NTMI: Good evening, everyone! I'm here this evening with Gundamblaze, whose neoports have been breaking the fine line of reality for some time now. Welcome, Gundamblaze!

Brad: 1. You can call me Brad. 2. Don't sound so cheesy *heh*
Brad: And thank you ^^

NTMI: Lol, you got it, and thanks.... hey, how did you come up with "gundamblaze" anyway?

Brad: Gundam is from the animated series Mobile Suit Gundam, and Blaze...well, since Gundampanzer was frozen I needed something else to go on the end so it just came to me ;x

NTMI: Ohhh... was Gundampanzer your first account then?

Brad: Yes ^_^ I had a popular guild on it. We had to make a new one after it was frozen (for bad reasons I might add)

NTMI: Too bad :-( (looks into database) ... hey, we've got a series in here by Gundampanzer as well, don't we...

Brad: How convenient *heehee*
Brad: Yes. Though I must add, looking back at it now, its horribly written. The Fine Line makes a joke of it.

NTMI: So what got you started writing these series anyway?

Brad: The Fine Line, believe it or not, started on one night when I was bored!
Brad: Just felt like writing something and it just expanded into the massive series.

NTMI: That'd be one way to describe it... three different ones, with about 25 episodes altogether... so what prompted series 2 and 3 in the saga?

Brad: Well for one thing, there's only 2 series, not 3 ^_~
Brad: What makes you say there are 3?

NTMI: Hmmm.... cute. Dreamer's end Volume One and Two.... they were published as separate series, but it IS all one story.

Brad: Yep! I actually split it up since I figured they wouldn't publish such a long series.
Brad: It was so long I had to put in a special request to publish to Episodes a week instead of one.

NTMI: Too bad, it would've been the second longest series ever published.

Brad: Oh well. I guess you could say it is the second longest ;x I didn't really have a choice,.

NTMI: Lol, you mean you had to write it as it came and it determined its own length?

Brad: It said try to keep your series under 8 parts. The Fine Line 2 is about 28 chapters!

NTMI: Yeah, with about 14 episodes (as published)

Brad: Yeah, I write as I go, I never pre-determine plots *heh*

NTMI: So where did you get the idea of "neoports" sucking people into the web and Neopia?

Brad: Digimon, along where the entire inspiration for the series came from.

NTMI: Gotcha! How long did it take to write it?

Brad: The Fine Line 1 was written in a few days (I even took a day off school to finish it!)
Brad: Dreamer's End was obviously more epic and took 3 months to write.

NTMI: Were you still writing on the second half, then, as the first half was being published?

Brad: I started Dreamer's End a day after I sent the first one in *heehee*

NTMI: Ohhh, so you finished it about the same time as Fine Line 1 finished being published.

Brad: Yeah, about ^_^ I had no doubts that Breaking Reality would be published so I started Dreamer's End right away.

NTMI: Hey, nothing like confidence!

Brad: Heh...
Brad: Dreamer's End wasn't the first title though...I can't remember the first one I had..

NTMI: Too bad :-( So what's the best part about Neopets for you?

Brad: I don't even like NeoPets anymore...

NTMI: Don't play it at all then?

Brad: They haven't really done anything superbly innovative like they used to. Have they EVER changed their layout?
Brad: No, I do not really play at all. I check my Guild's message board now and then but that's about it.

NTMI: Nope, still the same basic yellow icon bar layout like it's been for the past year.

Brad: Those colors bug me *heh*

NTMI: They keep coming up with new worlds, which means the world map gets redrawn and there are new activities etc... but it's the same basic format

Brad: Me and my friends do better layouts than those people (don't tell them I said that!)

NTMI: Lol! So what would you change about it if you could?

Brad: How much I would change...mind if I list a few reasons?

NTMI: Go for it.

Brad: -Make NeoQuest NOT suck. It's a disgrace to RPGs everywhere. -Get the guilds some decent message boards, and the same for the main messageboards.
Brad: -Get some more serious looking NeoPets...they're mostly either too stupid or too cute...
Brad: I could go on for hours ^^;;;
Brad: So I'll just stop there.

NTMI: Hey, it's a good start! What about the Neopian Times and its layout?

Brad: I actually liked the old layout more than the new one...the new one's too bulky. The old one was simple and did its job.

NTMI: In other words, all the little "ad type" things down the side are unnecessary?

Brad: Yeah, pretty much...though I must admit the search engine would be handy, 'cept it doesn't work half the time!

NTMI: I don't even know HOW they come up with the criteria for that thing....

Brad: Heh.

NTMI: Do you still get people writing you about the Fine Line series?

Brad: Amazingly, yes! I just received one this morning actually! Its really flattering, though I think it may be going to my head ^_~

NTMI: Lol, any sequels, or did the Fine Line die along with your Neopets enthusiasm?

