NTMI: Hello, everyone, I'm here this evening with Mousequeen, whose Moo Strip has been a regular feature in the Neopian Times for several months now. Good evening, Mousequeen, it's nice to have you!

Mousequeen: Good evening! Its nice to be, uh...here!

NTMI: Yes... for those of you wondering, we are meeting in a secret, undisclosed location on the web to have this private chat. Undisclosed SO FAR anyway.
NTMI: For our first question, Mousequeen, I'd like to know how you found Neopets?

Mousequeen: Well, it all started back in the summer of 2000. I'd just gotten into the game petz and I went to the official website petz.com. They used to have links of the month, and one of them was neopets, that was the first time I had heard of it. I looked around but couldn't be bothered to sign up. A few months later, I saw a link to neopets on someone's site, I went to have another look at neopets and this time I signed up. Admittedly after two days I got bored and left (my poor kau!), but I came back six months later and have never left since!

NTMI: Was that mooinamillion?

Mousequeen: Yes it was (good old Moo!)

NTMI: :) How did you come up with the username of Mousequeen?

Mousequeen: When I first joined Neopets I didn't realise how many people played it and so first I tried really simple usernames...no good. And so I got a bit frustrated and decided to type in anything. Originally I was going to use the name moosequeen (it had been floating around the back of my head for a few weeks) but I thought people might take it the wrong way and think I was really ugly *g* I liked it because, like kaus, mooses (or whatever the plural of moose is) are amusing...
Mousequeen: Anyway, I decided to change the name a little bit and came up with mousequeen
Mousequeen: ...really I have nothing to do with mice...or queens for that matter.

NTMI: But you had to settle for mouse as a variation on moose?

Mousequeen: yes, mouse is a variation of moose, just a very small one.

NTMI: I see what you mean :) So what do you like best about Neopets?

Mousequeen: eep! hard question!...ummm...I think I like the way that neopets is constantly updating (it never stays the same and gets boring)
Mousequeen: but most of all, I would have to say my kau is the best bit, she feels almost real to me
Mousequeen: yes, the pets are the best part of neopets for me

NTMI: I can totally sympathize with that sentiment! So what does an average day in Neopia consist of for you?

Mousequeen: As soon as I log in, I check on my kau and feed her if she is hungry (normal pet things). Then I answer my neomails and such like.
Mousequeen: After that I check the news page...and then its off to check the message board of my guild (that would be the kau herd guild)
Mousequeen: Then I do the daily links (fruit machine, tombola etc.) and its off to play a few games to make some measley np
Mousequeen: It all takes a few hours...I then normally log off and sleep

NTMI: So you usually play neopets in the evening?

Mousequeen: Yes! I'm very bad at that type of thing. I normally get on at say 10 in the evening, and log off at 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning. I'm a late night kind of neopets player.
Mousequeen: *looks at clock* Currently it's 1:11am

NTMI: That would put you in Europe then.

Mousequeen: Yup, England to be precise

NTMI: Great! So, how did you find out about the Neopian Times, and what got you started on the Moo Strip?

Mousequeen: I found out about the neopian times once I had returned after the six month absence. I couldn't log on to neopets for a week! (they had problems) and so the NT was my friend.
Mousequeen: I started the Moo Strip around August last year, it was the end of the summer holidays and I was bored...it just kind of carried on from there.
Mousequeen: I have sent things into the NT before I started the Moo Strip (two stories) but they never got printed.

NTMI: Maybe that can change in the future :) So where and how do you get ideas for the Moo Strip?

Mousequeen: Sometimes I get my ideas from things I have seen in the past week. Often I use old ideas that I have thought up before and written down or drawn in other things.

NTMI: Once you get an idea, how long does it take to draw it?

Mousequeen: I usually get the idea just before I draw it (I sit down for an hour and try to think of an idea, not the best creative process I know) I will draw the comic as soon as I get the idea and I shall finish the drawing the next day

NTMI: Do you draw it on paper and then scan it in the computer, or what?

