Salutations!
I am here, as requested. How may I be of service?

4460922 Welp, lets get this show on the road.

Lets just start with a basic introduction, My name is *title* techpriest eh. An intelligent Australian user who likes to act in different ways.

I know you are Chatoyance but thats all I know. Would you like to introduce yourself?

I am Petal Chatoyance. I currently live in Oregon, in the United States. I have three spouses, we have been a family together for twenty-eight years. Only one of them participates in Fimfiction.

I am a fifty-five year old woman. I have had a very complicated, unusual, and strange life thus far. My personal experiences form much, even most, of the foundation of all the characters and events I write about.

I studied medical biochemistry, but ended up an artist. I worked in the games industry for fourteen years, for companies such as Activision, EA, Broderbund, Sculptured Software, Epyx, and more. I've been a game designer, illustrator, and level designer. With one of my spouses, I helped create a famous website which was, for one week, the most popular games website on the planet. We sold it for a significant amount. I created graphic novels and online comics before I decided to write stories here.

I don't consider myself so much retired as on perpetual sabbatical.

I still love computer and video games, as well as tabletop games. I love science fiction, and to a much lesser degree, fantasy. I study constantly, on my own, and what I study often ends up in my stories. I write stories and draw pictures. My only religion is Friendship, and my only politics is Kindness.

4460942 Thats certainly a better introduction then mine.

First question of the day, or night depending on timezone, You are credited with spear heading the TCB genre which is, despite what most people say, a quite well written series, saga or whatever you call a series of books. Did you expect the amount of support you would get? Considering you've got a large fanbase and have inspired many a fanfic.

4460949

I did not invent the Conversion Bureau genre, nor would I agree that I 'spearheaded' any part of it. I came across the genre by accident, thanks to Equestria Daily. The first Bureau story I ever read was The Conversion Bureau: Change Of Life by Hurricane Puncher.

I found the unfinished work to be very problematic in terms of storytelling, but the world spoke to me. I saw tremendous possibilities in the world. The universe of a story is a character too, and that character I fell in love with. I rapidly read the other works that existed at the time. The one Bureau author that most impressed me was Midnight Shadow. His works essentially created the true foundation of the Bureau - the way the Bureaus work, the traditions in them, and so forth.

When enough of the works of others had digested in me, I decided to write too. At the time, the Bureau authors were a chummy bunch who all enjoyed riffing off of each other's works. It was a wonderful writing community with a lot of camaraderie. I dipped my toe in with a single short story, The Big Respawn. I immediately wrote three more. These initial stories established the basis of every story I have written after.

Since The Big Respawn, I have produced, as of this interview, 1,226,447 words of fiction. Not all of the novels and short stories are Conversion Bureau works - I have created several other story universes that truly are original to me. But my greatest love has been the Bureau. I return to it again and again, because as a genre, as a universe, it has limitless potential.

I do the Bureau a little differently than many other writers. I try to create a self-consistent, hard science fiction future history which is based on current trends and events taken to their logical conclusions. I do a great deal of research and work to attempt to make my fictional future as believable and realistic as possible - save for the inclusion of ponies.

Not for a moment did I imagine anyone in number would bother with my stories. I was happy simply to have a few dependable and loyal readers that I could create for. I listen to my readers, and my process involves them. I tend to write a chapter a day, and how my readers react often influences me. I do not know how many readers I have, but I know the number is larger than I ever thought likely or possible. I am utterly grateful to my supportive and kind regular readers. I always want to entertain them to the best of my ability.

I am also grateful that some writers have chosen to write stories within some of my own universes. I love the idea of a writing community, of authors inspiring each other and being friends to each other's talents.

I am not the only Bureau author, though currently, I may arguably be the last. I just write what I love, from a place of joy. Of course I want readers to share my stories with me, but the number is less important than the quality. I have some very, very intelligent readers, upon whom I depend.

4460966 Ok then. Looks like I'm going to have to read through some of your Original works.

You're an artist if I'm correct, did you draw all your covers for your books and if so how long does it usually take to draw one?

I do all of my own art, and I drew all of my covers. I also have done covers for other Bureau authors. Generally, I can be convinced to paint a cover if a story is a Conversion Bureau Story, it adheres to the Three Rules Of The Conversion Bureau, and the person asking has been friendly and kind to me. If those conditions are met, I will usually do a cover for someone.

I also do interior illustrations and spot art in several of my novels, and of course, I've done a set of 'New Yorker' styled Conversion Bureau cartoons, among other things. I use numerous styles - from painterly, to cartoon, to - in one story - Victorian Era engraviture.

The art for a cover - or an interior illustration - might take me anywhere from two to six hours. Small things, such as a decorative ornament - those little unique pictures that are used in books to divide a page and serve as a narrative break connoting the passage of time - might take me a half hour to an hour. I've done quite a few, for various books.

One thing that takes a bit of time is the header typography that I do. I can end up fiddling with letter sizes and positions for quite some time to get Fimfiction to make a header look good. Then, if the site code changes, I have to go back and fix the stories with the fanciest headers.

Occasionally readers have sent me interior art or illustrations, and I have included them in the story. That is always a treat. A few people have made short promotional films as well. I'm not up to doing animation any more. Animation is more work that I am willing to do, so I am super grateful for the films.

I think a good cover really sells a book. I know that in my youth, heck - even now - a really compelling piece of cover art is often the most important factor in my taking an initial interest in any written work. Cover art can make a person try a story they might otherwise ignore.

I like drawing and painting and cartooning, but I am weary of it, too. After three graphic novels, I turned to writing because it was soooo much easier and so much less effort. I suppose you could say I write novels because I got lazy... or tired. To make a graphic novel, one has to write a book and illustrate every part of it as well. It might be days of effort per page (for a complicated scene) that a reader will blast through in seconds as they read.

But, with writing, I put in a few hours of typing, and then readers might take 20 minutes to read the chapter I created. Maybe longer. The ratio of effort to audience observation is much better. And writing, for me, is relaxing. Drawing takes all of my attention and effort. Writing for me is pretty much automatic. I just drift off and read the story my fingers create for me. It's like just sitting down with a new book, only somehow my hands are writing it. I have no idea what will happen next. That's fun and exciting. I experience my stories like a movie when I write.

That never happens when I paint or draw. Illustration is just hard work all the time. There is no automatic anything. I have to do the work myself, in the moment.

Writing is a joy for me.