Where were you born? Where did you grow up?
I was born in Sao Paulo, in a small town called Lins. When I was about 2 years old, my family moved to the capital. Besides that, I never lost touch with country life…

Schooling? Art training?
I have never studied arts. I would enjoy it, but lately, everytime I go to a school trying to get information about courses, they offer me a job as a teacher... ^^’ 
 
How long have you been working professionally in comics?
For about 10 years. Always in the Brazilian market.
 
What things -- both in art and otherwise -- have you worked on besides comics? Are comics a full-time gig for you or part-time?
Some projects of the advertising area and illustrating for some magazines and books, other than that, my interest is always focused on comics.
 
Talk about how you broke into the business --was it easy? Hard? Ups? Downs? Any interesting anecdotes? When you held your first published work in your hands, how did you feel?
Getting in the market is never that hard, what’s hard is being able to persist in it.
In my case, it was the result of many coincidences: due to the success of a Japanese animation, there was a huge interest in everything that was related to the subject; there weren’t professionals who could cover the demand of this new kind of work; I was part of one of the few clubs related to mangas and animes (respectively, comics and Japanese animation); the president of the club would publish the only specialized magazine on that subject; one of the most talented comic writers in Brazil worked for an editor that had the tools and public at their disposal, they were only missing someone to draw...

Ups and downs always happen, the market isn’t stable and its existence is due mainly to the effort of a few than to the encouragement of the government or companies.

The life of a comic book professional is a sad thing – it is true – and I do not have exactly a good memory for funny facts (so don’t feel bad if you ever told me a joke or not, because certainly I will not remember it), but some strange facts have happened for I'm a woman, for example, at the beginning of my career, people thought I didn’t exist, or that I was a man. I have also seen pretty funny situations of very strict critics losing their posture when they met me in person… Not just for the fact that they finally understood that I am not a man, but also because I am very short and have a very harmless look (hahaha).

About the feeling I had when I got my first printed job… Well, both thoughts came to my mind: “I really have to improve my drawing” and “this is not going very far”.

Did you work as an assistant to any other artists? If so, please talk a bit about those experiences.
No, I have never worked as an assistant and never had assistants either.
 
How did your parents take to the idea of working in comics??
They reacted reluctantly, but I was already over 21, there wasn’t too much they could do, and I had to choose a path. My mother probably listened to a lot of things without saying a single word, but was always supportive. I owe her a lot.

How would you describe your workspace? Is it part of your home,
or do you go "to the studio"?  
I have an ergonomically organized studio for my job as a penciller. It basically consists of a drawing board next to the bed, so when I can’t stay too many nights awake, I just turn around and sleep. There is also an advantage when waking up, because I don’t have to walk a great distance to get back to work... -_-‘

What job are you proudest of? What's your most embarrassing?
The work I am most proud of is, definitely the Holy Avenger series that I worked on for 3 years and a half and that a few years ago was a finalist of the manga contest offered by Ministério dos Assuntos Exteriores do Japão (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan), an award for the professionals that create mangas around the world.
I don’t have many works of which I am embarrassed, I have always been lucky to find good quality professionals and projects. What can happen is what every professional feels when they see a finished work: that they should always improve.
 
What are you currently drawing? Comments on that project?
Right now I just finished my debut in the American market as the main penciller, is a comic book for Blizzard, called Warriors United, which is a manga-style series based on the World of Warcraft game. Despite the tight schedule, it was very fun because it’s about a game that I know and enjoy very much.

I think it’s due to this kind of opportunity that people tend to think that being a comic books professional is just plain fun.

Talk about your family: Parents, siblings, home situation. Are you married? Have kids? Names? Anecdotes about married life, how does it relate to your busy schedule, etc. If you have kids, do they understand your job? What do they say about it? Do they read comics?
I am not married, my family consists of my mother, a brother and my father, who lives in Japan. Everyone at home are completely illiterate in terms of comics, specially because they are not produced in Japan. My mother, although, has read many mangas in her youth. By the way, these same mangas gave me the idea of becoming a comic books professional.

 What projects do you hope to work on in the future?
I would like to continue with the comics in the Japanese style, specially the ones created for the feminine audience and the medieval fantasy universe; but I am interested more and more in games, characters design, I think it’s an environment that has a lot of talents and interesting ideas!
 
