Thank you to hellohannah2, author of Dustland Fairytale, EliRoc, author of Elvira Slayer, The True Story, and TheJanesLegacy, author of With Love, for nominating L'amour Vrai for the Liebster Award. This is my twelfth nomination, and the third one for L'amour Vrai. My first was Jinx, who nominated my Wordpress blog, where I keep a compilation of links to my actual stories. Second was MrsOogieBoogie, who nominated The Compound, my completed story about a cult. Third was MsMidnightBlonde, who nominated Blink of an Eye, my apocalyptic story. Fourth was Stormy, who nominated Echoes of Eternity, my legacy. Fifth was Daijah V, who nominated Painting the Townies Gorgeous, my challenge story. Sixth was from Julie, who also nominated Echoes of Eternity. Seventh was from hellohannah2, who nominated L'amour Vrai, my Disney story. Eighth was from AndanteZen, who nominated Echoes of Eternity. Ninth was from sandybeachgirl, who nominated Echoes of Eternity. Tenth was from lovesstorms, who nominated Echoes of Eternity, Blink of an Eye, and The Compound. Eleventh was from EliRoc, who nominated L'amour Vrai. Thank you all for thinking of me. ♥
The Liebster Award is an award passed between bloggers to show appreciation for others' blogs. There are some rules for accepting the Liebster Award, which are as follows:
- Post the award on your blog.
- Thank the blogger who presented the award and link back to their blog.
- Nominate 5-11 bloggers whom you feel deserve this award and have fewer than or equal to 3,000 followers.
- Answer 11 questions posted by the nominator, and ask your nominees 11 questions.
My Nominees
I have already nominated five bloggers for the award, so I won't be nominating them again, but these were the ones I picked initially, just for information's sake, and also if you are looking for something to read, these are five amazing stories worth checking out.
- The Insane Dubois Legacy by Simcomix aka MrsOogieBoogie
- Another Life to Live by MsMidnightBlonde aka RaeNic
- Different Winters by LilyShadowWriter
- Perfection by littlesims2chick aka alexandrea
- Summerdream by caterpillarsims
Questions from hellohannah2
1: Can you remember the first story/legacy you ever wrote for The Sims? (Published or unpublished, it doesn't matter) What was it about?
My very, very first Sims story was about a family that were berry Sims. I had just read berrysweet's Splash of Color, so that's where the berry Sims came from. LOL. I had several plot lines I was covering, the dad, Tourmaline, had been a sufferer of child neglect and abuse when his dad used to lock him in the basement. His dad was a politician, and he didn't really like children, but he had Tourmaline because he needed to keep up appearances, you know, be the perfect politician with the perfect family. Now that Tourmaline is an adult with his own family, he tried to be a good father, even though babies didn't really appeal to him either, you know, the sleepless nights and stinky stuff, LOL. His kids eventually turned into teenagers and his daughter Zoe, was raped when she was drunk at a party. His son, Zircon, was at the party too, and he brought his sister home after his best friend said that he saw the sister laying down in a room not dressed. What Zircon didn't know however, was that the best friend knew about Zoe's situation because it was his best friend who had assaulted Zoe, but he was trying to pretend like he was just being helpful. Tourmaline's wife, Citrine, had symptoms of early onset Alzheimer's, and the family was trying to deal with that in addition to their own problems. I published a few chapters as I wrote it, but because I didn't know what I was doing really, I didn't have consistent chapters that were the same quality, and that bothered me enough to ditch the whole project.
2: You are locked in a room with one of your characters for 24 hours. Who is it and how do you pass the time?
I'm locked in the room with Camo Balestrom, and we spend the time talking about each other's lives and getting to know each other. IDK if there's anything else in the room, I'm guessing not? But I do imagine playing a game with him and drinking or something. Otherwise, he's a super hot Sim, so I could see a little making out happening between us. LOL.
3: Some words we love the sound of and others make us cringe. What are some of your favourite and least favourite words?
My favorite word that comes to mind is fuck. LOL. I say it a lot in casual conversation, of course, depending on who I am with, but for the most part, it's part of my daily language. I just like it because it can be so many different things, like it's descriptive, sometimes it's a noun, other times it's a verb. LOL. When I'm upset, I find it's the most effective way to express what I am feeling, when I use it in a sentence.
