Future Updates Announcement

>> Monday, February 8, 2010

Sessions updates will be postponed indefinitely. Please refer to Gayl's blog.

We appreciate your understanding.

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And More Snow

>> Saturday, February 6, 2010




Blizzard shots; our deck. Three or four more inches fell after taking these shots.

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Ladies Night Out

>> Monday, February 1, 2010



A couple of days ago Gayl and I pulled a very very late night. Some JD was involved. A generous quantity of JD. And some talk about Ryan and Coop and what it all meant and where we should go and we decided, damn, we need to go out for a while together without the guys.

So here is our virtual escape.

We're going to make a habit of it.

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Pose Boxes and Beer

 
As far as I'm concerned, those two sort of go together...

I keep seeing people looking around for help with pose boxes. Honestly, the resources Goodbye_Sun has developed are the best. I don't know why anyone would go rummaging around when she's provided it all in a great format.

Her latest is HERE. Includes links.

The largest and most complete pose box catalog of poses is maintained by Lachesis. It is HERE.

Xtina has a very nice pose box catalog, sorted differently. It is HERE.

And I'm working, sort of, on an update with teens. I'm not planning on using many pose boxes. I'm going to see if I can do it without them. Need beer CC if anybody knows where I can get that.

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Endings and Bios

>> Saturday, January 30, 2010

This isn't apropos of anything in particular so don't make assumptions LOL! Stuck inside with kids and dog. It's snowing.

Do you ever get so sick of one of your characters you just want to get rid of them no matter what?

A year ago I was dealing with too many characters and inadequate focus, and realized I had to remove some of them. I did it. Fast and hard and, in a couple of cases, without much in the way of realistic build up. They were in my way and annoying me so they went crazy or moved away or something. I stopped short of killing them off. I'm not so certain of my plotting ability - might turn out I need them. But I made them go away.

I don't like to simply quit on a character. If I can't come up with the next step, I'd rather wait until I see it than dump the storyline and move on. I can't just say, then they all died, the end. That's horribly unfair to the reader. I know I'd get mad if I was reading something and enjoying it and suddenly a giant asteroid lands on the town and that's the end (wrote stuff like that when I was about 8 years old and got a pat on the head from Mom along with a peculiar look and a suggestion that I go outside and play for a while).

Now I am really interested in feedback on this one. Our bios. I don't know if you read them. I don't know if they're useful or interesting. I have not been updating them much because I don't want to include a lot of spoilers. Should they be updated? Should they include less info? Does it matter?

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Recommending a Tutorial on Sim Staging

>> Thursday, January 28, 2010

I spent some time this morning reading a fascinating tutorial called Staging Sims for Sequential Art. Since I have no background in art or theater, I was completely unfamiliar with some of the concepts and immediately wanted to go look at my shots and figure out where I'm going wrong. I found a couple of shots I didn't use; I think they're an example of violating the fourth wall, moving around to the wrong side of the stage. If not, I'm sure I can find some because I know I'm doing it.

(Note: there were other problems with these shots, which is why I didn't use them.)

The tutorial is clever, informative, easy to read, and I recommend it.

 
 

EDIT: ACTUAL SHOTS (wow they look bad and blurry never mind)



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Regret

>> Tuesday, January 26, 2010

We do continue to tangle up everything in our world together - Chameleon update.

and yes, we do have to get from here to there.

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Hunting - Passages 12

>> Monday, January 25, 2010

 

I took the easy way out on some of these shots. You just sort of have to use your imagination. The structure itself went through about half a dozen changes, and I tossed out an ambitious idea and worked around it.

I want to thank everyone who has offered me such kind and supportive comments, particularly about my health. I have to pace myself, so I appreciate the understanding more than I can express. Thank you.

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More than Words - RA Update

>> Saturday, January 23, 2010

More than blondes maybe. Finally Wyatt and Cadence. Through a maze and of course there would be a blonde drummer girl LOL! Love it!

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Kicking the Black Dog

 

I have to beg for patience. I really am struggling with some health issues that will not let me go; the black dog has his teeth sunk firmly and permanently into me. He's not going away ever. Never ever. I love reading and I'm falling behind reading what I love to read (insert YOUR updates).

