Today is an exciting day as I am thrilled to post the interview I conducted with Simsered, author and creator of The Extraordinary Lives of Us: A DITFT Legacy Challenge! Simsered’s story begins with founder, Jamie Wood, a small town girl returning home after years spent living in the big city. At present time, she is writing Generation 2 with heir Wyatt Patten. No matter where you are in the story, it is engaging and the pictures are lovely. You should check it out!Now begins the interview:
1. Simsered, how long have you been playing The Sims and what got you into it?
I have played The Sims since the original was released. It’s been such a long time that I don’t even remember how old I was when I started playing, but I do remember how I started. My dad always played the SimCity games and bought The Sims thinking it would be similar. He never liked it much, so I started to play the game instead. Ever since then I have been an avid Sims lover. I own The Sims, The Sims 2 (and all of its expansions), and now The Sims 3. The Sims 4 is the only game in the series that I don’t own because I am still very happy playing The Sims 3, and I don’t see myself giving it up any time soon!
2. Why did you begin blogging your sims story?
2. Why did you begin blogging your sims story?
My very first sims story, The Shores of Our Souls, ended in its’ second generation due to my laptop crashing, but I was inspired to start writing it by reading blamsart’s Light the Way to Heaven and SimComix’s The Insane Dubois Legacy. These stories are both ongoing and are really inspiring to me because of their complex plots and intriguing characters. After my first story came to its unavoidable end, The Extraordinary Lives of Us was created so that I could continue to tell stories through my simself and founder of my legacy.3. How do you come up with your story ideas?
Like most writers, I am an ardent reader and library frequenter. Reading books often will give me ideas whether it is an interesting plot point or characters that inspire me to create a likeness to them in my own story. More often than not I receive my best inspiration while I’m in the shower. I also pull some ideas from movies or music especially. Sometimes I will listen to a song and it brings a certain scene to mind for my characters. When inspiration strikes I am always quick to write it down while the creative juices are flowing!
4. Do your sims actions help create new ideas or make the story go in a different direction then you had intended?Very rarely. My story is planned the way it is and is not inspired by what my sims do of their own free will. Occasionally if one of my sims rolls a wish that gives me an idea I might roll with it and give them what they wish for while working it into the story.
5. Which character is your favorite and why?
Oh, this is always a tough question to answer. I suppose if I had to choose just one it would have to be my current heir, Wyatt. She is a headstrong character that tends to mask her true feelings to avoid being seen as weak in her male dominated career, but underneath it all she is really a caring person. Wyatt is a young mother trying to do the best she can for her son, and her fiery temper amuses me to no end. My favorite scenes of Wyatt always involve her arguments with her co-worker, Patrick, because of how easily he is able to get under her skin.
6. What chapter has been the most difficult to write so far, and why?
The most difficult chapter that I have had to write by far is a chapter that I just finished writing and hasn’t been posted yet. It has taken me nearly two months to write 2.12 because every time I finish it I end up scrapping the whole thing. In this chapter, Wyatt finally returns home to reconnect with her family after shutting them out of her life for four years. To put it simply, it has been extremely difficult to figure out a way to reintroduce the first generation of characters in a way that makes sense. I want to make sure that all of the interactions between characters are flawless while also closing up some loose ends in the story line that have been left unanswered during the second generation heir’s absence.
7. Is there anything you wish was different about your story?If I could change anything it’s that there isn’t a very strong family presence in my story. My heirs typically have one reason or another for not seeing their family, and I want to improve that in the coming generations. Other writers that are able to keep a close family relationship between their heirs always do it so well that I want to cringe because it is something I lack in my story. In the future I would really like to be able to blend in more family interactions to make my story more believable.
8. Do you have advice for any other writers who may just be starting out?
Write what interests you. Do it because it is something that you love otherwise it will become more of a chore when writing should be enjoyable. Also, spell check is your best friend! Use it!9. What are the challenges of bringing your characters to life?
Humans are such complex creatures that can feel a whole spectrum of emotions in just a minute. There are things that drive us, inspire us, to do the things that we do. Sometimes I really have to think hard about what my characters motivations are. Constantly asking myself, how would this make him/her feel? I am less than perfect at thinking of realistic situations that move the story line along, so I tend to scrap a chapter several times over before I finally settle on one.
