NEWSLETTER                                         

 

THANK YOU!

Greetings to each and every one of you.  It has been a while since I sat down and updated you with all my travels and work.  The reason is because I have been traveling and working too much.  Ha! Ha! 

 

First, I want to start out by saying a big thanks to all of you who made me feel so very welcome during my fall and spring tour this last year.  As usual, my travels took me across the country, including Nebraska, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Washington, Montana, Kansas, Georgia, New York, California, Florida, Illinois, Texas, Arizona, and New Jersey.  I am often asked which place is my favorite.  With all honesty, I can say everywhere, because each school I visit, I meet special students who are one of a kind.  There will never be another Jimmy or Andrea or Wayne or Greeley, or the hundreds of other students that found their way into my heart during this last year of travel.  I have also been lucky to meet so many dynamite teachers.

 

As for my writing, I have finished writing the sequel to "Touching Spirit Bear", called the "Ghost of Spirit Bear."  I am going back and forth with my editor at Harper Collins right now with the rewrites.  I have a new editor and she is great.  Yes, there is a bunch of rewriting.  Iâd rather think of it as polishing because each time makes the project better.  Like I have told many of you during my visits, "Authors don't do anything wrong, we only do things better!"

 

So far, nothing has come of the optioning of Petey for screen production.  That said, Touching Spirit Bear has also been optioned now, and that is looking quite positive.  You will probably know if it goes into production because you will hear my whoop and scream all the way from Montana!

 
One big project that has taken place this year is the making of a DVD series of four of my lectures.  Because I receive far more requests for appearances than I can ever fill, I came up with an idea.  Last November I went to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and rented a big studio and bused in audiences for the making of a set of DVDs.  There is one for K-3 kids called "How to tell a Story·That Will Scare Benâs Socks and Shoes Off.ä  The next talk is one many of you have heard, called ãBecoming the Author of Your Own Life.ä  That one is targeted at upper elementary and middle grade.  The third one is called ãResearch--Finding The Heart Of A Story.ä  That one is meant for all ages.  Last, I recorded a two hour tape for parents and teachers called ãPositive Teaching Methods·Working With At-Risk Students.ä  All of the tapes have a bonus behind the scenes interview, a section of fun video playing with my bear, Buffy, and a short bit on the making of the DVDs.  I'm really happy with how they have turned out.  I canât wait to see what you think of them when they are finally produced this fall.
 		 

 

As for this summer, I flew my plane to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the big Fly-In they have there.  I saw Space Ship One on its way to the Smithsonian.  Also, I saw Steve Fossitâs plane that he flew around the world non-stop solo (I think it was called Global Explorer), and also the P-38, "Glacier Girl" that was brought up from 200 feet under glacier ice from the lost Squadron.  The Oshkosh gathering is always a special time for me.  I get to touch history when I go there.  Where else can you talk in person to people like Neil Armstrong or Chuck Yeager.  I bumped into Frank Borman, the astronaut.  This was special for me because he also wrote a book called "Countdown."  We were both waiting for admission tickets.  I motioned him ahead of me and said, "Age before beauty."  He took one step, paused, and then backed up, saying, "Hold it, I'm not that old, and come to think of it, you're not that beautiful."  We both had a great laugh. 

 

This summer, I also took a week and went on the Alaska Ferry up the Inland Passage to Alaska and back.  I so enjoy that area of the world.  It is always magical with the dolphins and seals and eagles and whales.  Each time you think you have seen something that canât be beat, something even more spectacular comes along.  I put up my tent on the back deck and camped for a week.

 

One last thing Iâve finished this summer is a two year restoration of a 1947 Navion airplane.  It was so much fun to push the throttle in and feel the plane build up speed down the runway and then lift into the air after not having flown in 32 years.  What magic!!!  By the time I leave for fall tour in two weeks, I will have about fifteen or twenty hours on the new plane.  Last night I took it up for its first night flight.  There was a full moon so maybe that was cheating a little.

 

Thanks to all of you who continue to read my books and follow my travels and work.  I hope with my next news letter I can tell you Touching Spirit Bear has gone into production.  Weâll see.  Keep your fingers crossed.  Oh, by the way, Tree Girl is now available in soft cover.  That should make it a little easier to get a hold of.

 

Bear Hugs and Warm Thoughts to each and every one of you.  I hope my path crosses with yours somewhere down this magical trip we are on called life. 

 

All the very best.

 
Once again, Buffy and I would like to remind you, "Go out and live!  You can't pour water from an empty bucket.  Experience life.  Then never quit writing about it!"