Astral Faery's Magical Tales

OMG...

2010-10-12T08:48:00.000-07:00

You'll never believe this...but I FINALLY finished BL&D! Are you amazed? I know I am. Part of what took me so long to finally be done with it is that my attitude about the entire story has changed since I first started telling it. And I actually did have this finished over on Insim. I should have just directed everyone over there to read it - it's been posted for over a year. But I honestly didn't think about it - so apologies are due. Anyhow, it's done. I can finally officially put it behind me and move on to...who knows, but at least this project is forever finished. YAY!

The End

And another month slips by...

2010-09-07T04:59:00.001-07:00

Well, I didn't get as much accomplished as I had hoped. One more chapter of BLD to finish up and get posted. For those of you that like this story, I am very grateful. I'm having trouble liking it anymore. I've heard a lot of people say they didn't like their first pieces - and that's what I'm going through. I look at it now and just cringe. So many cliches, I've even thought about pulling it from the blog entirely. But I won't. I'll just accept it as my early stuff; a learning experience; a stepping stone.

In the background, I have some things going on. I have converted my game to almost entirely medieval. I've found medieval defaults for nearly everything in the game, from carpools, to trashbags, to maids, to homework. It is so cool to see it all in action. This will come in handy when I start working on Warriors again. No more trying to hide modern aspects of the game. It will just make shooting easier.

I had another idea or two for EFHIS, which I'm still waffling back and forth on sharing in sim form. Part of me really, really wants to. But when I think of the hard work involved in setting scenes and shooting pics, I almost shudder. But just a couple of weeks ago, my husband and I were discussing his building a house for it. I've looked high and low and not found the perfect place, and I'm not a builder. He, however, enjoys it and seems to have a knack for it. And there's a lot I would like to share with an audience. So...it may come here, after all.

I have no patience for working when my kids are home. None. In fact, just writing this while my 7 year old plays loudly behind me is enough to wrack my nerves. But I took a few weeks for myself, and am starting to feel the pull of wanting to work on a story again. YAY! This is great, because I wondered if that desire would ever return. So today, after I take the kids to school, I'm turning off my phone, no messenger, no tv, and trying to implement my new ideas into EFHIS. This morning belongs to Victoria.

Sadly, progression will be slow because for a stay at home mom I sure have a lot of stuff to do! People to see, projects to complete for friends, and reconnect days to spend with hubby. But now that the pull is coming back, I'm hoping to get more done with this blog!

Thank you so much to those of you who hung in there with me through all my emotional crap. You're very much appreciated!!

Anybody out there?

2010-07-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

Well it's been forever. I have no idea if I have any readers anymore, and if I don't, I realize it's my own fault. However, one never chooses to have an emotional breakdown and one never chooses how or when to recover. I'm better than I was last year at this time, but not fully myself. I still have no patience to deal with little problems and often those little things get overwhelming for me.

But I'm finding myself pulled back to telling stories again. And in order to move forward, I need to finish what I started. I just posted the very long overdue Chapter 33 of BLD; and the final chapter is in draft mode; I'll be finishing that, as well. I broke chapter 33 and I don't know how to fix it. It looks mostly perfect in draft mode and I quickly remembered what I hated about using blogger in the first place. I'm blogger inept, it seems, but at least the chapter is there in its entirety - weird font sizes and underlines and all.

I have to reteach myself how to use blogger again. And I've totally forgotten how to make my pictures big, so they're teeny tiny.

I am making no promises. Whenever I do that I tend to screw myself over. Basically, how it stands now, is if I feel like working on a project, I will. But I'm not putting any pressure on myself to finish anything, because I seem to struggle with that.

So, if anyone is still out there, I am still alive and mostly well. I hope you are, too.

Season's Greetings

2009-12-21T19:03:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a long time. Where have I been, you may ask? Dealing with life would be the answer. Summer has been...rough. A lot of changes happened in our family, and we're still adjusting, but I think we're finally getting there.

I have retired from SimTales but not from storytelling. I would love to tell you I plan on returning to sim storytelling soon, but the truth is, I just don't know if I will. I feel myself getting to a point where I may want to work on The Weekend Warriors Chronicles again, but as far as EFHIS goes, I am actually wanting to finish writing it and trying to get it published. It's at 33 chapters, and will have several more to go, and doing all that in sim form.....is more than daunting.

My apologies for letting my blog fizzle. It was never my intent to do so, but unfortunately, sometimes life is just a shit river and it's all we can do not to get swept along with the current and drown.

I hope you all are well, and that you have a wonderful holiday season!

On hiatus...

