Sim Haven

So.

2014-01-18T03:33:43Z

It's about halfway through the month now, and I still don't have a challenge up, so I might as well come clean here.

Once upon a time, this community was a lot of fun. There were only a handful of regular posters by the time I first showed up as a member, but there was enough enthusiasm to keep SimHaven going. People participated in challenges, commented on each other's work, held discussions, shared links. You know, the usual web community stuff.

But things change. For various reasons--some of which I know and some of which I don't, none of which are my business but all of which I can understand and none of which I hold against anyone--people left, and no one new showed up. By the time Goodbye_Sun passed the torch on to me, things had gone well downhill and it just kept going until it hit rock bottom.

As for me... eh, I didn't have the easiest 2013, especially in the fall, when writing was really the only thing keeping me from going off the deep end. I've more or less downsized to one story (my others are sort of hanging in the limbo; honestly, I don't know any better than anyone else when or if I'll ever get back to these) and I update on Tumblr and I'm also active at PBK. However, I almost never log into LiveJournal. I never cared for the user interface, and I like the new one even less than I liked the old one, so these days, I only log in here to comment on the occasional post and to post the challenges here.

But it has been a long time since I've felt like there was much of a point to posting the challenges, which is why they eventually went from monthly to every two months, and why it's the 17th and I still haven't been able to bring myself to post a new one. No one does the challenges, unless they do so without posting to the community. Hell, I don't even do the challenges, so I don't exactly blame anyone there. But if no one does them, then why post them? It just no longer makes sense.

I have a lot of fond memories of this community, and I don't want it to outright die, but having never been someone who was much good at the whole motivating other people thing, I don't really know how much I can do about that on my own. For all I know, no one's even reading this; even if I did come up with a lot of great new ideas for the community, they wouldn't change a thing without any participants.

While I acknowledge that I may be partially at fault for the fall of the community for not diversifying the community when the chance existed, I think the root cause is ultimately time: changing trends in the Sims community as a whole, new developments in people's lives and interests, work and school and families and everything else that has to come first. So, perhaps what I'll do for now is treat this post as a sort of diagnostic test, and based on the response (or lack of), I will move forward from there, with input from anyone who wants to offer it.

Thanks for listening. And sorry.

Challenge: November/December 2013

2013-11-01T19:05:22Z

This challenge is to write a short story about or involving a superstition, either based on a real life tradition or fictional. Your story can use any version of Sims and can be set in any time period or world of your choosing. Include as many screencaps as needed.

If you prefer to do machinima, footage should run at least a minute long. When posting, you can embed the movie or provide a link and teaser pic.

A few rules:

1. Challenge dates: November 1-December 31, 2013

2. Remember to include warnings. R-rated stories are allowed, but please f-lock the post.

3. Please tag entries with "challenge: november december 13" and your username tag. If you don't have a tag, just let me know and I'll add one for you.

4. Feel free to include a teaser pic as long as it doesn't exceed 450px in width. Please place the body of the entry under an LJ cut. If you are posting to another site--Blogger, Wordpress, your own journal, etc.--please indicate this in the entry.

5. Good luck and have fun!

If you still want to get something in for any previous challenge, feel free to do so. Just make sure the post is tagged appropriately. :)

Challenge: September/October

2013-09-06T22:06:37Z

A few days late--sorry about that. Life has been a bit less-than-stellar lately.

Anyway...

This month's challenge is to write a short story about or involving a workplace scenario. Your story can use any version of Sims and can be set in any time period or world of your choosing. Include as many screencaps as needed.

If you prefer to do machinima, footage should run at least a minute long. When posting, you can embed the movie or provide a link and teaser pic.

A few rules:

1. Challenge dates: September 1-October 31, 2013

2. Remember to include warnings. R-rated stories are allowed, but please f-lock the post.

3. Please tag entries with "challenge: september october 13" and your username tag. If you don't have a tag, just let me know and I'll add one for you.

5. Good luck and have fun!

If you still want to get something in for any previous challenge, feel free to do so. Just make sure the post is tagged appropriately. :)

Challenge: July/August 2013

2013-07-02T00:42:09Z

This month's challenge is to write a short story about or involving a mirror. Your story can use any version of Sims and can be set in any time period or world of your choosing. Include as many screencaps as needed.