Brad: I really have too much to do to write TFL3. I had a concept but it really didn't go anywhere. In my mind, after Destiny's defeat, there was no more story to tell. Just wondering, did you read the series?

NTMI: Yep, it took a while but I did lol... and I know what you mean, it had a climactic ending!
NTMI: Bombs over Tokyo, you might say hehe.

Brad: I really thought that was going to be cut out.
Brad: A surprising amount of content was cut out. I guess some of it was just too much for little kids to handle.

NTMI: Could be, a lot of it was fight scenes, and those are tricky.

Brad: Heh. For instance, in Brad's dream, they weren't hit, they were stabbed and killed. Brad also admitted to himself later on in that chapter that he liked Sakari, which was also cut out. There are too many cuts to remember. They did a very good job on the ending though. No cuts at all ^_^

NTMI: Well it was a nice way to tie everything together!
NTMI: What would- or do- you tell anyone who wants to get into the NT like you did?

Brad: Its pretty easy to get into NT from what I've seen; there are many bad stories.
Brad: Please, try to be original. Try not to include numbers in the characters names; it looks icky :-)

NTMI: And I guess that goes double for underscores, slashes, and other assorted symbols.

Brad: Yes ^_^ And come up with a decent plot. Plot twists are good, and have it develop; don't give it all away at the beginning.

NTMI: Besides pet names and lack of plot, what's the most common problem you see in the bad stories?

Brad: Uninteresting characters. Ones with pretty much no personality and no clear goal. Make your characters mean something; if something bad happens to a character, the reader should feel bad for them.
Brad: And don't be afraid to change things you have planned; hell, in TFL2, Atrox was planned to be the final villain!

Brad: But I think Destiny came out very well :-)

NTMI: Yep, along with providing a nice sort of "moral" for the ending!
NTMI: What was the best part about the experience of getting it all in?

Brad: The fanmail! I couldn't believe how much I received (and am still receiving)! Oh, and to those that sent hatemail; I'll see you in hell >=D

NTMI: lol, was that last the worst part of doing it?

Brad: The cuts! My God the cuts! Seeing your work changed from its original format really sucks.
Brad: A lot of the more mature themes were lost in the censoring.

NTMI: The editor wields a sharp knife, doesn't he!

Brad: ^_^ He's actually a pretty nice guy, he got my account back!

NTMI: Whoa, can't argue with that! Was that gundampanzer?

Brad: Plus he did a great job on the later parts of the series and admitted he was a fan himself ^_~
Brad: No, Gundamblaze. Gundampanzer is gone for good v_v

NTMI: Ohh, well then we'll let it rest in pieces... did you ever get anything else published on the neopets site?

Brad: Besides The Behemoth (which sucked) and TFL, nope. Wait, I think I got a poem (1 2) up there somewhere on Gundampanzer...heh ^^;

NTMI: Ooohhh... ok. What about off the site? Anything else on the web for us to read?

Brad: Nope, not yet. But you know me; there will be eventually!

NTMI: Lol, so what are your writing goals currently?

Brad: I really don't have any at this point in time, and as long as I enjoy what I do it doesn't really matter ^^

NTMI: True! Do you think it'll play any significant part in your career?

Brad: I can't tell what'll happen down the road; I'm too young to tell!

NTMI: The fun part is in finding out, isn't it ;-)

Brad: Of course :-)

NTMI: Hehe... one last question... how on earth did you ever get mixed up with Neopets anyway?

Brad: In my Pokemon days, I found a link to it at Pojo.com! NeoPets used to advertise there; they don't anymore. (And I work at Pojo.com now as a Moderator ;-))

NTMI: Ohhh cool- what's your username there?

Brad: Same as my AIM ^_^

NTMI: Lol gotcha... ok, I think that covers everything- any last advice or information or anything for us?

Brad: You know, usually I do...but I don't ^_^;;; Guess, just thanks to everyone who read the series and mailed me about it, you people are the reason I write :-)
Brad: And my girlfriend didn't believe me when I said my series was popular, heeheehee...

NTMI: Lol
NTMI: well let me put it this way (and get my own comment in here)...

Brad: Heh..

NTMI: To the one or two people out there who have emailed me no less than FIVE TIMES this evening asking me to interview you.... I'M WORKING ON IT PEOPLE!!!

Brad: Lol! I'm that popular, eh? ^_~

NTMI: Lol, it's no exaggeration, I've been fielding emails asking me to interview you while we've been talking.
NTMI: That's got to be pegging the old irony meter off the scale.

Brad: ^_^;;;; Tell them I said thanks :-)
Brad: DAMN YOU POTATO COUNTER!!!!
Brad: ...ahem.

NTMI: And we return you now to your regularly scheduled insanity....

Would you like to read all of Brad's series? Just click here to check him out in our database!