Student poems

I love getting mail from readers. It is the best part of being an author to imagine my book touched anyone enough for them to take the time to tell me about it.

This latest package I received has to be shared!

Not only did these elementary students from Massachusetts send me some fantastic ideas for a sequel (sadly, there will not be a sequel guys, ICE DOGS is a stand alone) but they also sent me these amazing POEMS

I have their permission to post these on my blog. Enjoy!

Chris

burned the map

by Jaime 

this is just to say 

I have burned the 

map that you gave

 to me

and you were probably trying to 

get us home

forgive me


I am very clumsy boy and 

so foolish

Four Little Booties 

By Christian 

The Point Of View Of Whistler

so much depends 

upon

four little 

booties

sewn with the cloth from a 

blanket

on my paws

Triple­Cheese Burgers
 

By Declan 

From The Point Of View Of Chris

So much depends upon


Triple­cheese burgers


Cooked perfectly


With orange cheddar cheese 

My team


by Rebecca 

So much depends 

upon

My muscular dogs

Dorset, Blue, Drift, 

Gazzo, Whistler, and 

don’t forget Bean

Carrying me in 

the sled 

running rapidly

Bean By: 

Sofia


from the point of view of Vicky

so much depends upon,

Bean the ice dog, 

in the wilderness, 

guiding me home

this is just to say

i need food and i wanted to hurt your dog but when i got on the trail

 you threw your snow shoe at me


and i ran and your dogs chased me and i hurt one of your leaders bean

by Dominic 

photo credits here 

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! 

The passion of the dogs

Post by Schoep and John.

Another Adventure

Bet you're wondering what happened to the good old days when I used to post here about my outdoor adventures and share buckets of photos.

Few things have made this a busy summer and sadly, we missed a few planned trips.

And the final blow was a very heartbreaking decision to put our Husky dog down due to cancer. This hollowed me out right good till we met Lady Bird.

Lady Bird - our 10-month-old latest family member. Border Collie / Lab mix

We've just returned home from our two-week adventures in Nova Scotia where we all bonded and ate seafood and hiked and camped in a tiny tent, and now Lady Bird is home and wondering - "What?? I can't sleep with you in your bed? What the heck is this business?"

Lady Bird LOVES to sleep in a tent with THE PEOPLE

And now for buckets of photos:

When I say hiking in Nova Scotia, I mean - the ENTIRE province. We went all around. 6,000 km. Fun, but next time we are flying to the destination!

anyone else do an epic road trip this summer?

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.

CCA Grant and other news

So much news for you! 

Audio Rights:

We've sold the audio rights for Ice Dogs to audible. It's going to be made into an audio book! 

Grants:

I've just received the good news that I've won a significant writing grant from the Canadian Council for the Arts! I can't tell you how shocked I was when I opened that letter. It's a wonderfully validating feeling to be selected. 

I also won a smaller Writers' Reserve Grant from the Ontario Arts Council last month. I've been very very fortunate this year.

Awards:

This fancy thing came in the mail from Junior Library Guild and made me all sorts of happy

Reviews:

Latest professional review for Ice Dogs came in - 

“Emotionally satisfying and insightful, this story has staying power.” — Booklist

Skype visits:

I've done over 40 Skype visits with classes all over the US and it has been a wonderful experience. Some feedback:

Terry was fantastic. She shared invaluable experiences with the kids about being a musher and author. — Mary Lee

The kids are still talking about it! — Christina Moline

What a wonderful experience for the kids! They were completely engaged as were the teachers. Terry left time for questions and it was clear from the questions that the students had learned a lot. — Mrs. Wainwright, Boxford MA

Mrs. Johnson hooked my class immediately. She shared funny stories, showed equipment, read from her book, and talked about writing. By far the BEST Skype lesson my class has done. — Amy Wilson

Here's one teacher's blog post with photos - Donna Young said my visit was one of the best she's had the pleasure to be part of. 

Awww! Thanks, Donna! Loved meeting your students!

Students shared their stories with me too. Here's a pet dog story: 

"My dog eats whole packs of crayons and then poops all different colors."

A dog who poops rainbows - Awesome!

Photos: