Clanbuilding for Dummies: now with the last two chapters! «123456...Next Go

katrinasforest

Hi, everyone! Welcome to Clanbuilding for Dummies. It's a humorous story about one guy who tries to make a name for Newcrest (and himself) through extreme measures and mildly fangy practices. The story is told through both written word and comic pages. Chapter 1 is posted below. The rest of the chapters are available on my website. But if you're just looking for the two latest ones, here they are:

http://www.fanfiction.katrinasforest.com/2020/04/03/clanbuilding-for-dummes-chapter-30/
http://www.fanfiction.katrinasforest.com/2020/04/17/clanbuilding-for-dummies-chapter-31/

----

Clanbuilding for Dummies, Chapter 1

The two vampires met just before dawn, on the steps of the largest (and clearly, most expensive) abode in all of Forgotten Hollow. One male, white-haired and conservatively dressed. One female, who looked like she had recently been performing at a rock concert. Mohawk and all.

While Forgotten Hollow was normally a quiet place, tonight it was anything but.





The first rays of sunlight began to crack through the dark sky. As neither vampire wished to be lightly roasted with a side of wolfsbane, they quickly brought the conversation to a close, each in their own way.

Gertrude, of course, insisted on yelling. Vladislaus preferred his succinct approach.



And that, dear readers, is how our story begins. And you know what? We prefer the name Miss H over Gertrude. We shall, as the young ones say, stick with that.

----

End of Chapter 1.

For more, visit...

http://www.fanfiction.katrinasforest.com/category/sims/?order=asc
to view all the chapters.

Thanks for reading!

NyteRose

Cool! You have a thread!

15aewar

It looks really good. I love the speech bubbles.

LilyParker

katrinasforest wrote: »

Hi everyone!

I originally posted this in the The New Phantasmal Reading Circle, but I guess it wouldn't be bad for the story to have its own thread as well.

I'm so glad you started this thread because I just stumbled upon it, and I love your prologue! I'm following your blog now and left you a comment there as well. I'm definitely looking forward to reading it.

katrinasforest

Thanks so much everyone! I'm aiming to have the next chapter up on Halloween. Because that just sounds fun and makes sense.

AkramA

Just found out you're writing a comic style story too. Really fun to read. Can't wait for Halloween update

MaggieMarley

This was really funny! Vlad is and Miss H is one if my fav trailer vamps.

I love that Vlad said none of your waxed bees instead of none of your bees wax that was a witty play on words of the usual expression!

15aewar

katrinasforest wrote: »

Hi everyone!

I originally posted this in the The New Phantasmal Reading Circle, but I guess it wouldn't be bad for the story to have its own thread as well.

Newcrest Rising is a humorous story, told through both written Sim-fic and comic pages. Right now, just the prologue is up. I plan to update every three weeks for now.

Prologue:
http://www.fanfiction.katrinasforest.com/2018/10/12/newcrest-rising-prologue/

Any and all feedback is welcome!

What do you use to make your comic? I think I might like to try that style, too.

katrinasforest

@15aewar I just use Pixelmator on my Macbook. That's where I got the speech bubble shape, which you can manipulate however you like. I'm sure there's plenty of other programs that do something similar on the PC, though.

It's a fun deviation from normal writing, so I'd encourage giving it a try.

@MaggieMarley and @AkramA Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it.

katrinasforest

Here's the Halloween update, as promised:

http://www.fanfiction.katrinasforest.com/2018/10/31/newcrest-rising-chapter-1/

If I'm going back and forth between the written stuff and the comic stuff too much, let me know and I'll take it down a notch.

Hope you enjoy!

NyteRose

Nice update. I'm surprised Vlad didn't just turn them into plasma packs when they walked into his house.

15aewar

katrinasforest wrote: »

Here's the Halloween update, as promised:

http://www.fanfiction.katrinasforest.com/2018/10/31/newcrest-rising-chapter-1/

If I'm going back and forth between the written stuff and the comic stuff too much, let me know and I'll take it down a notch.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1 was amazing! I can't wait for the next ones to come out.

chluke75

That's it... I'm saying "none of your waxed bees!" from now on.

And I immediately took a liking to Kyle. He may be an idiot, but he's not stupid!

LilyParker

katrinasforest wrote: »

If I'm going back and forth between the written stuff and the comic stuff too much, let me know and I'll take it down a notch.

Hope you enjoy!

I just read Chapter 1 and thoroughly enjoyed it. Going back and forth between written text and comic format isn't a problem to me at all. Left you a comment on your blog.

katrinasforest

Thanks so much for reading, everyone! Sorry I took so long to respond. Halloween+Start of NaNoWriMo+Other general life stuff overwhelmed me a little bit. ^_^;;

Thank you especially for the blog comment, @LilyParker! My blog is pretty quiet most of the time, so it's always uplifting to see something there.

Serxphically

Chapter 1 was so intriguing I can't wait for more!

