Bedtime Story Teller: Q&A With Paul E. Weathington, The Weathington Firm
August 28, 2008
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tlanta-area adults, legal professionals and physicians know his name. Over the last
24 years, Carrolton, Ga., native Paul E. Weathington has built a career as a defense attorney in
medical malpractice cases, and today runs his own agency, The Weathington Firm.
However, recently Weathington took on a new role that begs the attention of a different audience young children and their parents who read bedtime stories.
That's right; this highly regarded lawyer is experiencing his self-proclaimed midlife crisis by pursuing a side career in writing books for young children. Inspired by his own seven children and the thousands of bedtime stories he read them over the last 22 years, Weathington recognized a need for children's books that were interesting and challenged young minds to question and learn.
This realization led to the first of more than a dozen books and the creation of what is now a small "Mom and Pop" book company called JuneKat Books, LLC. To date, Weathington has introduced five new children's books: Bed Bugs Don't Bite; Counting Sheep Doesn't Make Me Sleep; Where is the Man on the Moon; Ish, Ish Almost Made a Fish; and Lightning Shoes. The books are available for purchase online at www.JuneKatBooks.com, www.amazon.com, www.borders.com and www.booksamillion.com.
So tell us how this whole writing venture began. I've always used creativity in my writing, whether in memos to members of my law firm or my usher group at church. But it wasn't until a rainy spring day in 2007 that I thought of using my creativity to write children's books. I was with Paul Jr., my youngest son, and the weather rained on our plans for a day outside, so we decided to write a book together. He told me a story about a first grader, much like himself, and I wrote it down. That book inspired the Ned Neddington series, which will be one of my next releases.
What were the inspirations for your books? My seven children. I've read books with children for 23 years. My first book was based on a story my son created. The first four I published focus on words or phrases that children hear but often don't understand.
Bed Bugs Don't Bite and Counting Sheep Doesn't Make Me Sleep are both about questioning phrases parents use when tucking children in to bed. Where is the Man on the Moon encourages children to use their imagination. Ish, Ish Almost Made a Fish, new this summer, explores the common adjective suffix "Ish" and its use in description.
Reading with my children throughout gave us all precious memories and inspired me to embark on this adventure. I hope my books can do the same for other families.
Seven kids, right? How do you even find time to practice law? With such a large family, organization is everything. In some ways my law practice is like my eighth child; it's part of my crazy day, but this child helps me make the money to buy the Cheerios for the other seven kids.
Ever thought about moving into the whole legal thriller genre, aka John Grisham? John Grisham? I'm still trying to get Ned Neddington out of the first grade.
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