2009-05-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

Having a difficult time at home. My youngest son, the autistic one, has been quite intense lately, and I'm having a rough time with him. My oldest, who is my other 'difficult' one, has also been a lot of work. They've had a lot of appointments - counseling, case conferences, dentist visits, doctor visits (my middle son fractured his arm a few weeks ago), and my husband has been running around in circles with the doctors trying to get a date set for his neck surgery. Finally we have one, on June 4, the day after my youngest's 6th birthday. Home life has been stressful and overwhelming, and I've been depressed and burned out. I'm barely functioning at the moment. I haven't been in the mood to work on my sims projects, because, let's be honest here, sometimes it's a lot of work and it's difficult and daunting to get good pictures. I want to try to focus on my novel (that I've been working on sporadically for four years) and try to do *the final* read through and edit so I can submit it for publishing. My goal is to have it finished by the time school is out. It's about time I did something with it instead of thinking about it. And, to put it simply, I'm getting sick of sims. I'm afraid if I don't step back for awhile, I'll burn out completely. I need a chance to miss it, if that makes sense.

So...I think it's in my best interest to take a break. I plan on waiting until the kids go back to school in August to pick up the sims stories, unless my muse calls me sooner - but I'm certainly not going to try to force it.

To fans of Between the Light and the Darkness, only 2 chapters left to post. I will get those done (hopefully soon) during my break, because those pics are already done, and I'm not cruel enough to leave people hanging for three months waiting for the end. Not quite, lol.

To fans of Every Family Has Its Secrets, very sorry. But it will need to be put on hold for awhile. I hate to do that, but like I said, I need a break. It's been more work than fun, and that makes it just 'one more thing' I have to deal with. I certainly don't want to quit, there's so much I want to share, so hopefully in mid August I'll get on with it.

To fans of The Weekend Warriors Chronicles, I left it at a good stopping point - the end of their first adventure. A second adventure has been in the works (the writing) for awhile now, and I have many ideas for furture adventures. So I'm not aiming to quit this one.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding. Thank you for your lovely comments. Forgive me for not responding sooner - I'll try to get to it soon.

Between the Light and the Darkness update!

2009-04-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

The Showdown continues! Can't really tell you what this chapter is about, but let's just say that Shirra loses her temper and bad stuff happens. ;)

CHAPTER 32

Between the Light and the Darkness - Chapter 31

2009-04-14T07:57:00.001-07:00

The talking is done and now the real action starts. You don't want to miss this! Bloodshed will ensue, so be warned.

Chapter 31

Every Family Has Its Secrets Chapter 4

2009-04-07T15:10:00.000-07:00

Finally! Chapter 4 is posted. Victoria gets to escape her depressing home life for some good ol' teenage fun with Shane.

Spring's Warming Kisses

Between the Light and the Darkness - Chapter 30

2009-04-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

The Showdown continues. What happens to Shirra when she runs away from home as a teen? In this chapter, we learn more about Shirra's past. She meets someone instrumental to her progress in the arcane ways, and suffers deep heartache.

Mixed Lot

2009-03-27T07:40:00.000-07:00

Lots of stuff going on today. First and foremost, Chapter 29 of Between the Light and the Darkness has just been posted. In this chapter, the showdown begins. It is a long part of the story, and will span several chapters. Thank you ZAYURY for your continued support and help transferring this story from Insim. I probably woulnd't get it done without your help!!

News about hubby's back. He saw the specialist, and it's almost a sure thing that he'll need to have surgery. They want him to have an EMG, first, to see what his nerves are doing, and that's scheduled for April 1st. We'll know after that what the next step is.

And lastly, I've pulled out my dusty manuscript of Merlin's Quest - a novel I started 4 years ago. I made a promise to myself to polish it up and submit if for publishing this year. And thankfully, my muse felt like working on it, so I spent two days rereading it and doing some minor editing. I have a little more I want to add to it, but I'm hoping to have it ready to submit by this summer and actually send it out. I may get lots of rejection slips, but just envisioning it on a shelf in a bookstore is such an exciting thought, that I have to try. So, wish me lots of luck on that!!

Just a little note...

2009-03-13T07:25:00.000-07:00

My husband might need surgery for a couple of herniated discs in his neck. He sees a specialist on March 25th, and we'll go from there and find out for sure. But this is just to let everyone know that if he does need surgery, we'll be disconnected from the internet for awhile. He won't be getting his overtime, and we really need that.

So...I will try to get a couple of updates done and catch up a bit on my reading. My whole family has been quite sick this week (including me) and I just haven't been up to taking screenshots.

I'll keep everyone informed of the latest once I hear it. Thanks muchly to all of you who have been reading. I really appreciate it, and would not be inspired to continue without your support!!

