Terry Lynn Johnson's Blog, page 3
April 3, 2014
CCA Grant and other news
So much news for you!Ìý
Audio Rights:
We've sold the audio rights for Ice Dogs to audible. It's going to be made into an audio book!Ìý
Grants:
I've just received the good news that I've won a significant writing grant from the ! I can't tell you how shocked I was when I opened that letter. It's a wonderfully validating feeling to be selected.Ìý
I also won a smaller Writers' Reserve Grant from the last month. I've been very very fortunate this year.
Awards:
This fancy thing came in the mail from and made me all sorts of happy
Reviews:
Latest professional review for Ice Dogs came in -Ìý
“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
Ìý- Donna Young said my visit was one of the best she's had the pleasure to be part of.ÌýAwww! Thanks, Donna! Loved meeting your students!
Students shared their stories with me too. Here's a pet dog story:Ìý
"My dog eats whole packs of crayons and then poops all different colors."
A dog who poops rainbows - Awesome!
Photos:
Audio Rights:
We've sold the audio rights for Ice Dogs to audible. It's going to be made into an audio book!Ìý
Grants:
I've just received the good news that I've won a significant writing grant from the ! I can't tell you how shocked I was when I opened that letter. It's a wonderfully validating feeling to be selected.Ìý
I also won a smaller Writers' Reserve Grant from the last month. I've been very very fortunate this year.
Awards:
This fancy thing came in the mail from and made me all sorts of happy
Reviews:
Latest professional review for Ice Dogs came in -Ìý
“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
Ìý- Donna Young said my visit was one of the best she's had the pleasure to be part of.ÌýAwww! Thanks, Donna! Loved meeting your students!
Students shared their stories with me too. Here's a pet dog story:Ìý
"My dog eats whole packs of crayons and then poops all different colors."
A dog who poops rainbows - Awesome!
Photos:
March 6, 2014
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.Ìý
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.ÌýI 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 toiletswho run their butts across the carpetwho walk on their back legs
I'm new to Skype, and now I'm a fan!
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.Ìý
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.ÌýI 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 toiletswho run their butts across the carpetwho walk on their back legs
I'm new to Skype, and now I'm a fan!
February 12, 2014
School visits and photos from the vault
If you're wondering what happened to my last post about Amazon running out of my book on day 2, I've decided to take it down because I'm really not a fretting kind of person. I'm going to let my editor and agent worry about the business end of things.
So, I'm off to do my first school presentation tomorrow. Three classes in one day! We're going to learn about dogsledding - I have a mini dogsled with gear, and maybe we'll do some dogsled races down the school halls. If everyone leaves with all their teeth, it will be a success!
I'll post pictures if I can remember to take them.
In the mean time, here's a few pictures from the vault.
This is me winter camping with a dog team in Nenana, Alaska - the setting of ICE DOGS.
This is my summer dog yard
Me and one of my lead dogs, JADE hanging out
So, I'm off to do my first school presentation tomorrow. Three classes in one day! We're going to learn about dogsledding - I have a mini dogsled with gear, and maybe we'll do some dogsled races down the school halls. If everyone leaves with all their teeth, it will be a success!
I'll post pictures if I can remember to take them.
In the mean time, here's a few pictures from the vault.
This is me winter camping with a dog team in Nenana, Alaska - the setting of ICE DOGS.
This is my summer dog yard
Me and one of my lead dogs, JADE hanging out
February 11, 2014
Honest and Open about Amazon
Normally on this blog, I post pretty photos of my outdoor adventures or I share good things because I'm generally a glass-half-full sort of person.
Today, I'm going to depart from that and post about what has been going on with me this week.
After years of hard work, my book was finally BORN!
Release Day for ICE DOGS was wonderful (except for the part when my spouse had a chainsaw accident and 8 stitches in his head, but this post is not about him)
It was the day AFTER release - Feb. 5, when I learned a few more things about the industry.
