DINOSAUR BOY SAVES MARS comes out on February 2, 2016!

So I’m celebrating with seven days of sneak peeks! Seven days of telling you about some of my favorite things in this book. Some of them are nerdy, some of them are silly, most of them are both. I hope you enjoy them, and I hope they get you excited about the next installment in the Dinosaur Boy series!

I’m also giving away THE ULTIMATE DINOSAUR BOY SAVES MARS PRIZE PACKAGE!

This 9-item package includes: a model stegosaurus, a model triceratops, astronaut ice-cream, sushi-shaped erasers, a soccer ball, NERDS, a stuffed polar bear, a make-your-own UFO kit, and a signed copy of DINOSAUR BOY SAVES MARS.

TO ENTER THE CONTEST: just leave a comment on any of the Sneak Peek blog posts (be sure to include your email address!) and/or share the post on Twitter or Facebook. I will randomly pick a winner. (You can earn up to two entries per post – one comment, and one share – so theoretically, you can enter up to 14 times!)

One of the main questions I’m getting about this book is whether it really takes place on Mars and, if so, how the three main characters (Sawyer, Elliot, and Sylvie) get there.

The answers: Yes, most of this book takes place on Mars. And Sawyer and his friends get there on a UFO, of course.

Although I guess, if we’re being picky, the giant flying saucer that they fly to Mars isn’t technically a UFO (“Unidentified Flying Object”) because it’s not really “unidentified.” We know it’s name (the Lost Beagle), we know that it’s owned by Amalgam Labs (the genetic research laboratory that Sawyer’s grandfather works for) and we know that it’s a “Model 2012, Martian engineered, Hohmann class” space craft.

(“Hohmann” refers to “Hohmann transfer orbit,” which is basically the easiest way to get from one planet to another, taking into account their relative orbits and the amount of fuel you’ll need to get from one point to another.)

The pilot of the UFO is Sawyer’s grandfather, Dr. Franklin. He has intercepted a distress signal from Mars, which he believes was sent by Sylvie’s dad, Asaph Juarez, who has been missing since the middle of Book #1. Dr. Franklin has a plan to find him, but he needs Sawyer, Elliot, and Sylvie to help him.

The problem is that the UFO is not actually his – it belongs to Amalgam Labs. And in order to borrow the UFO, Dr. Franklin has to come up with a legitimate scientific mission to take it on.

Which brings me to the polar bears . . . which I will explain tomorrow, in Sneak Peek #2.

Don’t forget to leave me a comment or share this post for a chance to win the prize pack!

–CPO