If you prefer to do machinima, footage should run at least a minute long. When posting, you can embed the movie or provide a link and teaser pic.

A few rules:

1. Challenge dates: July 1-August 31, 2013

2. Remember to include warnings. R-rated stories are allowed, but please f-lock the post.

3. Please tag entries with "challenge: july august 13" and your username tag. If you don't have a tag, just let me know and I'll add one for you.

5. Good luck and have fun!

If you still want to get something in for any previous challenge, feel free to do so. Just make sure the post is tagged appropriately :)

Challenge: May/June 2013

2013-04-30T17:58:14Z

This month's challenge is to write a short story involving a non-human/humanoid narrator. Your story can use any version of Sims and can be set in any time period or world of your choosing. Include as many screencaps as needed.

If you prefer to do machinima (in which case, I suppose it's a fairly open challenge), footage should run at least a minute long. When posting, you can embed the movie or provide a link and teaser pic.

A few rules:

1. Challenge dates: May 1-June 30, 2013

2. Remember to include warnings. R-rated stories are allowed, but please f-lock the post.

3. Please tag entries with "challenge: may june 13" and your username tag. If you don't have a tag, just let me know and I'll add one for you.

5. Good luck and have fun!

If you still want to get something in for any previous challenge, feel free to do so. Just make sure the post is tagged appropriately :)

Challenge: March/April 2013

2013-03-01T04:14:20Z

This month's challenge is to write a short story using only dialogue. Your story can use any version of Sims and can be set in any time period or world of your choosing. Include as many screencaps as needed.

If you prefer to do machinima (in which case, I suppose it's a fairly open challenge), footage should run at least a minute long. When posting, you can embed the movie or provide a link and teaser pic.

A few rules:

1. Challenge dates: March 1-April 30, 2013

2. Remember to include warnings. R-rated stories are allowed, but please f-lock the post.

3. Please tag entries with "challenge: march april 13" and your username tag. If you don't have a tag, just let me know and I'll add one for you.

5. Good luck and have fun!

If you still want to get something in for any previous challenge, feel free to do so. Just make sure the post is tagged appropriately :)

Monthly Challenge: February 2013

2013-02-01T02:14:27Z

This month's challenge is to write a short story about a break-up (can be romantic, but the conclusion of any relationship counts--friendship, business, familial, etc.). Your story can use any version of Sims and can be set in any time period or world of your choosing. Include as many screencaps as needed.

If you prefer to do machinima, footage should run at least a minute long. When posting, you can embed the movie or provide a link and teaser pic.

A few rules:

1. Challenge dates: February 1-28, 2013

2. Remember to include warnings. R-rated stories are allowed, but please f-lock the post.

3. Please tag entries with "challenge: february 13" and your username tag. If you don't have a tag, just let me know and I'll add one for you.

5. Good luck and have fun!

If you still want to get something in for any previous challenge, feel free to do so. Just make sure the post is tagged appropriately :)

Monthly Challenge: January 2013

2013-01-09T22:15:07Z

Sorry this is so late. Stuff happened. And then more stuff happened.

Anyway...

This month's challenge is to write a story in a single sentence. Your story can use any version of Sims and can be set in any time period or world of your choosing. Include as many screencaps as needed.

If you prefer to do machinima, footage should run at least a minute long. When posting, you can embed the movie or provide a link and teaser pic.

A few rules:

1. Challenge dates: January 1 (er, for consistency's sake)-31, 2013

2. Remember to include warnings. R-rated stories are allowed, but please f-lock the post.

3. Please tag entries with "challenge: january 13" and your username tag. If you don't have a tag, just let me know and I'll add one for you.

5. Good luck and have fun!

If you still want to get something in for any previous challenge, feel free to do so. Just make sure the post is tagged appropriately :)

Monthly Challenge: December 2012

2012-12-01T03:43:11Z

December is catch-up month! Feel free to revisit any of the old challenges. :)

Monthly Challenge: November 2012

2012-10-31T21:12:20Z

Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises. -Pedro Calderon de la Barca

This month's challenge is to write a story with a mood based on a color of your choice (a "red" mood, a "blue" mood, etc.). Your story can use any version of Sims and can be set in any time period or world of your choosing. Stories should be a minimum of 200 words, but may run as long as you like. Include as many screencaps as needed.

