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About the Site
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About the Donations
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About Me
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What's this strip all about?
Read it and find out (or you can click here to
download a description).
How do you make the artwork and pages?
That requires a rather lengthy answer, which can be read
here.
Are there any fees or registrations required?
Nothing. It's completely free to anyone. You don't
have to register or anything. There is no compunction whatsoever on
your part to donate, apart from being an altruistic person.
However, a donation (which goes totally to charity) of a nominal size
will enable the donor to download
an illustrated version of the ebook. The first 100 donors can get a customised,
serially numbered copy with unique artwork. See
the ebook page and the
the donations page.
How often will you update?
At best, once a week. I try to update on Wednesdays.
Can I use your art on my site?
Yes, you may, as long as it's attributed to me and
you provide a link to my site to promote it. I'm willing to share my
art with the world, but it's still my work. Don't take credit for
something unless it's your work - didn't they teach you that in about, oh, the
first year of school? Also, it must be unaltered except for scale. Under any
circumstances, my copyright should be legible.
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Can I use your writing?
Unless you have my explicit written permission, the
short answer is "no". In fact, that's the entire answer.
One word. No.
Currently, only one person has permission to use my writing and
that's after she's finished with her homework, eaten her dinner and finished her post-graduate degree.
Further, you can't use my characters or concepts in any sort of fan
fiction. For Jack's sake people, if you're going to write, come up with something original! I used to
really like Batman and Star Trek. Now, I can't bear the thought of Yet Another
Wayne at Night movie. Kirk as a teenager? Yergh!
While it's unlikely that I would bring any legal action to those who use
characters and concepts from my novel for their own work, I will think that they're sad and pathetic.
What's this about an e-book?
Click here to download it.
I've had some... second thoughts... about giving the story away as an ebook.
For one thing, the ebook contains the text of the entire story. Actually, the book
was (more or less) written before I began the strip.
I've wondered, if someone has read the book, they'll know the whole story -will
they want to come back to the web-site and read the strip? I've done a proverbial shrug on that one.
After much soul-searching, I've decided to give my readers the opportunity
to read the whole story so they won't have to wait a dozen years for it to play out in the strip. I figure
(perhaps wrongly, but...) that the more exposure the book gets, the more popular my work will be.
I could be wrong. Oh, well... If I am, it's not the end of the world.
Why don't you do bonuses or other extras?
I provide free fonts and I have a sketchbook. What more should I do?
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Do you accept fan art?
Feel free to send me something. At this stage, I'd be astonished if I got an email telling me
my art, my writing and my web-design skills do not surpass those of the
average orang-utan (or however it's spelled). I have actually set aside a part of my sketchbook for
fanart. Please bear in mind that although I will gladly receive your art, I will post it only at my discretion.
Do you take commissions?
For the first 100 donors, I will produce a unique piece of art for
their illustrated ebook. And yes, you can decide what you want it to be within reasonable limits.
One of those limits is a maximum of four characters.
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Where can I make a donation?
Why, on the Donor's Page, of course.
All donations go to CAMFED,
whose mission is to educate young girls in developing nations.
What's that picture on the donations link?
My art skills are limited and the canvas was
really small, so I can understand that it's difficult to make out, but it's supposed to be bread
being thrown onto a lake or river (see the swan?). In case you missed the allusion, it's from the
expression "casting bread upon the waters," which is from Ecclesiastes. Generally, it means to
give to charity, but google it for more information.
What's going on with the donations page?
My original plan was to take donations and then forward them to (unnamed)
charities. Well, nobody donated and I can't blame them. The charities wouldn't let me use their name
on my website and I can't blame them, either, so...
Regardless, I still wanted to use this site to raise money for charity, but I've
abandoned my original approach as it was spectacularly unsuccessful. I now use Just Giving and
First Giving. They take only a tiny slice of the donations (unlike others I won't mention) and the rest
goes directly to the charity. I cannot touch one penny of the donations even if I wanted to. I don't
get a 'cut' or a commission or anything at all.
I used to have advertisements on the site to raise money (which went
solely to charity) but after a year, I had raised about $US 15. Although (per annum) this
is actually more than I raise through donations, I decided to curtail the ads, as they took valuable time
and I didn't want my site associated with some of the advertisers.
It has been suggested that unless I start getting more voluntary donations, I should
threaten to bring the ads back. I think that would punish me more than my readers.
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Who are you?
I am a (late-ish) middle-aged man, degreed and licensed as an engineer.
I first began drawing (with any real sense of commitment) at the tender age of 40.
Until just recently, I worked for Ericsson for nearly 15 years.
It was boring, pointless and, quite frankly, an insult to my (rather limited) intelligence.
After telling my employer that I had cancer, I was laid off. You can click here for
the details. My advice - sell any Ericsson stock that you have.
I have a wife and 1.5 kids. I also have a mother-in-law and a house that are
both far too large for my liking.
For those of you who know me personally, please respect my privacy and
don't tell the world who I am. I rather enjoy my anonymity and I don't want any weirdos stalking my home
(apart from myself).
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