ESTEVAN - Jason Weening describes his first novel, Danger in the Jungle, as a combination of Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and the Hardy Boys.
The Estevan author recently released the book, which is geared towards children ages eight to 12. It's the first installment in what Weening hopes will be a trilogy named Riders of the Lost Reptiles, and the book is filled with mystery that he expects will appeal to young readers.
"We [my wife and I] have 10 kids, and our kids love reading, and we are always looking for good books for our kids to read," said Weening.
The book is set in a time in which humans and dinosaurs co-existed. It tells the story of two teenage boys who ride and have adventures with dinosaurs. The one boy is working with his brothers at the family earth-moving business, where they use a triceratops to do the work instead of a bulldozer.
"They're working one day, and they're attacked on the edge of the jungle while they're trying to help a farmer expand his land, and they're trying to figure out why they were attacked and what is going on in the jungle. They boys team up with some other guys and head into the jungle to see what they can find," said Weening.
Another character lives on a farm with dinosaurs instead of cattle.
"I'm trying to picture my friend's farm back in Ontario. I'm describing how they go down the driveway and the big barn is on the right, and then the kidnappers run out of the house, and they run around and they go hide in the barns."
The geography of the surrounding area was based on where he grew up, and he tried to picture how long it would take to reach a location while riding a dinosaur.
Some of the characters are named after his children, while others are based on people he knows. Building characters was a challenge.
The 168-page novel has a few illustrations. The interior drawings are by Renee Rose, and the cover design is by William Vaxevanis
"I'm happy with how it turned out. I spent a lot of time looking for illustrators. I talked to illustrators in England and Australia and the United States and all over until I found someone that I liked, and when she finished them, I said 'I want to get posters of these and put them on my wall. I think you did a great job,'" recalled Weening.
He started working on the book in early 2022 and finished the writing last December. There were times he wrote an hour a day for a few weeks, only to have to put the book aside for a while.
"Writing is a challenge. I guess what I enjoy is the finished product. I know where I want to get with it, and so it's nice to work on a project and then at the end see that you've got something tangible in your hands that you can use.
"And I like when I hear the feedback from people, that I've had some moms reading this to their kids, and they say 'Our kids don't want to put it down, they want to keep reading the next chapter.' So that's what I want to hear, the kids enjoy it," said Weening.
He has written about half of the second novel in the series. He hopes to wrap it up before the end of the month, and then start the editing and revision process. He believes he went through 11 revisions before releasing the final version of Danger in the Jungle.
Weening is no stranger to writing. He writes a column for a newspaper where he used to live in Ontario about his stories and adventures with his children. But he wanted to try a book, so he found an editor in Florida, opted for the self-publishing route and released Danger in the Jungle on Amazon a month ago.
"I was surprised how simple it was once we got to that point," said Weening.
The book can also be found at Souris Family Pharmacy, and he can be reached through his Hey Dads website.
A book launch is scheduled for the Estevan Public Library on Sept. 14, starting at 2 p.m.
