FAQ’s

1. Who are you?  See “About Lady Temeraire”.
2. Where are you?  Not gonna say.
3. What do you look like?  Eh… I’m 5′4″ with hazel eyes, curly golden-brown hair and a dimple on my left ear.  No joke.
4. You’re writing a book about dragons.  Did you copy off Anne McCaffrey/Chris Paolini/the series DragonKnights?  The short answer is no.
   The longer answer is no, but I was inspired by all of them.  My story is about dragons and the people who ride them – and if anyone even breathes “Pern”, I’m gonna snap.  Anne McCaffrey did not invent the idea of dragonriders (the ancient Orientals get credit for that), she merely championed it.  I did not copy off Paolini either; he merely inspired me to get my butt in gear and finish my book.  :-D  I have not read the manga DragonKnights (SHUN ME!!!), but I’ve heard good things about it.  The title for my book was originally DragonKnights, though I’d never heard of the series before; then I walked into Borders about a year ago and saw the manga.  After sulking for a while, I changed the title.
   I have not copied off of anyone (please click here for my disclaimers).  Do not sue me, you’ll get less than what you can find in your sofa.
5. So what’s the title now? 
   I’m not going to tell you.  As Mike pointed out, if something’s worth copyrighting, it’s worth not putting on the Internet until it’s copyrighted.
6.  Dragons are of the devil!  You’re evil!  You’re going to hell! 
   Absolutely not.  You say this, you get banned.  I’ve been putting up with crap like this since sixth grade from my classmates, my teachers, my family, and even random people in the doctor’s office.  I don’t need it from anyone else.  And for the record, dragons are not of the devil.  That is a very common misconception caused by people taking Revelation too literally.  Remember, that book is largely symbolic.  Liking dragons does not make me a Satanist any more than going to church makes me a Christian.  Though I am a Christian.
7. So wait – since you’re a Christian, you don’t like Harry Potter/Fullmetal Alchemist/other magic series? 
   Let me be very clear on this.  As a Christian, I cannot in good conscience approve of the use of magic.  This unfortunately includes alchemy.  However, I love a good story, which Fullmetal Alchemist is.  After J.K. Rowling’s revelation about Dumbledore, I have stopped reading the Harry Potter series entirely.
8. Will you go out with me?
   Please don’t ask me questions like this, it makes things really awkward.
9. Did you do that picture of the dragon you have as your avatar? 
   No.  That picture was done by Dee Dreslough, a wonderful fantasy/dragon artist.  I added the stars and background in Photoshop.  I am using it under her terms of free usage, so do not sue me.
10. Did you do that header you have? 
    Well, sort of.  The original dragon is copyrighted to Dee Dreslough (see above question); I just added text and stars/background and cropped it in Photoshop.
11. Why is your avatar a gold dragon? 
    For the record, it’s not a gold like Ms. McCaffrey’s gold dragons.  I took one of those “Which color dragon are you?” quizzes online, which are based more off the Dragonlance/Dungeons and Dragons style.  The answer came back that I was a gold, and here we are.
12. Commissions?  See my commissions page or the questions below.
    1. Will you draw *request* for me?
       Possibly.  See my “Art Commissions” subpage on the above link.
    2. Will you do fanart?
       No.  I do not take fanart commissions because I don’t want to mess with copyright laws.  Most of the fanart I do is from series that I know it’s okay to do fanart of.  These are for the most part anime series.  American authors tend to be a little more picky.  EDIT 1.7.08: Ami told me at Ohayocon that she’s getting out of the fanart scene because lawyers are really cracking down on people who do fanart.  Just food for thought.
    3. Will you knit *request* for me?
       Probably.  See my “Knitting Commissions” subpage on the above link.
    4. How do you draw like that?
       Tons and tons of practice – we’re talking six years of working on dragons alone.  I started out with imitations (looking at something and then drawing it elsewhere without tracing it) of the Pern covers and moved to creating my own art when I was comfortable.  I have only twoformal year of art (eighth grade, doing high school curriculum, and Art 2 senior year); for the rest, I’m self-taught.
    5. How do you knit like that?
       Again – practice.  My teacher taught me CO, BO, k, and k2tog – and that’s it.  The rest I learned online, from books, and from the British lady who lives on my street.  I also taught myself how to crochet, and my grandma gave me some tips, but I’m not totally comfortable with it yet.  If you’re referring to my style… it varies.  I’m usually English method (“throwing” the yarn with my right hand), but if it’s straight knitting with nothing fancy I’ll use Continental (holding the yarn in my left hand and “picking” with my right).  I currently do colorwork with one color in each hand, but I’m trying to teach myself to do it all in the left hand.  I find it to be faster that way, but I still can’t purl Continental style – at least, not evenly.
    6. Do you have tutorials?
       Yes!  Please go to my Tutorials link on the sidebar.  More will be added when I have free time – whenever that is.
    7. Do you have an Elfwood/DeviantArt/other site account?
       Yes!  Check out “Links to Me” in the sidebar.
    8. Why the 50% down payment? 
       First off, this allows me to go out and get the yarn needed for your project.  Second, in the event – however unlikely – that you decide you don’t want the commission, this ensures that I didn’t waste all my time working on something.  If you do drop your commission, I will not refund the down payment and your item will most likely go into the store at full price.  If it’s one of the anime-related things, I’ll sell it at the next convention I attend.
    9. How do you figure out prices? 
       There’s a site that I went to that I can’t currently find.   Wherever it is, they get credit for it this method.  I charge you the price of the yarn itself, a little extra based on the size of the garment itself, plus extra for fancy stuff , pain-in-the-butt stuff, and extra notions (buttons, clasps, zippers, etc).  It may seem like I’m charging you twice for the same thing but I’m not.  Really, you’re paying me for the yarn and my time, if that makes more sense. 
13. Aaaaah!  I snapped my Roy gloves one too many times, and now the fingers are coming unraveled!  Help me!
    (Based on actual events.)  If something you’ve commissioned from me starts to unravel, don’t panic.  It probably can be fixed (unless you’ve, like, completely cut through it with a pair of scissors).  First: whatever you do, don’t pull on the loose end that’s hanging free.  This will cause it to unravel even further and make fixing it harder.  Which is easier – picking up one row of stitches, or picking up fifteen rows?  Next: set the piece aside in a safe place where you, your pets, and obnoxious little siblings won’t mess it up.  Email me describing what’s happened in as much detail as you can.  Pictures are very helpful.  I’ll contact you telling you if I can fix it or not.  If I can, snail-mail me the piece; I’ll fix it and mail it back to you.  I do the first repair for free; the only thing you have to pay for is shipping.  Fair enough?
14. Why do you wear a slave chain bracelet?  Are you trying tell us something?  Um, no.  *sweatdrop*  The bracelet (picture coming soon) is very taseteful and delicate and was purchased at the Ohio Renaissance Festival in 2007.  I purchased it with Galatians 4:3-8 in mind, and it serves to remind me of this passage whenever I wear it. “So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.  But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.  Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’  So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”
15. Contact info?  If you have a question, please email me at dragongirl_2009@sbcglobal.net .  I will try to respond promptly, but I am a very busy dragon.  Do not under any circumstances send me chain emails or spam emails.  This is one of the fastest ways to piss me off and get me to blacklist you.  I will not give out my home phone, cell phone, or home address.  However, if you order a commission, you will at some point receive my home address so you can pay me.  Please see my commission page as to why I am okay with doing this.
16. Other questions?  Email me (see above) or leave it as a comment on the appropriate page.