Amazon buys their own copies and sells them on their site. That is why they have that little message saying how many copies are left, or if you have to wait to get your order.
Amazon ordered such a tiny number of copies of ICE DOGS that they sold out after one day.
I suppose that sounds like good news, but it took until today - 7 days - for them to get more. So for most of my release week, the Amazon message said that your order will take up to 4 weeks to arrive.
That is not good for sales.
Amazon Canada is still out, and that message is even worse - two months!
(PLEASE, JUST ORDER. It won't take that long.)
Regardless of Ice Dogs getting good reviews, and being a Junior Library Guild Selection, Amazon lowballed their order. And if a title is out of stock, that will affect sales. I was sad to hear the chains weren't carrying it either. It seems the industry didn't think sled dogs would sell to the masses.
But if it's not on the shelf, and you can't order it, how can it sell? Poor little sled dogs didn't have a chance.
I know, there are lots of other places to purchase books! Go Indie you say! Those of you reading this blog know that, but the reality is, most people only know Amazon to shop for books.
And so, I'm going to askÌý
EVERYONE WHO HAS READ ICE DOGS,Ìý
if you would please consider writing a review on Amazon. They use the number of reviews as a gauge of interest. I would love to show them that people are interested in a variety of books.
If you are interested in reading ICE DOGS, but can't buy it - send me an email. I WILL SEND YOU A COPY!Ìý
I can't send everyone one, but the first five people who email me, I can.Ìý
With all that I cannot control in this situation, I can do that one little thing.
I only wish Amazon didn't have so much control, but there's nothing to be done about that except write my next book and hope that a small army of dogsledding fans will show them that readers want variety, and choice matters.
And now here is my pretty photo for the day.
This is me winter camping with sled dogs in Alaska near Nenana - the setting of ICE DOGS.
Notice the dog harnesses hanging in the tree
Today, I'm going to depart from that and post about what has been going on with me this week.
After years of hard work, my book was finally BORN!
Release Day for ICE DOGS was wonderful (except for the part when my spouse had a chainsaw accident and 8 stitches in his head, but this post is not about him)
It was the day AFTER release - Feb. 5, when I learned a few more things about the industry.
Amazon buys their own copies and sells them on their site. That is why they have that little message saying how many copies are left, or if you have to wait to get your order.
Amazon ordered such a tiny number of copies of ICE DOGS that they sold out after one day.
I suppose that sounds like good news, but it took until today - 7 days - for them to get more. So for most of my release week, the Amazon message said that your order will take up to 4 weeks to arrive.
That is not good for sales.
Amazon Canada is still out, and that message is even worse - two months!
(PLEASE, JUST ORDER. It won't take that long.)
Regardless of Ice Dogs getting good reviews, and being a Junior Library Guild Selection, Amazon lowballed their order. And if a title is out of stock, that will affect sales. I was sad to hear the chains weren't carrying it either. It seems the industry didn't think sled dogs would sell to the masses.
But if it's not on the shelf, and you can't order it, how can it sell? Poor little sled dogs didn't have a chance.
I know, there are lots of other places to purchase books! Go Indie you say! Those of you reading this blog know that, but the reality is, most people only know Amazon to shop for books.
And so, I'm going to askÌý
EVERYONE WHO HAS READ ICE DOGS,Ìý
if you would please consider writing a review on Amazon. They use the number of reviews as a gauge of interest. I would love to show them that people are interested in a variety of books.
If you are interested in reading ICE DOGS, but can't buy it - send me an email. I WILL SEND YOU A COPY!Ìý
I can't send everyone one, but the first five people who email me, I can.Ìý
With all that I cannot control in this situation, I can do that one little thing.
I only wish Amazon didn't have so much control, but there's nothing to be done about that except write my next book and hope that a small army of dogsledding fans will show them that readers want variety, and choice matters.
And now here is my pretty photo for the day.
This is me winter camping with sled dogs in Alaska near Nenana - the setting of ICE DOGS.
