video taping.

Photos are nice - but to really feel the energy and buzz, there's nothing like actually hearing 200 + dogs screaming to RUN!

Thank you to all who purchased my book!

Swag fun and Junior Musher Video Contest Launch

Next week is my first book signing event. I'll be at the Marmora SnoFest and sled dog races.

I'm sure it will be loads of fun, but I have to admit, I'm nervous. What if no one buys a book? What if I say something brilliantly inappropriate? What if the ink blobs in the pen and messes up someone's copy?

My man surprised me with these little cuties to help out. What could go wrong that a blue-eyed, stuffed husky can't fix?

DOGSLED DREAMS JUNIOR MUSHER VIDEO CONTEST 

I'd also like to announce that the JUNIOR MUSHER VIDEO CONTEST is up and running at the DOGSLED DREAMS website.

Contestants are invited to submit videos of their own 'dogsled dreams'.

I'll be posting the videos here, on the facebook page, and on the website. So exciting! Hope we get to see lots of awesome junior mushers with their gorgeous dogs!

You will get to vote for the winner in April!

Book readings

I have a burning question for you today.

I've been invited to do a reading of my novel, DOGSLED DREAMS, at the Cannington Public Library during their Sled Dog Races. This is something I have never imagined myself doing. Not even when I dreamed about one day having a book published.

Living in a small town, I haven't had too many opportunities to even attend a book reading. I've been to one - a memoir. The author read from a scene in the book, not the beginning. He read for a LONG time, and the only thing I know for my own reading is that I want to be sure to read a very SHORT passage. (especially since it will be a middle grade audience I hope to impress the most)

I've been stressing a little about this, but then I remembered I have a blog and an amazing group of blogging friends who probably have much more experience attending readings than I have.

So, what do you think about what part to read? Do you prefer when the author reads the first chapter, or part of it? Does it interest you more when the author reads part of an action scene from somewhere else in the story?

If anyone has read Dogsled Dreams, please chime in and tell me which parts you would suggest!

note: I also plan to do some dogsledding activities and fun things, so the reading will only be a very small part of the presentation.

Kate Messner in the house

Welcome to the blog the fabulous KATE MESSNER as my first ever guest! Kate is the author of a little book you may have heard of - THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. Yeah, that's right. I've got a famous author on my blog!

Today she's here to talk about winter! And her latest book, SUGAR and ICE, a middle grade novel about a girl athlete with a dream about a winter sport. And who doesn't love books like that?

By Kate Messner:
When you live where I do, outdoor winter sports are a part of life in a way that’s hard to explain. It’s not that we don’t feel those –30 degree wind chill temperatures; it’s just that most of us know how to bundle up and appreciate the brighter side of bitter cold.
My new figure skating novel for young readers, SUGAR AND ICE, takes place in Northern New York State and is about a girl from a small-town maple farm who earns a scholarship to train with the elite at Lake Placid’s Olympic Center. Before the action turns to drama on the ice, though, there’s a scene set on the family’s maple farm, where Claire has grown up skating on the cow pond with her cousin.

Some people who have read early copies of SUGAR AND ICE have asked if we really skate on the frozen ponds and lakes in the winter time, and the answer is… well, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Not only do we venture outside on some of the coldest winter days; we long for those temperatures to drop when winter arrives. It takes the perfect mix of bitter cold overnight temperatures, still winds, and a few days without much snow to turn Lake Champlain into a giant skating rink.

Sometimes, it’s a rink that needs shoveling, but it’s well worth the effort! Later on, when the snow is too well packed to be swept away, we turn to cross country skiing past the ice fishermen, a scene that Claire would appreciate, I’m sure.

Readers of my blog shiver, I know, when I share some of these pictures. “How can you go outside in that?” my California friends write. But take a look…

If winter looked like this where you live, wouldn’t it be hard for you to watch it pass by from inside? I feel like Claire and I are kindred spirits in a lot of ways…waiting and waiting for that first good freeze so our seasonal rinks can open for business.

Want a personalized, signed copy of SUGAR AND ICE?
The Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid is hosting a SUGAR AND ICE launch party from 3-5 pm on Saturday, December 11th, so please consider this your invitation if you live in the area! If you can’t make it but would still like a signed, personalized copy, just give the bookstore a call at (518) 523-2950 by December 10th. They’ll take your order, have Kate sign your book after the event, and ship it out to you in plenty of time for the holidays.

‘SUGAR AND ICE

Junior Library Guild Selection

Winter 2010-2011 Kids IndieNext List

Amazon.com Best Books for December 2010

For Claire Boucher, life is all about skating on the frozen cow pond and in the annual Maple Show right before the big pancake breakfast on her family's maple farm. But all that changes when Claire is offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity-a scholarship to train with the elite skaters in Lake Placid. Tossed into a world of mean girls on ice, where competition is everything, Claire soon realizes that her sweet dream-come-true has sharper edges than she could have imagined. Can she find the strength to stand up to the people who want her to fail and the courage to decide which dream she wants to follow?

Thank you, Kate, for your great photos and post!

Check out Kate Messner website HERE

Her BLOG HERE

What fun can you have with a bucket of bloody chicken parts?

FUN FACT #2 has been posted to my website. Check it out HERE.

Also, you may notice Chapter One of Dogsled Dreams has been officially posted on the top bar.

I've been busy lately considering a CIRCLE SUPERIOR book tour to Thunder Bay and Duluth. I could take in the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon and visit my old haunts in Thunder Bay. I've been invited by a Thunder Bay musher friend of Boreal Journeys to join them at the race festivities. Dogsled Dreams is based in the outskirts of the city.

This hasn't been officially decided yet. I have a concern with the road conditions in January. But just in case, are any of my dear readers along this route?