Weird Criminal Law Stories, Volume VI: Women in Trouble! by Professor Birdsong Interview -

0 Flares Twitter 0 Facebook 0 Google+ 0 StumbleUpon 0 Pin It Share 0 Email -- Reddit 0 Filament.io 0 Flares ×

More silly and unlawful conduct by women than anyone could ever imagine!

There’s a story for everyone in this book. You can read about the 6-foot, 400-pound woman arrested for fraud with $26,000 found stuffed in her very ample bra; stories of women who get naked and do disorderly things like steal cars, smash windshields and freak out in airports; the story of the dying woman who asked her husband to have a replica of her vagina carved on her tombstones which he could look at instead of chasing women after her death; stories of women teachers who have sexual affairs with high school boys; a woman who called New Haven police from a nightclub to give her a ride home; a story about a Texas women who asks her son to set a snake afire in her backyard and burns down her house; a story of a Japanese madam who specializes in providing 330-pound prostitutes to men who like women with “explosive boobs and butts”; a story about an Arizona lady who was the spokesperson for the State Department of Public Safety who was forced to resign when she learned that she was an undocumented alien living illegally in the U.S.; a “drunken dummy” or two; and a wide variety of just plain, stupid criminal stories about women in trouble that make this anthology worth reading. It is Professor Birdsong’s funniest yet!

Buy on Amazon

About the Author:

Professor Birdsong received his J.D. from the Harvard Law School and his B.A. from Howard University. He teaches law in Orlando, Florida. After graduation from law school he worked four years at the law firm of Baker Hostetler. He then entered into a varied and distinguished career in government service. He served as a diplomat with the U.S. State Department with various postings in Nigeria, Germany and the Bahamas. Professor Birdsong later served as a federal prosecutor. After leaving government service, and before he began teaching, Professor Birdsong was in private law practice in Washington, D.C.

Find the Professor on Twitter and his website

Thank you so much Professor for being with us today.

Tell us about your latest book.

My book, Professor Birdsong’s Weird Criminal Law Stories, Volume 6: Women in Trouble!, is a volume of funny criminal law stories about women in trouble with the law that I have collected from the news and wire services.

Where did the idea for the book come from?

I have worked with a book consultant for almost a year now who has liked my Weird Criminal Law books. I have written weird criminal law stories based on stories from Out West; stories from the Midwest; and New York. One day he asked whether I had ever thought about doing a book devoted to women in trouble with the law. I thought it was a good idea and devoted myself to finding weird criminal law stories about women and checking statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice about women and crime in the U.S.

Who and what inspires you to write?

I am a law professor. I am paid to teach and to write. I like to write. I have written a goodly number of scholarly articles that have been cited by a number of courts. My scholarly writings have been on topics of interest to me such as the death penalty debate in the English Speaking Caribbean, refugee law topics and criminal law topics. My latest article, my fourteenth, was just published a few days ago in the Barry law Review. The article is entitled: Reforming the Immigration Courts of the United States: Why is There No Will to Make it an Article I Court.

I started collecting weird criminal law stories and putting them on my law blog for my students in 2008 when I was promoted to full Professor. I also post course assignments on my blog and I have posted most of my scholarly pieces on the blog.

Each author has his or her own inspiring journey. How did you begin writing?

All law professors are expected to research and produce scholarly articles and/or books on the law. It is truly a “publish or perish” world in law teaching. If you do not publish you do not get promoted or gain tenure. I began mapping out my scholarly agenda the day I first became a law professor in July of 1998. After I had published twelve scholarly and well received legal articles over a ten year period I was ready to start writing something more fun. That is when I came upon the idea of writing a series on funny and weird criminal law stories.

What has been the most pleasant surprise about writing? How about an unexpected down side?

As I indicated I started my law blog for my students. The students love the weird criminal law stories that I collect and put up on the blog. Although I have thought about ending the weird stories on my blog, I am pleasantly surprised that my students do not want me to stop. They look forward to reading my blog and encourage me – sometimes by their finding such stories and sending them to me to use on the blog.

The only downside is that most of my law students want me to continue producing such stories in perpetuity!

Do you have any writing rituals?

I collect and edit weird criminal law stories and comment on them throughout the school year. Many, but not all of these stories, I put on my blog for my students. I do most of my writing in my office at the Law School. I use the summer and winter holidays to put the stories into book form.

I have no real writing rituals, this started as a hobby that was a lot of fun. It is fun to collect and edit the stories and think up witty commentary. I am aided by research assistants who are law students who do my proof reading for me and help me with my website LeonardBirdsong.com.

Do you write your books in order?

Not really. One of my first books was Professor Birdsong’s 157 Dumbest Criminal Law Stories. It contained stories about dumb criminals throughout the U.S. and a number from Germany. As a young U.S. State Department Officer I had been stationed in Hamburg, Germany 30 years ago and I still sometimes read German newspapers, especially the Bild Zeitung from Hamburg.

I now group my Weird Criminal Law book series into geographical order such as New York and the East Coast; Stories From Florida; stories from the Midwest; and stories from the Western U.S.

What is on your writing playlist for this book?

If you mean music playlist, I listen to a lot of opera and jazz music on my Sirius satellite radio in my office when I write.

Any favorite writing snacks?

No. I usually write in my office and do not eat while writing.

What advice would you give writers who aspire to be published?

I would first advise anyone who wants to write that they should write about something they enjoy or write about something they think others might enjoy. That was one of my reasons for writing the Weird Criminal Law series. I thought people might enjoy the funny stories and my commentary on them.

The second piece of advice is to learn everything one can about digital publishing and publish one’s books themselves.

Are you working on anything new right now?

Yes, my next Weird Criminal Law book of stories will all be stories from international sources, none from the U.S.

Who is your favorite character in your current book?

There are so many weird criminal law characters from all my stories I do not have a favorite character.

What is your favorite book of all time?

Les Miserables

Tell us in one sentence why we should read your book.

You should read my book to learn more about women who get in trouble with the law in the United States while having quite a few good laughs from many of the stories I have collected about such women.