Notice the dog harnesses hanging in the tree
February 4, 2014
ICE DOGS release day and a giveaway
IT'S FINALY HERE!
I'm so happy to announce ICE DOGS is available to purchase today!
If any of you see it on the shelf of your local bookstore, send me a photo and I'll send you something!
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A Scholastic Book Fair Pick
"The high-stakes adventure and episodic nature of the chapters will make this book an easy sell for reluctant readers." -- School Library Journal
"(A) thoroughly engaging and incredibly suspenseful survival story� Well crafted, moving and gripping." -- Kirkus
Purchase links
now for the GIVEAWAY
Simply comment to help me celebrate release day and you'll be entered to win a hardcover copy.
Ends at midnight EST
I'm so happy to announce ICE DOGS is available to purchase today!
If any of you see it on the shelf of your local bookstore, send me a photo and I'll send you something!
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A Scholastic Book Fair Pick
"The high-stakes adventure and episodic nature of the chapters will make this book an easy sell for reluctant readers." -- School Library Journal
"(A) thoroughly engaging and incredibly suspenseful survival story� Well crafted, moving and gripping." -- Kirkus
Purchase links
now for the GIVEAWAY
Simply comment to help me celebrate release day and you'll be entered to win a hardcover copy.
Ends at midnight EST
January 27, 2014
Outdoor living for your health
Minus 36 Celsius last week! Fresh!The snowshoeing has been spectacular this year!
It's been extra cold and snowy and it's tempting to stay indoors more. But I wanted to share some research I discovered.
Recent studies show:
lower stress learning in nature vs classroomviewing nature scenes reduces muscular tension and blood pressuremore parks = lower mortalitytelevision and computers reduce cognitive performancescreen time reduces life expectancynature-based recreation is down 50% last 4 decadesWhy?
Nature gives us:aromatic chemicals - nature-derived chemicals provide emotional connectionsunlight - produces mood-regulationg seratonin, reduces depressionnegative air ions - improved health and longevitynatural sounds - reduces stress, improves immune system and cognition
Some of my favourite things are:
DOGSLEDDINGSnowshoeingSkiing (cross-country and skate skiing)Walking the dogIce Fishing (only if the sun is out and can find a spot out of the wind)
What kinds of things do you like to do outside?
°ù±ð´Ú±ð°ù±ð²Ô³¦±ð²õ:ÌýYour Brain on Nature, Selhub and Logan, 2012 WileyLast Child in the Woods, Louv, 2005, AlgonquinEscarpment Biosphere Conservancy
It's been extra cold and snowy and it's tempting to stay indoors more. But I wanted to share some research I discovered.
Recent studies show:
lower stress learning in nature vs classroomviewing nature scenes reduces muscular tension and blood pressuremore parks = lower mortalitytelevision and computers reduce cognitive performancescreen time reduces life expectancynature-based recreation is down 50% last 4 decadesWhy?
Nature gives us:aromatic chemicals - nature-derived chemicals provide emotional connectionsunlight - produces mood-regulationg seratonin, reduces depressionnegative air ions - improved health and longevitynatural sounds - reduces stress, improves immune system and cognition
Some of my favourite things are:
DOGSLEDDINGSnowshoeingSkiing (cross-country and skate skiing)Walking the dogIce Fishing (only if the sun is out and can find a spot out of the wind)
What kinds of things do you like to do outside?
°ù±ð´Ú±ð°ù±ð²Ô³¦±ð²õ:ÌýYour Brain on Nature, Selhub and Logan, 2012 WileyLast Child in the Woods, Louv, 2005, AlgonquinEscarpment Biosphere Conservancy
January 16, 2014
Discussion Guide is live
ICE DOGS is less than three weeks away!
If you're planning on purchasing a copy - THANK YOU!
Canadians can pre order it at any bookstore - a good choice being in Toronto.
US residents can purchase or pre order at any bookstore as well - check with your local indie to see if they plan on carrying it. That would be so very helpful!
