Frequently Asked Questions

Foundations

Q: What kind of writer are you?
A: I would consider myself a fiction writer who is in touch with sentient life’s dark side and who favours a blunt and realistic kind of setting. So, you can expect to see that a lot in my personal projects.
 
Q: Yeah...about that. Why the dark side of life? Why not happy and sunny things?
A: This is the kind of thing I tend to be drawn to, where my preferences in various media go. Nothing thrills me quite like the sense of danger in a rough world. But if something more cheery is what you’re after, I’m all ears.
 
Q: What is it that gives you the motivation to tell stories?
A: Literature shows a protagonist’s adventure through particular events their lives throw at them and lets you get inside their minds and their worlds. A well written piece shows them learning, developing and changing along the way, and that also holds true with my characters and those belonging to buyers.
 
Q: When did you start writing?
A: When I was a little nipper. But it wasn’t until finding the Furry community in 2008 that I began to take it seriously. It helps that both of my parents introduced me to literature at an early age and always had plenty available. Once I began, I never really stopped.

 
Writing

Q: What devices do you have?
A: At present, I use a Dell laptop a good friend of mine sold me in 2017 and a desktop I have rebuilt over time. I make my stories on my laptop, using the desktop for this only when I need to repair the laptop.
 
Q: What software do you use?
A: The laptop runs Linux Mint and I use LibreOffice. Delightful program, and it didn’t cost me a penny.
 
Q: Can I trade with you?
A: Unfortunately, I no longer accept trades, as much as I used to enjoy them. But I can still recommend others you can conduct trades with.
 
Q: Can I pledge a request?
A: No. I don’t work for free.
 
Q: Have you ever considered making tutorials on how you produce stories or do specific things in them?
A: It’s something I have thought about before. Perhaps someday I can give it a go.
 
Q: I’m looking for a writer to collaborate with. Is this something you would be open to?
A: I’ve never done a collaboration before, although we could still talk about one. Understand that such an agreement has to equally benefit both of us, however.
 
Q: I know you mostly for your stories. What else do you do?
A: I also make poetry, character profiles and short vignettes amongst other things.
 
Q: I want something short, sweet and straight to the point instead of something that goes on and on. Can you do that for me?
A: Absolutely! Short vignettes are on the cards.
 
Q: Do you make erotic material?
A: Definitely! I enjoy making adult work.
 
Q: How do I contact you about commissions?
A: You may get in touch with me through any of the websites on which I am active. Links to these are available on the Get in Touch page on this website.
 
Q: What sort of turnaround can I expect for my commission?
A: This depends wholly on length and how many other commissions are in the queue. Things like vignettes and poems generally do not take very long to complete (this can be as little as a few hours), whereas stories require considerably more planning, meaning a chapter can take a few days to a week, possibly longer if I have things in real life crop up.
 
Q: Why do you insist on only using sites that support PDF files? There’s some good sites where your work can be read in plain text!
A: As well as giving my files a professional appearance, this file format and my watermarks are used to deter theft.
 
Q: Have you ever thought about trying to draw rather than write? Visual art has its appeal!
A: It does, and I have thought about it a few times. But I lack the ability to draw and don’t think I could ever do it well enough to treat it the way I do my writing. Drawing is something not everyone can do.

Q: Do you attend any conventions?
A: I do! I started with anime conventions, but nowadays I only attend Furry conventions. My most frequent one is ConFuzzled, but sometimes I attend different ones as well as smaller Furmeets.

Q: Are you a fursuiter?
A: Oh yes. I'm the proud owner of three different fursuits, all by different makers. You can find photos of them in my gallery, or in footage others have posted elsewhere.

Q: Can I ask you questions about writing stories?
A: By all means. I don’t mind sharing know-how about how to get them off the ground, how to help you get past a block, how to handle specific things in your story, that kind of thing.

 
Pricing

Q: What rates do you charge?
A: You will find all information about my pricing on my Price Sheet, which can be seen on the websites I upload to and the What I Offer tab.

Q: How do you calculate the cost of my story?
A: This is based on roughly how many words I think your project will consist of. This will be a number rounded up to the nearest thousand words.

Q: How would I be charged?
A: You are first charged a non refundable deposit of 50% of the estimated word count before work on the story begins. You are then charged the rest just before the finished product is released.

Q: I want a story that's longer than what I can presently afford, but I can’t afford to pay the whole amount in one go. Can I set up a payment plan?
A: Sorry. Payment plans are not presently available.

 
Characters

Q: Why do you like felines so much? Why not canines?
A: I grew up having cats around my home and got very close to the ones I had. It helps that I have a mother who loves tigers too.
 
Q: How did Gemma first come to be?
A: When I saw a friend of mine selling her (then known simply as a cotton candy tigress), I fell utterly in love with her and snapped her up in a heartbeat. As for her personality, she is me but with a different past and occupation to my own.

Q: Where does your passion for character development come from?
A: I believe in making believable characters who others can connect with. If you’re going to have any sort of character, you should use every opportunity you can to chase their potential. It’s about getting yourself and your character noticed and building him or her up over time.

Q: Why do you have such a high number of characters? Do you really need that many?
A: When you make a setting as large as Triston, you can expect it to be inhabited by a lot of characters. I find that using one character for everything doesn’t work for me.

Q: Who are all of your characters?
A: You may find some of their profiles in their appropriate folders in my galleries.

Q: Can I roleplay with you?
A: Never. Too many bad experiences in the past. Plus, I simply don’t have the time to nowadays.

Q: Can I draw you fan art?
A: Definitely. I love receiving fan art. But if it is anything sexual, do please ask me first.
 
Q: Can I make you a story?
A: You may. But if you involve my characters, do please take note of their profiles and the kind of images they feature in.

Q: I use a happy go lucky tone in my canon. Would any of your characters feature in an idea like that?
A: I suppose it really depends on the exact scenario. But generally, I stay as close to reality as possible, although occasionally I will toy around with fantasy elements.

 
About me

Q: Where do you come from?
A: South east England.
 
Q: What do you consider your favourite music?
A: Uplifting trance and psy trance, without a doubt. I’m also into folk metal, death metal and classic rock.

Q: What’s your favourite literature?
A: Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, as well as a number of Mario Puzo and Robert Ludlum’s works. I’ve also taken a liking to several of Kyell Gold and Stephen King’s titles. (Expect this list to be expanded over time.)

Q: Can I play a game with you?
A: No. I haven’t played online video games in years. Nowadays, I rarely play games, but when I do, what I look for in them is compelling and immersive stories.

Q: Why do you never talk about politics?
A: I find it an unpleasant subject to talk about. The reason is that in these times, it almost always devolves into people spitting fury at each other and resorting to much worse things that I shall not go into here. This is not the way the average discussion of this kind should be, and my pattern of life does not demand that kind of stress. I’ve learned to appreciate the things I have got.

Q: What is your religion?
A: Religion doesn’t interest me. Next question.

Q: Do you have a favourite colour?
A: Blue, purple and white, all of which may be found on Gemma.

Q: Can I ask you questions that don’t involve writing?
A: You can, if you’re trying to get to know me better.

Q: Can I be your friend?
A: Friendships form over time, not simply because you ask for them. Some people connect, and some don't.

​

​

If you have any more questions, then get in touch through any of the sites on which I am active.