Terry Johnson: Hello, I'm Terry Lynn Johnson. I'm the author of "Ice Dogs". I'm going to tell you a little bit about how this book came to be, and then I'm going to read an excerpt. I didn't have to do much research for this book, because I had 18 sled dogs, so a lot of the things that happened to the characters in the story, I've had actual experience with. The dog characters were based on my own sled dogs, so this book is really a book of my own heart. Dog sledding is something I'm really passionate about, and I wanted to share it with everyone. I especially wanted to portray the unique relationship that a musher has with their dogs. It's a really big part of the magic of dog sledding.

Now, here is a first page of "Ice Dogs". All eight of my dogs are stretched in front of me, in pairs along the gang line. They claw the ground in frustration as the loud speaker blares. "Here's team number five. Our hometown girl, 14-year old Victoria Secord." A male voice booms out my racing stats, while my lead dog Bean whips his crooked rat-tail. He tries to lunge forward, and then catches my eye, and he screams with a pitch that shoots up my spinal cord, electrifies my teeth. "Easy." I grip the sled with shaking hands. I freaking hate starts.