Quote by Piquet
Slightly off topic, but how many forum posts do we need to progress from 'active ink slinger' - a rather bland and generic label considering I've been here 16 years ?
It was automated on v1, but yeah, here you can change it to what you want.
If anyone wants to amuse themselves while they wait/read/edit, Scotland's lovingly-named gritters are out in full force at the moment, lol.
From the Latin adventus, meaning, coming 😄
It’s that time of year, where many are putting up trees and fairy lights, planning gifts and recipes, getting the house ready to receive friends and family over the festive period.
Although Christmas is the big day, it’s often the build-up that’s the most fun, especially for the Lush community who have an uncanny ability to inject a little naughtiness into any situation.
We want stories about the advent period, that build up before the big day... the countdown.
Perhaps you and your partner have invested in a couple of naughty elves, and leave each other an x-rated ‘elf on a shelf’ scenario that you must act out at some point that day.
It could be that someone decides to make the office Secret Santa draw a little outrageous this year, by getting a colleague a very ‘NSFW’ gift.
Or maybe putting up the Christmas decorations is made extra spicy with some eggnog, sex toys and a lack of clothing.
We’re leaving the theme fairly open, but whatever you decide, it must be set in the run up to Christmas. As we only have 24 days of advent*, this competition will only run to Dec 24th, and to mimic the short timescale, we’re imposing a word limit of 1500 words. Your story can be in the flash category (roughly 600 – 1000 words for a complete story) but please, no micros or poetry.
*Yes, I’m starting this on the 2nd. I’m a day late. Sue me, lol.
This competition will run through Dec 24th, with winners being announced on the 31st.
First prize $150
Second prize $100
Third prize $50.
For full competition rules, see here.
From the Latin 'adventus', meaning 'coming'.
Premium authors go in at the top, but if we're not careful with the queue, non premium can end up waiting more time than we're comfortable with, which is why we need to manage it. We're just constantly busy these days, so we need to actively manage the queue more than we used to.
Quote by AAnna
I have a question please. I know being a mod and approving stories is probably a thankless job. For myself I always say thank you to whomever approved my story. My question is this. Lately when I send in a story it sits there a few hours like normal then maybe 12- 15 hours later it says "Your story has been sent to a mod and its too late to recall it" Okay I get that but then why does after a few days go back to "Currently being reviewed" I don't mean to be a pain I am just trying to understand why it does that. Thank you for your time.
Let me show you. The queue is split into 3 tabs. The main one, my personal one (obvs everyone sees their own) and then what anyone else has locked. We can click between the tabs.
Sometimes, to move stories out of that main queue, we 'lock' stories and it moves tab. So anyone logging in and looking at the main queue won't see it.
We do that when we're about to verify, but also if we're discussing one, or an author has submitted something 3 seconds after something has been verified and we need them to wait a bit. We use it as a queue management tool. We might verify it ourselves, or move it back. That's when you'll see different messages, so really, I wouldn't pay too much attention to the message.
I tend to just start them in my head and roll them around and see if they go anywhere. I'm good at ideas, less so with the execution, so unless I'm really excited about it, it probably won't even make it to draft.
I hate when I have a great idea, then what makes it to paper is just... mediocre, lol. Ah well.
There's probably an element of views and interactions built in too, as there is with most things on the site. So someone with a popular profile probably generates more views on their work etc. I don't know the exact metrics, but it won't just just be based on likes, I wouldn't imagine.
Quote by Meagananne1986
Why not expand the list to every entry. After all, if you made the effort and took the time to write a story for the competition, you are, de facto, a winner and deserving or admiration and recogition.
God, don't encourage him, lol.
Quote by Shyexhibitionist
I understand where you're coming from. I guess we want to know how we compare, also to see if our favourites were ranked. Unfortunately as a teacher, its something I tried really hard to avoid words like the top group. The best at etc. Is awful for the less able. I've heard children say I'm the remedial group, I'm stupid. It can destroy their worth. Rant over. I know if my story was at the bottom of the rankings, I'd never write again! Saying all that, perhaps a top 20???
Don't worry, it's not even possible. Depending on the shortlister, not everything will be ranked in order. Some whittle down to a long list, some don't.
It was an absolute joy to read through the shortlist for this competition. So much variety and imagination was on display. You lot are wicked, lol. I didn't think anything could make me blush any more, but turns out I was wrong.
Anyway, without further ado, let me congratulate the winner of this particular competition, Mr Klaus_B_Renner. His seductive tale of obsession in the arts twisted and turned, bringing the audience along for the ride. And what a breathless ride it was.
In second place, hearty congratulations go to Andrea Detroit who took a simple theme of forbidden lust and elevated it with such wonderful writing. The whole story was just dripping with need.
And finally, in third place, we have ArconathResonath, whose wonderfully explicit writing of a woman discovering her kinky side no doubt had people wincing and cheering in equal measure. Exquisite writing.
Please let me extend my thanks to all involved in this competition. To the brave shortlister who gamely volunteered for the horrible job of whittling this list down. To all the judges, who I'm grateful managed to carve out time to give me their thoughts. And as always, to all the writers and readers who made this competition what it is. Thank you so much for participating and for making this competition so interesting and diverse.
A new competition will be announced shortly.
Winners, I will be in touch over the next day or two regarding prizes, as I sort the rest of the admin for this comp.
Jen x
1. Mayra by Klaus_B_Renner
2. Unfaithfully Yours by AndreaDetroit
3. Velvet Prison by ArconathResonath
4. The Time It Takes by SubmarineSammy
5. Where the Music Touches by KimmiBeGood
6. Just Crazy Enough by Stephswriting
7. Bobbies Blue Eyes by RowanThorn
8. He Loves me by Katie the Writer
9. Stoner Boys by Henke
10. My Alien Lover by Madeline Miles
Quote by sprite
Please be advised that starting on from now on we will only be accepting stories in spanish. Thank you for your compliance. All questions, comments, and complaints can be sent to Jen.
Wandering the planet with my rainbow umbrella. Site Admin: Happy to assist, but please use the support/contact us buttons at the bottom of the page fo...
Quote by MissVixen
I know but I just had a story sitting in a moderator's queue for four days. Worse part I was looking at a spelling error and wanted to fix it.
Maybe a PM why it's sitting would be nice.
You can easily edit after it's published if the moderator doesn't catch it.
Unfortunately we're busy enough without adding unnecessary dialogue into the mix.
Quote by MissVixen
I know I said practice patience, but can I ask if you accept a story in to your personal queue and can't get to it in a timely manner please put it back into the main queue. Maybe someone else will have time, but if it's in your personal queue that won't happen.
Thanks
That's normal procedure. There are other reasons why we might lock a story though. I wouldn't pay too much attention to it. We do it for queue management. It doesn't always mean much.
You'll get a PM when it's published.
Quote by simplyjohn
Good news. Seriously I think it helps to housekeep ones device on a regular basis in an attempt to minimise errors, lag etc. that may be caused by cache, cookies etc. I clear mine every day and also manage disk space, check for OS and browser updates. Think of your device as your body. Keep it in good shape and it will pay dividends. Its worked for me
Quote by Chet_Morton
If I write the true story of my year thus far, it could be cathartic or it could break me. Could be fun to find out! Story tags would include married, teacher, redhead, student, math—all the classics.
You had me at math(s) 🥰
(Had to add the S. I'm in the UK, lol)
