A.J. Culey | Updates

A Tyrabbisaurus-Rex-sized (a.k.a. TINY) Short Story

A.J. Culey — Sat, 10 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

We haven't heard from Tyrabbisaurus Rex in a while, but I've had this idea swirling around in my brain for a while, which really only amounts to a scene at this point, so I've released it as a tiny short story called Time Warp.

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New Release: An Unlikely Match

A.J. Culey — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I've been playing around with this idea about Fae academies and finally took the plunge and wrote the first story. I imagine this series will turn into an episodic one, much like my Shifter High series.

To launch the series, I decided to torture my heroine, who was born to a family of Fae criminals and expected to attend The FHCA (Fae High Crimes Academy) with her siblings and cousins. Instead, she's sent to The FGA (Fae Godparent Academy), a horror she never expected. Surrounded by delusional optimists who believe in the power of True Love, Mari is definitely a Fae out of her element.

Check out my very first young adult romance and fairy tale retelling, An Unlikely Match.

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Join the read aloud fun with T-Rab!

A.J. Culey — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

With schools being out in Kansas for the rest of the school year, meaning no more school visits for me (either as a teacher or as an author) until much later this year, I've decided to release a read aloud from one of my books every school day until the end of the semester. Today's video features the first chapter of my latest Tyrabbisaurus Rex book, Tigernapped. I had a lot of fun with this as I'm sure you can tell!

It did take a bit longer than expected to get the video transferred from the online video recorder to my google drive (24+ hours !!! ), then downloaded to my laptop, then uploaded to YouTube, THEN fed over to my website, WHEW! So..... when I invite you in the video to join me tomorrow for another read aloud, just know that read aloud is now scheduled for Monday. Yes, I'll be taking my weekends off :) but otherwise, Mondays through Fridays, you can join me on my website for a brand new read aloud.

Enjoy!

Update: As of September 2025, these videos are now housed exclusively on YouTube.

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New Release: Tyrabbisaurus Rex in Tigernapped

A.J. Culey — Thu, 22 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000

T-Rab is back!

I'm super excited to share that Tigernapped is finally here! Jeanine really outdid herself with the cover and illustrations on this one.

Join Inspector T-Nab as he hunts down the missing Tiger!

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Cover Reveal: T-Rab 4

A.J. Culey — Sun, 14 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

I am so excited about this amazing cover designed by Jeanine Henning. Tigernapped is the fourth book in my Tyrabbisaurus Rex series and I've had so much fun writing it!

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New Release: If My Dog Could Fly

A.J. Culey — Tue, 9 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

It's been a while since I've released a picture book, but the time has finally come! The second book in my Pets in Flight series, If My Dog Could Fly, is now available in hardcover.

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Best Children's Book Award: Revenge of the Tiger

A.J. Culey — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I'm super excited to announce that my second Tyrabbisaurus Rex book, Revenge of the Tiger, won the Best Children's Book Award at Ozarks Indie Book Fest this past weekend.

What a fantastic honor that I share with my illustrator, Jeanine Henning, who is so amazingly talented and who does such an incredible job of bringing T-Rab and all his friends, including the Tiger, to such vibrant life!

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Tyrabbisaurus Rex, Finalist for the Thorpe Menn Literary Excellence Award

A.J. Culey — Sat, 7 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0000

What an amazing day!

Tyrabbisaurus Rex was recognized as a Finalist for the Thorpe Menn Literary Excellence Award at a luncheon earlier today.

I had two of my nieces with me, which made it even more special. My youngest niece, Josie, is T-Rab's biggest fan, so she was super excited to see him honored, while my older niece, Tobi, is one of MY biggest fans, always encouraging me and asking me how my writing's going.

When I accepted the award, I thanked them both, acknowledging the very real impact they've both had on my writing. As I said in the moment, "Between the two of them, I'm definitely kept on track when it comes to my writing goals."

The other person I thanked (she was actually the first person I mentioned) was Jeanine Henning, the artist who brought to life the Tyrabbisaurus Rex character, in a way I wasn't even sure was possible when I began my search for an illustrator. I've never been so happy to have been wrong. Jeanine literally breathed life into T-Rab's character, somehow managing to showcase his enormous attitude without ever losing his utterly adorable bunniness. As I said when accepting the award, "The book wouldn't be what it is without Jeanine's amazing cover and brilliant illustrations."

The award was sponsored by the Kansas City chapter of the American Association of University Women and the Kansas City Public Library. I'll leave you with a picture of the absolutely gorgeous award they presented me with.

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