Liebster questions from Muzegoddess

Thank you, Muzegoddess (of the Life, Love, & Lies TS2 story) for tagging me. These are such awesome questions! :)



1. How do you come up with your character’s names? Do they hold a special meaning to you? Are they names of people you know?
— Lots of baby name databases! My favorite is also Nymbler.com, which will give you name ideas based on a selection of similar names, which is useful for naming siblings within a family. Most of my characters were born as baby characters to their parents, so I like to think about what their parents would have named them and why.

2. Are any parts of your story autobiographical in some way or based on any part of your real life or the lives of people you know? If so, which parts? 
— Some parts, yes. There is probably some small nugget of almost every storyline that I've experienced in my own life, in one way or another. Besides the alien war, obviously. ;)

3. Which came first; the Sims characters or the story? 
— Whoa, this is like a chicken and the egg thing! It’s hard to say because for so many of my neighborhood characters, I’ve been watching them grow up since they were babies. When they were born as baby sims, they didn’t have much of a character, because babies don’t. But as they grow, I learn more and more about them. So yes, I suppose their baby sim came first, but it was just a shell to be filled out by a personality and budding life, shaped by all the things that would happen to them.

4. Do you shoot your story shots in your playable hood on actual lots or do you have “sets” that you create (just boxes with decorated interiors)? 
— All of my lots (pretty or unpretty as they may be) are playable spaces in the game.

5. What things, places, people inspire your writing/your story? 
— Wow, everything probably. Things that have happened to me. Places I've lived and traveled to.

6. Do you ever think of an alternate universe for your characters? Who would they be there and what would their lives look like? 
— I have done this for some of them. In fact, I have a book draft (not a sim story) that is entirely based on an alternate dimension where characters get to live out secondary lives. Summer and Tyler are among some of those characters, and in it, they were married with a little girl named Tonya. They were miserable, divorced, and Summer "died" at the end, lol! I like their real lives better, even though they're not together. Although I do miss Tonya, who was never meant to be. She was precious.

7.  How many characters is too many for you to work with at a time/ in one story? Do you have too many now or do you want more? 
— Oh my, I love having a LOT of characters, but there does get to be a point where it’s too much. There’s a sweet spot for me somewhere between 100-150 sims, I think. Of course, a lot of those will be children and babies, or parents, or co-workers, or friends— not all main characters.

8. Do your characters (or the idea of them) follow you around (i.e.: If they weren’t in this story would they be in a different one that you create)? 
— Absolutely! Most of them *are* in several stories of all kinds of formats.

9. If you weren’t writing what would your creative outlet be? Do you have ones other than writing now?
— I used to spend more time (or any time at all) on my music (flute and guitar). I used to write songs. I tried to learn to play piano. I also like to draw and take photos.

10. If you are still creating your story, how much further do you think it will go? If you have stopped writing do you think you will ever continue?
— The way it’s structured, it could go on forever. Or as long as I want to continue it. It’s a soap opera, you know. The children grow up to have stories of their own.

11. Which one of your characters would you trust to save you in a life threatening situation? Which one would let you die?
— OMG, this is such a good question! Who I’d trust—Summer Phoenix from LH/Sierra Nova, she’s smart, tough as nails, and really steps up when someone is threatening the people she loves. Though I never thought of it for her when she was younger, now I see that she's going to make an excellent cop. Who I’d not trust—Ruby McCullough, from Stories from the Lakeside/Lakeside Files, she would not think twice about stepping aside to save herself and letting someone burn, lol!