LilyParker

katrinasforest wrote: »

Thanks so much for reading, everyone! Sorry I took so long to respond. Halloween+Start of NaNoWriMo+Other general life stuff overwhelmed me a little bit. ^_^;;

Thank you especially for the blog comment, @LilyParker! My blog is pretty quiet most of the time, so it's always uplifting to see something there.

You're very welcome, @katrinasforest! As a fellow blogger, I know how exciting it is to receive a comment of any kind. They're like gold, aren't they? I have the WordPress app on my phone and have gotten out of bed early because I've seen comment notifications on my lock screen and have to grab my glasses to read them.

I don't remember seeing a "like" button on your blog. My experience has been that readers who don't necessarily comment may be willing to click the "like" button. Is that something you've considered? It lets you know people are reading and like what they see. Not everyone is comfortable commenting or perhaps sharing their email address in order to do so.

katrinasforest

@LilyParker Thanks for the advice. I added the "Like" button for my author page on Facebook. Which I know isn't quite the same thing, but it's better than nothing while I figure out how to do it better. ^_^;;

Anyways, chapter 2 is now up:
http://www.fanfiction.katrinasforest.com/2018/11/24/newcrest-rising-chapter-2/

katrinasforest

I meant to post this on Friday, but better late than never. Here's the third chapter of Newcrest Rising:
http://www.fanfiction.katrinasforest.com/2018/12/18/newcrest-rising-chapter-3/

katrinasforest

Sorry for the double post, but I did have a general question for everyone. What do you feel is a good update schedule? I'm worried my updates are too infrequent for readers to get interested/invested in the story.

It's one of those things where I can probably pick up the pace if I need to--I just need to make time for it. Thoughts?

LilyParker

katrinasforest wrote: »

Sorry for the double post, but I did have a general question for everyone. What do you feel is a good update schedule? I'm worried my updates are too infrequent for readers to get interested/invested in the story.

It's one of those things where I can probably pick up the pace if I need to--I just need to make time for it. Thoughts?

@katrinasforest I think weekly is a good pace if you're able to make the time. It's frequent enough that the story and characters can remain fresh in your mind, even if you're reading other stories, which is probably the case for most people.

It's probably more important at the beginning of a story when the characters are new and the story line is developing. I think established stories have a little more flexibility in that they probably have a loyal readership who are quite familiar with the story and plot.

katrinasforest

Thanks, I really appreciate it. I'll see what I can do to get some more chapters in the queue so I can release them more frequently. I've also been thinking I can probably come up with a catchier title, too. Though the best I've got so far is Escapades of Elliot. ^_^;;

LilyParker

katrinasforest wrote: »

Thanks, I really appreciate it. I'll see what I can do to get some more chapters in the queue so I can release them more frequently. I've also been thinking I can probably come up with a catchier title, too. Though the best I've got so far is Escapades of Elliot. ^_^;;

You're welcome! As for the story title, it would be great if you could somehow showcase your snarkiness (easier to say than do, I realize). It's what I love best about your story. The second part of the title is what drew me in to read your forum post. 'Playfully Self-Aware' made me think it would be right up my alley, and it is! Adding the photo of Vlad and his "none of your waxed bees" comment was a very smart move.

katrinasforest

@LilyParker Aw, thank you! I suppose I could always just go with the title Clanbuilding for Dummies. ^_^ But I think I've got a better idea.

Off-topic, but you inspired me to try the toddler mania challenge, and I'm gaining a whole new level of appreciate for how you document everything for your blog. I'm not even sure what my toddlers doing half the time, let alone aware enough to write a story around it.

Anyways, Merry Christmas, if you celebrate.

LilyParker

katrinasforest wrote: »

@LilyParker Aw, thank you! I suppose I could always just go with the title Clanbuilding for Dummies. ^_^ But I think I've got a better idea.

Off-topic, but you inspired me to try the toddler mania challenge, and I'm gaining a whole new level of appreciate for how you document everything for your blog. I'm not even sure what my toddlers doing half the time, let alone aware enough to write a story around it.

Anyways, Merry Christmas, if you celebrate.

@katrinasforest You're welcome! I actually love 'Clanbuilding for Dummies' -- very cool. If you have an idea that's even better than that, it must be good!

My turn for an 'aw, thank you!' The Toddler Mania Challenge by @EuphorialQueen was lots of fun! Documenting everything is just my inner control-freak shining through. Being able to control my own world is what drew me to The Sims in the first place!

Merry Christmas to you, too!

katrinasforest

Well, I ran "Clanbuilding for Dummies" and my alternate title by my other half and got a look that just said, "Why are you not picking the first option, again?" So Clanbuilding for Dummies it is. ^_^

Newest chapter is now up:
http://www.fanfiction.katrinasforest.com/2019/01/14/856/

It is labeled as chapter 6. I promise it picks up where my last update left off. I've been trying to keep the chapters a bit shorter, and that included splitting the original chapter 1 in half.

I'm also experimenting with simply putting the comic pages directly into the posts. I'm thinking less clicking for the reader is a good thing. But as always, I'm open to different opinions.

Thanks for reading!