Monsters and werewolves won’t be found anywhere on the volleyball court, but they can be found in Brian Rofer’s new children’s book.
Adding to his resume of recruiting, scouting and running practice drills, Rofer, an assistant coach for the men’s volleyball team, has also recently finished writing a book titled “I Know the Monster is Real.”
A story about children’s fears of monsters under the bed and in the closet, “I Know the Monster is Real” also has a lesson for all the parents of frightened children.
The book is filled with all the frightening images and emotions that run through children’s minds when they are alone in their bedrooms, including gnarling monster teeth and bloody, severed hands. It is a reminder to parents that “the monsters are real no matter how adults feel.”
Though admittedly graphic, the illustrations that accompany the story are exactly what children ages 4 to 9 want to see in a book, Rofer said.
“As a parent, you look at those (pictures) and you think it’s kind of graphic,” Rofer said. “But you got to remember it when you were that little. I started remembering when I was that age and that’s the kind of stuff that you love as a kid but you never see it.”
Rofer’s son Remington, whose favorite part of the tale is when the little boy hides under the covers, is only 4 years old but loves his father’s book and continually asks for it to be read to him.
“It’s good, pretty good, and good again,” Remington said.
Rofer, who started writing the story for fun in the late ’90s, was unable to fully complete the book until recently.
His brother-in-law, late actor Tim Choate, who illustrated the book’s oil paintings, died in a motorcycle accident in 2004, and Rofer put the book on hold. Then in 2002 when Remington was born and as he grew older, Rofer’s motivation for finishing the book was renewed, not only for Remington, but for Choate and Choate’s son Flynn as well.
“We could have had the book out a couple years ago, but (because of the tragedy) it was kind of hard to get the thing printed,” Rofer said.
“But Tom Stillwell started calling after awhile and said we gotta do this for my brother-in-law and my nephew and, of course, my son.”
With a little help from the volleyball community, namely the former Bruin quick hitter Stillwell, Rofer was able to get the book publishing rolling. Stillwell is part of the graphics and printing company Midnight Oil and helped his former coach put the finishing touches on this labor of love.
With the help of his friend, Rofer was able to preserve the book’s originality and character, something that might have been lost or changed if he had gone mainstream with the publishing.
“We didn’t want to shop around for publishers and compromise what you have, what you’ve written, what your art looks like,” Rofer said.
“Most publishing companies would say, “˜We don’t want another book about nightmares and “Bump in the Night” type of stuff.’ But it was more of a project we wanted to do.”
And now children and parents alike can enjoy this children’s book as it was intended.
Right now it can only be found in the UCLA BookZone or in the Hollywood shop Meltdown.