I spent some time today reading work I'd written a couple of years ago because I had no energy to do much else. Did the OMFG thing about the POV because it was horrible. But I wondered if it was easier to write then than it is now. How did I write that? When I used first person, was it better? Is that an illusion?

In between slowly fighting to get shots and battling the real monster in my life, I've begun to wonder if POV does matter to me. Maybe I'm a better writer when I write a different way. Maybe it was just easier. It certainly felt easier. Writing was like flying then, and now it's like flying into a sandstorm.

Is it easier for you to write from a particular POV? Is there a best POV (first person vs third person)? Does it matter?

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Phone Calls

>> Monday, January 18, 2010

I started a very rough Passages update and realized I'd written myself into the dreaded phone call corner. I rewrote it; the people who were talking on the phone are now talking face to face. I'm not happy with that either.

A phone call is a small encounter. Someone knocking at the door, well that sort of takes over the whole chapter.

I hate trying to take shots of phone calls. Done it all different kinds of ways and it still feels clumsy.

What do you think works, if you must do a phone call scene? What does NOT work for you, as a reader, if you read one?

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Cleaning Up - Old Horrible Writing

>> Thursday, January 14, 2010



I'm sort of cleaning up and writing at the same time. There's a rough draft of Passages 12 with no ending. I have to see the end first and I can't quite see it yet.

But in my clean up process I fell over something.

Once upon a time about 10 years ago I was writing a story. A 'friend', actually she was my riding coach, wanted to help. We ended up with a pile of stuff, and I still have some of it. In a closet in the basement. I couldn't get the rest of it away from her because she said her house burned down, which should say something about how the friendship ended.

I tried to read some of it the other day. To say it is bad is kind. Bodice Ripper crossed with Star Wars/LOTR or something. I sort of liked some of it but I'm not sure what it is. I will say none of the bodice ripper parts are mine but they're probably the best of it.

Do you keep your old stuff? Why?

EDITED AGAIN: I was looking for a really old shot, couldn't find the one I wanted, but I decided to put one of them up here instead of the new one. Wow talk about over sharpened. Cuts my eyeballs to look at it!!

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View from a Corner - Passages Update

>> Tuesday, January 12, 2010

 

As big a fit as I threw about finishing this, you'd think I could have come up with a better location to take shots than the corner of a sidewalk. But I couldn't.

I didn't Photoshop these at all. I did use Picasa to upload them. I still don't understand much about Picasa, and can't really tell if the shots look better. When I directly compare them with shots I've uploaded through Blogger, there does seem to be a difference though.

As usual, the link is in the post title.

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Inspiration

>> Saturday, January 9, 2010

After struggling so hard for weeks to make things work, and dealing with dry mind once I got close, I decided I should get back to my roots. Look at the work that inspired me to begin with.

And this is it.

Jixs Ooh La La: for the urban look and the total incredible club vibe. Yes this did inspire me.

Adventures in Dating: Decorgal's exploration into the wilds of dating and love. Because it was something I could understand.

Deception Pass: Because the sets are fantastic

Worlds Apart: Because it was nothing like anything I'd ever seen before.

100 Days of Sorrow: Because it was so clean and so pure and so terrible and so beautiful. And because a lot of it was set right here and now.

Knock It Down: Sheer lush gorgeous EXTREME over the top story and characters and angles I'd never known anyone could use.

Dark December: Well of course this is the last because it was the pivotal moment for me. Because I fell in love. With the writer, with the characters, period. Walked right through the looking glass into that world and did not want to come out.

Since that original GASP moment when I came out of my little TSR world, and yes I did go back and look at them, the stories I did there and I went back today and looked at them because I had to do it (yuck, but they were my first and it is still the same damned story), I will say this.

I haven't grown much as a writer. But I sure have been gifted with some incredible friends.

There's another reason why I'm doing this. I'm not sure where I'm going anymore. Every update is increasingly hard. The pressure to use new and unique poses is getting to me.