My least favorite word in the world, actually one I can say I hate, is vagina. I realize it's a medical term, and whatever, but I've always just hated the way it sounded and I so much prefer the slang words for that body part. Sorry if that's gross, but again, LOL, word I hate, so it makes sense that it's a word I find gross, right? XD
4: Did you start playing The Sims when it first came out or was your first game on Sims 2 or 3? (or 4!)
I started playing The Sims 3 for my first game. The only other one I've played is Sims 4.
5: Who is the last Sim that you created? Did you just make them for fun or are they a part of your story?
The last Sim I created was a paramedic character for Echoes of Eternity. He showed up in a few pictures, otherwise, he didn't say much. LOL. He is pretty hot though. XD
6: Who is your favourite published author and what is your favourite book?
I don't read many books, but I will answer this with Bret Easton Ellis is my favorite published author, and my favorite book is American Psycho. I watched the movie many times, and then my best friend suggested I read the book too, so I did. As I was reading it, I kept hearing the actors' voices in my head, and it made reading the book more enjoyable.
7: How do you feel about criticism? Would you rather people kept honest opinions about your writing to themselves & avoid feeling hurt, or for them to be brutally honest with you about what can be improved?
Here's the thing about criticism. If people want to say things, all they have to do is be polite about it. I don't really like people nitpicking my spelling and grammar, if they're doing it just to be a show off about how much they supposedly know about the English language. I know I don't use one hundred percent correct grammar, and I write more informally than the strict rules of English grammar dictate, so I'd prefer people not try to give me an English lesson because I'm doing what I'm doing on purpose. Obviously, I will never write words in the vernacular obnoxious slang where people purposely spell things wrong, and I will always use correct English, but it's not going to be formal English. I write for fun, and all of my sentences make sense, I promise. I don't think that such minor things like this need to be said, this isn't school, and I'm not writing so I can be graded. I'm writing to entertain people. On the other hand, when it comes to subject matter, as in what I am writing about, the story line and the characters, I don't mind people disagreeing with a character or not liking a situation. Most of the time I write about controversial topics, characters who do questionable things, and a lot of mystery combined with suspense, so I fully expect people to share their opinions, confusion, approval, emotions, and disapproval with what's happening within the story line. I think for me the general bottom line is if readers are discussing the story line, and not looking at my story as a work to be graded, then that is what I prefer.
8: Are any of your characters similar to you? Which ones? In what way?
Yes. The Compound, which is another story I wrote, is based on personal experience and so the four main characters are all similar to me. Basically, the story is about a cult, and I had an experience with an organization that had cult-like practices. Each of the four main characters represent different parts of me as I went through the organization. At times I was brainwashed, scared, questioning things, being unsure about the things I was questioning, and of course, when I got out of the organization, I was rebelling against them pretty hard.
9: If you had to be on a reality TV show, which would you choose to be on?
I would want to be on The Voice. I think it would be really fun to get to know the coaches, and I feel like I could learn so much about music and singing from them because I think they really know what they're talking about.
10: Think of a couple in your story, if they had never met, are there other characters that you think they would have ended up dating instead?
Yes. This would require my character to change their orientation, LOL, but Patrick and Katya were the original couple in Echoes generation two. If I had changed Patrick to either bi, or gay, he and his best friend Emmanuel, who is gay, would have started dating. I always had wanted to see what kids from Patrick and Emmanuel's genetics would look like, LOL. I had even toyed with the idea of Patrick potentially being bi in the story, but then I decided that I wanted to do a generation that was a gay heir, and Patrick's generation was already figured out as far as theme went, so I didn't want to take away my idea from the gay heir by combining it with Patrick's generation. Katya probably would have dated some boring office worker, she liked people who were 'safe.' You know, the kind of woman who gets all bent out of shape when their man is a cop or does anything even remotely considered dangerous. XD
11: What’s the hardest/most uncomfortable thing you've ever had to write?
