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Frequently Asked Questions
Questions About Artwork:
I can't afford to pay you, but will you draw my character for me?
Can I put your art on my website?
Can I use your art as an avatar/forum picture for a site like Live Journal?
Will you create a custom avatar/forum picture for me?
Can I directly link to images or mp3's hosted on your site?
Can I use any of the website graphics from WhiteFantom's Haunt on my own site?
I need someone to design my website--do you do web design?
I need someone to design a logo for my business or website--do you do logos?
Can I buy prints, T-shirts, or other products featuring your artwork?
What do you use to create your digital artwork?
Questions About Writing:
I need someone to write content/copy for my website--do you do that?
Can I quote your writing in my essay or article?
I have a really cool story idea, but writing isn't my strong point--will you write my story for me?
Can I write music to your poems or song lyrics and record or perform the song?
Will you write a poem or song for me?
Questions About Music:
Can I share your mp3's on Kazaa or some other peer-to-peer sharing network?
Can I burn your mp3's on a CD?
Can I post your mp3's on my website?
Can I do a cover of one of your songs?
Why do you go by the name Gwynevyr for your music?
Questions About the Site:
What did you use to create this website?
How long has this site been online?
What's that funny writing behind the section title graphics and on the sword at the top of the page?
I'm looking for a good host for my website--who do you use?
Personal and Miscellaneous Questions:
Why is your site called "WhiteFantom's Haunt"?
You like purple a lot, don't you?
Yes, I do. Basic rates are listed in the Freelance & Commissions section, along with a contact form to quer y me about your commission and request a quote. Requesting a quote puts you under no obligation to purchase anything, at any point.
I can't afford to pay you, but will you draw my character for me?
Unfortunately, no. I only accept paying commissions at this point. I do occassionally donate artwork for free to projects that interest me particularly, and you're certainly welcome to query me and ask about your particular project, but most likely, the answer will be no.
Can I put your art on my website?
Yes, you can, but there are certain conditions: you must not alter the image in any way--no cropping, no resizing, no editing of any kind. There is a small bit of leeway regarding resizing, however--if you absolutely need to resize, it may be permissible for you to do so, but only as long as the copyright text and website URL at the bottom of each image remains readable; if in doubt, please e-mail me to be certain. You also may not directly link to any image hosted on www.whitefantom.com; please save it to your hard drive and upload it to your own host.
Finally, text credit in the form of "Image Copyright (c) Jennifer Pitcock," or something similar, should appear on any page on which the image appears and has been resized (even if the copyright text on the image itself is still readable), and a link back to this site (http://www.whitefantom.com) would be extremely appreciated (though it is not required).
One note, however: my images should absolutely never appear on any site that is pornographic, racist, hateful, discriminatory, or that contains or promotes illegal activity, or any site that directly links to another site which does any of the above.
Can I use your art as an avatar/forum picture for a site like Live Journal?
Yes, you may, but only as long as you give proper credit in your profile or some other similarly appropriate place. The text "Avatar image Copyright (c) Jennifer Pitcock" or something to that basic effect should appear in your profile, along with a link back to this site, http://www.whitefantom.com.
Will you create a custom avatar/forum picture for me?
Probably not. At least, probably not if what you're wanting is something completely original, artwork and all. However, if you'd l ike me to adapt one of my images for you to use as an avatar, that's more of a possibility--contact me with details and we'll see if we can work out something. As indicated above, credit and a link back here would be required in your profile if you use such an avatar.
Can I directly link to images or mp3's hosted on your site?
No. That's known as "bandwidth theft," and as well as being incredibly inconsiderate, it's also against the terms of service of quite a large number of other sites. Bandwidth costs money, and in order to justify its cost, the bandwidth consumed must be useful to the site. An image or mp3 directly linked from this site on another site is nothing but a drain on this site because it consumes bandwidth while not being useful to the site--it's a loss, first in bandwidth, and later as money from my pocket. And it won't be tolerated.
Can I use any of the website graphics from WhiteFantom's Haunt on my own site?
Absolutely not. The graphics involved in the design of this site were created specifically for this site only and should never be used on any other site, for any reason. Besides, why would you want second-hand graphics for your own site? I'm sure you'd much rather have something unique and expressive of you personally.
I need someone to design my website--do you do web design?
Yes, I do, but I'm picky about what projects I take because web design isn't a focus for me and I don't want to take too much time away from my writing and art. It's very possible that I would accept your web design project, however, so please feel free to query me through e-mail. I should point out that I don't do any web design for free, though, so any project I accept would have to be a paying project. I'm very flexible on rates, so query me with a description of your project to get an idea what my rates for a project like yours might be.
I should also point out that though I am extremely proficient in advanced HTML and CSS, I don't do any server-side scripting such as Perl/CGI, I don't do JavaScript, and I don't do Flash.