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Postcard from Hell

>> Thursday, January 7, 2010

I hate HATE HATE the damned clothing catalog crashes. I want to kick the stupid game through the wall and stomp on it. I can get so close, I can see it, got the lots set up, all I need to do is buy some clothes for somebody and no, no can't do that. No way. Fine. He can go out there naked.

EDIT: 7 pm Thursday: My community lots do not load. I'm going to keep going with this until I can make something work. At least everything loads a lot quicker since I got rid of all those characters. Thank you Lachesis!!! I had no idea I could do that with Clean Installer. I just hope it hasn't borked all the community lots.

EDIT: 8 pm Thursday: Rethinking everything. Staring at the stack of CD's. Reinstall. BWWWAHHHH NOOOO. Waiting for the game to load.

EDIT: 9 pm Thursday: It's not community lots in general. Moved a Maxis community lot into South Beach and sent Camilla shopping. No problem! Ok maybe it's Camilla...but it's probably the lot. I'll delete that lot, reinstall it and see if it works. Thank you Cammie....

EDIT: 9 am Friday: I was able to successfully load and use Maxis community lots with bars and cooks and hosts with the no regen hack installed. The main lot I want to use is still crashing, although I was able to get someone there before it went down. I hate to think I'm going to have to rebuild that thing, but it's looking like it. Somehow the lot itself has gone bad. I haven't checked the rest of my community lots yet. Scared scared scared to try it.

EDIT: 10 am Saturday: Removed the stove and host station from the problem community lot. Now it will load. The regen hacks are sitting on the desktop. I guess I can test that out by putting them back and see if the lot will still load. Very very sick and tired of fooling with this.



EDIT: 3:30 pm Saturday: I have the minimum I need to do an update. If I can get my head around it after all this. I'd like to just kill some of them right now.

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New Year Welcome Wagon

>> Friday, January 1, 2010

 

As most of you know, once in a while Gayl and I do something completely ridiculous. This is one of those things. As always, the link is in the title here.

I've been rebuilding my neighborhood. That's about all the background that will make any sense.

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Happy New Year



Wishing you GOOD LUCK with resolutions, and lots of shiny things just in case...

It's been an eventful year for me. Most of it good; some of it, um, challenging. The people I've met here keep me laughing, sane, balanced, and hopeful. Thank you!

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Chameleon - Why Guys Should Not Wear Weird Boxers

>> Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Gayl has just posted an update for Chameleon. I'm making light of it in the title - it's not.

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Passages Prologue - Wasting Time...



Thank you Gayl, for the beautiful series of shots and for the gorgeous paintings you made! This one just glows!

Once again, I haven't been feeling well so I haven't done much. I tackled a minor project I've been thinking about for some time, a prologue for Passages. I didn't know how I wanted to do it, and even when I came up with a half-baked idea, I didn't know how to execute it. What's up there now...well I might change it. I also backdated it so it borked the blogger update list.

Why on earth did I bother? There was a relationship that had not been addressed, and needed to be.

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Happy Holidays!

>> Friday, December 25, 2009



No matter how broken my game is, this one always seems to find a way out of any tangle of ribbon or wire.

Wishing you grace and light and a magic pair of plyers...

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Finish Lines - Passages Update

>> Monday, December 21, 2009



I was going to say something about flogging a dead horse. But it's not quite dead yet. I managed to force one last update out of the crippled hood.

I don't even have a bunch of extra shots I can use. So I'm reusing one. Thanks to everyone who gave me advice and kleenex and a smack in the face and said move it! This is undoubtedly the last one I can get out of this NB.

EDIT 12/22: Thank you, Gayl, for helping me find a better piece of music.

Thanks to Muzegoddess for listening to me fret and giving me really good advice, although I have to put some of it off until the next update.

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Putting on My Mad Face

>> Sunday, December 20, 2009


I think I'm facing a reinstall. More people are vanishing. Fireplaces disappear. Lots that work one day crash the next day even though I haven't changed a single thing.

I may be able to get one more Passages update out first, as long as I keep it short and go easy on the big community lots. My plan for today was to start taking shots. It's almost noon and I haven't done a thing but scream at the damned game all morning long.

Yeah, I love this kid's expression. It about says it all for me right now.

