It took years for Bryan W. Fields to pitch his novel to a publisher, and when he finally did, a well-known publishing house was interested.

“I never even got that first rejection letter,” Fields, 49, said. “You hear about that all the time. But I didn’t get one. There is a black hole that it goes into, a slush pile. You hear nothing for a long time until you open your mailbox and get your rejection letter. That’s usually what happens.”

Fields’ Denton-based writing group, the Lone Star Nightwriters, urged him to send his story about a basset hound abducted by aliens to a publisher. He sent a 250-page manuscript to the New York-based Henry Holt and Co. in the fall of 2003 and then sat tight.

Holt responded with a letter asking for more, but with some conditions.

“The letter said, ‘If you want to leave this as is, try another publisher,’” Fields said. “But if I cut out something like 100 pages, they’d be interested in buying the book.”

Fields got busy editing the book. Henry Holt bought the book in spring 2004. The company has bought the sequel to the book, which is due to come out in 2008.

Holt publishes only about 70 books a year, making Fields part of a small but well-reputed club of writers. Texas libraries are one of the publisher’s largest clients, and tens of thousands of Holt books have landed in young students’ hands during the company’s history.

Fields is a Missouri native who moved frequently with his Air Force family. He graduated from Brigham Young University and traveled to Denton hoping to earn a degree in jazz. He wanted to have a career in trumpet performance, but he ended up moving into the workaday world to help support his family. He’s back at UNT studying music education while working at United Copper Industries, but he’s nursing serious professional writing aspirations.

Though it’s categorized by Holt — and by the Barnes & Noble calendar — as a children’s story, any full-grown buff of The Simpsons or Futurama can find something to chuckle about in this compact book. The cast of characters is funny enough, and the dialogue and situations present most of the book’s humor.

A basset hound named Lunchbox is abducted by what Fields describes as an outer space version of the odd couple, the fastidious Frazz and the slovenly, somewhat gluttonous Grunfloz. The two are on a mission to find “froonga,” their foodstuff, and discover they can make it out of Earth’s garbage. Grunfloz decides to add Lunchbox to his intergalactic “specimen” collection, and the affable hound ends up helping the aliens and Earth. Lunchbox’s best friend, the 11-year-old Nate, gets involved in the scheme and all live happily ever after — maybe.

The novel is available on Amazon.com and at Denton Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

Fields said he feels like he’s really starting to follow his dream.

“I always wanted to write, and I figured I’m not getting any younger,” he said. “I actually started writing it years ago. I did pick it up and put it down. My wife basically twisted my arm and said, ‘You need to write.’”

The book became a children’s story when he began to read passages of it to his sons. Fields and his wife, Lesli, have five children, and Fields said he got good feedback from his children.

The writer said he did some stealth marketing, mentioning his book on Internet Web sites about basset hounds. Fields grew up with the breed himself and found that people on Internet bulletin boards and chat rooms were happy to try the book. One basset buff sent him a photo of her long-eared menagerie with her reading Lunchbox and the Aliens to them. 

Fields said he finds writing a lot like jazz, and that improvising and experimentation produce some rich rewards when they aren’t tripping you up. And as a member of the Four O’clock Lab Band at UNT years back, Fields said the sort of humor that enlivened the ensemble sticks with him today. He leans toward science-fiction, and he thinks both the Lemony Snicket and the Harry Potter franchises are examples of high-quality children’s books. He’s a devotee of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, too.

“I’m that much closer to my dream,” Fields said. “I’ve always wanted to be a professional writer. It’s funny. I looked in the mirror and said, ‘Wow, I’m a professional writer.’ I have ideas for some young adult sci-fi, but nothing jells, yet. Maybe one day when I’m a more polished writer, I’ll write my magnum opus.”

Fields will sign copies of Lunchbox on Saturday morning at Barnes & Noble in Denton.

LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached by calling 940-566-6877. Her e-mail address is cbreeding@dentonrc.com .

BOOK SIGNING

What: Author Bryan W. Fields will sign copies of his book Lunchbox and the Aliens.

When: 11 a.m. Saturday

Where: Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 2201 S. Interstate 35E in Denton