Pregnancy. I would rather write about a torture chamber and a serial killer, or a violent rape scene, than write about pregnancy. I hate, abhor, despise, and loathe it. I never know what the fuck to write, and then I just end up feeling awkward and stupid about the chapter. Many rewrites had to be done when I did write about it because it was so difficult to get right. I've only written about it twice, and the second time was better because I didn't focus on the pregnancy really, it just happened that my Sim was pregnant at the time the chapter was written. That is what I'm thinking I'm going to do from now on in the legacy.
9: If you had to be on a reality TV show, which would you choose to be on?
I would want to be on The Voice. I think it would be really fun to get to know the coaches, and I feel like I could learn so much about music and singing from them because I think they really know what they're talking about.
10: Think of a couple in your story, if they had never met, are there other characters that you think they would have ended up dating instead?
Yes. This would require my character to change their orientation, LOL, but Patrick and Katya were the original couple in Echoes generation two. If I had changed Patrick to either bi, or gay, he and his best friend Emmanuel, who is gay, would have started dating. I always had wanted to see what kids from Patrick and Emmanuel's genetics would look like, LOL. I had even toyed with the idea of Patrick potentially being bi in the story, but then I decided that I wanted to do a generation that was a gay heir, and Patrick's generation was already figured out as far as theme went, so I didn't want to take away my idea from the gay heir by combining it with Patrick's generation. Katya probably would have dated some boring office worker, she liked people who were 'safe.' You know, the kind of woman who gets all bent out of shape when their man is a cop or does anything even remotely considered dangerous. XD
11: What’s the hardest/most uncomfortable thing you've ever had to write?
Pregnancy. I would rather write about a torture chamber and a serial killer, or a violent rape scene, than write about pregnancy. I hate, abhor, despise, and loathe it. I never know what the fuck to write, and then I just end up feeling awkward and stupid about the chapter. Many rewrites had to be done when I did write about it because it was so difficult to get right. I've only written about it twice, and the second time was better because I didn't focus on the pregnancy really, it just happened that my Sim was pregnant at the time the chapter was written. That is what I'm thinking I'm going to do from now on in the legacy.
Questions from EliRoc
1. I you had the possibility to spend a time with a writer (no matter if still alive or not), which one would you choose? Why?
I don't read many books, so I don't think I would spend time with a book writer. However, I will pick one of my favorite Sims story writers, which is MrsOogieBoogie. She has been a huge inspiration to me in my Sims stories. I have become good friends with her after interacting with her in the forums and after we have left comments on each other's blogs.
2. What inspired you to write your first story and publish it in a blog?
The first story I wrote that I am proud of is called The Compound, was inspired by a television show called The Following, and a personal experience I had. It's technically not the first story I published on a blog, but the first one I did that with is no longer something I have. I wanted to write as a form of therapy, and it really did make me feel better. I had been reading a few Sims stories before I started my own writing, and I published it in a blog because I felt like I needed a place to store my writing. I didn't really want to put it on my computer, and I didn't want to print it out, so I felt like putting it in a blog on the internet was a good place to store it.
3. Have you ever have a real book published?
No, I've never published a real book. I haven't written anything other than Sims stories, and I write them for fun, even though they are usually dealing with serious material. I feel like trying to get a book published through a publisher is additional stress that I don't need in my life. LOL. Writing is very much a hobby for me, rather than a career goal.
4. Which kind of stories you like writing most (romance, thriller, fantasy, etc)? Why?
I find that I put a lot of suspense and thrills into every story I write, so I would say those are the ones I like the most. I do it because I think all of my stories need some kind of danger in them, so that they don't become boring. I also do it because I think it's fun to create mystery for my readers and keep them guessing. I don't really like stories where everything is revealed early on, and everything goes so well because it becomes a little predictable, which is also something I don't want to do in my stories.
5. Do you actually play the Sims while writing your stories or you just log on to take the pictures?
If I get stuck and don't know what to write, then yes, I will play the Sims to get some ideas because a lot of times my Sims will do something that sparks an idea. One time I was playing, and one of the Sims in the dorm died because she got stuck and starved to death. She was a roommate Sim, so I couldn't actually control her. That gave me an idea for my story where I made a student die of mysterious circumstances that looked like starvation. LOL. However, if I know what I want to do in the chapter, then sometimes I will just open my game to take pictures.
