The Liebster Award

It's been awhile since I've posted anything on this blog and I couldn't think of a better post to break the two and a half weeks of post-less-ness. I am ecstatic to announce that I've been nominated for a Liebster Award. I'd like to thank the lovely lovesstorms- who writes The Ramsey Wishacy, a Sims 3 legacy story, and There Goes the Neighborhood, a Sims 4 commentary story; I highly suggest reading them if you haven't had a chance to yet- who nominated me.

 

Now, if you're anything like me, you've been browsing Sims story blogs and you keep seeing posts entitled 'Liebster Award' and you have absolutely no idea what it is. After reading several of these posts and doing some research, er, uh, ehem Googling, I've discovered that 'Liebster' is a German word (ah, yes the German language, the language I have been meaning to learn to appease the maternal Hey-We're-German-We-Live-In-Germany-AND-We're-Bilingual side of my family, but haven't because procrastination) that means favorite, love, pleasant; the award is for blogger's favorite blogs who have under a certain number of followers.

If you're nominated, than you must:

•  Answer the eleven questions your nominator posted for you
• Nominate  five to eleven other bloggers for the award
• Post eleven questions for your nominees to answer

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Now, without further ado, I'll do the first thing on the list and answer lovesstorms lovely eleven questions:

• When you write, do you choose the computer or paper/pen?

Whenever I am writing for my Sims blogs, I tend to write on the computer, because I find it easier than having to re-type everything after I've written it down in a notebook. I do, however, scribble ideas- themes for generations, names, etc.- for my legacies down on paper. If I'm writing a non-Sims story I also tend to use paper and pen, since inspiration strikes me at the oddest times when I cannot always access my computer or phone to type and I feel like paper/pen adds a bit of a personal touch to what I'm writing.

• Do you write your story ahead of time, then take photos (if you have any)? Or do you take photos, then write?

I tend to map out how I want a legacy's generation to go (generation two spoiler for example, I knew that in the second generation of this legacy I wanted Tiffani to go to France and have fertility issues later on in life.), so I'll write out any scenes that I have planned out in mind, than I'll open up the game and get pictures and see how each Sim interacts with each other (Tiffani had little pink hearts when she saw Francois, so I decided to make him her love interest)- which may slightly alter my original plan- and take pictures of them, than I'll exit and go back to Blogger and finish or begin, depending on how inspired I was prior ot playing the game, the chapter.

• What made you want to start writing? A book? Life? A person? Other?

I've always loved writing; in primary school I remember having to write short stories and poems and essays, so I supposed my teachers helped nurture my love, as I grew older, my love of writing deepened. I'd discovered and read several Sims stories on the forums shortly after buying the base game and registering for thesims3.com and thought "Hey, I could do that too!" so I created a Blogger account and penned the URL alyssaterrans100babychallenge.blogspot.com.

• What’s a country you’ve always wanted to visit?

A European one. Is that a bad answer? I've never traveled outside of the States, so the list of countries I want to visit is a mile long, ranging from our neighbor to the north, Canada, to Austria, to Australia. The list is mainly comprised of European countries, since I'm fascinated by their deep history, the delicious cuisine (I'm talking about your pasta Italy and France's cafe culture), and art. If I could only pick one, however, I would probably say France, since I was obsessed with pink poodle and Eiffel Tower decor as a child.

• Outside of the Sims, what’s another favorite game you play?

I don't play any other video games,  unless you consider apps on my phone to by video games, then the answer is Plague, an app where you're trying to infect every human on earth with a disease by mutating it. I enjoy trivia games and strategic games, I like the Buffy the Vampire Slayer board game, though I can't find anyone willing to sit through an hour of me going off on a fangirl tangent about the show.

• When you become disinterested in your story/characters, what do you do?

Stop blogging. Not forever, just for long enough to enable me to gain a fresh perspective about the story. I'll also throw in an unexpected twist (ever wonder why generation eight ended the way it did? There's your answer) occasionally.

• When you write, do you prefer quiet or noise in the background?

I have difficulty when there's talking or the sounds of television in the background when I write, since I'm easily distracted I'll either go and join the conversation or go and watch the TV show.I do, however, like music to play.

• If everyone stopped coming to your blog, would you continue to write and share?

Indeed; I'm passionate about writing and become involved with my characters' lives, I cannot stand the idea of abandoning something just because other people are disinterested, I'll only stop if my disinterest grows to the point of being irreversible.

• Do you have a routine for reading other blogs, like reading until your caught up on one, then moving to the next one? Or do you enjoy reading little bits of many stories?

I tend to either binge read stories that have been previously published until I am caught up or finished the story or I read the chapters as the author publishes them. I cannot bare the idea of not finishing a story, as long as the author is still publishing decent chapters.

• Do you keep a notepad & pen/phone/tablet by your bed for those late night ideas? If so, do you actually get up and write them down?

Tragically I don't, though I should. My best ideas come to me when I'm either in the shower or late at night, when I'm falling asleep. I thought of an ingenious book idea, fell asleep, and when I woke up I couldn't remember anything bout it.

•  When you write, do you just do a quick glance and post? Or do you take a day or two or more and proofread, move things around, delete, re-write, etc, etc?