EDIT: Nope, don't think I can manage Passages. Cascading crashes. Main families no longer load. Trying to pack up lots.

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More Snow

>> Saturday, December 19, 2009



And I've tried over and over again to rescue my missing major character. He's still the Invisible Man. And that will not do.

Damn. And more four letter words. Ok, I can work around that if I just put my ass in gear and start taking shots and dump a clone in there at the last minute. But I'm still whimpering about it.

Good thing I went out earlier. I doubt I could make it up the hill with my little car at this point.

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White Moment




Snowfall like this is so rare now. My backyard at about 7:30 AM. Blurry yes because I was shivering.

And I have not been idle. On top of crashing lots, some of the characters have started to disappear. Obviously I need to fix this before I can continue....

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BIG BIG Waves

>> Wednesday, December 16, 2009



Another lot blew up on me. But this was a really interesting crash.

It was a beach lot. I wanted to save it so I moved the family out. Packed the lot. Moved them back in.

WOW. A tidal wave hit the house. Surf coming right up over the top of the house and onto the street on the other side. I have never seen anything like this and never heard of anything like this.

I can't fix it, so the house is washed out to sea. Anybody know what I did?

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Serendipity - The Dinner Invite

>> Tuesday, December 15, 2009


It's been a long time since we posted anything on one of our two playground blogs.

Yesterday I gave up on a lot I'd been using for at least two years. I couldn't use it at all anymore. Moved the family into a temporary place and happily messed around for a while, invited a friend for dinner, and left free will on. It's not much, but it's sort of cute.

And yeah, there's someone in there who has not yet been introduced.

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Sessions Update - Comes with Lights

>> Sunday, December 13, 2009



We considered, thought about it, and decided we probably don't have another Sessions update in us before Christmas. So we hope this will do...

Merry Christmas from Sessions!

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Community

>> Wednesday, December 9, 2009



This is sort of a holiday post, and I should wait, and actually took it down after posting it. Then I reconsidered and I'm just going to go ahead and put it back up.

I was chatting the other day with someone about lists. A list of the most famous people in the sims storytelling community, that kind of thing. Well, 'famous' is hard to define - what is it? How many people know who you are? How many comments you get? How many places link to you? It didn't feel right to me. It didn't feel right to the person I was chatting with.

What did feel right to both of us was a list of all those people who have helped us over the years. Famous or not, on the other side of some sort of style divide or not, TS2 vs TS3, vampires, romance, no romance no vampires, doesn't matter, they were kind. Funny when I was down and supportive when I was desperate.

And you know what? That's a long list.

All of us have run into people who are condescending, pretentious, judgmental, arrogant, petty, jealous, brutal and just plain bitch evil. Sometimes they want to stay at their own lunch table with their BFF's and put everybody else on ignore.

I think they are in the minority.

So while I deal with my own personal challenge, no matter how that turns out, I want to reach out and thank you. Every one of you. The people who inspired me to begin to write. The people who helped me solve blog problems. The people who gave and gave, and frequently laughed with me while they did. All the people who have read our work. The people who let us know what they thought about it. Friends I've lost touch with. Some of you will never see this, but that's ok too. I want to throw it out on the electronic wind; where it ends up, that's not up to me.

Thank you.

and Gayl...for the light you gave me, no thanks suffice.

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Confusion - Passages Chapter 9

>> Monday, December 7, 2009


I should put up an extra shot here, and I have plenty of them. Maybe later.

This was done backwards and sideways and every way except the right way. I'm still not well, so I took the easy way out every chance I got. I certainly hope it works.

I want to thank Muzegoddess for helping me get one of the shots - I never remember animations from BV or any of the EP's. Thank you! And thank you, Gayl, for making me shut down when I was pushing too hard.

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Not Much Going On

>> Saturday, December 5, 2009



Still dragging around, still frankly not feeling great, but I want to showcase something Gayl made: the beautiful framed pictures by Camilla's bed. Thank you so much! I've got some ideas about how to use them; something like that is a statement.

