Where do you get ideas for stories?

Depends on what you're talking about. As far as the setting goes, I wanted a world of magic that had some basis in today's world. One of my major gripes about most fantasy fiction stories is that their locations are usually just that -- fantasy. While that alone isn't a barrier against getting into a story, anything that helps the reader get into the story helps.

As far as the characters, I usually draw from people I know or types of people I know. For example, I based Simion and Saer on myself and my wife, respectively, but I never really ever knew a "Joem" per se. There are people I've met, however, that are quite abrasive. For this, I created Joem. While he's decent, you certainly have a love/hate relationship with him.

Why did you opt for one of the typical themes prevalent in furry stories?

Contrary to what some may believe, I did not aim for the oh-so-lame "humans made furries, humans repressed furries, furries revolt and wipe out humans" story line. I've always believed that if humans obtained the code to DNA (which WAS accomplished in the year 2000) that there would be a mix of people who would have the resources to do something with that code. I find it very hard that every human on this planet wants to create some living toy to use for their own personal gain. You have the good guys, the bad guys, and everything in between. Yeah, it erupts eventually. But the civil war didn't wipe out the south -- why should a "furry" civil war wipe out humans? Why should all the furs be on one side and all the humans on the other?

But I'm sure that if some marketing firm were to market my stories, that's exactly what they'd hype.

What kind of response do you get to your stories?

I usually get very positive responses, and I'm glad that there's people out there that enjoy what I do. It's a very rewarding experience when you open up your e-mail and you find a very enthusiastic message from a new fan. That's what I yearn for.

Did you ever feel over-burdened with your stories?

No, but I have felt over-burdened with the stories, work (which covers GAC, North Star Title, Old Republic Title, and GATORS) , and The Furry Web Directory. Guess what gets priority?

Have you ever been offered anything for your stories?

Unfortunately, no.

Have you tried to get your stories published?

Yes, and with no success. Publishers of magazines want little, self-contained stories that are opened and closed within a few pages of print. The stories that make up The Adventures of Simion Lonewolf don't lend themselves well to this format. It's a conflict of interest, and I refuse to sacrifice a good story line for the sake of making a few bucks. Also, they usually want exclusive access. That means you'd have to shell out a few bucks to a few magazines you might not want...just to get my stories.

Publishers of books can be just as bad. The furry thing usually throws them for a loop. I don't why this is, but it seems everyone tries to over-analyze literature to the point of missing the story. And with a deluge of crap, I can see why. (Of course, over-analyzing leads to this crap, but we shant get into that here.) They don't seem to realize that there is a fan base for furry characters, so they think that the furry characters are some sort of metaphore. And even if they did, I had one publisher who obviously used speed reading because, among other thigs she ripped me for, she told me about Sinder being a character that didn't grow. Um, duh, Sinder is a "background" character, not a main character. An essential background character, but relegated to the background nonetheless.

Has furry ever held you back in real life?

Read "Have you tried to get your stories published?"

Outside of publishing, yes, one time. I went on an interview with Federated Investors for a Database Administrator position. (Leave it up to Pittsburgh Technical Institute to set me up for an interview for something NOT related to what I was good at.) When the interviewer said "Well, this ain't kiddy stuff," I kinda got the idea that he was referring to The Furry Web Directory's being furry. (The Furry Web Directory was my only DBA-related hobby. Believe me, The Furry Web Directory database sure as heck doesn't compare to any database any company in the finance industry has -- but I'm sure he didn't know that.) Oh well, I'd rather be a Webmaster than a DBA any day.

Do you ever get discouraged?

Yes. And sometimes it got downright ugly. I'd blow up in the newsgroups and mailing lists. I think most of the time I got people on my side, but there's been at least two times I've made myself sick to my stomach when I reflected on what I had done and what people had written back.

Is it true that you blame the furry fandom for this?

No, I blame our current social structure for this. And no, I'm not going to harp on sex or violence or people being dumb. It's just that nowadays, no one has time to enjoy anything. Furry art provides a quick fix, hence it's more popular than furry writing. This is what I blame for the current situation in the fandom, where artists seem to get all the attention and the writers do not.

However, paradoxically, I will point out that the fandom has a reputation for being the friendliest group of people out there. Now, one of the things that go along with being friendly is giving people a chance, right? So, furry writers come along and expect a chance, and then no one seems to be paying attention them. Why? Blaming the fandom is only short-sighted -- it's just the social structure shining through.