Stephen+Michael+King

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I **liked being a kid. I didn't want to be a grown-up when I grew up! **

**Anyhow, I did grow up! **
===**When I did, it reinforced how much I dislike social uniformity. I hadn't had a great experience at school. I'd suffered hearing loss from age 8-9 and my world was a silent and introverted one. I had a few good teachers who helped me cope: Br Gillian (his modern approach), Miss Grey my Yr 7 teacher (the first teacher to value my writing) and Br Mac (one of my art teachers). **===

**Eventually, I received a hearing aid at age 13. But by this time I was a shadow of my former childish self. **
===**When I left school, I soon realised, I needed to find the kid in me again. I wrote and drew all the time. Writing, drawing had become a trusted and non-judgemental form of communication. I hadn't talked to any one much while I was deaf. Picture and written words had become my voice. **===

**I am amazed that I've ended up where I always wanted to be . . . **
===**I love being a dad. My kids are excellent fun! ****I work from home and have a massive studio where I can create to my hearts desire. My family all share my paints, paper and anything else they can pilfer. **=== ===**I love book illustrating. I can be passionate, joyous, stressed and flummoxed during the process of creating a book. From conception to publication, the process can take a year or two. I'm usually juggling different projects and various publishers. I drive myself crazy just as much as the people around me. It's a mad process. . . keeping an idea in your head for months on end. . . continually flipping it and twisting it into new places. **=== ===**But I have an amazing wife who puts up with my eccentricities, and often (especially when there is a full moon) we dance a jig of childish happiness together. **===


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