I cannot stand to re-read what I write, because I tend to be a perfectionist, so if I read it and end up seeing one misspelling or I end up cringing I'll want to delete the entire chapter and start from the beginning, than I'll read what I wrote, end up deleting it; the cycle will continue infinitely, resulting in me never publishing anything. That's one of the many reasons I haven't published a novel yet.

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Now, onto the second step, my nominees. I love so many, many blogs that I've found it incredibly difficult to narrow it down, these are the first five that I absolutely love (in no particular order). My other legacy, With Love, has also been nominated by the lovely parabee27, and the nominations are *mostly* the same there, so don't feel pressured to answer these questions, especially if you've had other nominations:

• Doors by Hannah (hellohannah2). I binge read this story over Spring break last year and have since fallen in love with all of her characters, as well as her writing style.
• Echos of Eternity by LateKnightSimmer. I remember reading her first story, a one hundred baby challenge, ever since than I've loved reading all her stories, they're engaging and absolutely fascinating, with characters who you can't help but love or, in some cases, despise (not to mention she's wonderful at CAS-ing, some of the main characters are swoon worthy ;) ).  Also she's been one of my biggest supporters through out my blogging endeavors and I'm incredibly grateful for that and I wanted to make sure that she knew.
• The Vulpasiah Legacy by parabee27. This legacy is full of suspense and has been on my 'legacies to read' list for forever.
• The Rose Legacy by newoangel. An amusing, amazing, engaging legacy with some rather lovely looking sims.
• Chasing Rainbows by Arrowleaf. There's so much love that I have for this legacy, I discovered her stories by reading the first few chapters of her one hundred baby challenge, than I began reading that legacy. It's humorous and heart breaking and there's just so much love for it.
• I was going to nominate the Serillion Legacy, because I loved it so insanely much, I binge read it, than I forgot to book mark it, spent awhile attempting to track it down, than added it to my favorite stories to ensure I wouldn't lose it again. Tragically, when I visited the blog, the author's apparently deleted it.

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Now, onto the final part, my questions for the nominees. I know some of you have already been nominated, so don't feel pressured to answer these questions. ☺

1. What inspired you to start a blog for your Sims story?
2. Looking back, is there anything you regret writing or any plot points you had wished you'd tackled differently?
3. Is there a Sims world that you prefer using for your story?
4. Are you a dessert person? Do you find people who are not dessert people odd? Do you watch the television show New Girl? (If you answered "Yes" to the last question, than the first two might seem less odd.)
5. How do you think of names for your characters?
6. If you could create a spin-off stories for one of your characters, which character would you create it for and what would it be about?
7. If you had a machine that produced $100 dollars for life what would you be willing to pay for it today?
8. Do you have a favorite book or author?
9. What inspired you to begin writing?
10. Do you like building the lots you need for your story's pictures (if you have pictures) or do you prefer using/downloading pre-made ones?
11. Do you procrastinate?

 xx,
Jill (aka mfb426 on the Sims forums aka TheJanesLegacy on Blogger)

Bit of Boring Nine: Labor

 This chapter discusses generation four's Holly Parlin, Parker's wife.

"I... I... Dammit!" I cried, withering pain, tugging at every inch of me.

The family had insisted in no epidural, they insisted the birh be as natural as possible. Overcompensating for having a surrogate; that's what they were doing. They wanted a water birth, something I'd politely declined. I wasn't giving birth- especially the first time- in what was essentially a kiddie pool.

"Holly, darling," Ms. Waitsling cooed, gently patting my head. "Do you need anything? Ice chips? Anything?"

"No-o." I moaned, my breaths were labored, as I attempted to refrain from cursing, somehing the prestigious family frowned upon, an demanding drugs. If Joycèe Waitsling, a tall brunette with skin the color of honey, her eyes warm caramel, and her husband, Jared Jonathan Waitsling Junior had come to me shortly after I told one of my friends, a fellow surrogate, that I needed money desperately and I had no desire in selling my eggs. I didn't want any baby running around, looking like me, unless I was raising it. 

She'd told me surrogacy was a great choice. Most woman who employed her ha issues with their filopian tubes or their uturus or had lives where pregnancy would be too risky; they needed someone to be their test tube, their oven to stick her and her husband's bun in. 

I'd redialy agreed, going through the process, a long, grueling process. 

Now I was dying on sheets someone else had given birth on forty-eight hours ago. 

"The doctor said it'll be soon." She told me, as her husband readied the video came. 

Damn. Some odd couple was going to have a permanent record of what my women parts looked like while a watermelon emerged from them. 

"Remember," Jared said, in a gruff voice, "push."

I smiled weakly, nodding. They'd only accompanied me to three times a week birthing classes every week after I hit the third trimester. 

"And breath." Joycèe added. "Deep breaths."

"We cannot wait to meet Jared Jonathan lll!" If I ever have children, I refuse to name them after myself or my husband; I found the concept ridiculous, unorgional. Pick something new for the first name; this was why we had middle names, is you can flatter someone, yet the child will never use it if it ends up being terrible. 

"Or Jane Joycèe Jaylean June." Joycèe replied. "After my mother, me, my sister, and my grandmother."

4J or J.J. the third. 

Lovely choices. 

"Alright!" The doctor exlaimed, entering the room, walking toward me. "I think it's time to deliver a baby!"