It's been a while since I took shots first and filled in the text. I think I might try it again for the next Passages update anyway. It's not as difficult, and I've got the chapter roughed out. We're expecting snow this afternoon - it's already snowing about 40 miles to the southwest - so maybe I can get something done.

EDIT: SNOWING SNOWING!!!!

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Rainy Weather

>> Thursday, December 3, 2009



I haven't been well most of the week, some longstanding health issues that just make me very tired, so I haven't gotten much accomplished. Simple logistical problems have been throwing me. One of those weeks when I just did not want to tackle anything hard.

We do have a small announcement.

Gayl, Muzegoddess and I got together and started a joint blog we're calling Sim Solutions. It's basically our cheat sheet for poses and a place to write down technical solutions. We decided to share it, as long as everyone understands that it's quirky, it's not intended to replace or compete with other similar sites, etc etc. There's not much content yet - it's brand new - but if you want to take advantage of it, here it is. REPEATING: IT IS NOT intended to compete with any existing catalog. We needed the poses grouped by box, and there are only some kinds of poses we use, so that's all that is there. I don't want any of the wonderful people who create those fantastic catalogs to feel like we're doing something that takes away from their efforts.

Sims Solutions

The shot isn't germane but I liked it. That's what I've been doing most of the week, taking shots I can't use.

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Love - Sessions Update

>> Sunday, November 29, 2009

Echoing Gayl's post on her blog, this is something we wanted to do. How to fit it in?

Sometimes you just have to go for it, and trust that what you've built will turn in the light and show the connections. I think it does. It is beautiful, romantic, and charming, and all Gayl's work. And given what's going on in the rest of the story, I believe the connections are blunt and obvious.

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Is Cruz Gabe's Clone?



After thinking about the question from Sinclair in Passages 8 about Cruz and Gabe, I decided to take a shot with Cruz and his parents and at least one of his grandparents.

Is Cruz Gabe's clone? No. He's not. Here's a shot of Cruz and his parents, Amanda Alcaide and Gabe Lombardo, and his maternal grandfather, Nicholas Alcaide. Cruz looks a lot like his father, but he also resembles his mother and his grandfather. Here's his family tree.

I love to get questions and comments like that!

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Cruz's Garage - Passages Update

>> Friday, November 27, 2009



I want to thank Xtina for the fabulous garage/bachelor pad she built for Cruz - it just made this whole piece! Thank you!!!

I asked for and got tremendous support and help from Veron, but I was too far along in taking shots to take advantage of it. Thank you so much! You are fantastic!

And Gayl, thanks for helping me see the right way to go with this, and encouraging me not to cut it short. Always so many thanks from me.

I tried to think of something to put here like an author's note, you know inspiration. I can't think of anything. I've seen this piece from the beginning to the end and I'm just working out how to get there. The journey is proving to be as interesting to me as the original picture, full of potholes I didn't expect, and, I will have to admit, I didn't expect Cruz.

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Impossible Realities

>> Wednesday, November 25, 2009



You know how it is when you keep trying to remember a name or a word and you absolutely cannot remember it? And then a couple of days later, while you're doing something completely unrelated, it sort of floats out of your brain.



What does this have to do with Gabe?

I've got Passages written and I'm starting to work on mapping the shots. So yes it does. But it has more to do with my inability to think in a straight line. I do so appreciate all the help I've received over the past year. If I need something, get stuck, scared, stupid, somebody in the community is there with the wrecker to help me get out of the ditch. So thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Light and Structure

>> Monday, November 23, 2009



Vanity shot...always a tease LMAO!!

I've been following the thread on simhaven about story blogs, and I always take everything to heart. Gayl and I have a long and complicated story, which we've tried to make accessible. I think I'm out of ideas on what else to do.

Some of the things people said they liked, we don't do, or don't do in the normal way. Like author's notes: I think we post author's notes but they appear on our blogs, not as a preamble or prologue to the individual chapters. Outtakes: I believe we have a few, but not many. Once we start shooting, the only outtakes might be the same shot from different angles. Or shots we decide not to post for various reasons. Not a lot of wasted shots or 'funny' shots with feet sticking through doors or whatever.

It works for us most of the time. I still don't believe it's sufficiently clear that the companion stories are critical parts of the whole story, but apart from screaming about it, I think I've done all I can.