If you prefer to do machinima, footage should run at least a minute long. When posting, you can embed the movie or provide a link and teaser pic.

A few rules:

1. Challenge dates: November 1-30, 2012

2. Remember to include warnings. R-rated stories are allowed, but please f-lock the post.

3. Please tag entries with "challenge: november 12" and your username tag. If you don't have a tag, just let me know and I'll add one for you.

5. Good luck and have fun!

If you still want to get something in for the October challenge, feel free to do so. Just make sure the post is tagged appropriately :)

Monthly Challenge: October 2012

2012-09-30T20:58:02Z

The past is a ghost, the future a dream, and all we ever have is now. -Bill Cosby

This month's challenge is to write a short story about a ghost, whether it be literal or figurative (or both?). Your story can use any version of Sims and can be set in any time period or world of your choosing. Stories should be a minimum of 200 words, but may run as long as you like. Include as many screencaps as needed.

If you prefer to do machinima, footage should run at least a minute long. When posting, you can embed the movie or provide a link and teaser pic.

A few rules:

1. Challenge dates: October 1-31, 2012

2. Remember to include warnings. R-rated stories are allowed, but please f-lock the post.

3. Please tag entries with "challenge: october 12" and your username tag. If you don't have a tag, just let me know and I'll add one for you.

5. Good luck and have fun!

If you still want to get something in for the September challenge, feel free to do so. Just make sure the post is tagged appropriately :)

Monthly Challenge: September 2012

2012-09-01T07:07:45Z

Mass transportation is doomed to failure in North America because a person's car is the only place where he can be alone and think. -Marshall McLuhan

This month's challenge is to write a short story about or involving some method of transportation. Your story can use any version of Sims and can be set in any time period or world of your choosing. Stories should be a minimum of 200 words, but may run as long as you like. Include as many screencaps as needed.

If you prefer to do machinima, footage should run at least a minute long. When posting, you can embed the movie or provide a link and teaser pic.

A few rules:

1. Challenge dates: September 1-30, 2012

2. Remember to include warnings. R-rated stories are allowed, but please f-lock the post.

3. Please tag entries with "challenge: september 12" and your username tag. If you don't have a tag, just let me know and I'll add one for you.

5. Good luck and have fun!

If you still want to get something in for the August challenge, feel free to do so. Just make sure the post is tagged appropriately :)

Monthly Challenge: August 2012

2012-08-01T03:02:49Z

Be able to be alone. Lose not the advantage of solitude, and the society of thyself. -Thomas Browne

This month's challenge is to write a short story involving only one character. Other characters may be referenced, but only one character can be physically present in the scene. Your story can use any version of Sims and can be set in any time period or world of your choosing. Stories should be a minimum of 200 words, but may run as long as you like. Include as many screencaps as needed.

If you prefer to do machinima, footage should run at least a minute long. When posting, you can embed the movie or provide a link and teaser pic.

A few rules:

1. Challenge dates: August 1-31, 2012

2. Remember to include warnings. R-rated stories are allowed, but please f-lock the post.

3. Please tag entries with "challenge: august 12" and your username tag. If you don't have a tag, just let me know and I'll add one for you.

5. Good luck and have fun!

If you still want to get something in for the July challenge, feel free to do so. Just make sure the post is tagged appropriately :)

Monthly Challenge: July 2012

2012-07-01T15:23:15Z

Sorry that this wasn't up sooner. Remember when you were a kid and summer vacation was actually a vacation? I miss that.

This month's challenge is to write a short story about a change of environment (e.g. moving, space exploration, parallel universes, etc.). Your story can use any version of Sims and can be set in any time period or world of your choosing. Stories should be a minimum of 200 words, but may run as long as you like. Include as many screencaps as needed.

If you prefer to do machinima, footage should run at least a minute long. When posting, you can embed the movie or provide a link and teaser pic.

A few rules:

1. Challenge dates: July 1-31, 2012

2. Remember to include warnings. R-rated stories are allowed, but please f-lock the post.

3. Please tag entries with "challenge: july 12" and your username tag. If you don't have a tag, just let me know and I'll add one for you.

