As T.J. Newman Is Set To Adapt Debut Novel ‘Falling’, Her Follow-up ‘Drowning: The Rescue Of Flight 1421’ Drops In Hollywood
EXCLUSIVE: Flight attendant-turned-tyro author T.J. Newman has been set to write the script for her debut bestselling novel Falling for Universal and Working Title. Now, her follow-up manuscript has leaked around town and could be the next hot auction title.
The new one is Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421, and it will be shopped imminently. A plane crashes in the Pacific Ocean six minutes after takeoff and is flooded after an explosion during evacuation. A dozen survivors sink in a sealed part of the aircraft as it perches precariously on an undersea cliff 200 feet below the surface. Among them is an engineer and his 11-year-old daughter. His estranged wife and the girl’s mother is part of the elite rescue team that races to save the passengers before their air runs out.
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Newman is the flight attendant who filled the down time on flights scribbling an aviation thriller, only to see her get rejected by 41 agents before Shane Salerno and The Story Factory signed her.
Her career soared. Falling sold to Avid Reader/Simon & Schuster in a seven-figure pre-emptive offer, with another seven figures for deals in 30 countries. It topped the bestseller lists and then the film rights sold to Universal and Working Title for $1.5 million, after more than a dozen bids came in.
The Story Factory will shop the new book. Stay tuned.
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