Anyway, enough of that. Our readers are pretty outspoken. If they don't like something, they usually let us know about it.

I'm working on a couple of things. Got the next update for Passages about halfway written. More than halfway written. I have to know how it ends before I can begin any piece I do, and I have to know what it looks like, the light, the color. My visual problem...

I want to thank everyone who continues to support us while we explore different things and different ways of looking at situations, including opening a couple of companion stories. They are all part of the whole, light cast in a different direction.

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2 AM Update - Passages 7

>> Sunday, November 22, 2009



This piece was inspired by the Chameleon update Gayl just posted, although I've known for a long time where it was going. Once again I stuck myself with a lot of sitting around shots, which I hate; did the best I could with them.

Thank you to the pose catalog creators without which even one scene would probably take a month. Xtina and Lachesis...much gratitude.

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Strangers - Chameleon Update

>> Saturday, November 21, 2009

Gayl just posted an update I've been waiting and waiting to see. Powerful, ominous, and full of Ryan. Can't get any better than that!

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Thank You to Xtina

>> Thursday, November 19, 2009



I shared with her my love of riding, and some of my regrets because I miss riding so much. And then she made these absolutely incredible shots (the link is in the title) - surprised and astonished me!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. They did indeed cheer me up!

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Sessions Update - It Only Hurts

>> Monday, November 16, 2009


Remember that old line where the guy tells the doctor 'it only hurts' if I do that and the doctor says then don't do that?

That's about how I feel right now after this update, except I'm not sure exactly what I'm doing that's causing the pain!

The shots are not what I wanted, but in the end I had to accept what I could get. I'm having problems with community lots in general, but this one collapsed if I put in too many pose boxes or too many people. Which probably means it's a memory problem.

Anyway, it is what it is at this point.

The young man in the shot here is Nathan Stanfield. He looks a lot like Cooper and his older sister Rayne. His twin brother Eric doesn't resemble him very much.

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Global Warming

>> Sunday, November 15, 2009

Right now I'd call it more like a supernova that's eating my game. I can take one shot and it crashes. I get in again, and, if I'm lucky, I get one more shot. Then it crashes.

I have no idea what's wrong. I have a scene 2 completely done but scene 1 is NO WHERE. And not likely to be anywhere.

So I'm trying to come up with a Plan B for this update. I don't know what I'm going to do. And it's Sessions so I can't do what I'd with with Passages, and that's just change the second scene around and make it the first scene and go with it. Trying to think.

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Cold...But Getting Warmer

>> Friday, November 13, 2009



I'm not sitting around doing nothing. I really am working on an update. I think I've finished both lots I need, and I'm moving on to the third step in my process. Mapping out all the poses.

I have to do that before I start taking the shots. Every paragraph must have explicit instructions on the pose, the pose box required, what it looks like in case I don't think I can easily find it, etc etc. This is why it takes me forever to do an update.

Anyway, here's a shot from the second lot. Beautiful bridge is by Criquette. No people in there yet, I had to be sure I had the line of sight I wanted before I start working with actual people on the lot. It's supposed to look like it's way out the hell in the middle of nowhere and COLD. More bridges, but it's a series of islands so there have to be bridges unless they take ferries back and forth, and ferries just don't look as good. And I don't Photoshop anything, so I have to get it right.

Hope those pose boxes work for teens. Some don't seem to.

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Still Proscrastinating - ISO Terrain Paint

>> Wednesday, November 11, 2009




I'm kind of stalled in writing, unable to clearly see where I want to go.

I know I need a a particular kind of lot, though, so I've been working on one, off and on, for the past three or four days. Still not entirely happy with it but here are some preview shots. Thank you Xtina for giving me the links to the worn out brick! I did not use the weather thingy here since it cuts off the objects in the distance even with the Very Large View selected.


In case anyone is interested, this started life as the Corner Shoppes, a lot that comes with the game (here's a shot of it). I wanted an actual beach front set, but by combining that lot with Criquette's marina, I was able to come pretty close without putting it right on a beach. I had a couple of alleys and some trees in that location, as a placeholder, because I knew I wanted to eventually use it, but I could not have put a beachfront lot there.

