on the safe side, part 5

January, 2084 - Summer Phoenix is 19.

Soundtrack: "Because of You," by Kelly Clarkson.

Summer arrives at her dad's house with a sleeping bag under her arm. She owes her sister a sleepover. She has a deck of cards and she'd going to teach Ryanne to play Euchre. They'll do makeovers if she's up for it, though Summer doesn't care much for makeup. It seems like the kind of thing a big sister is supposed to teach. They'll talk about boys and music and maybe their wrecked family, if Ryanne wants to. Summer isn't sure what good talking about it does sometimes. Because they don't talk about it – they talk around it. They talk about everything except what actually matters.

She finds them all in the living room with Ryanne. It wouldn't surprise Summer that Ryanne had caused yet another argument, but it doesn't look like they're talking about Ryanne for once. There's a nervous calm on their faces, the kind of weight that only comes with matters life or death. Aunt Nessa, Summer thinks, dropping her sleeping bag to the floor where it bounces once and rolls to a stop near the wall.

But then Hayden speaks first, and Summer remembers his phone call earlier in the week. She was partly right about the life and death.

hello friends!

I'm so sorry this blog has gone quiet. I absolutely do intend to continue playing Sims (OMG, I miss it so much!!!), and I hope to continue my Sim-storytelling in some capacity as well. Nothing as intense or frequent as what I once did here with Lakeside Heights, but there will be something. I have a lot of exciting Simming projects planned for the coming months, once I get my head to stop spinning, lol!

But first, I'd like to talk about what's been keeping me so busy. I've been hard at work this past spring and summer, and I've gone and decided to make myself the beginnings of what I hope will be a long and fulfilling career, which is what I always intended to do someday. I know I've mentioned here before that I went to college to study fiction writing, and I guess you might say I just got sidetracked with this wonderful distraction that is Lakeside Heights and Sim-storytelling. It taught me just as much (or more!) about writing and storytelling as I ever learned in uni. It taught me about my own personal style and voice, and it led me to some really amazing people, all over the world, who I never knew would become some of my very best friends.

I did it for fun in the beginning, but I had no idea it would become one of the most important and enriching experiences of my life. Writing a Sim story - yes, I'm totally serious, lol!

But anyway, I'd like to show you what's been keeping me so busy! :)

Exactly Where They'd Fall

This is the novel that was inspired by Jodie and Amelia's story, which you may have read first here on this blog many years ago. (Wow, yes, it has been years now, hasn't it?)

But before you dig in, there's one thing I want us to talk about - a note on alternate dimensions. This is not the same story you first read here. In some ways, it's quite different. I'd like to say this is inspired by the story once posted here, rather than a direct retelling of it. If you could take the soul out of a story, and instill it in another body, that would be what I've done here.

You'll likely recognize a few scenes. You'll certainly recognize the main characters, though some characters have changed.  Some are entirely new. Some characters (like Piper) have kept their names and personalities as a nod to their inspirations, but are really living an entirely different life in this book and the spin-off novels that will follow it.

When a writer publishes first draft stories (like the ones you read here on Lakeside Heights), a lot of times, what I see in my head isn't necessarily what gets translated onto the page. That's both the beauty and the frustration of the creative writing process. And that's what critique partners and editors are for, and I have to say, I've had a very talented team helping me shape this little book-baby.

So while it's not the same story you first read here, it is infinitely better and truer to what I had in mind. It's like the skeleton with all the meat on its bones. And some makeup. And a super cute outfit with the perfect pair of shoes. It's matured and filled out and I hope will yeild you a much richer experience.

on the safe side, part 4

January 15, 2084 - Summer Phoenix is 19, Sophie is 61.

Soundtrack: "Because of You," by Kelly Clarkson.

Summer doesn't dream most of the time. Between school and work and family, there isn't time to dream. Or when she does, they're those short, nonsensical dreams...