This is a FAQ for Heir To The Gallery.

Why is this FAQ outdated?

Because I haven't bothered to update it now that the story is done.

What is Heir To The Gallery?

Heir To The Gallery is a continuing story (or webserial). What this means is that the story comes in "installments" in the form of entries in a journal, which are posted at more-or-less periodic times. The idea of a story in installments is not a new one; Charles Dickens, for instance, did much the same thing with many of his novels. It just so happens that the medium has changed over time.

What is it about?

A lot of things. A quick summary would probably be a boy from another world gets transformed into a girl, and is forced to deal with modern American high school life. She then ends up getting embroiled in a civil war among magic-users.

Why a continuing story?

For several reasons. The main reason, actually, is because it keeps me writing: I have a reason to keep my skills at least mildly fresh, and to keep up with my craft. Another is that it is practice. Another is that I just enjoy telling a story over time, and I am glad to have an audience online I can share it with.

Why a Livejournal, instead of something respectable like Blogger or FictionPress?

Again, for several reasons. I already have a Livejournal account, and so posting in Livejournal is simpler for me. As well, Livejournal provides a tremendous amount of functionality for me, and I already know how to use it. A good number of my early readers also had Livejournals, so it was easier for them to keep up to date. Plus, Livejournal provides RSS functionality, so any decent portal can refer to it. And realistically, I don't particularly care for most of the other places on the Internet to publish fiction.

What's your Livejournal account, then?

My Livejournal username is Axiem.

The actual Heir To The Gallery website looks horrible!

I'm a Writer and a Computer Scientist. I can write words, and I can write code. Pretty is not that important to me. Live with it.

Why don't you update reglarly?

I update when I find the time; the unfortunate fact is that I, too, have a life. I can't devote all of my time to Heir To The Gallery. I just don't want to make a promise I later have to break concerning update schedule. I'll update when I want to. However, I try to update at least once a week, if at all possible.

What does the title mean?

Like I'm going to tell you. Read the story, and you'll (eventually) find out.

What's with the tags?

Livejournal has a "tagging" system that allows adding tags to entries for classification. For Heir To The Gallery, I decided to use the tags to track what entries certain characters appear in, and how much time is spent in particular worlds. Over time, this could end up having some interesting statistics. Over time, it should become obvious how I want to use the tags

What's this "entry" crap? What happened to "chapters"?

It's basically because of the fact that I'm using Livejournal to tell my story. I decided not to make each entry into its own chapter, simply because they are so short. Instead, each chapter is a series of entries connected to a larger purpose. One way of thinking about it is that each entry is a scene, while a chapter is an act, like in a play. As a result, cliffhangers are more likely to occur at the end of chapters than at the end of entries. I realize the terminology is a little confusing (it confuses me from time to time, too), but you'll get used to it. If you're really stubborn, just translate every time I say "chapter" to "part", and every time I say "entry" to "chapter". It's the same basic idea.

How many chapters will this story have? How many entries will there be per chapter?

There are 15 chapters, a prologue, and an epilogue. There are about 10 to 20 entries per chapter.

Is this your first continuing story?

Hardly. You can find my last one in the Livejournal "axstory", though don't expect too much from it for some time. I just wanted to start something new and fresh, in a different world. So I did.

You just can't escape dimensions, can you?

Don't bring conceptions from my older stuff to this about the universe. It is definitely different, and with a different focus. I did choose different worlds for certain story reasons that should eventually be obvious.

Is there a connection between the Continuum in Heir To The Gallery and your last continuing story?

Yes. They are the same thing, more or less. I have quite a few references to other things I've written peppered through this story, that's just one of the more obvious.

Mary Sue! You're including too many references to your own material!

I never claimed this was serious fiction; it's for fun. And you'll note that for the most part, all that stuff is rather unimportant to the plot (something else could easily be substituted in at no loss at all). Besides, it's not like I refer to only my material; there's a lot of references, nods, and honors tossed all over the place.

So are they actually on our Earth?

Obviously, it's not exactly our Earth. But it's pretty close. In general, unless stated otherwise, if there is something on our Earth, it exists on the Earth in Heir To The Gallery. I have not, however, narrowed down exactly where and when on Earth all of this occurs; only that it is in the Midwest in post-9/11 United States.

Hey, you used X! That's similar to something in Y!

Yes, I will admit I am influenced by a lot of things, to the point where I might even use some terms used elsewhere. This is not meant to be infringement; in fact, it probably means I think the term or ideas or so good, I wanted to use them myself. Imitation, after all, is the sincerest form of flattery. And I will also point out that bringing conceptions of those from where I might have borrowed them is also not advised; many times, I take basic ideas, and then run in a different direction than the source material. As has been pointed out many times before, there are only so many story ideas in the world, what's important is how you use them.

What's with the Opening and Ending songs for each Chapter?

It's an influence from TV, especially anime. Recall that in TV (and especially in anime), the opening theme kind of sets the mood for the show. In anime, the opening theme sometimes changes (for example, the series Fullmetal Alchemist has a total of 4 opening themes), often to denote something of a shift in the series, as well as possibly include new characters/situations in the opening. And the ending essentially acts as a closer or a summary for each episode, to help carry the essential theme; these, too, have a tendency to change. As each Chapter I write is essentially a different part of the story, I felt it to be appropriate to change the opening and ending for each chapter. It's just a way of getting into the mood of the chapter, I suppose. Another explanation is that I tend to write cinematically; that is, I see the action in my mind as it would occur on a screen, and try to write that. So, if this were "adapted" into a TV show or something, it's the opening/ending theme I would want to be playing. Additionally, the song in the "current music" field is the music that I feel to be a "soundtrack" to that particular entry. You may find particular songs cropping up repeatedly, as I will end up considering them the unofficial themes of characters/situations/et cetera. In the future, I may denote such.

Did you get permission to use the songs you specify?

No, I did not. However, I am not posting a copy of the song. On the contrary, I'm pretty much giving these artists free publicity, because I like their music so much. Given the existence of the "current music" field, I doubt that I'm infringing upon copyright by noting songs that I feel are appropriate for a chapter. However, do keep in mind that their use as such is not sanctioned by the original artists.

When do you plan on publishing this?

Don't ask me about publishing. I'm already publishing it here, online. Plus, keep in mind that everything I post on here is rough draft quality—for this to be formally published in dead-tree format, I would have to go through and edit out the inevitible spelling and grammar mistakes. I don't want to do that. This is something I do for fun in my free time, and is not meant to necessarily be a "serious" writing project. Please don't ask me any more questions about publishing. I don't want to hear it.

Any more comments?

Yes. I hope you have fun reading!