6. Do you do any research to write your stories? Where?
Yes, sometimes I will do research. It's usually about medical information, or crime related activities, LOL, because I want to keep any kind of things like that realistic in my story. If I write about a disease, an injury that was caused from a crime, or a crime being committed, I want it to be as believable as it can be. I watch a lot of hospital and crime shows, so usually that's where I get my information from. I get a lot of ideas about how doctors, detectives, and criminals talk and interact on the shows so it helps with me figuring out what conversations the characters should have as well.
7. What inspires you to write?
Movies and television shows. I'm a very visual person, so when I see things happening, it sparks lots of ideas. I like the way shows create an environment, that you can feel when you are watching it, so I try to write to make my readers feel the environment of the story. I like to look at the actors in the shows too, how they behave and also the reason behind why they behaved that way in the show, which helps me with writing my characters. Often when I write personalities in my stories, I remember that there needs to be some depth to the character, which makes them more interesting.
8. Do you have a favorite sim? Which one and why?
My favorite Sim is Maximus, from my Echoes of Eternity story. I gave him two of the same personality traits I sometimes give my Simself, so I relate to him. Max likes to do what he wants, and he doesn't care what other people think of him, but he's also misunderstood, which I feel happens to me a lot in my own life. People like to tell Max that he's wrong a lot of the time, just because he doesn't agree with a lot of mainstream society's unwritten rules, but he still manages to live his life the way he wants. I like his strength he has to do that, which is the part of my personality I wrote into his character.
9. Do you use any other games as a support for your stories? Which one and why?
No I don't. The only computer game I have is The Sims3, and I don't write anything outside of the Sims. My other games I play are all on my PS2, and I don't write stories for those. However, some of the games I play are Tomb Raider, James Bond, Batman, and any of the Lego games.
10. If you could be a supernatural being, which one would you choose and why?
I would be a vampire. I like the way vampires carry themselves, and they always seem confident. I find them prestigious and regal, with a large capacity of intelligence from the many years of life they have experienced. I like the strength they have, both in physicality, and in their minds. Lots of the other supernaturals seem to only have one or the other, they're either strong, or they're smart. I like that the vampire has both strength and intelligence. The dangerous, chilling part of the vampire is also fascinating, and I think I would love to just step into a room and have people be afraid of me. LOL. I also like that the vampire doesn't rely on magical abilities, but rather on intelligence and power.
11. Did you ever think on writing an auto biography, using the sims?
I sort of did a little bit, when I wrote The Compound. Of course, I didn't write all of my life story in it, and I did mix true information with things I made up for the story, but The Compound is based on a personal experience I had when I was in college. I fell into a bad group of people who had a church group that had borderline cult-like tendencies, and I was brainwashed for a few years, until I got my own sense back and left.
Questions from TheJanesLegacy
1. Which character in your story do you identify most with?
Hmm... out of all my stories, The Compound has characters I closely identify with, even though a lot of my characters from various stories have a little bit of my personality in them. I am going to answer with Camo Balestrom as who I identify most with. He's blunt, thinks for himself, is brave enough to question when things don't feel right, yet smart enough to not raise suspicion when he does ask questions, and doesn't care what people think about him. At the same time, he's nice and caring to his loved ones, with a thirst for life.
2. Do you map out how you want the story to go or do you do things based off of the sims' wishes/reactions or do you do a bit of both?
First and foremost, I will map out a story line, albeit, a very general one, usually centered around a particular event. The event can be towards the middle or the end of the chapter, whichever one, it doesn't matter because the point is just to give me something to work towards. If I get stuck, I will play my Sims on Free Will and sometimes they will give me some ideas. However, if they do give me ideas that make it into the story, I will always make them very realistic, so it won't feel out of place in the story.
3. What do you like to do when you're not playing the Sims or writing for your story?
Look for more CC that I don't need. Hahaha, just kidding, although that is one of the things I do, that is not all that I do. I will cook, watch Netflix, read other people's stories, exercise, scrapbook, play video games on my PS2, go for a drive and pick up some Starbucks or go shopping. Once on a rare occasion I will go on a cleaning spree throughout my house.