I really want some terrain paint that looks like worn out boards, the kind of boards you find around the beach. I'd like to combine it with sand terrain paint instead of using wood floors. If anyone knows where I can find something like that, please let me know.





EDIT (an hour later): Success! Found what I wanted. It really makes a huge difference, at least to me. Maybe nobody else in the world notices. Maybe I should go do something useful LOL.

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Housekeeping

>> Saturday, November 7, 2009


Gayl and I have been updating our blogs, replacing old bio shots with new ones (like this one of Cooper, which she took and I can't resist putting up here, although it's not the one we finally selected), cleaning up the header shots, trying to make everything look better. The header shot on my main blog is actually a shot of our world, which I like.

Our body of work is so large, and obviously so difficult to navigate, we've been discussing ways to make it easier for readers to start with Sessions. I know if I came into it cold I probably wouldn't continue because it feels like it begins in the middle of something. And it is intimidatingly huge.

I moved the link to the story summaries up further to the top of the sidebar where it's more visible. In response to a reader request (thanks xtina), I wrote a more detailed summary/recap and posted that too. Any recap will contain spoilers, and it does, but it's there in case anyone wants to read it. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

What works better? The story summary format by stories? The recap format by characters? Something different?

EDIT: The recap with shots is up. I hope it makes sense. The story line does not progress smoothly because it isn't about only character. I took down the link to the story summaries since it was redundant. And I couldn't follow it myself.

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Chameleon Update

>> Friday, November 6, 2009

Ryan. Melinda. Stunning shots and powerful writing. Gayl is on fire with this.

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Parking Lot Wars - Passages Update

>> Thursday, November 5, 2009



This didn't turn out the way I wanted or expected, but I'm tired of fighting with it. Too many members of that family in one parking lot is trouble LOL.

anyway, very VERY minor piece I really hesitate to even announce.

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Missing Parts

>> Wednesday, November 4, 2009



I'm going to try to work on a Passages update I put aside because I couldn't come up with a way to make it sufficiently dramatic. Gave myself a long stern talk - not every single chapter is going to be stunning. Anyway, I have exactly one shot, but the text is almost completely done.

As usual for me, I leave the beginning until I do the end. Is this normal? I've been struggling with the 'no beginning' problem for over a year now. It drives me crazy to work like that but I can't seem to get around it.

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Drawing Blood - Sessions 18

>> Tuesday, November 3, 2009



I'd like to claim more than just a bloodthirsty interest in this update, but this is Gayl's work. All I did was stand around and howl. And insert evil bits when I had the chance...I think I shoved a few sharp objects in there.

We hope it works.

Sessions 18 - Hangnail

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Family Trees

>> Sunday, November 1, 2009




Yeah I'm procrastinating, but I did get something up that we've needed for a long time.

I uploaded some minimal data and created a couple of family trees. It's pretty bare bones but it's there, all the Stanfield and Lombardo family connections, as far as we have worked them out, and a couple others - that's Amanda Alcaide's daddy and mommy, and the program showed just how much that woman got into.

Thank you Mao and Phoenix for pointing me to this website and explaining how it works! You guys rock!

Family Trees

EDIT: I've uploaded most of the major characters and built the extended family relationships. Playing around with it's been an interesting exercise.

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Candy Corn

>> Saturday, October 31, 2009



Ok I should have put him in a costume, or brought his daddy over and put HIM in a costume (almost any costume would do for Gabe). But I didn't. Xtina built a lot for Cruz (this shot was taken in that lot), and believe me, it is a bag full of candy. Go take a look at her blog for some extraordinary downloads.



I'm working on Passages again. I was waiting for inspiration to drop in my bag. It hasn't happened, so I'm going to dress up what I have and go with it. I've also been searching for different hair for Rayne. Not sure if she got a look at something she doesn't like, or just doesn't like anything right now, but she has a permanent scowl on her face. I took the shot from that distance because I thought it was kind of interesting to see her dressed so much like her father. Except for the top...

Happy Halloween to everybody! Eat candy!!!

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