Steve Leopard continues to stir up a lot of debate among readers of my books, even 20 years after his first appearance in Cirque Du Freak. Some hate him with a vengeance, unequivocally, no room for any measure of sympathy or empathy. Others view him as a flawed but pitiable individual, a "there but for the grace of God go I" kind of guy, in many ways a victim of destiny -- and DesTiny.

While I can certainly understand those of the former persuasion, I'd be more in the latter camp myself. I always saw Steve and Darren as two sides of the same coin -- and that coin, in its original impression, was ME. I tried to put myself in their shoes and explore two different paths that I might have taken in life. I was something of a wild child, with a dark bent of mind, but I came from a good, caring family, and I had some nice, steadying friends. What if I'd come from a broken home, and had no guiding father figure, and felt betrayed by my best friend? Those aren't feeble excuses -- plenty of people in this world come from far worse places than Steve, and rise above their circumstances to become good, decent people -- but they were definitely factors in his slide to the darkest of dark sides. Personally I like to think that without the meddling of Desmond Tiny, and with the friendship of Darren to help steer him straight, Steve would have gone a very different and far more positive way in life.

But, hey, maybe I'm just a daydream believer!!

Anyway, for more about what motivated Master Leonard, check out the Courageous Nerd site, where this very subject is discussed -- it's what prompted me to raise the issue here, all these years down the road.

https://courageousnerd.home.blog/books-2/