Paul spent most of his childhood growing up on a dairy farm a few miles north of Cassville, MO. When the chores were done and playtime came, because his siblings were much older than himself, he found that his imagination was his greatest ally, allowing him to create cities and characters in his mind. The first story he wrote was about one of the cats on the farm, making the cat into a human being, and when he got a typewriter for Christmas, more stories followed. That was just beginning a lifelong career as a writer.