Or, "Long Journal Is Looooong"

Here are the questions everybody asked, with their answers! Thanks, guys, this was fun! XD

*Hubby-N-Dad
Q: Favorite comfort food meal....
A: Spicy miso ramen with corn, bean sprouts, and sliced pork on top! It was my favorite meal when I lived in Japan, and it's so easy to make. It never fails to cheer me up, at least a little!

~Gellyh
Q: What colour do you think the stars are?
A: Blue or purple!

~maranianthe
Q: Does this dress make my butt look fat?
A: Of course not, it's very flattering.

Q: In what ways do you put yourself out there (and I'm sure you don't have a problem) in order to get employment as an artist?
A: Haha, I actually do have trouble with that, because I am very shy of meeting new people in real life, and I don't like being noticed. This is somewhat at odds with getting art jobs, since the whole point is you have to be noticed first! But I've been very fortunate, in that I got a good job straight out of school, when someone saw my work at the graduates' portfolio show and decided it was just what they needed. Since then, I've built up a pretty good local network, and I try (semi-successfully) to keep in touch with the people I work with. Also dA has been a great place to meet other artists, and network--and sometimes unexpected good things come of that!

~Amani-Ishikawa
Q: What kind of music do you listen to?
A: Right now I'm listening to (don't laugh!) a lot of down-homey country and bluegrass-type music, because I'm feeling a little homesick. I also like Irish punk like Flogging Molly, European metal, indy pop (in small doses), classical ... a little bit of everything!

Q:What kinds of inspiration do you draw on when writing?
A: Nature really inspires me; the feeling I get when looking at a glorious sunset, or driving across the wide-open plains, I try to put that into my writing. Life inspires me all the time, and the desire to create order by telling stories!

Q: How do you develop your characters? Through the story or do you have them thought out?
A: The characters almost develop themselves; I start them off on a story and then sit back and see what they'll do! Well ... not really sit back, as there's still a lot of hard labor on my part. But it's more organic, and more fun for me, if I don't know where things are going before they develop.

~MedevalMaiden
Q: What appeals to you most about pirates?
A: The freedom. Sailing the seas wherever you will, without being answerable to anybody. Sound glorious to me.

Q: What is the worst part of being an artist?
A: Haha, the grinding poverty! Using credit cards to pay the bills, worrying about debt, wondering if you're going to have enough money in the bank to buy food. Yeah, that's a little stressful.

~ordinaryundone
Q: What's your favorite postcard that you've gotten from someone?
A: I got one from somebody in Germany; that was pretty cool. And ~Lusc-Fire sent one of her drawings, which is totally going on the wall after the winners have been picked!

~Rodlox
Q: How long has Drake existed? (as a muse, not within-the-story)
A: Erm, she didn't really exist for very long before I started writing about her, although I remember six months or so of knowing I had this great pirate character and not being really sure what to do with her. I started writing the first story back in 2003 or 2004, I think, so that's how long she's been around.

Q: What would Drake's favorite music be? (since someone else already asked about your music before I could ask)
A: Haha, I suspect Drake probably has a tin ear for music, although I could be wrong! I know she hates opera with a burning passion, but she might have a secret love for chamber music that I haven't yet discovered.

~savvy-weasley
Q: Where did you acquire your love for them pirates and all things piratey?
A: I have no idea! Maybe it was watching Pirates of Dark Water when I was a kid?

Q: Favourite Disney Movie?
A: Ugh, what a hard question! I think I have lots of favorites, for different reasons. Treasure Planet is my fav as a pirate-fan; as an animator, I think you can't beat One Hundred and One Dalmatians, because of all the cool innovative stuff they did. Mulan always makes me laugh, Hunchback of Notre Dame has an incredibly rich story, and a darker one, too, than Disney usually goes with. For live action, I cannot get enough of National Treasure; it's so cheesy, but I think it's the perfect action/adventure movie!

Q: Do you really have one of them snazzy smoking pipes?
A: Lol, I have two!

~vahpuu
Q: What has inspired you the most to persue your chosen career field(s) and why?
A: My eighth-grade English teacher is the one who really inspired me to be a writer; he was the first person who ever looked at my scribbles and said, "These are good. You know you could do this for a living?" No, I hadn't known! It totally floored me.

As for art, I've always loved to draw, but it wasn't until high school that I fell in love with animation. (Because of anime, believe it or not.) I thought, "You know, someday I'd like to do this." It took me many years of wandering, but I'm finally doing it.

~Ghilemear
Q: Who is your favorite old-time swashbuckling actor?
A: I'm ashamed to admit the only one I really know is Errol Flynn! But I do think he's fabulous.

~trying-to-fly
Q: If you could be any animated character in the world who would you be?
A: I'd be me, only animated! I hope I'd get to have an airship!

Q: Do you like coffee, if so how do you take it?
A: Love it, drink it every day, can't do without it! I like mine super-strong, about half milk, only a little sugar.

Q: Do you think the sky is really blue or that it might in reality actually be another color?
A: Isn't it something about the refraction of sunlight in air molecules or something that makes it blue?