I need someone to design a logo for my business or website--do you do logos?
Yes, I do. You can look through my work and samples to see if you think you would like to contact me to create or revamp your logo, and you can send me a query from the Freelance & Commissions section to find out more information and obtain a quote (requesting a quote in no way obligates you to buy anything at any point).
Can I buy prints, T-shirts, or other products featuring your artwork?
Definitely--you can find an up-to-date catalogue of prints and products in the Prints & Publications section.
What do you use to create your digital artwork?
Primarily I use either Adobe PhotoShop or Corel Painter Classic, or a combination of the two.
I like PhotoShop because I can work in seperate layers, but it has two drawbacks for me. The first is that it doesn't reproduce the look of real-world media, which can often give digital paintings an overtly "digital" feel, a very synthetic quality that I'm not terribly fond of (though it works beautifully on certain pieces--it's a piece-by-piece judegement call).
The second drawback is that the zooming algorythm PhotoShop uses for displaying zoomed-out instances of much larger images creates an issue when drawing or painting while zoomed out at that level, which results in lines and brush strokes which zig-zag when view at 100%. Since I work extremely large for printing purposes, it's necessary for me to draw and paint while zoomed out quite far, which always results in those choppy, zig-zaggy lines, which are visible in any print made. So I'm very careful when I choose PhotoShop for a project.
I like Painter Classic because it does a reasonable job of simulating real-world media such as watercolour and oil paint, but it doesn't support any layers at all (unlike higher versions of Painter, which do support layers), so that's very limiting. Sometimes I try to combine the two programs to get the best of both worlds, but that often isn't a very practical solution.
I need someone to write content/copy for my website--do you do that?
Yes, I do. Check the Freelance & Commissions section for samples, rates, and contact information to query me about your project and get a quote. Note that I don't provide search engine optimization, however.
I certainly would. Obviously, it depends on a number of factors, such as the type of magazine, the subject matter, the topic you'd like me to write about, and the compensation you offer , but I'm very open to writing for publications, and if I feel that I'm competant to write about the topic you need and if the pay is appropriate, I'd be quite happy to. Visit the Freelance & Commissions section for contact information to suggest an article topic or fiction theme you'd like me to contribute to your publication.
Can I quote your writing in my essay or article?
Of course--not only is it permissible under Fair Use guidelines of copyright law, but it's also something I don't mind one bit--quote away! Just please be sure to correctly cite this website as your source (the date of last update of this page is always available both on the front page and on the Recent Updates page; please consult the most recent edition of the Harbrace writing manual if in doubt of proper citation methods).
I have a really cool story idea, but writing isn't my strong point--will you write my story for me?
I don't do ghostwriting, so no, I won't. I also generally don't collaborate with other writers, but if you have a fiction project which particularly interests me, I might be interested in writing with you. In that case, however, I would be a co-author, not a ghostwriter, and would expect to receive proper by-line and credit anywhere the story might appear, as well as an appropriate share of copyright and compensation. I won't co-write with a writer who is only interested in writing an amusing story for friends and family and not interested in pursuing paying publication of the work, though, so if you just want someone to write a story for fun with, I'm not your woman.
Can I write music to your poems or song lyrics and record or perform the song?
I can't stop you if you want to write music for any of my poems or songs for your own amusement, but you absolutely may not perform or record any such song without my prior written permission. I'm very open to musicians who are interested in writing music for my lyrics or poetry, however, so please feel free to contact me if you're interested in doing so. I'll almost definitely give you permission to use my lyrics, and I would definitely love to hear the resulting song.
I'm also open to co-writing an original song with someone, so if you would like me to work with you to write lyrics to a song for which you would write or have already written the music, or if you would simply like to collaborate on lyrics themselves, contect me through the Freelance & Commissions section with details about your project.
On any resulting song, I would expect appropriate by-line and credit and an appropriate share of copyright and compensation, if any. In this case, however, unlike in the previous question, it's not a requirement that a potential co-writer be interested in pursuing paid publication of the resulting song. This I will do just for fun (but if it does generate money, I would, quite understandably, expect my fair share).
Will you write a poem or song for me?
If you want me to for free, definitely no. If you'd like to commission a poem or song and plan to provide appropriate compensation, maybe. Unlike non-fiction prose, poetry and songs are much more personal and intimate and are therefore much harder to write for other people on commission. I'm definitely open to queries about such comissions, though, so visit the Freelance & Commissions section for info rmation about contacting me with details, and I'll see if I think I would be able to write what you have in mind.
Can I share your mp3's on Kazaa or some other peer-to-peer sharing network?