If you purchase a copy and wish a signed bookplate - just send me an email with your address and I will send you one!
If you are still undecided about ordering a copy, here's a few things to check out:
And I'll leave you with the wise words from this sign that we found in Denali National Park
If you're planning on purchasing a copy - THANK YOU!
Canadians can pre order it at any bookstore - a good choice being in Toronto.
US residents can purchase or pre order at any bookstore as well - check with your local indie to see if they plan on carrying it. That would be so very helpful!
If you purchase a copy and wish a signed bookplate - just send me an email with your address and I will send you one!
If you are still undecided about ordering a copy, here's a few things to check out:
And I'll leave you with the wise words from this sign that we found in Denali National Park
January 4, 2014
Good Things jar
Jeff Schultz photo - the last month in my 2013 calendar
In 2013, we kept a jar for all the good stuff that happened to us or that we were grateful for over the course of the year. It kept us remembering how fortunate we were whenever we looked at it.
Good Things Jar
Here are some of the highlights from our jar:
I received a significant work in progress grant from the Ontario Arts CouncilHubs was presented with a 20-year Exemplary Service Medal for his contributions as a Conservation OfficerHoly Amazing Cover Art for my humble little book! SO LUCKY!!Hubs got a moose with his gang for the freezer and some geese for sausages. Organic eatingÌýIce Dogs was picked up by Scholastic Book Clubs and was a Junior Library Guild SelectionHubs received a gift certificate as a thank you from a stranger in the next community for grooming the ski trails! Sweet surpriseWe were fortunate enough to travel through Alaska and saw sea lions, killer whales, humpback whales, grizzlies, big horned sheep, moose, sea otters and seals following us in our kayaksHubs completed a tri-athalon in August after learning to swim (better) Well done!I was able to take a Donald Maas writing workshop and met my long-time critique partner in person for the first timeAnd we enjoyed another year of good health and happiness living right where we want to be
We loved this idea so much of being grateful, we started another jar. On Friday, my year started off well with this box of awesome...
tell me, what were some of the highlights in your good things jar?
December 9, 2013
November 20, 2013
Ice Dogs Trailer debut
You will not guess where my trailer is debuting today.Ìý
It's being revealed exclusively over at !Ìý
I'm so honoured to be part of Betsy Bird's wonderful blog. And I'm thrilled with the results of the trailer made by Bookcandy Studios. It's full of mushing goodness.Ìý
To share my good fortune, I'm giving away:
FREE CRITIQUE of your first ten pages.ÌýFREE SWAGWinners randomly selected from comments.Ìý
Please go check out the ICE DOGS TRAILER
I've had other good news lately for ICE DOGS, so I'll share now:
Ice Dogs was picked up by Scholastic Book Fairs for 2014!ÌýIt's a Junior Library Guild Selection!It's a featured book in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's website with its own page! Check it out for excerpt
Publishers Weekly
Add it to your Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ listÌý
Leave a comment - what do you think of the trailer? Now you're entered to win. Easy as that!
It's being revealed exclusively over at !Ìý
I'm so honoured to be part of Betsy Bird's wonderful blog. And I'm thrilled with the results of the trailer made by Bookcandy Studios. It's full of mushing goodness.Ìý
To share my good fortune, I'm giving away:
FREE CRITIQUE of your first ten pages.ÌýFREE SWAGWinners randomly selected from comments.Ìý
Please go check out the ICE DOGS TRAILER
I've had other good news lately for ICE DOGS, so I'll share now:
Ice Dogs was picked up by Scholastic Book Fairs for 2014!ÌýIt's a Junior Library Guild Selection!It's a featured book in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's website with its own page! Check it out for excerpt
Publishers Weekly
"a page-turner full of white-knuckle action…Readers will be riveted until the end." -- Publishers Weekly
Add it to your Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ listÌý
Leave a comment - what do you think of the trailer? Now you're entered to win. Easy as that!