4. If you could live in any of the Sims 3 EA worlds (base game, EP, store), which one would it be. Why?
Hmm... it would be a tie between Roaring Heights and Starlight Shores. Roaring Heights reminds me of Chicago, and that's my hometown, not to mention all the cool 1920s/30s era clothing and cars. Starlight Shores reminds me of Los Angeles, and that's my second favorite city in the country. I love the beaches and palm trees, as well as the Hollywood sign.
5. Do you have a method for naming chapters? (This may seem like an odd question, but I tend to over think the process. I'll either pick something that's too descriptive, too long, or too short.)
Usually as I'm writing, I'll think about the main theme of the chapter, and what I'm trying to get across in it. The overall feel of the chapter will become the title. A lot of times it's not even something that deep, like in Echoes, the first chapter was called "Wake Up," because I was writing about characters being woken up by a third party and having a conversation. For L'amour, the first chapter was simply named "HER" because I was writing about someone Cynthia didn't like enough that the mention of saying her name caused her to cringe. In Blink of an Eye, I was choosing little phrases from something I'd already written in the chapters as the titles. I hope that makes sense. LOL. I know I can be very random when I name chapters. I find that I also try to keep a theme somewhat per story for my chapters. For Echoes, it's the general feel of the chapter, and what the characters were doing, for L'amour, so far it's been one word and it's been a character's name, except for chapter four, and for Blink, it's been phrases.
6. Do you play any other games in the Sims franchise?
Yes, I just recently got a 50% coupon code from my sister for Sims4, so I bought it. I had a saved game from when I tried the free trial of it, so I played that. So far it has been fun for if I just want to play something random and I don't have a lot of time because it loads quickly. However, the first Sims game I bought was Sims3, so I have never played anything earlier than that.
7. Do your friends/family in real life know that you have a blog dedicated to your sims story?
Yes, my friends and family know that I write and use Sims as the illustrations. They think it's cool that I write stories, and a lot of my family plays Sims, so they don't think it's wierd. None of them write stories with the Sims, however, so they find it cool that I do.
8. Are there any songs/artists/genres that you're currently enjoying listening to?
I like Maroon V, and Katy Perry right now, those were the two artists whose CDs I've bought, since I have a CD player in my car.
9. What's the most frustrating thing you've dealt with when it comes to blogging your sims story?
When the internet cuts out, and I have just hit "save" because I didn't know the internet was out. Then I lose like the last half of the chapter I just wrote because that's the last thing that I saved before the internet disappeared. *shakes fist* Luckily this doesn't happen that often, but when it does, it is so frustrating.
10. Do you watch Sim Youtube channels?
No. When it comes to watching things, I find I don't really like watching Youtube in general. I also don't really like watching movies about Sims, I'd rather read a Sims story with pictures. I really prefer watching stuff on Netflix.
11. Are there any challenges (legacy, 100 baby, etc.) that you haven't done that you want to?
I have thought an Asylum Challenge might be fun. The premise of it sounds interesting, and I really enjoy dark, twisted story lines, so I of course, have ideas in my mind for some of the things that could happen in the asylum already. LOL.
My Eleven Questions
Since this is not my first nomination, and I didn't pick new nominees, I'm just going to list my questions here so others can see what I asked. There's no need to answer these again.
1. What got you interested in writing? Have you always been a natural writer, or did some life event spark you to start the hobby?
2. How serious are you about writing? Do you want to be a world famous author someday, or do you just write Sims stories for fun?
3. Is there a time of day that’s the best time for you to write?
4. What do you do to get over writers block?
5. What made you start playing Sims?
6. Do you prefer creating and writing about male or female Sims? Why do you prefer the one you do?
7. Other than Sims and writing, what are some of your other hobbies?
8. What are your favorite and least favorite expansion or stuff packs?
9. What is one of your greatest fears regarding your writing?
10. If you could pick five personality traits for your Simself, what would they be? I know when I do it, there’s always more than five I want to use, but just think of the first five that come to mind.
11. What is your favorite type of CC to download and why?