Where do you see yourself in five years? Ten years?
Oooh, on a balcony of a country house, at the top of a mountain, surrounded by a wall and a ditch full of crocodiles! Of course, an internet connection and a helicopter to bring food and take dirty clothes to the laundry...

Honestly? I can’t live that far away. The comics market is so volatile, inconstant, we can’t predict what is going to happen. But I can tell what my expectations are: work with someone I admire and draw a story of my own, from the beginning to the end; I want to find inspiring and creative people always; I want to look at my work and not regret it...
 
What is the interest in comics where you live? Do friends and neighbors know you draw comics for a living? How do they react?
I think people don’t even know I live here... Hahaha! I’m not exactly a sociable person.

People who live next to me are simple, they have no idea about the kind of work I do, by are always polite and say “Cool”.
 
What's 1 thing you'll always find in your refrigerator?
Hmm... the telephone number of the pizza delivery?

Just kidding, at a Japanese family house we don’t have that kind of things, at least not in mine.

But getting back to that subject, I don’t usually open the fridge that much, I mean, in general, things inside the fridge take more effort to be prepared...
 
What's your favorite food?
When it’s cold, it’s lasagna, when it’s hot is sushi;/sashimi; when the deadline is getting tighter, anything that dismisses the necessity of using my hands for a period of time... O_o

What are your favorite interests --Movies? Music? TV? Any hobbies? Sports?
I don’t watch too much television, it annoys me, but I watch, once in a while, a TV series. I also like movies, but what I really enjoy are books, I love to read, it’s a shame I can’t read and draw at the same time...

I don’t practice sports, but I like jogging and riding a bicycle.

Have you ever thought of writing your own stories? 
Oh, yes, I’d be lying if I said otherwise, but I am very critical and end up blocking everything – as a result of my graduation in Languages and Literature.

Have you ever been in a gang?
No, never.

What's an average day in your life like? Walk us through a typical day. 
Well, when the morning comes, in general, I’m awake, with my drawing board, not necessarily working, I can be testing something that occurred to me during my sleep or during the day before, I can also be on the computer, once again, not necessarily working, I may have spend the night reading a site or checking portfolios, or be answering an incredibly long questionnaire...

After that I take a look at the chronogram, check the commitments of the day and the deadlines, depending on the case, I can go to sleep (yes, during the day, because where I live is impossible to sleep more than 3 hours during this time of the day, which is really good, because I tend to break the alarm clocks, and that’s really bad); or, obviously, I start working. 

When it’s almost time for people to have lunch, I check my e-mail, which by now is full, I read it all and don’t answer any of them (a habit that people have already told me to quit).

More work.

During the afternoon, if I haven’t slept, I will.. If I have slept, I keep working.
By the end of the afternoon, I read more and more e-mails and answer the most desperate ones.

When the night falls, if I have been on my drawing board, I go to my computer, if I have been on my computer all day, I go to my drawing board… And the vicious circle is complete! =D

Ah, the meals happen, but this is the best I can say about that.
 
Do you know any funny or interesting anecdotes to tell about the comics market?  
Hmmm, I don’t think so, perhaps I have always worked with people that are always too serious...
 
Do you have any great, unsold projects in your files that nobody's got to see published?
Would a plan to conquer the world fit in this category? 

If you weren't a comic-book artist today, what would you be?
Living in Brazil, even if I weren’t an artist, I would still be one... Doing juggling to pay my bills, to continue to have faith and not to lay my frustrations on everyone else.
 
Have you ever taught comic-book art or had any assistants? If so, talk about that.
At workshops, but in a completely informal manner. I never had an assistant.
 
The single thing you'd most like to be remembered for in your life is...?
I would like that people could remember me as the first person to get billionaire working with comics... =p
 
Any closing words to your fans?
Hmm... Hey there fans! Nice to meet you!

Honestly, I don’t think any of my fans will read this.. If they do, I’ll send an update of this part of the questionnaire. Not mentioning that I just started around here, I probably don’t have any fans abroad...

Credits:

Warcraft: Warrior United (TokyoPop)
Alice In Wonderland #01-04 (Dynamic Forces)
Manga For The Beginner (Chris Hart)