Mousequeen: I draw the comics on paper in pencil first, and then go over them in ink (this usually takes about an hour)
Mousequeen: I then scan them in, and colour them on the computer (which also takes about an hour)
Mousequeen: I could never draw with a mouse...my dad has a tablet but he doesn't let me use it...

NTMI: Uh oh. So what size (pixel wise) are they when you color them, and what size and file type are they when you submit them to the NT?

Mousequeen: I don't really know what size they are when I colour them, I've never made a note of it before. I colour them in at the size they come up at when I scan them...
Mousequeen: Once coloured, I will resize the picture to 1/4 of its original size. I will then save it as a gif, which I send in, it comes up to about 30K in size

NTMI: What is the best advice you could give to someone thinking of submitting their own comic?

Mousequeen: When thinking of an idea for a comic, make sure you find it funny. If you don't find it funny chances are no-one else will. Some of my best comics are ones in which I laugh out loud when I think of the idea.
Mousequeen: My other advice would just be to keep trying if you don't get in the first time...

NTMI: What sort of feedback have you gotten from your readers?

Mousequeen: I get a lot of positive feedback, it's great! I think I have gotten three pieces of negative mail in total.

NTMI: How many times has moo been challenged in the battledome?

Mousequeen: Moo has never fought in the battledome before (except against punchbag Bob), at first she was too weak, but now I think she's just scared :)

NTMI: Lol, so don't bother challenging her, she's not accepting!

Mousequeen: Don't tell her I said that though.

NTMI: Oh, definitely not :) So have you gotten anything else published on Neopets?

Mousequeen: I've had a picture put up in the art gallery, it was of Brucey B for the Lost Desert thingy. I also won the site spotlight on kau day last year. Come to think of it, that was over a year ago now.
Mousequeen: My server has deleted Moo's page anyway...
Mousequeen: *sniff*

NTMI: What happened?

Mousequeen: Oh, virtue.nu changed hosts or something and you had to sign up again for them to restore your page.
Mousequeen: But I had been annoyed with virtue.nu for ages, and they have adverts now, so I didn't bother

NTMI: So I take it this is just temporary?

Mousequeen: Well, it has been temporary for a few months now...(I guess I'm just too lazy to make another)

NTMI: Will you be getting another host somewhere?

Mousequeen: I do have a new host at www.united.net.kg

NTMI: Did you manage to save your html from the old site, or will you have to re-create from scratch?

Mousequeen: I will have to recreate from scratch, but I did a plan on paper, so I know what I wrote on the page, I just don't have the html

NTMI: Well good luck! Maybe someone will volunteer their help :) For our next question, have you gotten anything up that is non-neopets related somewhere?

Mousequeen: Yes I do. It's called Schism

NTMI: What and where is it?

Mousequeen: http://lifeofsheep.united.net.kg. It's a personal site and basically consists of me talking to my kau...I did have bandwidth problems, but hopefully that's all cleared up now.

NTMI: Sounds interesting! What are your future goals for your drawing?

Mousequeen: I don't know...I do know that I am planning to stop the Moo strip soon.
Mousequeen: I'm going to uni in September, and I don't think I'll have time to keep it up, so I shall stop it just before I leave. I will keep drawing though, I can't stop myself!

NTMI: I'm sure we'll be sorry to see it go :( So do they have good internet connections at the university?

Mousequeen: Yes, I have checked, I couldn't live without neopets!! You can go on for a small amount of personal use, as long as that means a few hours a day, I'll be set up.
Mousequeen: I'm taking my computer with me to uni so I can go on the internet in my room.

NTMI: Great, so all your friends will still be able to keep in touch :) Well, I think that's about all the questions I had. Was there anything else you wanted to tell our readers?

Mousequeen: Uhh...*tries to think*...nope, I think that's about it. Just keep reading!

NTMI: Our pleasure! Keep up the drawing, and thanks again for your time!

Mousequeen: Thank you! (I think I shall go off to bed now)

NTMI: Sleep well :)


Would you like to read all of Mousequeen's comics? Just click here to check her out in our database!