Between the Light and the Darkness - Chapter 28

2009-03-08T16:13:00.001-07:00

Shirra starts unfolding her evil plan earlier than expected.

Chapter 28

The Big 40

2009-03-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

I turned 40 today, and it's not going well. I never expected to have a mini identity crisis, but here I am, wondering where the heck my life is going. I'm sure it will pass eventually, but I'll have to struggle through it. I've already had 3 cups of coffee and an obscene amount of chocolate, but shit, depression is finding me, anyway. Sigh...

Every Family Has Its Secrets Chapter 3

2009-02-27T19:55:00.000-08:00

Winter's Shadow

Victoria meets Shane again and tries to get help for her mother, while Clay has a meltdown.

Chapter 27

2009-02-22T06:53:00.001-08:00

Ileeya searches for Tim while Shirra lets her anger consume her. Is Tim going to be okay? It looks like Jondak is the only happy person in this chapter.

Chapter 27

Every Family Has Its Secrets - Update

2009-02-11T14:30:00.000-08:00

How has life changed for Victoria now that she's a teenager? In chapter 2 - Winter's Cold Embrace - you'll get to find out.

BLD Chapter 26 - Caught

2009-02-09T14:27:00.001-08:00

Shirra puts Tim to the test. Will he pass? Read to find out!!

Chapter 26

Update BLD and a new story!

2009-01-31T07:48:00.001-08:00

Every Family Has Its Secrets - Chapter 1 - Fall's Lonliness

Victoria's life changed dramatically after the birth of her little brother Bradley. And none of those changes are for the better. Join Victoria as she struggles through childhood feeling alienated in her own family.

This blog needs some cosmetic work, and the spacing is messed up, but that will be done later. It is still readable, and I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 25

Shirra doubts Tim's sincerity while Tim requests an audience with the king.

Coming Soon...

2009-01-25T15:48:00.001-08:00

Victoria's family had everything money could buy...except happiness.

Update!

2009-01-20T11:40:00.001-08:00

Chapter 24 of Between the Light and the Darkness - When Evil Spreads - is now posted!

Update!

2009-01-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

Between the Light and the Darkness - Chapter 23

Shirra takes Tim to her lair.

Double Update!!

2009-01-01T08:59:00.001-08:00

The Weekend Warriors Chronicles - Piles of Bones - Chapter 3

How will Claymore perform on his first job? Will he earn a permanent place in the group, or mess things up completely? You'll have to read this conclusion to Piles of Bones to find out!

Between the Light and the Darkness - Chapter 22

What the heck is going on in this picture? You'll have to read to find out!

Between the Light and the Darkness Update

2008-12-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

Tim takes a few minutes to fondly remember his dear friend, Gertie.

I hope I'm not speaking too soon, but I think we finally got my blogger freezing issue solved. Turns out I had some nasty malware on my computer. So at least I can get on and update, and hopefully start getting some reading done.

We're still working on my graphics issue. We're thinking that when my hubby installed some more memory, the computer became more efficient than the graphic card, and it can't quite keep up. Makes sense, since everything looks crisp and clear when I enter a lot, and 5-10 minutes later everything just 'fuzzes out'. Sigh. Hopefully soon, as I'm starting to get in a sort of panic mode about not being able to continue with my stories or start new ones.

Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you get on to chapter 21 - titled Fond Remembrance. Not many of my chapters have titles, lol, something I'm hoping to one day change.

Frustrations...

2008-12-10T08:28:00.000-08:00

To those of you patiently waiting updates on my stories, I would like to apologize for the lengthy delay. I'm having several problems at the moment. Real life keeps kicking my ass, blogger randomly freezes my computer and I don't know why, and even with my graphics cranked up to the max, my sims keep turning out blurry. I'm not even sure what to do.

And freaking blogger - sometimes just clicking someone else's blog will instantly freeze my whole computer. Rebooting does nothing, and the only way I can get things moving again is to manually restart the whole thing. But what's so weird is that it's totally random. I can go weeks with no problems, then suddenly it will start freezing everytime I try to sign in or read someone else's story. And it can do that for weeks or more, too. URG!!! So many frustrations.

I'm deeply sorry in the lack of progress.

On the Set

2008-10-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

LOL - One of the skeletons from Part 2 of The Weekend Warriors Chronicles - hard at work during the photoshoot (before freewill was turned off). Part 2 of of The Weekend Warriors Chronicles - Piles of Bones* is coming soon!

*Renamed from Skeletons in the Basement

GRRRR!!

