TMZ Live Clips

T.J. Newman is on a journey from flight attendant to Hollywood scriptwriter -- she wrote a book that became a bestseller, and now her second novel is getting turned into a screenplay, creating a bidding war in the process.

T.J. joined us on "TMZ Live" and told us all about her new book, "Drowning," which comes out today ... telling us why her story is so coveted by movie studios and big-shot Hollywood producers.

Like her best-selling debut "Falling," T.J.'s new novel takes place on an airplane ... with the jetliner crashing into the ocean after taking off from Hawaii, trapping passengers in a cabin as it sinks beneath the waves. It's aviation's version of the famous "Poseidon Adventure."

T.J. says she wanted to write about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances ... and there was a bidding war for the movie rights, pitting Nicole Kidman against the likes of Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer, plus the usual movie studio suspects.

In the end, Warner Bros. emerged victorious ... shelling out $3 million and bringing T.J. along for the ride as an executive producer.

This makes T.J. 2-for-2 in Hollywood -- her first novel, "Falling," is also being turned into a movie after flying off the shelves ... Universal Pictures paid $1.5 million for the movie rights to her best-selling debut novel, also winning a bidding war.

T.J. says she's actually writing the screenplay for "Falling" ... an honor she says is "bonkers" and a process that brings new challenges.

A high school student in Texas punched his teacher square in the face ... a frightening encounter captured on video.

The violent outburst happened at Lamar High School in Houston, where footage shows a student arguing with a male teacher who had, apparently, taken the kid's phone for some reason -- then suddenly the student threw a haymaker.

They were face-to-face when the teen reached back and uncorked a right hook, landing flush on the teacher's jaw. Shocked onlookers screamed as the student threw more punches, and the video abruptly cuts off.

Students are sharing the video all over social media, and parents with kids at the school are obviously outraged.

The school's principal reportedly sent a note to parents saying the school does not condone or tolerate this type of behavior. The principal says, "Administrators will be looking into the cause of the altercation and continue to evaluate ways to prevent these occurrences in the future."

The teacher hasn't been identified by name and hasn't publicly commented about the incident.

It's another example of the increase in student violence against teachers in schools across the country ... a subject we dove into on "TMZ Live" with Lt. Rudy Perez, the head of the National Association of Resource Officers.