Storytellers Spotlight at Sim Storytellers

[strangetomato]

Finally, the simstorytellers interview is posted. It took longer than I thought it would, especially with the extra questions, but they were all great and I wanted to take enough time to answer them all. Is that a good excuse for being late? Not really, but there you go. The interview was also a nightmare to format, and I had all sorts of issues with livejournal user tags, but that seems to have been resolved.

The interview is posted here, if you want to check it out.

Thanks for all the great questions, and thank you for reading the story so far. Reflecting on it like this made me realize how awesome you all are for reading this and offering such great feedback. I enjoy writing it anyway, but having an audience makes it so much more fun.

Comments

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

I'm going to read it, but I wanted to let you know that the story is GOOD. We love it, and the fact that you enjoy it shows in the amazing product that you put out. Sorry if that sounds too technical, I'm trying to be profound and deep. :P

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Come on now... you're making me blush. Thank you for the kind words. I'm really glad that there are people that get into it (almost) as much as I do. I still consider myself very lucky to have the readers that I do, because there are a lot of other great stories out that don't have as many people reading them (or commenting, anyway). I really am lucky that so many people have shown interest in this, so I just wanted to say thanks for that.

So... THANKS! :D

[zepheera.livejournal.com]

I just finished reading, and I really enjoyed the peek into your creative processes! Good interview

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It was fun to share and discuss the process and the story like that. Even the personal things weren't so bad once I got started.

[80sfiend.livejournal.com]

Can I ask one question that wasn't asked? I totally missed the chance to ask :(

How much does what the readers want affect how you write the story? Do you ever change things because people seem to want it that way? Or do you follow your own plan? :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

That's a good question. It's too bad I didn't get it in time for the interview.

I'd have to say that I do react to what readers say sometimes, but it's not really that I try to give them what they want as much as it helps me to develop my own ideas. It's more like they might bring some detail to my attention that I hadn't considered, and so I think about it some more and it starts to change things. It's interesting because people will mention parts of the story that I completely forget about, and then I do start thinking about it. It keeps me on my toes.

But no, I try to stick with the way I see things working out, even if people wanted it another way. It's sort of like you with Jill/Ripp and some others with Tank/Frances. These things are either meant to be or they aren't. I do feel a little bad when someone is rooting for something, and I can't deliver it, but I have to go with my gut.

I hope that answers your question. :)

[muslemura.livejournal.com]

Wonderful interview, I read it last night while I tried to seem interested in what our guest was talking about *whistles innocently* (She was really visiting my boyfriend so I don't feel too guilty) I think the fact that you put so much time and care and energy into your characters is the main reason why I find this story so addicting. It makes me think and care and wonder and ponder (and obsess a little) about them too :)

And The life pursuit has been on repeat on my iPod lately - it's a great album :D

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm glad it provided you with some amusement during a boring conversation (always a good thing). :) And it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who gets into the characters. I really appreciate that others would ponder over them too. It makes it all the more fun when something happens.

The Life Pursuit is one of the best albums ever. I love it. I'm really hoping they come out with a new one soon too.

HELP!!! Anyone?

[ricamarcella.livejournal.com]

I'm posting this message here so it can be seen by fans of the BEST & MOST POPULAR of Strangetown serials... hopefully I'll get a response to my plea. So here goes: I used to be addicted to Sims2 as a teen, but haven't played in a long while. However, I still continue to read Internet serials about my favorite neighbourhood, Strangetown (couldn't care less about the others).

Anyway, I've written a few chapters for an "old" Strangetown saga that stars the Maxis pre-mades as children and teens. The protagonist is the 17-year-old student/waitress Jenny Curious, a young activist whose "Think Green" campaign pits her against the town's mighty elixir plant.

This scientific research facility, which happens to be the only industry for miles (and employs 70% the grown-ups in a 'hood that's about to go belly-up financially if ONE MORE thing goes wrong) suddenly introduces a new range of biological experiments, at the suggested of some newly-arrived, green-skinned backers who claim they can make Strangetown rich. But at what price? Jenny and her three little brothers (who, as all of you know, are elementary-school geniuses) are determined to find out. Their trail of investigation leads them into their family's past, and "living" secrets their father kept from their mother. Meanwhile, other lives are changed by the plant's unprecedented G.R.E.E.N. campaign: local hero Buck Grunt, whose mistrust of the newcomers gradually destroys his relationship with his neighbours and eventually his family; Graine Salamis, an eavesdropping nurse in the Strangetown E.R. who spies on what she thinks is a vasectomy and disappears three days later; scientist-turned-science-teacher Glabe Curious, forced to confront her ex-husband after 20 years due to his "re-unleashing" of their big breakthrough; and "Paul," a newcomer to Strangetown whose decision to "mix with the locals" rather than living on the army base with the rest of the Technicians ultimately forces him to decide between loyalty and love.

What I need is someone to make the pictures to this story; I'll supply the text. The thing is, I work two jobs and also pursue a degree during the evenings; it's crazy. Writing silly stories brings me relief, pointless though it may be... though I simply don't have the time to play the game. Plus, my knowledge of mods, cheats, custom content, downloads, etc. is ZILCH. I never even had any expansion packs. Whoever agrees to be my partner in this serial can decide on everything, from what each family's house looks like, to the hair/clothing/make-up of particular characters, to the appearances of the older generation of townies. We can work at whatever pace suits us both. Anyone interested?

P.S. I know I could post the story as text, but... the thing with Strangetown (Sims) serials is that they're a combo of pictures + text, and wouldn't be nearly as good with just one! Thanks for reading!

Re: HELP!!! Anyone?

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Hey, I think you'd probably be a lot more sucessful if you posted this in the simstorytellers community or even the thesims2. I doubt that anyone will notice this here, especially in an older post, and anyway... it's my personal journal, not a public sims community. It's not really an appropriate place to post messages for the general public.

Anyway, good luck with it! If you can't find anyone who's interested, I don't see why you couldn't post it as a text-only story. I've seen a number of those before, and if that's all you're interested in doing, then there's really no rule saying you have to include photos from the game in a sim story.

Re: HELP!!! Anyone?

[ricamarcella.livejournal.com]

I'll check out those forums... haven't really done so before, but thanks for the tip. I didn't mean to infringe on your personal journal; should've thought of that before I posted. And maybe I'll post it as a text story.

Re: HELP!!! Anyone?

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

That probably came off sounding harsher than I meant it to. I just meant that you're really not going to get the response you're looking for by posting here, when there are more appropriate places for that sort of post. Posting in one of those communities would be much more effective for you. I'm not too bothered by you hijacking one of my threads (I'm sort of flattered that you'd think to do it, really), but it's not really going to achieve the results you're aiming for.

I meant to say thanks for the compliment before too (I wrote that early in the morning). I don't really feel comfortable with you calling my story "the best," though. I'm sure that's not true. There are a lot of great stories out there. This probably isn't even the most popular Strangetown tale. I don't know much about what exists beyond livejournal, but I've seen other takes on Strangetown, and many of them seemed to have a large following. There was even that video that you mentioned before, right? A Strangetown Conspiracy, I believe. That seemed to be really popular too.

Your plot sounds quite interesting too. It puts my slapped-together plotlines to shame (I only even considered how Glabe might factor in after someone mentioned her), and I'm sure it will be very well received, even without photos.

Good luck with your project.

[wynnyx.livejournal.com]

I'm sad, I'm not authorized to see the interview.