The Story Behind The Story
Rex began life as a screenplay that I conjured up many
years ago. Fun story, interesting characters, awesome action. But it was
missing... Something. So I turned to my good friend, Mark
Rogers, who I knew to be a fantastic writer, and asked him to put some fresh
eyes on the script and do whatever he thought would make it a better read. Mark
breathed new life into both the story and characters, and we truly thought we
had something special.
But before we took it out on the "spec
market" - how scripts in Hollywood are shopped and (hopefully) sold if
they haven't been specifically "ordered" by an actor, director,
producer or studio - Mark and I came up with an exciting "What if?"
scenario... What if Rex was a book?
So we started looking for the right writer to help us
flesh out the story even more, and take it from script to manuscript.
That's how we found Cody B. Stewart - a crazy talented
writer who had amazing ideas on how to make Rex even better.
Mark and I turned Cody loose on the story, and then we
hooked up with Ellie Sipila of Common Deer Press. She added yet another great
layer of creativity to the manuscript, before we all added our final round of
thoughts and edits.
And the rest is history!
Cody
B. Stewart, Mark Rogers,
and
Adam Rocke
Genre: Middle Grade
Publisher: Common Deer Press
Date of Publication: October 5,
2016
ISBN: 978-0-9959729-1-6
ASIN: B06ZZS4ZRT
Number of pages: 320 pages
Cover Artist: Common Deer Press,
Ellie Sipal
About the Book:
When eleven-year-old TJ finds a
weird looking egg in the Florida Everglades after a tropical storm rips
through, naturally he takes it home for identification. It could be the egg of
a mutant duck or something, which would be awesome.
Problem is, the egg doesn’t look
like it came from a mallard, even a mutated one—it’s too big and heavy
and…strange. So he hides it away in his closet and continues on with his life
as usual, doing his best to ignore the creepy men constantly banging at his
front door and the significant rise in military helicopter sightings in his
typically quiet neighbourhood. Then one day he comes home from school and it’s
as though a cyclone has gone through his bedroom.
Suddenly, TJ knows he’s dealing
with something a little more interesting—and a little more deadly—than a duck.
Read an Excerpt:
TJ and Sam stood silent and
still, too afraid to move or make a sound. “Wait a second,” TJ finally said.
“Mess downstairs? We weren’t downstairs.”
Their
eyes met and they shared the same thought. They darted into TJ’s room, emerging
a moment later, sufficiently rearmed with the slingshot and bat. Then, they
snuck downstairs to assess the damage.
When
TJ saw the extent of the wreckage, he almost let another marble rip. His heart
sank when he spotted the demolished cherry pie.
“Hell-o
Kitty,” Sam uttered, marveling at the mess. “I think your house is haunted, TJ.
You have one of those polter-geese.”
“Geist,”
TJ corrected. “Poltergeist. Do you think a ghost hatched out of that egg?”
“I
don’t know what it was that came out of that thing, but I know it’s a huge pain
in my butt. Since you found it, I’ve almost been eaten by an alligator, shot by
a swamp cowboy, and now I’m stuck cleaning up its mess.”
Sam
and TJ grumbled at each other, and ghosts, and the whole world as they scrubbed
the floors, wiped the counters, and picked up bits of broken plate and other
unidentifiable things. Once the kitchen sparkled, Sam threw her dirty rag at
TJ.
“Not
that this wasn’t a fun night or anything, but I’m going home before the ground
splits open and we get attacked by mole people.”
“You’re
leaving?” TJ shrieked. “While there’s still a possible ghost goblin poltergeist
thingy stalking around my house?”
Sam
shrugged. “Ghost goblin poltergeist thingies got nothing on my dad when I miss
curfew. Call me if something tries to eat you.”
***** ***** *****
Fatigue hit TJ hard. He yawned
and didn’t stop yawning until he reached his bedroom door. His mind raced in
circles. He couldn’t focus on any one thing long enough to even care about
poltergeists or alligators or whatever. All he wanted to do was go to sleep
with the hope that he’d wake up in the morning with all of his limbs still
attached.
Luckily,
TJ’s reflexes were working just fine despite his mostly asleep brain. He opened
the door and ducked just in time to avoid getting hit square in the face with a
flying sneaker. He dropped to the floor and covered his head with his arms. He
peeked up when he was sure the other sneaker wasn’t going to follow. He
instantly wished he had his helmet—and the swamp cowboy—because standing on his
bed was the thing that had destroyed his room and the kitchen…
A one-foot tall Tyrannosaurus
Rex.
Meet
the Authors:
Thanks so much for hosting REX! REX is also on sale on the Common Deer Press website, https://www.commondeerpress.com/product-page/rex
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!
Jenn @ Common Deer Press
You're very welcome, Jenn. It was my pleasure sharing the book with my fans.
ReplyDelete