As a real estate attorney, triathalete and children’s author, Partner Jeff Dorrill has a busy schedule. He recently spoke to Story Monsters Ink about how he was able to juggle the many facets of his full calendar while writing the award-winning children’s book, Brunt and Eggbert.
Brunt is a kind and intelligent monster who loves gardening. Eggbert is an orphaned boy with an unusual assortment of skills that he has learned from the kindness of strangers while longing for a family of his own. After a chance encounter in the woods, both monster and boy learn to look beyond appearances, discover the true meaning of family and rejoice in the rewarding experience of caring for and protecting another—despite the treacherous obstacles that exist by virtue of having to live in both the human world and the monster world. Learn more in this Q&A with Dorrill.
Read an excerpt below:
The story was initially written 30 years ago. Jeff remembers that time period. “During those years, there were only a handful of publishers. I sent the book to the four or five major publishers, and one considered publishing it (or at least told me so), but they all ultimately declined. I decided to try again about a year ago when a friend published a book. I told myself that’s something I’d love to do but didn’t see how I could fit in the time. Then I realized I had already written a book! So, I found it in a keepsake container, and it read much better than I remembered. I edited it to make it more current – and perhaps better. I sent it off again to publishers.”
“My hope is that Brunt and Eggbert offers readers an interesting plot line, humor and quirkiness, and helpful tools for children to utilize when facing challenges that they are inevitably presented with.” But converting a 30-year-old text to the current world was challenging. “For example, in the original manuscript, Eggbert lived with ‘street people,’ but of course, in the current version, he lives in an “unhoused community,” Jeff says. “I examined every sentence, every word, and then tried to create better plot twists.” Heartily crediting “the brilliant editors at Blue Balloon Books who stepped in and did sensational things,” Jeff is thrilled with the way the book turned out.