5. Good luck and have fun!

If you still want to get something in for the June challenge, feel free to do so. Just make sure the post is tagged appropriately :)

links for writers

2012-06-27T06:22:50Z

The Greatest Female Sci-Fi/Fantasy Authors of All Time

Literary Journeys, BART Art Posters

22 Story basics I’ve picked up in my time at Pixar

Things To Do With a Book Besides Read It

How to Survive Life as a Character in a Bad Work of Fiction

Is Twitter the Newest Form of Literature?

Now you know it anyway

A Life Less Hereditary

2012-06-26T05:47:27Z

Title: A Life Less Hereditary
Author: Penelope
Rated: PG-13
Characters: Troy Tellerman & Angela Pleasant
Word Count: 2250+
Warnings: drug use, mild sexuality, language of the vulgar variety

Summary: A young Angela and Troy attempt to address the elephant in the room.

Author’s Note: This is DBL cannon but you absolutely, positively don't need to be familiar with DBL to read this one. I would recommend that you forget everything you know about Maxis when approaching this or any DBL anything, though. This was written in response to the February 2012 challenge. The image is linked and exits you to DBL's behind-the-scenes blog on Blogger.

links for writers

2012-06-06T07:39:35Z

Sci-fi and Fantasy
Fantasy For All: The Evolution of LGBT Characters in Comics, Fandoms and YA Lit
SF, big ideas, ideology: what is to be done?
10 Great Science Fiction Books for People Who Don’t Read Sci-Fi

Writing
Why I Write “Strong Female Characters”
What’s the difference between capturing an emotion and creating a mood?
Easily Create Hundreds of Ideas at Will
12 Character Writing Tips for Fiction Writers

Writers
A Peek Inside the Notebooks of Famous Authors, Artists and Visionaries
10 Famous Authors’ Fascinating Alter Egos
Contemporary Authors We Think We’ll Still Be Reading in 100 Years

Check your ego at the door
Self-Publishing And The Burden Of Proof
Indie Authors Beware: Integrity Matters

The Vaginal Fantasy hangout is the brainchild of Felicia Day, created as a way to discuss sci-fi, fantasy, and paranormal romance books, while having as much fun doing so as possible. I have to admit, I'm not particularly fond of romance novels, but as someone who does write genre fiction, I have found the videos from the monthly hangouts a really useful (and hilarious) way to find out what readers expect and want from authors. And the bonus is they recommend all kinds of books, not just romance, so they have been a great way to discover new things to read. I recommend these to pretty much everybody - Vaginal Fantasy Hangout videos

Monthly Challenge: June 2012

2012-06-01T04:22:04Z

This month's challenge is to write a short story that passes the Bechdel Test. For those of you not familiar with the test, it has three requirements:

1. There have to be at least two women in the story.
2. They have to talk to each other.
3. They have to talk about something other than a man.

Your story can be set in any time period or world of your choosing. Stories should be a minimum of 200 words, but may run as long as you like. Include as many screencaps as needed.

If you prefer to do machinima, footage should run at least a minute long. When posting, you can embed the movie or provide a link or a teaser pic.

A few rules:
1. Challenge dates: June 1-30, 2012
2. Remember to include warnings. R-rated stories are allowed, but please f-lock the post.
3. Please tag entries with "challenge: june 12" and your username tag. If you don't have a tag, just let me know and I'll add one for you.
4. Feel free to include a teaser pic as long as it doesn't exceed 450px in width. Please place the body of the entry under an LJ cut. If you are posting to another site--Blogger, Wordpress, your own journal, etc.--please indicate this in entry.
5. Good luck and have fun!
If you still want to get something in for the May challenge, feel free to do so. Just make sure the post is tagged appropriately :)

links for writers

2012-05-21T06:27:26Z

Books
So you’re considering switching to eBooks?
Incidental Comics - The Book of the Future
The Worst Book Titles In The History Of Literature (I have seen worse, but these are still amusing)
Can a fictional character take you over?

