The Road to Today

I published this over at my DeviantArt page a week or so back, at the request of a group owner, but I thought I would share it here as well.

 I've been asked on a number of occasions a deceptively simple question – why?  Why do I write the stories I do, where does the motivation come from, and what led to a nice, ordinary guy like moi writing the type of stories, and appreciating the sort of art that appears here?  I've cited the three major influences several times, but perhaps now is the time to put it down in more detail.

In my case, there is no definitive "wow" moment, but a gradual learning and appreciation – and we have to go right back to my early years for the start.  Given I'm approaching my fiftieth next year, that means the late 60's, and British television, which in my case meant one thing – Emma Peel.

Yes, if I'm been honest again, The Avengers was a very early influence, and the sight of Diana Rigg in green leather (black and white filming) stays with me even to this day.  It wasn't just her, however – before that there was The Saint with Roger "The Living Eyebrow" Moore, and over the next few years, the production house of Lew Grade at ITC also gave us series such as The Baron, The Persuaders, The Strange Report, Department S and Jason King.  All these series had several things in common – exotic locations, fast living, and beautiful women in sexy clothes who managed to find themselves in distress.  To the impressionable mind of the young KP, growing up on a council estate in Central Scotland, it was an education and a half, and I would watch and ask myself what I would do to rescue them if I was there.  How that led to writing about how they got into that situation – well, I'll get to that.

The second great thing I found was comics – to be specific, the comics been produced by Marvel and DC in the mid-seventies, when heroes were heroes, and women were there to be hostages to the villains and crooks.  It was a golden era, with writers like Deny O'Neill, Marv Wolfman, Mike Fleisher and Steve Gerber, teaming with artists like Jim Aparo, Gene Colan, John Romita and Frank Robbins to depict the tales.  Mainstream titles like Lois Lane mingled with Spiderwoman, or Adventure Comics with The Spectre would rub against Guardians of the Galaxy – and the covers!  My god, the covers were designed to catch the eyes of the teenage boy, especially one like me.

And that was just the American comics – the British scene of weekly publications was even more wild and varied.  I also have older sisters, so it wasn't just the war and sports comics I read – it was titles like Judy, Bunty, Jackie, Misty  -and those titles seemed to focus even more on the Nancy Drew and "girl detective" genre as well.  It was an eye-opener, with page after page of the plucky young girl either been held hostage by the bad guys, or kidnapped and forced to work for or dance for cruel masters.

So I was watching television, reading comics – but not just comics.  My school education was eclectic and far covering, so while I was focusing on sciences and mathematics I was also studying things like History and English – and been introduced to masters of the art such as Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, P G Wodehouse, Wilkie Collins, F Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway – the list goes on and on, and I devoured it all.

All these things sitting there, percolating away in my over-stuffed brain, and I knew the sight of a girl tied and gagged was arousing to me.  What pushed me into the world of appreciation more was when I discovered (on attaining the correct height) the Detective Magazine, and the covers that adorned them.

I attended University in Newcastle upon Tyne, and in the Grainger Market there was (and still is) an old bookstore.  They used to stock collections of these magazines, and it was a Mecca for me to look through, wondering what the back story was behind the pictures depicted at the front.  I'd but and read them, but I also started to make up my own back stories to explain how they ended up in that situation.  I never wrote them down, but kept them secret.  Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa...

That was the situation for many, many years, my hobby been a quiet secret, but built up quietly.  So what moved me to start writing, to put some of the tales down on paper?  When did a private thought become a public property?  Blame two things...

The first was Yahoo groups, which I discovered a few years back and wanted to participate in.  In one small group, I was asked if I could share some photos, but I didn't have that much at that time to share – or a private computer to share them on.  So I offered to write a couple of stories instead.  I'd never, ever written a story like these ones, so I wasn't sure if it would work, but I put two down on paper - Like Mother, Like Daughter and Goose Fair.

I posted them, fearful of what the reaction would be, but to my eternal amazement I got a very positive response, so I wrote another story.

And another one.

And another one.

I discovered two things – for whatever peculiar reason, people seemed to think I was good at this, and I enjoyed finally getting my ideas down on paper.  Eventually, I set up my own Yahoo group and put my stories there.  That was a popular group, but I fell afoul of Yahoo three times.  After the third time, I decided enough was enough, and started my own story site.  Six months later, that was moved to the current location, and KP Presents is now in the fourth year of existence.

It was shortly after that I joined DeviantArt, initially to provide another route of access, and I discovered the like of David-Presents, Nid311 and ThePhoenixKing, and many others over the last few years.  They have encouraged, offered constructive criticism, and otherwise supported, and this amateur thanks you for that.

Over time, my style has changed a great deal, and I've experimented with new ideas – some of which have worked, some have not.  To my continuing amazement, that level of popularity has been reasonably well maintained, even when I've written tales in a much harder and more 'probing' style.

My proudest moment?  I'm not really sure, but I think one of them has to be The Chocolate Cat - that helped re-introduce a much loved character to our world.  Another has to be The Three Ages of Gwen - my most popular tale here by a country mile, and some day I may figure out why.

So there you are – definitive proof that a childhood misspent can lead to something entertaining, and not too embarrassing, in the end.  Every day I learn something new – and hopefully you can take that lesson too.

Now, if you will forgive me, I can hear Jayes, Heidi and others knocking on the door, with more tales to tell...