10. Would you like to share an excerpt from your story or a summary of your story? Or both?Excerpt from Chapter 1.01:
Summer in Cascade Shores was the best time of year. School was out, and fun was in. The trees above were full to burstin’ with bright green leaves, the sun was always shining, and the bugs were buzzin’ from plant to colorful plant ready to taste their sweet harvestables. But most importantly, the fish were biting.
My summers were spent at Herman Pond as a child. Soon as the sun was up, I would say a quick goodbye to my mama and make a dash for my favorite fishing spot. Our favorite fishing spot. I didn’t spend the days alone, oh no. There was this boy, my best friend actually, who spent every moment of his free time with a line in the water. He didn’t do much else, but that was okay with me. We spent every day at that pond my last summer in Cascade Shores, and I’ll never forget them. Though one morning sticks out to me more than the rest.
It was the morning my mama told me we were moving to the city, Bridgeport. Nothing is more horrifying to a country kid than being told you had to move to the concrete city, start all over and make new friends. What does a country kid like me have in common with city folk? Not much I’ll tell ya. But I didn’t get a say in anything. We were moving, and that was that. And to make things worse, she decided to wait to tell me until the day before we were leaving.
My last day in my favorite place in the whole wide world… There just ain’t enough hours in the day.
Thank you, Simsered, for a great and enlightening interview!
If you would like to read our featured author’s Sims story, it can be found here:
EDIT (4/9/19): Simsered’s new site is The Paxton Legacy!
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!
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She delete her WordPress and Tumblr…..
Does anyone know what happen to her?
Oh my goodness! I haven’t any idea what happened! I hope someone is able to fill us in or maybe she will see this. I will miss her blog. 🙁
This was awesome. I have been reading her story and getting an insight to the writers is always so interesting. It’s an awesome story!
Thank you! Her story is terrific, I agree! 😀
Thank you everyone for the kind words! ❤ And a huge thanks to RosemaryMarie for conducting this interview. It was a lot of fun, and now I can’t wait to finish up the next chapter for you all to read.
You are so welcome and thank you for allowing me to interview you! We can’t wait for the next chapter! <3
Great interview, and the questions were very good ones! She certainly answered in depth, which makes the interview even better. But darn!! Now I have another blog story I am interested in pursuing!! My kindle will just have to bear with me ignoring it a bit more! =) Happy sim blogging to both of you! =)
LOL! Thank you, Marj! 🙂 Her story is well worth reading, believe me. 😀 Your Kindle will just have to understand. haha Happy Simming!
MY FAVOURITE BLOGGER EVERYONEEEEEE haha I got really excited for a moment because I thought it was a new TELOU chapter, but this interview was still really interesting! I can relate to a lot of the answers (especially 3 & 4). I think I might go reread this story again sometime because again, it is my fave <3
Thank you, Lila! 😀 I’m so glad you liked the interview. Rereading the story is time well spent. lol 😀
If only I had enough time to catch up on another blog!
The answers seem to be well thought out and were very enjoyable to read.
Thank you, Jowita! 🙂 If you ever have the time, this is a good one! 😀
These things are always awesome to read! Then again, I’m nosier than anyone should be. 😐
It also maybe, might possibly, probably makes me feel a teensy-weensy bit guilty for not updating my own story. >.> Hmm….
Well, anytime you feel like updating (but you shouldn’t feel guilty 😀 ), I will be there, reading it right away! <3
XD I’m still writing (got a large backlog of screenshots to throw together). I just don’t have a lot of time to play. Been busy. I’ll make a post about it after things settle. It’s pretty cool (in my opinion).
It sounds pretty cool! 😀
These things are always awesome to read! Then again, I’m nosier than anyone should be. >..> Hmm….
Meeeee, too! lol :O 😀
Wonderful interview! I always love reading these 🙂 Simsered’s story is one of my favorites too!
Thank you! 😀 Yes, I think her story is amazing!
Nice interview. Good questions. Lots of thought put into the answers. I enjoyed the pics along the way too.
Thank you so much, ciane! 🙂 I really enjoy reading Simsered’s blog. 🙂
“My heirs typically have one reason or another for not seeing their family”
oh gosh i relate to this — most of this has to do with logistics, as it is SO SO HARD to manage so many sims…especially if the original family lives in a different town.
Lovely interview!
Thank you and how true that is! 🙂