I encourage it, in fact. I support peer-to-peer file sharing and I believe it can be a great help to independant musicians, who don't have the benefit of multi-million dollar promotion and distribution to get their music out there and heard the way musicians signed to big labels do. Feel free to share my music freely over Kazaa, Napster, Gnutella, Morpheus, and any other peer-to-peer file sharing network you may use.
Can I burn your mp3's on a CD?
You most certainly can. My only stipulation is that you may not monitarily benefit from my music (without giving me proper compention as well, of course), so you may not sell CD's containing my music without my prior written permission. But you can burn them for your own listening, give them to friends and family, even play them at clubs or on your college or independant radio station (in the case of radio airplay, I would like to be notified that my music is in your rotation--this can only benefit you, of course, since I will make an announcement on my website and provide a link to your radio station's website if my music is in your rotation).
Can I post your mp3's on my website?
Feel free. There are a few stipulations, though: you may not offer my mp3's for paid download without my prior written permission and without being prepared to provide appropriate monitary compensation, and you may not post my mp3's on a site which contains pornography, racist or hateful content, or that contains or promotes illegal activity, nor a site which directly links to any site containing any of the above. You also may not directly link to the mp3 hosted on my servers--you must first download it to your hard drive and then upload it to your own host.
Yes, you can. There are three conditions, though: you must give proper credit to me for the original song and provide a link to this website for the original version, you must send me a copy of the remix so I can hear it (you'd like to hear a remix someone did of a song you wrote, too, I'm sure :-), and you must not use the remix commercially or monitarily benefit from it without my prior written permission. You may also use samples from my songs (even in commercial work), as long as you provide credit to me for them and cite the specific song they came from.
Can I do a cover of one of your songs?
You certainly can, and I'd like to hear it if you do. As with many of the previous questions, there are a few conditions: you must give proper credit to me for the original song and provide a link to this website for the original version, you must not use the cover commercially or monitarily benefit from it without my prior written permission, and you must send me a copy of the cover so I can hear it.
Exception is given in the last two of those conditions if you're performing the song live in a show--in that case, you are permitted to perform it for monitary compensation (but not to sell a live recording of it), and unless a recording is made at the time of performance, you don't have to send me a copy; however, you still must give credit to me for the original song (either orally before or after the song, or on printed programs, if applicable), along with a reference to this website for the original version.
The music itself is tracked digitally using a mod tracker called ModPlug, which you can download for free at their site. Mods use .wav samples of instruments and sounds, which are sped u p or slowed down to vary the pitch and create different notes. More information about mods and how they work can be found on the ModPlug site above.
The vocals are recorded in Cakewalk Pro Audio 9, using (unfortunately) a standard computer microphone (and suddenly, musicians everywhere collectively cringe at that revelation ;-). All music tracking, vocal recording, and final mixing is done on my personal computer, right here at my very messy computer desk.
Why do you go by the name Gwynevyr for your music?
For me (at least at this point) music is a hobby, not a professional pursuit like writing and art. Since I consider writing and art to be areas requiring me to keep a professional image and reputation, I quite obviously use my proper legal name for those things. But music is something I do just for fun, and because I'd like to keep that seperate from my more professional p ursuits, I decided to create a stage name for my music instead.
The name itself is, probably obviously, a respelling of the more classical name "Guinevere," which is an older version of my own given name, Jennifer. As explained in a later question, my internet name, WhiteFantom, also has its roots in my given name--I rather like being named Jennifer, so I managed to keep within the region of that name in every moniker I've chosen. :-)
I decided to respell "Guinevere" primarily for uniqueness' sake, but also as a sort of functioning symbol of my music itself; my music tends to be a merging of modern electronic music (a la 80's New Wave, among other variations) and more classical and "folky" music (primarily Celtic and Medieval), so I thought using the name Gwynevyr worked rather well in representing that--a modern cyber-age respelling of a classical name from a by-gone era.
Of course--link away! However, as you may already be familiar with if you've read many other entries in this FAQ, there's a condition: you may not place a link to this site on a site that contains pornography, racist or hateful content, or that contains or promotes illegal activity, nor a site which directly links to any site that contains any of the above.
Possibly. I only link to sites that I have personally visited and found to be entertaining, useful, or informative, and that I would like to share with the visitors to my site. If you have a site which you would like me to look at for possible inclusion in my Links section, feel free to contact me with the URL and I'll look at it and see if it's something I'd like to link to. However, if your site contains pornographic content, racist or hateful content, or content that is illegal or promotes illegal activity, I will definitely not link to it, so it would be pointless to even ask.
Yes, you certainly can. As explained above, I only link to sites I've personally visited and found to be useful or entertaining, so feel free to send a link my way that you think would fit the bill. As previously specified, though, I will never link to a site that contains pornographic content, racist or hateful content, or content that is illegal or promotes illegal activity, so if the site you have in mind falls into any of those categories, the answer is already no.
