So who are you?

I'm English, female and well over 30, and I live in London. I like black coffee, men with prominent noses, and jolly sci-fi TV programmes. Otherwise I am rather dull.

What kind of a name is Red Scharlach?

I borrowed the name from a character in a short story called Death and the Compass by Jorge Luis Borges. Scharlach is German for "scarlet" and also for "scarlet fever". I suppose that makes me both a walking tautology and a disease incarnate, but that's literature for you.

The literary Red Scharlach is male and a master criminal, although I am neither. There is also a film adaptation of Death and the Compass directed by Alex Cox, in which the part of Red Scharlach is played by the lovely Christopher Eccleston.

You may also find other people who've chosen the same screen name, so I'm not the only Red Scharlach on the internet: there are definitely two or three others running about out there. But if you see the name in the context of the Doctor Who/Torchwood or Harry Potter fandoms, it's probably me.

How do you pronounce "Scharlach"?

SHAR-lach. It's a soft "ch" at the end, like the Scottish word "loch". In the movie they say SHAR-lack, however, so don't fret if you get it wrong. It's not my real name so I'm not picky.

Do you do requests? Will you draw something for me or my website, please?

I do occasionally do requests if they are original, amusing or otherwise inspiring. You are welcome to make suggestions if you want to, but please be aware that I might say no.

How can I find out when you do something new?

The best way is to keep an eye on my Livejournal (for both art and writing) or follow my Tumblr (for art only). I'm also on Twitter as redfacts (someone else is redscharlach there).

This website isn't updated as frequently as those places are, but the newest stuff is marked with the word LATEST! for easy reference.

How do you make your mini-icons? Is there some special secret software that you use?

I draw them in pen and ink on paper, scan them, and edit and colour them in Photoshop. There's no shortcut, unfortunately.

What happened to your Harry Potter art? I liked it!

Unfortunately I have a limited amount of space on this site, and because my interest in the Harry Potter fandom has long since faded away, I deleted my HP fan art to make space for other things. Sorry if that disappoints you! However, I've moved some bits and pieces to my Livejournal scrapbook, if you want to look at it for old times' sake: you've got a choice of the Harry Potter Gallery of Modern Art, and a selection of assorted Potter pictures.

Can I use your art or fic on my own website? Can I reblog your stuff on Tumblr?

Please don't post my art or fic on a personal website without asking me first, so I can see what you're going to do with it. I may well say yes, but do ask.

My newest art gets posted to my Tumblr page anyway, so please reblog it from there. But if you dig up something older and yearn to reblog it, go ahead.

May I email you? Please?

Certainly. Offerings of praise, encouragement or the phone numbers of attractive Northern men may be sent this way, and will be received with blushing and gratitude. Flames, spam and offers to earn $$$$$ in only 3.67 seconds will be ignored.

Can I link to your homepage?

Yes, I'd be flattered that you'd want to. If you like, you can use this banner image:

You can either copy it to your own webspace or link to it directly by copying this code:

<a href="http://www.redscharlach.co.uk/"><img src="http://www.redscharlach.co.uk/redbanner.jpg" alt="Red Scharlach's Art" width="200" height="40" border="0"></a>

Will you link to my page, please?

Sorry, but I got rid of my links page because no one ever read it, therefore you're not missing much.