Writers and writing
Extremely Silly Photos of Extremely Serious Writers
Literary Maps of the USA and UK
Announcing the 2011 Nebula Awards Winners
Incidental Comics - Behind Every Great Novelist
Awesome People Reading
Trust me I'm a doctor (Neil Gaiman's Commencement Address to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia)

Publishing
How A Book is Born
In the E-Reader Era, a Book a Year Is Slacking

Language
25 Handy Words That Simply Don’t Exist In English
Insults by Shakespeare
Everyday Words That Were Invented by Famous Authors

links for writers

2012-05-09T03:44:39Z

Books as Art
Miller Lagos - Home

Creativity

From Good fucking design advice

Monthly Challenge: May 2012

2012-05-02T00:27:29Z

Sorry that this wasn't up sooner. I just started at a new job and given how much I've been working this past week, I probably should have just set up a bed there and camped out. Anyway...

This month's challenge is to write a short story from the point of view of an inanimate object. Your story can use any version of Sims and can be set in any time period or world of your choosing. Stories should be a minimum of 200 words, but may run as long as you like. Include as many screencaps as needed.

If you prefer to do machinima, footage should run at least a minute long. When posting, you can embed the movie or provide a link and teaser pic.

A few rules:

1. Challenge dates: May 1-31, 2012

2. Remember to include warnings. R-rated stories are allowed, but please f-lock the post.

3. Please tag entries with "challenge: may 12" and your username tag. If you don't have a tag, just let me know and I'll add one for you.

5. Good luck and have fun!

If you still want to get something in for the April challenge, feel free to do so. Just make sure the post is tagged appropriately :)

Monthly Challenge: April 2012

2012-04-01T06:12:21Z

When I go to a country, I go to flea markets, antique stores. I am always looking for something. -Ursula Andress

This month's challenge is to write a scene or short story set in or otherwise involving a flea market and an object found there. Your story can use any version of Sims and can be set in any time period or world of your choosing. Stories should be a minimum of 200 words, but may run as long as you like. Include as many screencaps as needed.

If you prefer to do machinima, footage should run at least a minute long. When posting, you can embed the movie or provide a link and teaser pic.

Specially thanks to goodbye_sun for the prompt suggestion! And sorry that this wasn't up until the last minute :S

A few rules:
1. Challenge dates: April 1-30, 2012
2. Remember to include warnings. R-rated stories are allowed, but please f-lock the post.
3. Please tag entries with "challenge: april 12" and your username tag. If you don't have a tag, just let me know and I'll add one for you.
4. Feel free to include a teaser pic as long as it doesn't exceed 450px in width. Please place the body of the entry under an LJ cut. If you are posting to another site--Blogger, Wordpress, your own journal, etc.--please indicate this in the entry.
5. Good luck and have fun!

If you still want to get something in for the March challenge, feel free to do so. Just make sure the post is tagged appropriately :)

links for writers

2012-03-20T14:26:28Z

Creativity
Geek & Sundry is a new You Tube channel which will feature two shows which might be of interest to readers and writers: Sword and Laser (interviews with top authors, reviews of the hottest science fiction and fantasy books) and Written By a Kid (sci-fi, fantasy and horror stories by real kids are transformed into shorts)
‘Creative right brain’ myth debunked

Piracy and Copyright
Fan Fiction, Plagiarism, and Copyright
Chinese author group sues Apple in piracy row
My parley with ebook pirates
Copyright group wants libraries to pay for reading books to kids

Publishing
Is Magazine Publishing Really Screwed?
With This Machine, You Can Print Your Own Books at the Local Bookstore

links for writers

2012-03-13T14:32:27Z

From Unhappy Hipsters
When it comes to novels, it’s a man’s world but a woman’s universe
Visa Denies Telling PayPal To Censor Fiction
Justice Department Threatens Lawsuits, Alleging Collusion Over E-Book Pricing
Incidental Comics - The Internal Decathlon

links for writers

2012-03-02T13:28:46Z

From Chacho Puebla's Grandmother Tips Vol 2.0
Readers:
Reading a book really is better the second time round
Writers:
Famous Writers' Small Writing Sheds and Off-the-Grid Huts
Publishers:
Amazon Ditches Entire Independent Publisher; Sci-Fi & Fantasy Writers of America Ditches Amazon
Free Reads:
Here Are the 2011 Nebula Award Nominees You Can Read Right Now!