Yes, you can. In fact, that's exactly the proper way to share something which you've found on my site. Never extract the bit you want others to see--send them a link to the html page that contains it. If it doesn't end in .html or .shtml, it should never be referenced outside this site.
What did you use to create this website?
Notepad, Wordpad, my hands, and my brain. I've never liked HTML editing programs like Frontpage or Dreamweaver. For one thing, they create the code they most want to produce, which may not be anything like how I would code it myself, and is usually rather inefficient and awkward. For another, I have far more direct control coding manually than I do using an editor, so I choose precise control over supposed convenience.
I code manually in Notepad for shorter or more straight-forward things like CSS documents and simple HTML pages, and I code manually in Wordpad for longer or more complex HTML pages, since Wordpad supports tabs and other formatting and tends to be easier on the eyes.
If you're wondering about the graphic interface of this site, I created that in Adobe PhotoShop and sliced it into sections by hand rather than using the slicing tool, which I find a bit inconvenient in how it works. For me, it's easier to just seperate the image into sections using guides and then use the rectangular selection tool to select the individual sections, copy them to a new image, and save manually.
There are 84 seperate images in the graphic interface of this site, counting the seperate glowing images of the menu items and not counting the subtitle images for each of the nine sections.
How long has this site been online?
WhiteFantom's Haunt launched in September of 1996, at the time merely a fun new project for a then-teenage me. It spent its first three years at Geocities, then moved to Angelfire about the time Geocities became a part of Yahoo. It spent the next two years at Angelfire until finally coming to rest at its own domain in July of 2001.
Over the years, it has grown and matured, just like its author, and what began as a simple teenage amusement has now grown into a full and well-developed professional portfolio and gallery site for a grown (and still growing) woman. It has also undergone several facelifts, going through a total of seven different designs (this being the seventh).
What's that funny writing behind the section title graphics and on the sword at the top of the page?
That's a fictional writing system I've created to go along with a Fantasy world I've been developing for a couple of years. It belongs to a race of Sidhe (pronounced "Shee"--that's the Gaelic word for fairies, but not the cutesy tiny kind with butterfly wings; according to Celtic legends, the Sidhe were closer in appearance to Tolkienian Elves--tall, graceful, and beautiful--and were revered as demi-gods. They were often shape-shifters and weren't always benevalent beings). I plan to create a complete fictional language to go along with this writing system.
There is also a race of Elves in this world (they're a "cousin race" to the Sidhe) with a writing system that is similar, and I also plan to create a full language for them as well. This will be something that will take years, so don't look for any stories about this w orld to appear on WhiteFantom's Haunt anytime soon.
I'm looking for a good host for my website--who do you use?
WhiteFantom's Haunt is hosted by HostSave, a very dependable, reliable, and affordable host. I've been with them since October of 2001, and I've been very pleased with their services. I recommend them highly.
Personal and Miscellaneous Questions:
Why is your site called "WhiteFantom's Haunt"?
That requires a multi-part answer. First, "WhiteFantom" is my internet name and is based on my given name, Jennifer, which comes from Old Welsh "Gwenhwyvar" and means "white wave, white phantom, or white spirit." WhiteFantom came to be my internet name because of this website, though, not the other way around.
When I was first registering at Geocities back in September of 1996, I had to choose a username, which I'd never done before. After thinking for a few minutes, I decided I'd use "WhitePhantom" as my username, based on my given name's meaning. It turned out that "WhitePhantom" was already taken, so I changed the "ph" to an "f" and forever immortalized myself on the web as WhiteFantom. :-)
Now, since I'd chosen WhiteFantom as my username when registering for Geocities in order to create a website, I figured I might as well use that identity in the site's title, so after a bit of brainstorming, I thought "WhiteFantom's Haunt" sounded kinda nifty, and went with it. All these years later, The site retains that name, and I don't anticipate changing it any time soon.
You like purple a lot, don't you?
You noticed that, huh? ;-) Yes, purple is my favourite colour, and of the seven designs this site has been through, five have been based around the colour purple (the other two were based around the colour red and were the first two designs for the site in 1996 and 1997).
Yes and no. I'll wait for the confusion to wear off before continuing. :-)
I'm not legally married, no, but my fiance Tom and I were joined in a religious ceremony (a Pagan handfasting) on November 22, 2003, and we consider ourselves married in all but legality (which is only one relatively minor part of marriage as a whole). A traditional legal wedding will be coming in October of 2004 or 2005, finances depending, but for us, the signing of the marriage license will merely be the legal culmination of a marriage we've already been in for a while . :-)
If you'd like to see pictures from our handfasting, you can find them on the Handfasting page, also accessible from the About Me section.
