Creative minds collide in Lakewood Ranch

Last Christmas, Country Club East’s David Wiegand wrapped two copies of a children’s book and sent them to his children Philip and Courtney in Maryland.

The presents came with instructions to open them while someone took a video. 

When Philip and Courtney Wiegand opened their gifts, they saw an illustration of themselves as children on the cover of “The Martian Menace,” the first book their father wrote and self-published as part of The Fantastical Adventures of Chilip and Pourtney series.

“It was something I had wanted to give to my kids and something that would be there to remind them of a special time in our lives growing up together, me as a parent and them as kids,” Wiegand said.

Wiegand would always read books to his children when they were toddlers, but one day, his children insisted he tell a new story, a story he made up.

“I made up these stream-of-consciousness-type of stories, and wherever my mind took me, that’s where they went,” Wiegand said. “They loved it because they saw themselves as characters in the book, too. I told them the stories in a way they would be able to identify with the characters.”

These stories inspired Wiegand to start writing his own stories when he retired five years ago, leading to “The Martian Menace.”

When Wiegand started writing in 2018, he knew he had to have illustrations for his children’s book. He decided to go onto Nextdoor to see if any artists in the area would be willing to work with him on the book.

At least a half dozen artists commented on his post, including East County’s Joe Eckstein.

“Joe was a godsend because he’s a children’s book illustrator. How much better can you get than that?” Wiegand said.

Eckstein has been illustrating and drawing professionally since he was in high school. His classmates would pay him to create flip-books, and he also freelanced for organizations.

“I love creating a world where these characters live, and I love telling stories with my art,” Eckstein said. “I feel like it’s a calling for me to be able to create something that’s not there and give life to these ideas.”

Eckstein went on to get a bachelor’s degree in fine art from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and was hired as a digital artist and illustrator for a greeting card company in Toledo, Ohio, after he graduated. He also has experience as a graphic designer.

Wiegand gave Eckstein photos of his kids from when they were children to help Eckstein develop the characters.

“I love the process of collaborating with the author because we kind of bounce ideas off of each other,” Eckstein said. “He has a vision for the book and the story and that feeds into my creativity to create something that will communicate the story and the emotions.”

“The Martian Menace” was published in January 2020.

Wiegand is now working on the second book in The Fantastical Adventures of Chilip and Pourtney series, but he’s not in a rush to write it.

“More and more I’m learning to kind of relax, slow down a little bit, enjoy the scenery and enjoy life,” Wiegand said. “There’s a lot of it to see out there and a lot of it to enjoy, so I’m not in any particular hurry to get another project out there. I’m working on it, little by little, and it’s going to happen but at its pace.”