2008-10-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

I have a crazy week ahead of me, so I thought I would finally finish getting my pics for Part 2 of WWC this morning while I had a little bit of time. It was a simple plan, take the fantastic skeleton skin I downloaded and make skeletons for my warriors to fight. But...the skin is not working correctly. Instead of looking like a skeleton, my sim looks like it has mismatched skin, instead, with an invisible face. So I took it out and tried it again. Same thing. Obviously, it just won't work for my EP's. So I have to use my backup idea - in which I'll use the same skeletons as in BLD and my Creature Feature - if I still have them. Gonna be pretty hard to stage a skeleton fight without the skeletons! Sheesh! Probably won't get this part done until next week.

So I jetted over to the BLD set to take some pictures with the remaining time I had. By the time everything was done loading, I got maybe 5 pictures snapped! That's it. Feels like an unproductive morning. A little advice? Don't try to snap pictures in a forest of willow trees - or any forest, for that matter, with lots of trees. Because EVERYTIME you try to move something, you'll pick up a fartin' tree instead! Then you'll put it down, rotate to get a clear view of your subjects so the tree won't be in the way - but somehow, despite the fact you try to avoid it, it you'll grab it again. Those big droopy fronds of the willows are especially annoying, because they hang down low and I always grab the tree instead of the sim, or the posing hack, or the clothing rack, or the other props, etc. Pictures are a giant pain. I swear the next scene needs to be set in the desert!

What is this?

2008-10-08T10:34:00.001-07:00

While shooting chapter 29 of Between the Light and the Darkness, I noticed this odd thing walking around - in the air! It's clearly a skunk, but it looks like a chicken - check out the front legs, folded behind its back like wings. The position of its head looks fowl-like. The back legs are bird like. To my knowledge, there are no chickens in The Sims 2, so why, for the love of pixels, is this skunk walking around looking like one? I call it a Chickunk - a combination of a chicken and skunk. Now, I've known skunks to cause problems with the game in general - I feared a deformed skunk may cause extra problems. I shooed it away, but not before I sat here in fascination watching it walk all over the set for several minutes!

Mmmm...tastes like chicken!

My Muse is a Dominatrix

2008-03-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

At the moment I envision her standing over me with a whip, forcing me to my computer to work on this story as much as possible. She cleared the block I had with the ending, so now I can see the path that will lead me there, rather than wander aimlessly and possibly get lost. That relieves the panic I was feeling for continuing to post a story with no ending.

I have spit out two chapters in less than a week, one with exactly 50 pictures, the other with 73! Not photoshop intensive, but still set up involved and whatnot. Considering the first chapters of BL&D are only about 18-24 pictures long, I've really starting building up the chapters around #13 or so. I have been in 'work mode' for awhile, and I must say, that I'm really enjoying it. Sometimes I'm in 'playmode' and I make little progress because I just want to play the game. But not lately.

I also wrote a love scene! And it didn't turn out mushy, tacky, or pornographic. This is an area where I struggle a lot to find the right words. I would dare to say that it even turned out tasteful and decent. It's not spectacular, but for me, it's a first.

So, while my Muse has helped me with direction and given me a tireless drive for this story (think about it constantly), she is also being ruthless. Not with creativity, per se, but with the stamina for long photoshoots and an inability to stay away from my computer for more. It's a good thing, and I'm really loving it - but my house looks like crap. ;)

Frustrations

2008-01-29T07:56:00.000-08:00

Bad day on the set today. I spent two hours just trying to create the characters I would need for chapter 13 of Between the Light and the Darkness. My biggest problem is some of my custom content. Now, don't get me wrong, I adore all of Rosesims fabulous objects, and without them, this story just wouldn't be possible. However, many of the items are only labeled with her site address, not with what the item is. Not all of them, but many of them. Since I have quite a few of her items, it's taking forever just to set up each character with the props they need. I ended up getting frustrated, and stopped working on the story altogether. Since it's Tuesday, and all the kids are at school, I try to work on this in the quiet 3 hours that I have. But, here it is only 11:00 a.m., and I'm done. I suddenly lost my passion to work on this. I pray this is only temporary. Just a few days ago I couldn't wait to get in there and start, and now...sigh! I don't want to look at it, or even think about it. I'm thinking I may have to take a break from this story, but I really don't want to do that, because people are reading it.

It doesn't help that I have several other ideas bouncing around in my unfocused brain, some that I'm itching to get started on. I'm trying very hard not to give in, because I don't want a lot of unfinished projects laying around. I already have A Day in the Life of a Psychotic Mom, that really needs an update, BL&D, and my Avalon Legacy which I'm sharing with my friends over at PTS. Plus still another one - Every Family Has Its Secrets, which I had started a long time ago, but put on hold so I could work on BL&D. And now it calls to me again. Probably because it is not a fantasy, and I wouldn't have to spend a lot of time on costuming, set design, and searching for content to make an other worldly story. Ack! I don't know what to do...