Q: Do you think i am a nutjob for asking you odd questions?
A: No, they're fun!

*DekeNicki
Q: What's your favorite food?
A: Tough question! I love food so much, and my favorite kind of depends on my mood! Right now my favorite is sushi, because I haven't had any in awhile!

Q: If you could visit any place in the world right now, where would it be?
A: I am longing to go to India! Or Tibet! Or, or, or....!

Q: And... if you could hang out with any of your characters, who would it be and why?
A: Haha, I think it would be fun to hang out with Drake's crew, if not Drake herself (she's kind of mean!). Also, it would be highly entertaining to spend time with Lord Falco, the dark wizard, because he's so sarcastic!

~scruffy-zero
Q: What's your Myers-Briggs?
A: I thought I was INTJ, but according to the quiz I just took I am INFJ today. Sounds like me, though, especially this bit:
"INFJs are deeply concerned about their relations with individuals as well as the state of humanity at large. They are, in fact, sometimes mistaken for extroverts because they appear so outgoing and are so genuinely interested in people -- a product of the Feeling function they most readily show to the world. On the contrary, INFJs are true introverts, who can only be emotionally intimate and fulfilled with a chosen few from among their long-term friends, family, or obvious 'soul mates.'"

What's yours?

*skulljammer
Q: Why do you hate me?
A: I hate everybody! Don't feel singled out!

`GH-MoNGo
Q: What do you see yourself doing in ten years?
A: Hopefully in ten years I'll be a published author for real, not just self-published! I want to be further advanced in my animation career, maybe even doing 2D animation at some studio. And hopefully I'll have a couple of children at that point, either my own or adopted!

Q: Have you ever done any work with traditional media?
A: I used to play around a lot with colored pencils and with markers, and I really enjoy drawing with pastels or conte crayon. Ever since I discovered digital coloring, though, I've kind of used it as a crutch--I really can't get enough of CTRL+Z!

Q: Why are you watching me?
A: I like you, and you always have interesting stuff to say.

~shoelesswandere
Q: What is your favorite piece of animation that you've worked on and why?
A: Oooh, I don't know! Maybe the most recent project, because I was basically in charge of look and feel, and got to do the bulk of the animating! It was so stressful, but so satisfying to see it all come together!

*travsthebean
Q: What is the craziest thing you have ever done?
A: Either to move to a foreign country directly out of college, while engaged (leaving my fiance behind), or to quit my cushy job with absolutely no idea what I was going to do, only to decide a week later that it was time to finally quit talking about "someday" being an animator, and go and figure out how to do it.

Q: Wildest ambition in life?
A: I'm not very wild! I'd love to make an animated movie based on something I've written, trek through the Andes, and die a saint!

~Caliypsoe
Q: What are your "rituals" when doing creative things? Do you like to be in a certain place or listen to something in particular?
A: I absolutely must have a cup of tea or coffee at my elbow. I like to light some incense, or a candle, or something else that smells nice, to sort of create the sense that my work-space is separate from the rest of the world. I cannot work in dead silence, but what I listen to depends on my mood and the project; like, if I'm animating, it's best to have classical music or a soundtrack, something that I can tune out. When I'm writing, I prefer music with lyrics and a strong mood that matches the mood of the scene I'm writing.

*ImagenAshyun
Q: I'm curious, but is your story(ies) (I dunno if you have more than one) available for reading/viewing online? If so, where?
A: Not so much, although I was thinking about posting a little fragment I wrote here on dA. Since I self-published Voyage to Ruin, that's available as a pdf download or to purchase a physical copy, but it's not anywhere on the Internets for free.

~CaptTreasureTroveTi
Q: What do ye think of me as a writer?
A: Dunno, mate! Send me a link, though, and I'll read your stuff!

:devRandomPendemonium:
Q: What is your favorite flavor of muffin?
A: English!

Q: If your birthday was made a national holiday what would you call it?
A: You know, actually my birthday is the anniversary of a British naval victory? The Glorious First of June!

Q: What digital editing progam do you think is best for digital coloring/drawing?
A: I dunno "best", but I mostly use Photoshop because it's what I'm used to. A lot of people with more traditional painting experience have told me that Painter is the absolute best for mimicking the look and feel of "real" media.

~LastDracon
Q: What's the meaning of life?
A: Do good, fight evil, die a saint.

Q: Why does the wind blow?
A: To blow seed-pods everywhere and exacerbate my allergies!

~SaturneVent
Q: What kind of music do you listen to when you write or do you just listen to the silence of your home?
A: Like I said above, it kind of depends; I have been in a mood for stuff that's different from usual, so I've been listening to country, bluegrass, metal, sea shanties … um, actually I guess that's not so different from usual.

~Ggunsailor
Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: Oh, this is another tough question! I have so many favorites! I love The Prestige, Van Helsing, The Village, Serenity, Enchanted… the list goes on forever!

*Maija
Q: What colour is your hair?
A: Hee. It's actually sort of a reddish-brownish color.