Featured Author: an Interview with loladiamond01 (Jowita)

I haven’t conducted an author interview for a while but I’m still very interested to know the process other writers go through in order to get their blog posts out and to create such interesting content.
Today’s author is loladiamond01 (or Jowita, as some of you know her). Jowita and I met on the Sims 3 site and I’ve read her blog from the beginning. It’s a really good story which Jowita has written in English, although her first language is Polish. I hope you’ll take a look at her work and enjoy it just as much as I do.
Jowita, how long have you been playing The Sims and what got you into it?
It’s been like 7 years or so. My brother and sister were playing Sims and I was really curious to start up myself. I was a small kid and I only knew a pony game, where ponies had needs and “lifetime wishes”, that seemed similar to Sims. It was so appealing to me that I even told my mom how much I wanted to try. When World Adventures came out, I was scared of mummies and used to run away from the room where the game took place not to look at them. Crazy time. 😀

Why did you begin blogging your sims story?
I began blogging my sims stories, because I used to create stories for my sims since I first started out with it. Of course, until I got into the forums, they were only stuck in my head. Then I started publishing memories and writing in the creative corners. I had almost a year long story that I will never take away from my heart. I even moved it to the blog that no one read, lol. When Sims 3 kind of died, I met the most faithful ones on the Sims 3 site. I got into their blogs and read Stories By Bee (at the time called Isle of the Midnight Sun), Eternally Yours and yours-Noble Doubt. These were very inspiring. With your encouragement, I decided it was time to share the fun with my friends and start on my own. My blog is the first really serious one written by me in English.
How do you come up with your story ideas?
Through reading. Through songs. And through thinking. Thinking a lot. I read an interview with Lila Remonn and I can say I absolutely relate to her answer. I think about my characters at school, at home, basically everywhere and anytime. Combined with songs that are endlessly stuck in my head, it is a perfect mix that creates my story.
Do your sims actions help create new ideas or make the story go in a different direction then you had intended?
Rarely. When I don’t have any vision of how I want the chapter to be, I turn on the free will. One time in my old story I only played with Woohooer and free will and I can say it was a lot of fun, but stories can’t only contain woohoos. Most of the time I already have the chapter made up in my head.
Which character is your favorite and why?
Noo… that’s a hard question. If we’re talking only about my current story, I would pick Maddie. I started everything with her and I became really close to her. It almost feels like the two sons of her are now mine, even if it sounds weird. I actually still don’t have that much of characters I can choose from. That doesn’t mean Maddie is me, she has a lot larger boobs and a lot lighter hair that me. Plus I would never be that strong.
What chapter has been the most difficult to write so far, and why?
The most difficult chapter was obviously Chapter 1.21 Never-Do-It-Again pt. 1 because setting the poses and dressing up Freddie was really hard. At one point Maddie had her body on the floor and under the house, because it was a bed pose that I had to fit in. There is a really small amount of couple poses where the guy is not holding or kissing the girl. It would be super creepy if Freddie suddenly did it.
Is there anything you wish was different about your story?
Yes, I wish I didn’t start it up from memories, because the first chapters are really short and contain pictures of low quality. Oh, and obviously I wish I was a better builder to make the house for my sims. Another thing is my writing. I want to improve it.
Do you have advice for any other writers who may just be starting out?
Hey, I just started out! I want to advise that you learn about taking good photos, because I saw stories when the first photos are really bad and it is unpleasant to see that. I also think it’s important to have great friends, like I do, who make you believe in yourself and your writing. And even if no one is reading, they are here for you with their feedback. Thank you for being that person for me.
What are the challenges of bringing your characters to life?
The challenges are the happenings when they are not the way I want them to be. When it comes to my stories, I am a perfectionist, so (quote from the song) “I just want it to be perfect, to believe it’s all been worth the fight.” I also still have to figure out writing as a man. Basically any other person than Maddie. The biggest challenge is making them life-like, so that readers believe they could exist in real life. I still didn’t quite achieve that.
Would you like to share an excerpt of your story or a summary of your story? Or both?
It is an excerpt from the Epilogue for generation 1 that is also a summary :
“I learned that sometimes you have to pretend that you are strong, so you really become strong. I learned that life is fragile and is the gift that you can never take for granted. That there is no coming back. That you have to appreciate every moment of your life, because you never know when you can lose it all.”
Yes, my story is quite pessimistic, that’s why it’s named neverdoitagain.

If you would like to read our featured author’s Sims story, it can be found here:

Author’s Note: If you are a blog author (it does not have to be The Sims related) and would like to be featured in an interview, please send me an email using my contact form below! I would love to interview you, too!